A Study On The Impact Of Western And Chinese Patterns Of Thought On English Writing

The relationships between language, thought and culture have been a hot topic in linguistic field. They are interrelated with each other. Language is the carrier of thought while thought is an activity of human's brain which can reflect and recognize the objective world. Pattern of thought is the foundation of all culture and different kinds of patterns of thought shape different kinds of cultures. All three are closely related with each other. Without language, thought could not be expressed fully and exactly thus it is impossible to be understood by others; on the other hand without thought, language would be as easy as sound by any animals. So the pattern of thought is culturally language-loaded with particular values and beliefs. Influenced by many factors, Chinese and westerners have formed different patterns of thought:circular thought and linear thought; image thought and abstract thought; subjective thought and objective thought; parataxis thought and hypotaxis thought.Writing belongs to not only language activity but thought activity. Writing is a process of developing learners'analyzing and problem-solving abilities. Training students'capability of English writing can enhance their comprehensive qualities. English writing focuses not only on the basic linguistic knowledge such as words collocation and grammar but also on the non-linguistic competence in posing problems, structuring thought and expressing ideas, etc. As far as most Chinese students are concerned, it is not easy for them to write in an English way since they used to write English in a Chinese way. Learning basic words collocation and grammar is far from satisfaction. In addition, a study on the impact of different patterns of thought on writing carries more sense for Chinese students to improve their writing skills.This thesis is based on Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. It explains that writing has been influenced by patterns of thought through the relationship between languages and patterns of thought from the aspect of pragmatics. In order to testify its usefulness a study has been done by analyzing writing samples from sophomore students of non-English majors, sophomore students of English majors and foreigners whose first language are English. The thesis explains this phenomenon by analyzing students' compositions and their existing problems. In addition students can effectively improve their abilities of thinking in typical western patterns so as to organize English writing on the basis of theory.This thesis first clarifies some background information about current study, analyzing the present situation, as well as the purpose of this study and then retrospects the theories and development of pattern of thought and discourse both in China and abroad. Based on the theory of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the thesis discusses the relationship between pattern of thought and discourse. Besides, the definition of pattern of thought and discourse from different authors are stated respectively. It elaborates different patterns of thought between China and western world in the following aspects:circular thought and linear thought; image thought and abstract thought; subjective thought and objective thought; parataxis thought and hypotaxis thought. What's more, their realization in discourse is also pointed out. An empirical study is conducted by comparing and analyzing writing from non-English major students from universities of China and English major students from universities of China with those of foreigners whose first language are English by means of qualitative and quantitative studies, covering whole easy organization; the location of the thesis statement; concluding paragraph; the frequency of the use of the conjunctional words; the frequency of the use of inanimate subject sentences and passive voice sentences. The thesis puts forward some feasible strategies of teaching English writing. In addition, the results of this study turn out to be inspiring and constructive in English teaching and in discourse organization.