Teaching English Writing In Senior High School: Misconceptions, Problems, And Approaches

As one of the four basic skills of language learning and an inseparable aspect of communicative competence, English writing has drawn more and more attention in the ELT research circles. But over the years the poor performance in writing on the part of Chinese students has upset even the most experienced teachers in China. Starting from the perspectives of modern linguistic theory, the practical needs of student development, and the pressing demands of the new curriculum, this dissertation first argues for the necessity of an enhanced role of composition teaching in Chinese senior high school. It then proceeds to analyze prevalent misconceptions about writing and the concomitant problems in the teaching and learning of English writing in most schools. These misconceptions and problems, as our sample study on student writing indicates, constitute the greatest hindrance for a break in present stagnation and for overall improvement of students' achievement in senior student writing in the conceivable future. Based on the premise that writing can be learned and trained, the dissertation accordingly explores the nature, process and function of English writing and introduces practical approaches to the training of English writing that has proved viable in senior middle schools. In combining academic research with empirical study and in illustrating how to put the writing theory and strategy into practical use, the author tries to provide as many as possible the necessary samples - students' original essays, student essays with teacher's revisions, and student essays that serves as model essays. The samples presented are the result of a long, tedious, andpainstaking process of tracking and choosing: some comes from students' homework and regular examination papers; others are taken intact from students' response to the writing section in the past years' NCEE. The dissertation concludes with suggested approaches pertinent to the improvement of existing conditions in the teaching English writing in senior middle school. In terms of students, it contends, while practical guides to writing skills are necessary, the emphasis should be on activating their learning motives, cultivating their interest, and ultimately, teaching them to learn by themselves. In terms of teachers, however, the choice of methods of teaching is subject to a variety of interlocking factors ranging from individual teachers' expertise, taste and outlook to students' knowledge, abilities, and goals. The crux of the issue, therefore, is to pluralize approaches to writing by making adaptations where the needs of learners and circumstances of learning necessitate.