Research On English Writing Errors Of The Ninth Graders And Pedagogical Suggestions

English is the main global language in the world today.Therein,English writing as an important way of language output,plays a significant role in promoting cross-cultural communication.However,in actual English teaching,the improvement of learners' English writing competency has always been a difficulty.Especially in junior middle school,English writing proficiency of most ninth graders is currently significantly not ideal and various English writing errors are increasingly common.Error analysis is a major perspective and foundation for analyzing English writing errors.It provides researchers with distinct procedures of error analysis and justification for error classification.Under the guidance of error analysis theory and on the basis of survey method,this study analyzes the errors in English writings of the ninth graders and intends to find out the common errors committed by the ninth graders in English writings,the differences between English writing errors and the ninth graders' different English writing competencies,and the significant causes for English writing errors.This study randomly collects writing samples from the ninth graders in Zheng Zhou No.8 Middle School.After conducting error identification,error description,error explanation and error evaluation,the study finds:(1)the common writing errors are misuse of punctuation at substance level,confusion of sense relations,collocational errors,syntax errors at text level and coherence errors at discourse level;(2)per-capita errors in each grade rise from A to D(A,B,C and D are the four standards of evaluating English writings in High School Entrance Examination: A,the best;D,the worst),and per-capita errors in each error type also go up from A to D;(3)text errors come to the first in each grade,in which grammar errors account for a vast majority;(4)by F-test,it is found that in lexical errors,grammar errors,misspelling,mechanical errors,coherence errors and pragmatic errors,there are significant differences between grade A,B,C and D(p<0.05).The differences are in varying levels.Between grade A and B,the difference in grammar is most significant.Between grade B and C,only the difference in misspelling is not significant.Between grade C and D,only the difference in grammar is not significant.And in each grade,there are significant differences between lexical errors,grammar errors,misspelling,mechanical errors,coherence errors and pragmatic errors(p<0.05).The differences are in varying levels.Generally,grade A to D are weaker on grammar.Grade A,B and C are weaker on punctuation and capitalization.And grade B and C are weaker on lexis.Semi-structured interview results show: a large majority of ninth graders are deeply aware of the importance of English and English writing;however,only very few ninth graders definitely express preference to English.Most ninth graders with writing scores above 9 have their own after-class English study plan and can usually spend lots of time on English learning in the daily life.They can study English on their own initiative with strong persistence.In general,the ninth graders with higher English writing proficiency have stronger English study motivation.Moreover,lots of such ninth graders have more effective writing strategies,such as clearly written outline,seldom literal translation from Chinese into English,more attention to coherence,deeper rethink to feedback,more peer writing review and so on.Generally,English learning motivation and English writing strategies could affect English writing competency and could trigger writing errors.All in all,from the writing error analysis and interview responses,the study identifies four causes for writing errors: low English study motivation,ineffective English writing strategies,intra-lingual negative transfer,and inter-lingual negative transfer.Intra-lingual negative transfer explains the errors arising from the limited understanding and insufficient intake during English internalization.And inter-lingual negative transfer gives a reason for errors from Chinese negative interference.In order to develop writing proficiency and reduce writing errors,several pedagogical suggestions are offered from the perspectives of teachers and learners: teachers should enrich the original language input to place learners into real context for better understanding lexis and grammar,employ stratified writing teaching for fully writing improvement and carry out multiple writing evaluations to realize immediate writing feedback;learners should effectively utilize mind map for better unity and logical coherence,actively construct learning community and participate into peer reviews for effective errors correction,and set personal writing files to arrange and rethink various errors.