bendAcademic writing Introduction

Introduction

25

．

1 Some conventions(

一些规则习惯

)

Every

professional

paper

should

have

at

least

one

or

two

introductory

paragraphs.

In

the

Introduction

the

writer

sets

the

stage

for

the

main

topic.

It

provides

information

for

the

reader

about the paper, without giving the details of the work and conclusions. Often the Introduction is

used

to

put

the

research

into

perspective,

by

stating

how

it

relates

to

other

technical

and

institutional work. The Introduction can range from half of a page to two pages.

The purpose of the Introduction is to supply sufficient background information to allow

the

reader

to

understand

and

evaluate

the

results

of

the

present

study

without

referring

to

previous

publications on the topic. The introduction should also provide the rationale for the present study.

The

writer

should

state

briefly

and

clearly

his

purpose

in

writing

the

paper.

Much

of

the

Introduction should be written in the present tense because the writer will be referring primarily to

the problem and the related established know-ledge at the beginning of the work.

(i)

It should present the nature and scope of the problem investigated. Since there might be many

perspectives from which the writer can approach the problem, narrowing down the scope of work

and de-limiting the boundary of the study becomes necessary.

(ii) The Introduction is the proper place to define any specialized terms or abbreviations intended

to be used.

(iii)

The

Introduction

should

also

inform

the

reader

of

the

general

purpose

of

the

paper

and

illustrate the primary objectives of the research.

(iv) It should review the pertinent literature to orient the reader. In science and engineering studies

the literature is reviewed for several reasons, for example, to learn from the work of others, to give

credit to similar and relevant studies, to help the reader in further study to the topic, problem or

theory. In professional work it is essential to make it clear what contributions have been made by

others,

and

what

the

cur-rent

work

has

achieved

and

contributed

to

further

understanding.

The

reader must never be in doubt what has already been established in the literature before, and what

the reported study has contributed.

(v) The Introduction may also talk of the arrangement of the writing at the end of the Introduction.

In long papers, the mention of the arrangement of the writing enables the reader to understand the

pa-per more easily, and can make the reader feel convenient in further reading.

25

．

2 Stabilized structure(

稳定的结构方式

)

1

．

Establishing the scope of research(

表示研究／讨论范围

)

Step l Claiming centrality(

表明讨论中心话题

)

and

／

or

Step 2 Making topic generalization(s)(< /p>

总括所研究话题的现状

)

and

／

or

Step 3 Reviewing previous research(

综述前人研究

)

2

．

Establishing a niche(

确立研究／讨论话题

)

Step l A Counte r

—

claiming(

反驳前人观点

)

Or

Step l B Indicating a gap(

表明前人研究空白

)

Or

Step l C Question

—

raising(

提出问题

)

Or

Step l D Continuing a tradition(

继续前人研究

)

3

．

Occupying the niche(

研究／讨论具体切人点

)

Step l A Outlining purposes(

表明研究目的

)

Or

Step l B Announcing present research(

表明当前研究重点

)

Step 2 Announcing principal findings(

表明主要发现

)

Step 3 Indicating the research article structure(

表明文章结构

)

1

．

Establishing the scope of research(

确定研究／讨论范围

)

Step

1

centrality

claims:

In

the

introduction,

centrality

claims

are

typically

expressed

in

one

sentence, but can also be in two or more sentences. Typically, they are put at the beginning of the

Introduction.

The

author

can

introduce

centrality

claims

by

claiming

interest

or

importance,

referring

to

the

main

character

of

the

issue,

or

claiming

that

there

are

many

other

investigators

active in the area.

Some typical examples are:

~ Recently, there has been a spate of interest in how to...

~ In recent years, applied researchers have become increasingly interested in...

~ The possibility...has generated interest in...

~ Recently, there has been wide interest in...

~ The time development ...is a classic problem in fluid mechanics.

~ The well-known...phenomena...have been favorite topics for analysis both in...

