Writingathesisishardwork.Youspendmanymonthsonit.TheEnglishpartisimportant.Manystudentsworryaboutthispart.TheythinktheirEnglishisnotgoodenough.Thisisacommonfear.Youarenotalone.
TheEnglishsectionservesaclearpurpose.Itshowsyourresearchtotheworld.Englishisthemainlanguageforacademicwork.AgoodEnglishsectionhelpsotherpeopleunderstandyourideas.Itmakesyourworkusefultoothers.Yourhardworkdeservestobeunderstood.
Startwiththetitle.Thetitlemustbesimple.Itshouldtellpeopleexactlywhatyourthesisisabout.Useclearwords.Avoidfancyterms.Thinkaboutwhatwordssomeonewouldusetosearchforyourwork.Yourtitleshouldhavethosewords.
Theabstractcomesnext.Theabstractisashortsummary.Itisveryimportant.Manypeopleonlyreadtheabstract.Writeitcarefully.Saywhatyourresearchisabout.Saywhyyoudidit.Explainyourmainmethod.Stateyourmostimportantfinding.Keepitshortanddirect.Everysentencemustgiveusefulinformation.
Thenyouhavetheintroduction.Theintroductionsetsthestage.Tellthereaderaboutyourtopic.Explaintheproblemyouaretryingtosolve.Saywhythisproblemmatters.Keepyoursentencesshort.Makeonepointineachsentence.Donottrytosoundsmart.Trytobeclear.
Theliteraturereviewisnext.Hereyoutalkaboutotherpeople'swork.Showwhatotherresearchershavefound.Explainhowyourworkisdifferent.Showthegapintheknowledge.Yourworkwillfillthisgap.Usesimplelanguagetodescribecomplexstudies.Thisshowsyoutrulyunderstandthem.
Themethodologysectionexplainsyourprocess.Tellthereaderwhatyoudid.Describeyoursteps.Explainhowyoucollectedyourdata.Explainhowyouanalyzedyourdata.Writethissectionlikearecipe.Someoneshouldbeabletorepeatyourworkbyreadingit.Useactivevoice.Say"Ididthis"insteadof"Thiswasdone."
Thenyoupresentyourresults.Showyourdata.Usetablesandgraphsifyouhavethem.Writesentencestodescribewhatthetablesandgraphsshow.Donotexplainwhattheresultsmeanyet.Juststatethefacts.Beveryprecise.Numbersareyourfriendshere.
Thediscussionsectionisforexplainingyourresults.Thisiswhereyoutalkaboutwhatyourfindingsmean.Connectyourresultsbacktoyourresearchquestions.Compareyourresultswiththeresultsfromotherstudies.Whyareyourresultsthesame?Whyaretheydifferent?Behonest.Ifaresultwassurprising,sayso.Thissectionshowsyourthinking.
Yourconclusionisthefinalpart.Restateyourmainfindings.Donotintroducenewinformation.Talkaboutthelimitsofyourwork.Whatcouldyounotdo?Whatproblemsdidyouface?Then,givesuggestionsforfutureresearch.Whatshouldthenextpersonstudy?Thisshowsyourworkispartofalargerconversation.
Writingsimplyisdifficult.Ittakespractice.Readeachsentencealoud.Doesitsoundlikesomethingyouwouldsay?Ifitsoundstoocomplicated,changeit.Replacelongwordswithshortones.Breaklongsentencesintotwoorthreeshortones.
Grammarandspellingareimportant.Smallmistakescanconfusethereader.Theymakeyourworklookcareless.Useagrammarcheckertool.Askafriendtoreadyourwork.Afreshpairofeyesfindsmistakesyoumiss.
Donotusetoomanytransitionwords.Wordslike"furthermore"or"however"areoftenunnecessary.Yourideasshouldflowinalogicalorder.Thelogicshouldconnectthesentences,notthewords.Ifyourthinkingisclear,thewritingwillbeclear.
Youfeelpressuretousecomplexvocabulary.Youthinkitmakesyoulookmoreacademic.Thisisnottrue.Thebestacademicwritingiseasytounderstand.Yourgoaliscommunication,notimpression.Simplewordscommunicateideasbetter.
Writingisaprocess.Yourfirstdraftwillnotbeperfect.Thatisokay.Writeeverythingdownfirst.Donotworryaboutstyle.Justgetyourideasonpaper.Then,gobackandrewrite.Makeeachsentenceclearer.Cutanywordthatisnotneeded.Thisishowgoodwritingismade.
Youhaveworkedforalongtimeonyourresearch.TheEnglishsectionshouldhonorthatwork.Itshouldbeaclearwindowintoyourideas.Anyonewhoreadsitshouldunderstandwhatyoudidandwhyitmatters.Thisisthefinalstepofyourlongjourney.Youcandoit.