A Research On The Constructivism-based Model For Teaching College English Writing

Teaching non-English majors English writing has been a big problem to college English teachers. For one thing, students are uninterested in English writing. For another, their written texts are void, ambiguous, illogical and seriously flawed. In order to change this situation, domestic scholars carried out a lot of research. In spite of this activity, there has been less than total satisfaction with the results obtained on the part of teachers as well as students.According to her teaching experience, the author attributes this situation to the fact that the researches carried out at home mainly center on the refinement of teaching approaches, neglecting the important role of students as learning subjects. Adhering to the present teaching model, writing teachers focus their attention on the transmission of knowledge related to English writing but fail to serve students' varied needs for learning, for example, developing students' critical thinking, improving their ability to learn on their own, and enhancing their comprehensive capabilities. Also, the present learning environment is not democratic or interactive or heuristic, as a result of which students are not highly motivated to write and are not confident about English writing, either.Constructivism, developed by Dewey, Piaget, Bruner, and Vygotsky, etc. as the most influential theory in the contemporary western educational psychology has become the guiding theory for all the countries in the world to undertake their education reforms (Pei, 2003). Constructivism advocates student-centered learning under the guidance from the teacher. It attaches great importance to students' self-exploration, self-discovery, and self-construction of knowledge. Constructivism aims to foster students' abilities and to help them learn how to learn. Classroom teaching from the constructivist perspective can effectively innovate the traditional teacher-centered teaching model, and help to set up a teaching model which lays emphasis on student-centeredness, on acquiring direct experience, on solving problems, and on cultivating students' initiatives and practical abilities. The constructivism is in concordance with the College English Course Requirements issued by the Ministry of Education in 2007.With a deep understanding of the Constructivism learning theory and the College English Curriculum Requirements, the author quite theoretically built a Constructivism-based model for teaching college English writing. This model involves teaching objects, teaching objectives, teaching materials and strategies, teaching approach, teaching constraints, teaching steps, teaching management and teaching assessment. It is aimed to improve students' ability of autonomous and cooperative learning, to develop their critical thinking dispositions and skills, to enhance their comprehensive capabilities such as adaptability, communication skills, interpersonal skills and leadership skills and ultimately to lay a foundation for their life-long education and sustainable development.Next, the constructivism-based teaching model was applied to a one-academic-year teaching experiment in a writing class in Grade 2005 in China University of Geosciences. The whole teaching and learning process was student-centered, with students' initiatives and creativity nurtured. Before the first period of class, students cooperated to learn four essays about the same subject matter but showing difference in difficulty; in the first two periods of class, discussed in their groups the readings and decide on their own specific writing topic and outline; after class, they collected relevant information and wrote their own first drafts; in the next two periods of class, they self-assessed and reviewed written texts and revised their compositions for twice by referring to the checklists and the written response by another two members; in the fifth and sixth periods of class, they revised their compositions for a third time according to the teacher's feedback, which was in the form of questions; after class, they wrote a journal retrospectively and introspectively in which they reported their learning experiences and the knowledge they had constructed. Engaged in such a series of learning activities, students constructed their knowledge of English, of writing skills and of the subject matter. The teacher, as a facilitator created free, relaxed, interactive and heuristic learning environment, provided students with learning materials, guided the group leaders to organize cooperative learning and generated and regenerated students' enthusiasm for learning.At the beginning and the end of the teaching experiment, the author conducted two questionnaire surveys and administered two writing tests. Before the teaching experiment came to an end, students completed discussion evaluation sheets, and wrote their retrospective and introspective reports, in which they recalled their learning experiences, summarized their learning outcomes, evaluated the constructivism-based teaching model and made suggestions for improvement in the teaching model.The research findings showed the application of the constructivism-based teaching model helped the teacher to create a democratic and interactive learning environment, to inspire students' enthusiasm about English writing and to promote students' critical thinking and cooperative learning. It also contributed to students' improvement in writing performance, mastery of learning strategies, development of critical thinking and enhancement of comprehensive capabilities. As a result, 77% of subjects were satisfied with the constructivism-based teaching model.However, to develop the potential of the constructivism-based teaching model to the full, the writing teacher must update his or her teaching ideology and accordingly change the way of teaching, students must become independent of the teacher, capable of autonomous learning and the current traditional evaluation system must be refined to rise to the challenge of the constructivism-based teaching model.