On How to Improve Students’ English Writing Ability in Senior Middle School

【Abstract】 According to the requirements of the English syllabus， it is getting more and more important for students to learn to express themselves in written English. With the hope of improving students’ English writing effectively in Senior Middle School， this paper aims to introduce some practical ways on how to foster students’ writing ability for teachers in regular teaching.

【Key Words】 Senior Middle School students English writing effective ways

1. Introduction

Just as the Senior Middle School English Syllabus points out， “Writing is a communicative ability to express oneself or pass on one’s ideas， and it is one of the main purposes of English teaching to foster the basic writing ability of students.”(教育部，2003)

In view of NMET， it is getting more and more important for students to write in English， and the writing test score goes up from 15 to 30. Students are asked to express a familiar idea in their own ways. They are asked to write a 100-word composition based on an everyday， familiar event. Thus， students have to draw on their own life experiences to provide the contents of their compositions. But using 100 words to express one’s idea clearly is not an easy task. What is required here is the strong summarizing ability and expressive power as well as awareness of the correct use of the grammars which are vital for a good composition. In short， English writing has become one of the most important language skills that students should master.

However， there exist many teaching problems in the teaching process of English. For example， traditionally teachers dominate the classroom， standing in front and doing most of the talking while students listen and take notes， which causes many teachers and students often to neglect English writing. The result is often that even after many years of English language learning， students are still incapable of writing correctly and freely. When they write， they can not express their ideas in their own words， and there always appear lots of mistakes and wrong sentences in their written exercises. Therefore， teachers should pay more attention to English writing in the teaching process of English， and they should also enhance English writing practice to foster students’ English writing ability as early as possible. In that case， how to solve the problem? How should teachers teach English writing effectively? In the author’s experience， teachers can develop students’English wirting ability through the following ways.

2. Effctive ways of fostering students’ writing ability

2.1 Drawing up a teaching plan of English writing

Teachers should draw up a teaching plan of English writing and put periodical， on writing teaching at different periods(羅慧英，2010). As the proverb goes: “Grasp all， lose all.” Teachers should give preferential emphasis in different periods. Thus， teachers should have their own practical and feasible writing arrangement which will make English writing purposeful and meaningful. Although Senior Middle School English materials provide lots of teaching contents of English writing， teachers still have to draw up a plan to teach English writing systematically according to the class or the students. Under the requirements of the English syllabus， perhaps teachers can make an English writing plan as follows:

2.1.1 In Grade One， try to train students to write words， sentences correctly， and ask students to make sentences or to write passages with the words and patterns they have just learned.

2.1.2 In Grade Two， give students more opportunity to write in their own ways， such as retelling or summarizing the text.

2.1.3 In Grade Three， students can be asked to revise or to edit the text or to write a short composition of different types in their own words， and they also should be told to pay special attention to the writing techniques.

2.2 Employing various teaching approaches to carry out English writing

Try to employ many kinds of teaching approaches to carry out English writing activities. Text books are a vital learning tool for students to gain knowledge in grammar， vocabulary， idioms， culture and the customs of different countries(沈玉娥，2010). They contain a variety of subjects. They are rich in knowledge， and provide sufficient materials for students to practise writing as well as listening， speaking， and reading. Therefore， using a text book as a learning tool can be very useful， teaching English writing should be text-based. Teachers should guide students to retell， to summarize， to revise or edit the text after learning it in order to train students’writing ability.

2.2.1 Ask students to make sentences with key words， phrases and patterns just learnt. If one wants to write better， one must learn how to make sentences first. In the teaching process of writing， teachers should instruct students to make sentences with words， phrases and patterns again and again， which enable students to express themselves correctly when they write.

2.2.2 Instruct students to summarize or to outline the text. At the initial stages of summarizing， students should be under their teacher’s guide to write a summary of the text. Only after practicing for a long time can they be allowed to summarize the text by themselves. For example， after learning Unit 4 Earthquake in Book 1 PEP， teachers can write some hints such as key words and topic sentences on the blackboard as follows:

Signs: Strange things happened.

→ well water / well walls / a smelly

gas / the chickens and pigs / mice

and fish/in the sky / water pipes

→ people thought little of them.

Damage: It seemed as if ... at an end.

→ a huge crack / steam / hills of rocks

a large city/people/animals.

Rescue: All hope was not lost.

→ the army → sent soldiers to help ... / organized teams to dig out ...

the workers → built shelters ...

fresh water → was taken ...

→ Slowly， the city began to breathe again.

Then teachers ask students to write a summary of the text. In this way students can not only practice writing， but also learn how to express their ideas. It can improve their applicable ability of the language as well as reviewing the text.

