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What actually happens in Introductions? What are the functions of an Introduction? How are these
functions realised? Knowing the answers to these questions might help us read more efficiently, write
more effective Introductions, and help us prepare clearer presentations.
Unread studies are useless
Your study may be incredibly important, amazingly well done, and very elegantly written, but if nobody
reads it... So how can you try to make sure that people will read it? This is where rhetoric comes in.
Rhetoric: the art of persuasion
Rhetoric is concerned with the way you use language to achieve your objectives. These objectives may
be to amuse people, to inform, maybe even to shock: but most usually in introductions to research
articles and presentations your main aim will be to persuade.
The CARS model for Introductions: an ecological metaphor
The CARS model is an attempted description of what happens in introductions, not a statement of what
you should do whenever you write an introduction. So it is descriptive, not prescriptive.
You can see why John Swales called his model of article introductions CARS - Create A Research
Space. Swales and many other investigators have analysed a large number of article introductions in
many disciplines, and in most it seems that the writer is trying to create a space for his/her research,
by using various kinds of rhetorical tricks. Swales identified a number of moves (like the moves in a
game of chess) the writer makes in trying to persuade readers that s/he has something important to say
(see next page). In the model he used an ecological metaphor, comparing the researcher trying to
survive in the research world to an animal trying to survive in nature. Both have to struggle to survive!
The amount of struggling (rhetorical work) you need to do to create such a space, or niche, for yourself
depends on several factors: for example, (a) the existing competition in the field, (b) the size and
importance of the niche you want to fill, and (c) your reputation as a researcher.
Obviously, if (a) there are very many researchers working in the same field, and (b) you have been
working on an important topic, and (c) you are not famous, you will have to do quite a lot of rhetorical
work if you want to persuade people to read your study!
Function of Introductions: to create a space for your research
In the introduction you will need to:
1) remind your colleagues (or possibly persuade them, if they don't know it yet!) that
your particular research field is important (ESTABLISHING A TERRITORY);
2) show how your research fits in this important context, and that there is a
"space" for your study (ESTABLISHING A NICHE);
3) show how you fill this "space", or niche, in the wider ecosystem, or
research field (OCCUPYING THE NICHE).
Some typical expressions used in each Step of the Introduction
Indicating RA structure
We have organised the rest of this paper in the following way...
This paper is structured as follows...