Writing an Individual Chapter 49
Here’s an example of a chapter introduction.
From ‘Chapter Five: The Place of FC in the Academic EFL Instructors’ Practice’ in Al-
Asmari, Abdul (2008). Integration of Foreign Culture Into Pre-service EFL Teacher
Education: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia, p. 151. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of
Melbourne.
The previous chapter introduced an analysis of the place of foreign culture (FC) in the pol-
icy of pre-service Saudi EFL (SEFL) teacher education. As found, the place of FC remained
overlooked in policy despite the global and national developments as well as policymakers’
positive views about the place of FC in EFL education. Key findings indicate that there is a
gap between policy and practice, and the SEFL teacher education was subsequently found
to be policy-driven. Considering the contextual and cultural constraints that challenge the
place of FC in policy (e.g. centralisation of policy-making), the place of FC may be nega-
tively influenced in practice. Also, such constraints as lack of national standards, resistance
of global pressure, and cultural ideologies in SA necessitate developing context-specific
concepts for potential integration of FC in pre-service SEFL teacher education.
In this chapter, therefore, I investigate the place of FC in the academic EFL instructors’
practice of SEFL teacher education. To do this, I analyse the academic EFL instructors’
responses to the interview questions within a focus provided by the previous chapter (See
Appendix 3). An important note that I must add is that this investigation is not meant as
academic staff appraisal; rather, it intends to examine the place of FC in practice in light of
the reported policy conditions and curriculum limitations. Besides confirming findings that
emerged at the policy level, my aim is to further shape dimensions for developing concepts
and relevant implications to integrate FC within the context-specific conditions.
Structurally, this chapter consists of four thematic sections with relevant sub-sections. In
the first section, I discuss the academic EFL instructors’ conceptualisation of FC through
their perceptions of FC and views about its place in EFL education. Next, I address issues of
the place of FC in the actual instructors’ practice. In the third section, I lay out a discussion
of challenges to the place of FC in practice. Also, I analyse and discuss available opportuni-
ties and alternatives for providing exposure to FC in pre-service SEFL teacher education.
Finally, a summary of this chapter and focus for the following chapter is provided.You may be tempted to write far more than these three paragraphs in your intro-
ductions, especially in background chapters. For example, the first draft of an in-
troduction to a chapter reviewing approaches to the problem of improving diet in
disadvantaged inner-urban communities might include several pages describing the
problem, as a prelude to reviews in later sections of the solutions proposed by vari-
ous schools of thought. The readers will need this review, but if you give it to them
before they learn why the chapter is in the thesis and what it is attempting to do you
will confuse them. Make it the first section after your introduction.
After the introduction comes the main body of the chapter. Its contents and struc-
ture will depend on the kind of chapter you are writing and the kind of research
you are reporting. Nevertheless, it needs to flow logically from the purpose of the
chapter, as stated in its introduction, to its summary of conclusions. This typically
involves three or four major sections. Having too many sections in a chapter makes
the structure hard for the reader to follow; if you find that you have created a lot
of sections, then you need to step back and ask if the structure is still appropriate.
Note that it is bad form to immediately follow a section heading with a subsec-
tion heading. This amounts to saying that you have nothing to say to the reader
about the section’s purpose and contents. Every component of your thesis needs an
introduction.