~ Knowledge of ...has a great importance for...

~ The study of...has become an important aspect of...

~ The effect of...has been studied extensively in recent years.

~ Many investigators have recently turned to...

~ The relationship between ...has been studied by many authors.

~ A central issue in...is the validity of...

The Introduction can also begins with step 2

Step 2: making a topic generalization. Statements of topic generalizations generally fall into two

categories:

statements

about

knowledge

or

practice,

or

statements

about

phenomena.

Typical

examples of the first group are:

~ There is now much evidence to support the hypothesis that...

~ The ...properties of...are still not completely understood.

~ A standard procedure for assessing has been...

~ Education core courses are often criticized for...

Typically

these

statements

express

in

general

terms

the

current

state

of

knowledge,

of

technique, or of current requirements for further progress.

The second group of topic generalizations refers to phenomena:

~ ...is a common finding in patients with...

~ An elaborate system of...is found in the ...

~ English is rich in related words exhibiting

~

There

are

many

situations

where

examination

scripts

are

marked

and

then

re-marked

by

another examiner.

Step 3 Reviewing previous research

When reviewing previous research, the author needs to relate what has been found (claimed)

with

who

has

found

it

(claimed

it).

There

are

generally

two

forms

of

citation:

integral

and

non-integral. In the text of a report, integral citation usually names the author in text and the year

of

publication

in

parentheses.

Non-integral

citation

puts

references

at

the

end

of

a

sentence

or

paragraph inside parentheses. If there is just one author, the integral citation form is Jones (1987),

and the non-integral citation form is (Halliday, 1987). If there are two authors the citation should

be Jones and Smith (1987) or (Jones and Smith 1987). And when there are three or more authors,

the citation should be Jones et al. (1987) or (Jones et al., 1987). It should be noted that there is no

period after the word

same year, they are marked with an

semicolon (;) is used between references when you refer to more than one at the same time.

A

literature

review

should

not

be

a

laundry

list,

meaning

that

it

should

not

be

listing

of

unrelated items. A literature review should be a coherent review of the main ideas and results of

published materials, as they relate to the topic or problem of the report being written. The length

of Literature Review is highly variable, from a paragraph to a few pages.

The main patterns are illustrated with the following examples: Examples of integral citation

forms (

直接引用方式

)

~ Bile (1988) showed/shows that the moon is made of cheese.

~ The moon's cheesy composition is established by Bile (1988).

~ Brie's theory (1988) claims/claimed that the moon is made of cheese.

~ Brie's (1988) theory of lunar composition has general support.

~ According to Brie (1988), the moon is made of cheese.

Examples of indirect citation forms (

间接引用方式

) ..

~ Previous research has shown that the moon is made of cheese (Brie, 1988).

~ It has been shown that the moon is made of cheese (Brie, 1988).

~ It has been established that the moon is made of cheese (Brie, 1988).

~ The moon is probably made of cheese (Bile, 1988).

~ The moon may be made of cheese (of. Rock, 1989).

2. Establishing a niche (

确定研究

/< /p>

讨论话题

)

To

establish

a

niche,

the

author

usually

starts

with

an

adversative

sentence- connector,

most

commonly with however but also with such signals as but, nevertheless,

yet, and unfortunately.

Step

l

A

Counter-claiming

e.g.

However,

the

use

of...

results

in

such

a

degree

of ...

that ...

has

become necessary.

Or

Step 1B Indicating a gap e.g. However, the use of...results in a significant amount of

Or

Step 1C Question-raising e.g. However, it is not clear whether the use of...can be modified to

Or

Step 1D Continuing a tradition e.g. The remaining issue is to find a way of better controlling

In this part, the author most typically starts with step 1B, indicating a gap. The author does not

counter-claim

that

the

previous

work

is

hopelessly

misguided,

but

rather

from

some

limitations

~ No research has been done on ...

~ Little effort has been spent on the study of...

~ (Very) few researchers have investigated...