The Application Of Write-to-learn Approach In College English Teaching

For a long time, writing has been the bottleneck for EFL language learners. Foreign language learners in China have more input but less output and their language proficiency level can't meet our expectation. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to solve this problem now. Length-Approach (Wang, 2000) is an effective method in the teaching of writing for English-majors. But for non-English majors, more flexible ways need to be put forward. According to my limited research, most of the studies related to write-to-learn in China are mainly Length-Approach.My research attempts to engage students in writing for learning. "Write-to-learn Approach" in this study is different from "Length-Approach" in the following aspects. First, Write-to-learn Approach is not confined to writing classes. Second, the number of words of the students'in this study is not limited. Third, students are encouraged to write anytime when they have ideas, not limited to teacher assignments. Fourth, writing can be realized in many forms, not only compositions. In this way, write-to-learn is implemented in the whole teaching and learning process, which is a breakthrough theoretically and practically as compared with previous related studies.Based on Krashen's Input Hypothesis and Affective Filter Hypothesis (1985), and Swain's Comprehensible Output Hypothesis (1985), an experiment of 15 weeks was conducted on 121 freshmen of non-English majors' College English course in Beijing Forestry University to find out whether Write-to-learn Approach would be effective in teaching using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Accordingly, three research questions are formulated:(1) Whether Write-to-learn Approach can be applied in college English teaching? (2) Whether Write-to-learn Approach can promote students' learning proficiency? (3) Whether Write-to-learn Approach can enhance students' confidence? By means of interviews, portfolios, questionnaires and tests, the results show that Write-to-learn Approach can be applied in college English teaching; promote students' learning proficiency and enhance students' self-confidence. In addition, it was found that establishing portfolios can promote students' learning effectively, make students reflect study process and give them some study motivations.