The Application Of Peer-assisted Learning In High School English Writing Teaching

As an important component of language skills,writing can objectively assess students’ comprehensive language application abilities and reflect their true English proficiency levels.It is of great significance for teachers to systematically train students in a planned and step-by-step manner,and guide them with appropriate methods,in order to improve their writing performance and abilities.In 2012,Wang proposed the method of continuation writing.In 2016,Zhejiang province adopted a new question type named continuation writing task for the first time in the English paper of the college entrance examination.Since then,more and more scholars have begun to study the combination of reading and writing to solve the problem of separating language input from output.This study uses questionnaire survey,experimental method and interview method to understand the current situation of continuation writing and peer-assisted learning applications,and conducts experimental research based on actual situations.The subjects of this experiment are from Class 7 and Class 8 of a high school in Jiangsu Province,with Class 8 being the experimental class and Class 7 being the control class.Firstly,a questionnaire and a continuation writing test paper were distributed to two classes before the experiment,and 54 students in the experimental class were divided into high-level and low-level groups based on their pre-test scores.Secondly,after the 15-week experiment,another continuation writing test paper was distributed to the two classes again,and a questionnaire was distributed to the experimental class.Ten students from the experimental class were randomly selected for interviews.Finally,the results of the experiment are sorted out and analyzed.This study attempts to answer the following questions: 1.Does peer-assisted learning have an impact on high school students’ continuation writing scores? If so,what is the impact? 2.Does peer-assisted learning affect the continuation writing abilities of senior high school students with different English proficiency? If so,what are the respective effects? 3.What is the impact of peer-assisted learning on high school students’ attitudes towards continuation writing?The findings are as follows: 1.Compared with the traditional one-way teaching by teachers,peer-assisted learning significantly improves students’ continuation writing scores,and the improvement in writing scores of the low-level group is better than that of the high-level group.That is to say,all students in the experimental class benefit from the peer-assisted learning model,and the students in the low-level group have more room for improvement.2.Generally speaking,after a period of specialized learning and evaluation,the students’ continuation writing abilities in both the experimental and control classes have been strengthened.Under the peer-assisted learning model,the experimental class students made significant progress in terms of accuracy,abundance,coherence,and cohesion in their writing compared to the control class.Specifically,the low-level group achieved significant improvements in accuracy,coherence,and coherence in continuation writing.Although there were some improvements in the abundance of writing,the changes were not significant.The high-level group has significantly improved the accuracy and coherence of continuation writing,while the improvement in writing abundance and coherence is not significant enough.In terms of the magnitude of changes,the students in the low-level group showed better improvement in accuracy and cohesion in their writing compared to the high-level group,while their performance in abundance and coherence was not as good as that of the high-level group.It can be seen that the peer-assisted learning model has different degrees of positive effects on different aspects of students’ continuation writing ability at different levels.3.The application of peer-assisted learning mode has led to a significant change in students’ attitude towards continuation writing,which is manifested by their resistance before the experiment to their expectations and confidence after the experiment.They believe that collaborating with peers and helping each other to learn writing is a pleasant experience,which greatly increases their likelihood of completing continuation writing and enhances their confidence in achieving ideal continuation writing scores.The findings of this study have certain implications for the classroom teaching of English writing in high schools in China.This study suggests that introducing the peer-assisted learning model in high school continuation writing teaching can not only improve teachers’ tired and ineffective situation but also help stimulate students’ interest in writing and enhance their writing motivation.