Astudy Of The Effects Of Recitation Input On The English Writing Apprehension Of Vocational College Students

The present research is conducted to investigate the effects recitation input exerts on vocational students'English writing apprehension.Writing apprehension is a big obstacle for foreign language learners. In order to alleviate English learners'writing apprehension, many researchers studied in different aspects, and have made some achievements, including some strategies, such as the Length Approach, the Teamwork Approach, and so on. It is reasonable to suppose that every method is effective in some way and is enlightening to latter researchers. However, in China, vocational students have special characteristics in English class so that these approaches are not easy to be executed satisfactorily in teaching practice. First, the capacity of the classes is usually large, so it is difficult for the English teacher to organize team-works. Teacher-centered approach is often adopted. Second, vocational students usually do not have English writing classes specially and they learn listening, speaking, reading and writing comprehensively. Therefore their English teacher can seldom spare time to make systematic writing instructions or to make discussions or to do prewriting activities. Third, vocational students are often weak in English Writing. They feel challenged in writing English essays and lose interest and confidence gradually in struggling writing English essays with empty brain. In the final analysis, English writing ability and English writing apprehension are intertwined to each other. It is essential to improve vocational students'English writing ability when discussing how to overcome their English writing apprehension..As a traditional approach for language teaching and learning, recitation is powerfully supported by series of theoretical foundations and is familiar to English learners of China. The effects exerted by recitation input on English writing have been proved positive and efficient. Based on Krashen's Optimal Input Hypothesis, this paper explores the effects exerted by recitation input on English writing apprehension. In specific, does recitation input affect vocational students'English writing proficiency? If the answer is yes, what influences does it exert? Does recitation input affect vocational students'English writing proficiency? If the answer is yes, what influences does it exert? Can recitation input helps alleviate vocational students' English writing apprehension? Do students become more interested in English writing as a result of recitation input?Two classes of sophomores majoring in Photography of Hebei Institution of Communication have been selected to participate in a one-semester experiment. Before the experiment, the two classes both took an English writing test and the English writing apprehension test. The experimental class was asked to do recitation tasks, and the control class was only required to read and learn the same material that had been carefully selected by the teacher. After the experiment, they took another English writing test and the English Writing apprehension test. Finally the author obtained the subjects'attitude towards recitation input. The date collected was analyzed by SPSS11.5. By comparing the writing scores and apprehension scores of the two classes in both the pre-experiment and the post-experiment, the author found that compared to the control class, the experimental class'writing ability has improved significantly, and the writing apprehension has been alleviated to a medium degree at the meaning time. According to Krashen(1981), the relationship between anxiety and learning efficiency shows an inverted"U". When anxiety is too high or too low in intensity, it may reduce learning efficiency while anxiety at medium intensity can promote learning efficiency. Thus the present research correspondent with this rule.The result and implications of the present study are that :1) recitation can improve vocational students'English writing ability; 2) recitation input can affect students'writing apprehension in positive way, i.e. it can alleviate the writers'apprehension and the effects are more obvious on high-apprehensive students. Thus the teachers should encourage the students to recite elegant passages and supervise on the recitation efficiency if necessary. Also imitating the elegant sentences and quoting the idioms should be advised.