1.4. Table of contents

Table of contents is normally the first information parcel a reader looks at and makes a judgement of your work. The table of contents is always compiled after the whole work has been completed and contains all the major headings and sections of the work with page numbering, including the “front matter” and “back matter”, except the cover, the title page, abstract and the table of contents itself. Do not forget that the table of contents like an acid paper reflects the logical sequence of the ideas presented in your written document providing evidence of relevance and coherence of the subject matter.

1.5. Introduction and methodology

The aim of this chapter is to set the scene and lead the reader towards the central idea of the thesis, i.e. the hypothesis, a tentative, preliminary statement, which will eventually be refined into a Thesis Statement. By the time the State exam in the English language is held the students’ graduation assignment will not have been completed; therefore at this stage they are not required to produce a final well-supported and proved Thesis statement, but an idea that contains a tentative conclusion and therefore suggests a specific direction for their research.

The hypothesis should be debatable, not simply a restatement of existing information. Students should be aiming to locate data to support this hypothesis, consider a variety of opinions, and then draw their conclusions and/or make their recommendations based on the information they have gathered.

In the introduction as well as in all other parts of the written document students should avoid using I/In my opinion, etc. Whatever views are presented in students’ work they are considered their opinion anyway. More objective passive may be used instead.

The Introduction should not contain too many arguments and examples. They should be saved for the main body of the document. Students should make sure that everything in the Introduction helps to introduce, not to support the Hypothesis; the latter should be done in the main body of the text.

Students should consider writing the Introduction last, when they have a complete enough perspective of the whole material for the written document prepared for the State exam.

The final paragraph of the opening chapter should indicate how the subject has been researched (methodology), describing the balance between desk and field research.

1.6. Text - Main body

Generally speaking, the main body is a well-organized opinion presentation of (research) material and findings, all serving to support, clarify, illustrate, in short, develop a case for the Hypothesis. The main body of the document written for the State exam in the English language should observe the same principles as described in the Thesis Manual, e.g. unity, coherence, relevance to the main idea, logical sequence, transitions, paragraphs, etc. Special attention will be paid to the language means employed to communicate the message.