Effects Of Writing Mode On Chinese College Students' Picture Writing

This study aims to explore the effects of two writing modes-direct writing and translated writing on Chinese college students'picture writing in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. It is an empirical study involving mainly the quantitative research method. It also probes into the attention patterns during the writing processes which were examined by thinking-aloud and questionnaires. The paper aims to answer these questions:1. Are the fluency, accuracy, and complexity in direct writing higher than those in translated writing?2. What are the differences of attention patterns between direct writing and translated writing? Do the differences of the attention patterns exert significant effects on the fluency, accuracy, and complexity?Thirty non-English major students from Lanzhou University participated in the experiment. They were divided into two groups to perform respectively two picture writing tasks:writing directly as well as writing in L1 and then translating into English, thinking aloud. The questionnaires were later distributed to each of the student to investigate the attention patterns as well. The value of fluency, accuracy and complexity of each subject's composition was measured. The data collected was analyzed by SPSS 11.5. The results showed that the fluency in direct writing group was significantly higher than that in translated writing group, with significantly lower accuracy. As for the complexity, the mean value of syntactic complexity in direct writing group was higher, with a bit lower lexical complexity, while the difference was not statistically significant. The think-aloud protocols and questionnaires revealed that subjects in both two groups paid more attention to meaning, with significant difference in form attention level and meaning attention level between two groups. The participants'form attention level in direct writing group was relatively low, so their accuracy and lexical complexity were thus lower than those in translated writing group; their meaning attention level was significantly higher than that in translated writing group, so as to higher fluency and syntactic complexity.Finally, on the basis of Swain's output hypothesis, Schmidt's noticing hypothesis, Vanpatten's information processing theory and Skehan's three aspects of language production, the author made explanation for the research results.The present study is a new attempt of research on directing writing and translated writing, the research results of which might be enlightening for future studies concerning writing and helpful for L2 teachers and students to improve L2 writing skill. This study aims to explore the effects of two writing modes-direct writing and translated writing on Chinese college students'picture writing in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. It is an empirical study involving mainly the quantitative research method. It also probes into the attention patterns during the writing processes which were examined by thinking-aloud and questionnaires. The paper aims to answer these questions:1. Are the fluency, accuracy, and complexity in direct writing higher than those in translated writing?2. What are the differences of attention patterns between direct writing and translated writing? Do the differences of the attention patterns exert significant effects on the fluency, accuracy, and complexity?Thirty non-English major students from Lanzhou University participated in the experiment. They were divided into two groups to perform respectively two picture writing tasks:writing directly as well as writing in L1 and then translating into English, thinking aloud. The questionnaires were later distributed to each of the student to investigate the attention patterns as well. The value of fluency, accuracy and complexity of each subject's composition was measured. The data collected were analyzed by SPSS 11.5. The results showed that the fluency in direct writing group was significantly higher than that in translated writing group, with significantly lower accuracy. As for the complexity, the mean value of syntactic complexity in direct writing group was higher, with a bit lower lexical complexity, while the difference was not statistically significant. The think-aloud protocols and questionnaires revealed that subjects in both two groups paid more attention to meaning, with significant difference in form attention level and meaning attention level between two groups. The participants'form attention level in direct writing group was relatively low, so their accuracy and lexical complexity were thus lower than those in translated writing group; their meaning attention level was significantly higher than that in translated writing group, leading to higher fluency and syntactic complexity.Finally, on the basis of Swain's output hypothesis, Schmidt's noticing hypothesis, Vanpatten's information processing theory and Skehan's three aspects of language production, the author made explanation for the research results.The present study is a new attempt of research on directing writing and translated writing, the research results of which might be enlightening for future studies concerning writing and helpful for L2 teachers and students to improve L2 writing skill.