writting introduction: section B

1. What is the introduction a chance for you to do?

The introduction is a chance for the writer to give a good first impression of his essay and attract the reader attention.

2. Why do you think planning is important when you are writing an introduction?

In an introduction we should present the subject and some of the element related to the question problem, and we should also talk about the main points that will be treated in the essay. This is why planning is very important before writing an introduction.

4. I would like you to rewrite this introduction (to the same question) using the language suggestions from the University of Manchester website and post it on your blog by the end of this class. If you do not have a blog, write it on a separate sheet of paper to give to me by the end of class.

One of the most significant current discussion in legal and moral philosophy is Immigration. It is an emotive subject which is seldom out of the news. In the recent years, there has been an incredible rise in immigrants in the United Kingdom from the new European Union countries and this has refocused debate on this controversial issue. However this topic still difficult to explore because of the lack of hard data and the preponderance of anecdotal evidence. As already mentioned, immigration recently has largely consisted of Europeans but there is also a constant flow of migrants from other parts of the world, some of whom arrive seeking refuge from war or famine and some of whom claim asylum. This essay will give an account of the benefits to the UK of immigration by firstly examining the economic arguments surrounding the issue, and then by looking at the social issues involved.

Writing introduction: section A

1. Looking at the information on both the websites – what should a good introduction contain?
The first thing that should an introduction contain is the central idea or the main subject of the essay. Some background should also be included to inform the reader and attract his attention. In an introduction we give a statement about the matter or the main problem and try to explain the plan that the discussion will follow.

According to Manchester university website an introduction shoul contain:

¨ establish the context, background and/or importance of the topic
¨ indicate a problem, controversy or a gap in the field of study
¨ define the topic or key terms
¨ state of the purpose of the essay/writing
¨ provide an overview of the coverage and/or structure of the writing


2. On the University of Manchester page, look at the suggested language for different sections of the introduction. Which verb tenses are most commonly used in each section? (Write down a verb tense and an example for each…)

Establish the context, background and/or importance of the topic:

· Simple present: X is the leading cause of death in western industrialised countries
· Present continuous: It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore
· Present perfect: In the new global economy, X has become a central issue for......

Establishing the importance of the topic (time frame given):

· The most used tense in this section is the present perfect: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in....
· The simple past: One of the most important events of the 1970s was…

Highlighting a problem or controversy in the field of study:

· Present simple: However, a major problem with this kind of application is......
· Present continuous: However, these rapid changes are having a serious effect
· Present perfect: To date there has been little agreement on what......
· Simple present: One major issue in early X research concerned.......

Highlighting a knowledge gap in the field of study:

In this section the passive voice is used most of time with the simple present and the present perfect.

Focus and aim:

· Simple future: This paper will focus on/examine/give an account of......
· Simple present: This paper seeks to address the following questions

Outline of structure:

· Simple present: This paper begins by......
· Present perfect: The essay has been organised in the following

Seminar's feedback

After reading some articles and watching a lecture, today we've had a seminar about media and television. We were divided into small groups of four or five people. Each group was composed from different nationalities to have as much information as possible. I believe that not only listening to lectures, reading and writing are important in university study, seminars are also essentials to complete our learning.

The seminar that we've just had was very successful, it gave us the opportunity to interact with each other and to know more about other cultures habits in watching television. We have also talked about the reality TV, the new phenomene that has emerged in our televisions and his negative effects on the society especially children. People are catched by the stereotypical views sent by TV and make them confuse reality. During the seminar, some of those common stereotypes examples were given and disscussed.

This was the first seminar for me and i thimk i did well on it and i know that i could do better next time. Every thing was good, we listened to really interesting views and opinions and got so much new information. only one thing that could've been a problem for me and also for other people, is that sometimes when the teacher was listening to us i was just finished wath i was saying and not speaking at that time, so this might give the teacher the impression that I wasn't participating enough.

Describing situations

EXERCISE 1:

1-To understand the problem, we need to look at all the many factors which may influence development in the child’s social and physical conditions
2- it has been claimed that the status of teaching as a profession is not as high as it used to be or as it should be.
3-The infrared aerial photograph seems to show the existence of a large village around 1000 years ago.
4-The Company’s president died in rather suspicious circumstances surrounding and his son took over.
5-In the absence of any clear instructions from above, I think we should decide ourselves how to proceed.
6-The country can never become a major economic player unless it improves its infrastructure
7-i can’t tell you what the word means unless you tell me it in context.
8-Students today live in very luxurious environment compared with students in the past.

EXERCISE 2

1- The government has introduced legislation to restrict smoking in public places.
2- Learning from your mistakes is an infinite part of making progress.
3- Her attempt to confine to restrain the children from making a noise in the library met with little success.
4- The professor always insists that even the most junior research associate is an integral part of the team.
5-What are the minimal requirements for getting a place on the course?
6- During the exam period restrictions are imposed on visitors to the college.
7-There were some rather curious contexts surrounding the case.
8- The level of taxation in the country is a major constraint on foreign investment there.

Exercise 3:

1- The economy has been unstable for several years.
2- Instability has been a feature of government in the country for the last decade.
3- The northern region possesses an apparently infinite supply of uranium.
4- The omnipresence of cholera in the area was noted by scientists in 1978.
5- A maximum temperature of 20 degrees must be maintained at all times.

