The importance of conclusion section of research paper is often undervalued by
research paper writers. In fact conclusion section just weighs as much as the introduction section in the eyes of of the people who would like to read your research paper. Research paper readers are more likely to choose more important parts, such as abstract, introduction and conclusion to read to get the important information of a research paper.
Like the Abstract, the Conclusion also refers to the research. The former looks forward
(prospective), whereas the latter looks backward (retrospective).
The obvious function of a Conclusion is to bring the paper to an end.
Research papers may differ in format for the middle sections but almost all have a
Conclusion.
2 The content of Conclusion
• The Conclusion contains in summary form what has already been presented in the
paper.
• Reference is made to different sections of the paper and the relationship between one
part and another.
• Some conclusions may mention the deficiencies of the present research but most look
into the future and discuss briefly the significance of their research for others in the field.
• The following Conclusion (Swan, 1999:270) is a good example.
Ex1. It would be quite wrong for me to imply here that a surefire solution has been found to the widespread and intractable problem of providing a crash course in report writing for postgraduate students possessed of a very wide range of English skills at intake. What does seem clear, however, is that focusing on text at the phrase level, and in particular the phrase structure ‘X of Y’, provides a useful starting point, acceptable and helpful to students at all but the very lowest levels. It will be of interest to establish in future whether command and use of this structure correlates with relatively higher marks both in Geology examination answers and in the end-of-program research report.
• The above conclusion is a short paragraph referring to some deficiency in a proposal
made in the paper for teaching report writing to postgraduate students followed by an assertion that the suggested methodology ‘provides a useful starting point’. It then looks into the future for possible further research in the same area.
The structure of Conclusion
• Unlike the Abstract, the elements of structure in the Conclusion may vary widely
especially if the conclusions and implications of the research are put in the same section.
• On the whole, we can say that there are three elements of structure, i.e. (1) referring
back to the paper’s sections in a summary statement, (2) discussing some of the implications of the research in the wider context of investigation, and (3) looking into
the future for possible developments. •
The following (Glew, 2001:46) is another example in which the author first refers back to the paper in a summary statement. Then an evaluative statement is made about ELICOS providers, i.e. “make a valuable contribution”. Finally the conclusion looks into the future for further research in the area.
•
2. This paper presents a call for schools in the independent education sector to assess the provision of ELICOS for international FLOTE students who intend to pursue secondary school and further education study in Australia. Given the resources and experience of independent schools in education, I believe that as ELICOS providers they have a potential to make a valuable contribution to English language education for international students. It is my hope that further investigations of ELICOS for secondary school and further education studies will contribute to the needed dissemination of research on delivering English language courses in Australian school courses.
The language of Conclusion
• Based on the three stages mentioned above, the language should summarize, evaluate,
and project research possibilities in the future.
• The following verb phrases come from a longer Conclusion section (Fan, 1999). Example:
Summarize: This study has taken five steps …, We have demonstrated that …, The methodology described is …
Evaluate: … written learner data is able to reveal…, … provide a rich resource for learning …, … it is possible to identify …, … errors can also be handled …
Project into future: … the compilation of a corpus … can be exploited by …, gain insight into …, … better understanding of English language use.
Highlights in conclusion writing
• 1, in content (1) sumary of key ideas or findings
(2) implication: theoretical or/and practical value or significance
(3) future outlook: a possible developments in the field, b suggestions for others’ research, such as methods, relevant issues to be researched. (4) limitation of the study if necessary
2, in style (1) sumarizing: emphatic and concise
(2) relating/referring back to the beginning (3) enlightening to the readers
• The language of the Conclusion matches the above functions with verb forms that
are mainly in the present tense.
• In some cases, however, past tense is also used.
•
Conclusion should better refer back and relate back to the beginning in some way so that the beginning and the end keep consistent and the whole paper looks more unified and integrated.
The Conclusion section of a research paper plays an important role in bringing the investigation to an end.
Conclusions differ in their length but they should all summarize the research and highlight the significance of the findings.
Most conclusions have a three-part structure that includes a summary of the research (emphasis on the sthengthful points or findings), some evaluative statements about the significance of the investigation(deficiency by comparing with other relevant research and theoretical and practical values), and a projection of further research possibilities in the future (valuable suggestions to other people for advancing researches or prediction of future possible progress of development in the revelant research field).
• • •
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