On Planning And Coherence Of English Writing In Middle Schools

Writing is the content of education and the means of teaching in English teaching of middle schools. Recently, as the reform of English teaching of writing in middle schools has developed greatly, various good teaching methods have appeared, which has improved students' writing level. However, most of them are limited in words, phrases, sentences and grammar, so they are seldom involved in textual level. In this case, this thesis aims at approaching teaching strategies of English writing from the angles of view of planning and coherence, by means of literature, questionnaire and English-Chinese contrast.First, according to the results of the questionnaire and the analysis of the writing items of the entrance examinations for colleges and universities in recent years, this thesis points out the following problems: On one hand, students pay too much attention to words and grammar, but too little to planning and coherence in their compositions. On the other hand, teachers focus on "Product Approach"simply. That is to say, teachers concentrate on the students' product - finishedcompositions, not on the process - how they are writing.Second, this thesis illustrates the necessity of planning and coherence, based on the rules that the theory of text reveals, and shows that the basic feature of a text is unity and coherence. At the same time, this thesis states that planning is organization of each part of a text and its whole design, which should be suitable to English writing schemata. Also according to the new standard of curriculum, this thesis illustrates the necessity of students' ability to plan their compositions and make their compositions coherent.Then, this thesis illustrates the effect to planning and construction of coherence, which is made by the theory of text in three ways. First, students should change their ways of thinking. Both Kaplan and Bander consider English way of thinking and Chinese way of thinking are different. The organization of an English text is a straight line, while the organization of a Chinese text is a circular line. Thus, the topic sentence usually appears at the beginning of a paragraph, then its explanations are followed. This is called "come straight to the point." While the development of a Chinese text is a circular line. That is to say, the result follows the causes. We can call it "add a word or two to clinch the point." Second, students should establish their writing schemata. This thesis, after introducing the schemata theory, considers that schema is the basis of writing as well as knowledge. Therefore, teachers should help students establish and complete their writing schemata in teaching. Third, theimportance of the textual coherence is shown. This thesis points out that there is no text without coherence. Thus, teachers must help enhance students' sense of texture, and try to make their compositions coherent by many means.And then, this thesis introduces and illustrates the strategies of planning and coherence more carefully. Also, planning is discussed in three ways. First, style should be considered in planning compositions. Then, the meanings of paragraphs should be clear, and paragraphs unified. Third, the relationships between thesis, topic sentences and developing sentences are illustrated by a structural diagram. That is to say, topic sentences serve the thesis and are explained and illustrated by developing sentences. After planning being explained and illustrated, coherence is illustrated in four ways, including semantic level, lexical level, syntactic level and symbolic level.After discussing the means of coherence, this thesis provides special training of planning and coherence in two parts in connection with the reality of writing teaching in middle schools, so as to provide operating examples. First, this thesis shows how to refine the main idea and decide the style in subject-assigned compositions and scenic compositions. Then, planning and organization are trained, which include topic sentences, logical order, structures of paragraph...