Brief summary of the findings

Our research aims to find out if London Met students are influenced by fashion and find how much they spend in shopping per month and also what they think about fashion.

To make up this research, in a way to see some statistics, we have decided, to make a quantitative survey. A questionnaire was made and distributed to the other students in pre-sessional academic English.

After collecting answers from the respondents of the other classes, the results have shown that more than 60% of the students interviewed were between 21 and 25 year old and 21% were 20 and under. 58% of them were female. More than half of the respondents (58%) declared that they go for shopping more than 3 times per month and the majority buy clothes. Almost of respondents get between 500 and 700 pounds per month and spend less than £100 in their shopping per month while only 6% of them spend more than 300 pounds per month in shopping.

Nearly two thirds of students stated that they are influenced by the media TV, newspapers, magazines, posters….) for their shopping while 37% affirmed that they aren’t influenced by any kind of media and do shopping as part of their lifestyle, and only 3% say that they are influenced by celebrities.

Questionnaire

This is a survey research for pre-sessional course at London Metropolitan University. The research aims to find out if London Met students are influenced by the latest fashion and how much they spend on and finally what they think about fashion.

1) Gender:

a- Male
b- Female

2) Age:

a- 18 - 20
b- 21 – 25
c- 26 – 30
d- 30 – 40
e- More than 40

3) Education:
a- Senior high school
b- Undergraduate
c- Postgraduate
d- PHD

4) Do you have a part time job?

a- Yes
b- No

5) How much do you earn per month?

a- Under £300
b- 300 – 400
c- 400 – 500
d- Over £500

6) How much do you get from your sponsors?

a- Under £500
b- 500 – 600
c- 600 – 700
d- Over £700

7) How often do you shop per month?

a- Once
b- Twice
c- 3 times
d- More than 3 times

8) How much do you spend on shopping per month?

a- Under £100
b- 100 – 200
c- 200 – 300
d- More than £300

9) What kind of stuff do you usually buy?

a- Clothes
b- Shoes
c- Accessories

10) What’s influence your choice in shopping?

a- Posters in front of shops
b- Newspapers and magazines
c- TV
d- Celebrities

11) What do you think of fashion?

Grammar exercises: passive voice

Exercise 1:

1- The theft was reported to the police.
2- The charity has been given £1,000.
3- The program will be demonstrated to the students.
4- The procedure was explained to me.
5- Large areas of forest are being destroyed every day.
6- The land next to the university has been bought.
7- I hope all the marking will have been completed by tomorrow
8- The library should have been finished by the time you arrive
9- Better results are expected soon
10- The complaints should be sent to the head of department
11- The lecture had to be postpone because of illness
12- The fire could have been caused
13- Next year’s conference in Birmingham is going to be hold
14- This fact is known very well
15- The new lecture theatre was opened only the last month
16- The answers must be written on the examination paper in black ink
17- This type of computer is now being manufactured in Korea
18- The problem should be investigated


Exercise 2

1- Prices are stables and they are maintained in this way over generations
2- Tropical forests are defined here as ‘ evergreen or partly evergreen forests’
3- Methane is distinguished because it has a large number of significant sources
4- The old dilator procedure was reformed in 1852
5- In 1916 the disease regulations were passed
6- It was only in the 1930s, in oxford, that lysozyme was isolated and crystallised
7- These findings are replicated
8- The date 753 BC was eventually generally accepted
9- A range of rival theories are next considered
10- The subject is required to answer if the statement is true or false
11- The examinations should be conducted in the greatest possible privacy
12- The discussion will be confined to general principles of treatment
13- Many genes were transcribed and many proteins synthesised
14- A further class of solutions in which main equation are separated in yet another way has been given by Yurtse


Exercise 3

1- It was understood that Mr Smith was willing to meet the British prime minister
2- It is considered that this surgeon is a brilliant practitioner
3- When Chain came in on Sunday morning and saw the result, it is said that he danced
4- It is claimed that drugs produced no undesirable side effects
5- It is expected that the electricity supply industry will be running into surplus capacity by next year
6- It is now thought that only a small fraction of the nitrous oxide emitted to the atmosphere ach year comes from fossil-fuel use, primarily coal
7- At the present time, it is believed that the only problem with daytime is that it is too short
8- Although it is expected the patient to pay for his treatment, he will be reimbursed via the state medical insurance scheme
9- If one person chooses to causes serious injury to another, it should be presumed that he or she realises that there is always a risk of death
10- It was also alleged that he amassed wealth by exploiting his high creditwith the Palmyra court

vocabulary

1- Abhorrence: horror, fear
Exp: His abhorrence of flying is coming back in each time he is travelling by plane.

2- Alacrity: be happy and enthusiastic to do something
Exp: He accepted our invitation with alacrity

3- Beastliness: very bad and horrible behaviour, the adjective is beastly
Exp: The beastliness of his manners always causes him problems

4- Jubilant: very happy, and the signs of happiness are very clear and appear in your face, very excited.
Exp: She was jubilant over her daughter’s marriage

5- Junkie: is someone addicted to drugs. We can also use the word for someone who really likes something like chocolate, sugar or football.

6- Peripatetic: people who don’t stay in the some place. People who move a lot.