(3) Show students how to revise or to edit the text. As we know， it is great progress for students to write from retelling， imitating or summarizing to revising or editing. In the teaching process of writing， teachers should train students to revise， or to edit the text in different types or subjects. For instance， after reading the text and grasping the main idea， students are asked to revise the text， using their own words. For example， they can revise the text from a story to a dialogue or to a play.

(4) Do much more dictation or recitation of the text. The role of the dictation lies in helping students review， consolidate the words， phrases and sentences they have just learned(孫魯華，2011). Teachers should be strict with students， and try to do much more dictation in the process of teaching English. Doing some reciting every day will benefit students in an unexpected way. It will help to cultivate students’linguistic sense. If students do this consistently， one day， they will find those puzzling words and expressions easy and they will discover that they can express themselves freely(孫魯華，2011). What is more， recitation enables students to gain knowledge of the subtle meanings of words. Therefore， students should do much more reciting and develop a good habit of reciting as early as possible.

2.3. Asking students to read extensively and keep a diary

2.3.1 Ask students to read extensively and help them study different types of texts. As we know， the writing ability is based on reading. To master a language， one must read a lot. A famous saying of the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu goes，“ If someone had read over a myriad of books， he could write articles with miraculous skill”. Therefore， students should be exposed as much as possible to the English language. Two or three text books are hardly enough to help students enlarge their vocabulary and improve the writing ability. For students to make good progress， their teacher should give them a lot of materials to read. While reading， students are expected to jot down any vivid expressions they come across or any words used in a new or interesting fashion. In this way teachers can not only cultivate students’ linguistic sense， but help them accumulate language materials for future writing.

2.3.2 Cultivate students to form the good habit of keeping a diary in English every day in the process of learning English. A diary is a daily record of the events in one’s life. Its contents may include one’s personal experiences， pleasant or unpleasant， as well as one’s personal thoughts and opinions， mature or immature. Keeping a diary in English can help students to think in English and improve their interest and confidence. It will certainly benefit the students in writing.

2.4 Reforming ways of correcting English com-

positions

Reform ways of correcting English compositions and give guidance in English writing techniques to students as much as possible. With interference from their native language and culture， students will inevitably make some mistakes in the process of writing. In that case， how should teachers correct students’ language errors? Traditionally， teachers always correct students’ composition one after another. They try their best to correct every mistake made by students in the composition. But twice their efforts often make half result. On the contrary， students still let the errors go unnoticed and they even make the same errors again and again. In this way students make little progress， and even they are afraid of writing in English. Therefore， Teachers should reform their ways of correcting errors， and know how to handle students’ errors in their compositions.

2.4.1 Do not correct a shy student’s error openly or immediately in the classroom.

In the teaching of writing， some students are unwilling to write in English because they are always afraid of making errors in their compositions or afraid of being laughed at by other students. Such students have a sense of inferiority， and they will easily get hurt. If such students pluck up the courage to express themselves in English， teachers should encourage them and help them increase their self-esteem. Overtly correcting the errors of such shy students’ compositions will only thwart their future attempts to write(沈雪霞，2010). If a shy student’s error is serious， the teacher should choose an appropriate time to correct the error， during the break for example.

2.4.2 Initiate peer-editing

When reading students’written exercise， teachers may usually find quite a few careless mistakes. Although a teacher may always emphasize that students should check their exercises carefully before handing them to the teacher， students still overlook the same errors again and again. To overcome such mistakes， teachers can use peer-editing instead， let students exchange their written work and share what they have written with their fellow classmates. In reading each other’s work， students will begin to recognize the most common language errors. In reading each other’s work， students not only get feedback from their classmates， they also give feedback. It is a two-way interaction and therefore， students will learn to write better. In the process of correcting errors， a good general principle to adhere to is that teachers should be sensitive and kind in delivering correction so that students will not be discouraged from making future attempts to express themselves in English(Jeremy Harmer， 2000).

3. Conclusion

It is proved that using the above ways of correcting errors can not only stimulate students’ interest in English， but increase the sense of achievement of students as well; thus it helps to develop students’ writing ability. All in all， teaching English writing to Senior Middle School Students is no easy task. All teaching methods must aim at developing students’ English writing ability. The two general principles to adhere to in the teaching process of writing are:

3.1 English writing must be taught step by step， from easy to difficult.

3.2 English writing should be text-based. While further developing the reform in English teaching， teachers should try to employ all kinds of teaching methods to teach English writing， and carry out many teaching activities to motivate students’interest in English. It will be certain that students can improve their English writing ability.

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[3] 沈玉娥. 以課文為中心，提高學生的寫作水平[J]. 教學月刊，2010(6).

[4] 沈雪霞. 改革英語作文評改方法的嘗試 [J]. 教學月刊，2010(10).