A Study On The Application Of Length Approach In Senior English Writing Teaching

According to General Senior High School English Curriculum Standards(2017),English writing is an indispensable segment in developing students’ listening,speaking,reading,writing and viewing.Because writing involves the use of multiple language skills such as grammar,vocabulary,sentence structure,and critical thinking;therefore,it is a critical factor that affects students’ learning performance.However,it is true that many students struggle with English writing,particularly in high school,where the expectation for English writing proficiency is higher.The proposed Length Approach by Professor Wang is an instructional method that aims to address the challenges that students who are non-native English speakers face in developing their English writing skills,where the emphasis is often placed on reading and writing rather than on listening and speaking.Therefore,this thesis attempts to apply the Length Approach to English writing teaching in senior grade three,aiming at the practical problems existing in English writing teaching,to explore the application effect of Length Approach in English writing teaching of senior high school.Specifically,this study aims to explore the following three questions:(1)How can students’ English writing ability be improved with the help of Length Approach?(2)How can students’ feeling of “fear to write” be alleviated with the help of Length Approach?(3)What are the differences of the influence of Length Approach on students with different writing ability?The research included teaching experiments,writing proficiency test,questionnaires,and interview.The experimental subjects were students of two natural classes in senior three of a middle school in Neijiang City,Sichuan Province.One of the classes is the experimental and the other is the control class.The teaching experiment was based on the National Matriculation English Test,and the researcher assigned a total of 6 long writing tasks to the experimental class and conducted experimental teaching for 3 months.After the experiment,students were tested on their writing performance.The data analysis of the test results was used to understand the ways in which the Length Approach improved students’ writing competence,the questionnaire was used to understand the ways in which the Length Approach reduced students’ fear of writing,and the test results were combined with interview to understand the differences of students with different writing levels.The author found that,the students’ writing competence could be improved with the guidance of Length Approach,their sentiment of fear of writing could be reduced as well.Specifically,it is manifested in the following aspects:(1)Length Approach improves students’ competence by increasing the length of their writing to make better composition structure,language expression,and content;(2)By implementing the Length Approach and changing the evaluation method,students’ attitude towards writing can be changed.At the same time,with the help of Length Approach,students’ writing confidence and interest have been improved,thus alleviating their fear of writing.(3)The Length Approach benefited students with different writing ability,especially those whose writing ability were in medium and higher level.Finally,the author reflected on this study and provides some enlightenment in English writing teaching.Due to time constraints,small sample size and other factors,this study still has much more to improve.In order to explore the sustained effect of Length Approach in high school English writing teaching,more time and further research will be needed.