An Empirical Study Of Production-oriented Approach In English Writing Teaching In Senior High Schools

Writing,as an important part of language ability,is not only beneficial to the internalization and consolidation of students’ language knowledge obtained from viewing,reading and listening but also to the embodiment of students’ overall language ability.However,the current English writing teaching still puts much emphasis on writing outcomes in senior high schools.The teacher just provides model essays and explains some grammar points.Students write mechanically according to the writing instructions.Such writing teaching lacks authenticity and cannot motivate students to write,ignoring the combination of learning and using.The Production-oriented Approach（POA）is an indigenized foreign language teaching method which is derived from the phenomenon of “learning-using separation”in English teaching practices in China.POA aims to improve students’ English learning by combining learning and using.The English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools（2020）and POA have consensuses in learning-using integration,cultivation of key competences,cross-cultural communication and promotion of learning by assessing.As a result,the present study designs experiment to improve English writing teaching in senior high schools by referring to POA.The research subjects are 117 students in X high school.In the three-month teaching experiment,59 students in the experimental class are taught by POA-based English writing teaching while 58 students in the control class continue receiving the Pre-writing—while-writing—post-writing（PWP）teaching.This study intends to answer the following two questions:（1）How does English writing teaching based on POA affect students’ writing quality in terms of content,language and structure?（2）What are the changes of students’ interest in and attitude towards English writing after the application of POA in teaching practice?The study adopts tests,questionnaire and interview to answer research questions.By analyzing the scores of writings and questionnaire as well as students’ reply to the interview,the research finds out that firstly,POA-based English writing teaching has positive effects on students’ overall writing quality.It can improve their writing content and language but it has no obvious effect on writing structure.Secondly,POA application has positive influence on students’ writing interest and attitude by improving their writing quality and enhancing their writing confidence.Based on the research results,it is found that applying POA to English writing teaching at basic education stage is feasible theoretically and practically.The present study enriches the research scope of POA by applying it at basic education stage and provides some suggestions for the front-line teachers.It is hoped that the present study is able to provide some references for the future relevant researches.