Writing an Introduction

IV. Writing the draft

Introduction is an obligatory part that precedes the main body of your article. The Introduction introduces the reader to the topic or subject. The author should not plunge unprepared readers into the middle of the discussed problem or theory. We need to take some time and space necessary to lead them up to the formal or theoretical statement of the problem step by step.

Consequently, it is necessary to arrange the information from general to more specific. It is also recommended to give a reader a historical context so that they can understand the significance of your article. It is necessary to use examples to illustrate theoretical points or to introduce unfamiliar conceptual or technical terms. The more abstract the material, the more important examples become.

1. Introduction

Play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. This birthright is challenged by forces including child labor and exploitation practices, war and neighborhood violence, and the limited resources available to children living in poverty. However, even those children fortunate enough to have abundant available resources and who live in relative peace may not be receiving the full benefits of play. Many of these children are being raised in an increasingly hurried and pressured style that may limit the protective benefits they would gain from child-driven play. Because every child deserves the opportunity to develop to their unique potential, child advocates must consider all factors that interfere with optimal development and press for circumstances that allow each child to fully reap the advantages associated with play.

(Source: Kenneth R. Ginsburg. The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds. American Academy of Pediatrics Report, October 9, 2006).

2. Introduction

China’s traditional culture has witnessed two major changes. Both were induced by the impact of foreign cultures, partly as a result of large-scale translation activities. The first one involved the translation of Buddhist Scripture starting from the Han Dynasty (25-220). The second one was related to scientific translation undertaken on an extensive scale in the early 20th century. The latter was led by the translation of scientific textbooks. As G. Toury suggests, “most texts were selected for ideological reasons” (cited in Gentzler 1993: 126). Though the translation of scientific textbooks surged at that time, the historical elements, conditioning the selection of the translations, shaped themselves after the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. The War shocked the whole Chinese society who came to realise the importance of introducing western knowledge to China and the necessity of reforms.

An examination of the dominant ideological factors of the times can serve to provide a general picture for the understanding of the motivation for the translation selections at the macroscopic level, such as the purposes of the translation, the translator’s cultural stances and strategies, and for the investigation of the cultural functions of these translation activities.

(Source: Fan Xiangtao. Scientific Translation and its Social Functions: a Descriptive-Functional Approach to Scientific Textbook Translation in China. The Journal of Specialised Translation Issue 7 - January 2007)

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