本书通过分析英语专业硕士论文的“前言”部分，旨在探讨中国学生如何通过语类结构选择和语言再现形式实现此部分学术写作应达到的交际目的。学术论文“前言”作为一种语篇类型，不仅是论文写作中必不可少的组成部分，也是一种具有交际目的的社会行为。全书共分八部分，全面分析了英语专业硕士论文前言部分的语类。

Chapter One Introduction

 1.1 Genre analysis as a way of studying academic writing

 1.2 Gaps'existing in research on students' theses

 1.3 Research objectives

 1.4 Significance of the study

 1.5 Outline of the book

Chapter Two Literature Review on the Genre Introduction

 2.1 An overview of studies on the genre of introduction

 2.2 Generic structure of introductions

2.2.1 Swales (1981, 1990)

2.2.2 Nwogu (1991, 1997)

2.2.3 Dudley-Evans (1986)

2.2.4 Bunton (2002)

 2.3 Specific language features related to introductions

2.3.1 Citation behavior

2.3.2 Reporting verbs

2.3.3 Tense choices

 2.4 Influencing factors on the genre of introduction

2.4.1 Variation across disciplines

2.4.2 Variation across cultures

 2.5 Final comments on studies done on introductions and remaining issues

 2.6 Summary

Chapter Three Theoretical Foundations and a Proposed Framework

 3.1 Theories of genre

3.1.1 English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

3.1.2 Australian genre studies

3.1.3 New Rhetoric

3.1.4 Comments on the three traditions of genre

 3.2 A contextual view towards genre

3.2.1 Context and genre

3.2.2 Contextual.factors affecting academic discourse

 3.3 Theoretical assumption and a proposed framework

 3.4 Method for analyzing the texts

 3.5 Summary

Chapter Four Description of the Research

 4.1 The corpus

 4.2 Methodology

4.2.1 Criteria for identification of moves and steps

4.2.2 Identification of moves aiid steps through their functions

4.2.3 Identification of moves and steps through language signals

4.2.4 Issues in classifying moves and steps in the corpus

 4.3 General procedure followed in the analysis

 4.4 An example of move analysis

Chapter Five Macro-level Analysis

 5.1 Section headings

 5.2 Generic moves

5.2.1 Frequency of the moves

5.2.2 Move combinations

5.2.3 Move cycles

 5.3 Constituent steps

5.3.1 General findings

5.3.2 Description of steps

 5.4 Generic structure of Chinese MA thesis introductions

 5.5 Summary

Chapter Six Micro-level Analysis

 6.1 Lexical features showing the importance of the topic

 6.2 Lexical means for arguing about the problematic aspect of the topic

 6.3 Citation features

6.3.1 Distribution of citations

6.3.2 Citation forms

6.3.3 The choice of reporting verbs

6.3.4 Tenses of reporting verbs in citations

 6.4 Summary

Chapter Seven Discussion

 7.1 The ways Chinese MA students create their research space

 7.2 Contextual factors influencing the genre of Chinese MA thesis introductions

7.2.1 The factor of the writing task

7.2.2 The factor of discipline

7.2.3 The factor of educational and cultural background

 7.3 An evaluation of Chinese MA thesis introductions

7.3.1 Existing problems

7.3.2 A modified generic pattern

Chapter Eight Conclusions

 8.1 Conclusion of the study

 8.2 Pedagogical implications

 8.3 Limitations in the study and opportunities for further research

Bibliography