Process Writing In College English Class For Art Students: An Action Research

Art students, as is generally known, are more passive and less competent in English learning than their counterparts. However, they are indispensable to our educational system and therefore cannot be ignored. This paper is concerned with the application of process writing approach in college English writing class to enhance writing competence and confidence of art students by means of an action research.Based on the findings of an online interview and pre-questionnaire implemented among 38 art students, it is perceived that although they were passive and lowly motivated in attending class, students still had great motivation for learning English writing in the hope of passing English examinations. Therefore, an action research on process writing applied to college English writing class was carried out for 15 weeks, in the hope of using process writing as a breakthrough to improve art students'overall English proficiency and motivation for learning English. This research tried to deal with the following three questions:1) Can the Process Writing approach improve the writing proficiency and confidence of arts students? If not, what might possibly be the cause?2) Through three months'practice, can the students'overall English proficiency and interest in English learning be improved? If not, what might possibly be the cause? 3) Can teachers get improved professionally throughout the action research? What are the improvements, if any?In this study, priority was given to qualitative study as the main approach to get information through the means of online interviews, teacher's log and students' composition analysis. Meanwhile, to ensure the objectivity of the final results, quantitative study of two questionnaires were also adopted.The results of the research showed that the process writing approach can improve the writing competence and confidence of arts students. Moreover, students'comprehensive English proficiency and interest in English learning were also improved. Meanwhile, by reflecting on the research process, conclusion can be drawn that teachers can get professional improvement by doing action research. So long as the college English teachers concern their teaching context and explore in their practice, the most suitable way is sure to be found.