Academic_writing_Introduction 引言的写作

Writing An Introduction of A Research Paper

I.

Some conventions(

一些规则

)

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.

II.

Stabilized structure(

固定的结构

)

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

)

1

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

2

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 authors and from the same year, they are marked with an

et al., 1987b). A 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

Typical sentence patterns used to indicate a gap are listed below:

~ No research has been done on ...

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

~ (Very) few researchers have investigated...

3