大学英语毕业论文-Writing-A-Valid-and-Expressive-Form-to-reflect

Writing:

A

Valid

and

Expressive

Form

to

reflect【Abstract】As

a

main

language

skill

like

listening,

speaking

or

reading,

writing

is

a

valid

and

expressive

form

to

reflect

how

well

a

student

of

English,

especially

a

student

who

learns

English

as

a

foreign

language

(EFL),

has

mastered

that

language.

This

paper

will

explore

the

nature

of

writing

as

compared

with

the

other

three

basic

language

skills,

particularly

speaking,

discuss

the

purpose

of

teaching

writing

in

the

EFL

context,

and

introduce

requirements

of

EFL

writing

for

Chinese

college

students.

【Key

words】writing;language

ability;

EFL

writing

requirements1.Nature

of

writing:

compared

with

speaking

It

is

widely

recognized

that

there

are

four

main

modes

in

which

a

language

is

used.

The

four

modes,

generally

referred

to

as

the

four

basic

language

skills

in

language

teaching,

are

listening,

speaking,

reading

and

writing.

Of

them,

reading

and

listening

are

called

the

passive

or

receptive

skills

and

speaking

and

writing,

the

active

or

productive

skills.

It

goes

without

saying

that

the

demonstration

of

language

ability

relies

more

on

the

active

or

productive

skills

like

speaking

and

writing.

As

for

the

two

active

or

productive

skills,

speaking

is

of

course

primary

to

language

since

human

beings

speak

before

they

learn

to

write.

It

does

not

mean,

however,

that

speaking

reflects

one’s

language

ability

better

than

writing.

In

fact,

many

people,

especially

teachers,

think

otherwise.

We

can

understand

why

writing

is

at

least

an

equally,

if

not

more,

valid

and

expressive

means

to

display

one’s

language

ability

by

answering

the

question

of

what

is

the

nature

of

writing.

As

R.

Neufeld

said,

“It

[Writing]

is

thought

transformed

into

a

visual

form.

In

other

words,

writing

is

a

visual

expression

of

ideas.

…Writing

is

the

process

of

taking

an

idea

from

inside

of

one’s

head

and

putting

it

in

a

code

so

that

it

can

be

shared

with

others

”(Neufeld:

4).So,

writing

covers

speaking

in

that

it

is

more

than

speaking

by

pen

to

someone

not

present.

In

other

words,

the

nature

of

writing

is

two-fold:

the

expression

of

ideas

by

means

of

a

written

“code”

that

calls

for

more

careful

and

more

exact

demonstration

of

the

mastery

of

vocabulary,

grammar

and

even

phonetic

knowledge

of

the

language

in

which

one

is

writing.

Another

reason

that

writing

is

a

more

valid

and

more

expressive

form

to

display

one’s

language

ability

is

that

writing

can

rely

on

nothing

other

than

pure

language

itself

to

express

one’s

meanings.

Speaking,

on

the

other

hand,

can

take

advantage

of

the

speaker’s

facial

expressions,

gestures

and,

most

of

all,

tones

for

communication.

Empirical

facts

also

show

the

close

relationship

between

writing

skill

and

language

ability

(Yang

Huizhong

&

C.

Weir:

148),

and

that

is

why

many

important

tests

adopt

writing

as

a

means

of

judging

learners.

Take

CET

for

example.

If

the

score

for

the

writing

part

is

0,

then

a

candidate

will

fail

no

matter

how

high

his

total

score

is.

No

such

penalty

exists

for

other

parts

like

listening

or

reading.

2.Purpose

of

teaching

writing

in

the

EFL

contextConsiderable

literature

has

been

produced

concerning

the

purpose

of

EFL

writing.

One

of

the

most

concise

but

comprehensive

discussions

is

given

by

Jeremy

Harmer

in

his

book

How

to

Teach

English.

According

to

Harmer,

the

reasons

for

teaching

writing

to

college

students

of

English

as

a

foreign

language

are

not

only

that

writing

is

a

basic

language

skill

but

also

that

writing

can

1)

reinforce

acquired

language

ability,

2)

develop

language

ability

further,

3)

help

to

learn

style,

and

finally

4)

serve

as

an

authentic

means

of

communication.

(Harmer:79)Reinforcement

of

acquired

language

ability

Harmer

puts

“Reinforcement

of

acquired

language

ability”

first

because

he

believes

that

people

can

acquire

their

mother

tongues

in

a

purely

oral

/

aural

way,

but

students

of

a

foreign

language

in

college

tend

to

rely

more

on

the

written

form

to

have

a

sound

command

of

the

language.

Most

college

students

say

that

they

benefit

more

from

seeing

the

language

written

down

by

themselves

as

well

as

by

others.

The

visual

demonstration

of

language

construction

is

invaluable

for

both

understanding

how

it

all

fits

together

and

as

an

aid

to

committing

the

new

language

to

memory.

Students

often

find

it

useful

to

write

sentences

using

new

language

shortly

after

they

have

studied

it.

(Harmer:79)

Further

language

development

It

seems,

though

Harmer

himself

cannot

be

for

sure,

that

the

actual

process

of

writing

(rather

like

the

process

of

speaking)

helps

us

to

learn

as

we

go

along.

The

mental

activity

that

we

have

to

go

through

in

order

to

construct

proper

written

texts

is

all

part

of

the

ongoing

learning

experience.

For

college

students

of

English

as

a

foreign

language,

writing

is

an

especially

effective

way

of

further

developing

their

language

ability

since

it

is

such

an

active

(compared

with

reading,

which

is

receptive)

and

direct

(compared

with

multiple

choice

exercises,

which

are

indirect)

form

of

language

practice.

Learning

style

Although

he

admits

it

is

possible

for

a

few

students

to

be

fairly

quick

at

picking

up

language

just

by

looking

and

listening,

Harmer

argues

that

for

most

of

the

college

students

of

a

foreign

language,

it

may

take

a

little

longer.

To

be

more

exact

and

to

show

greater

elegance

in

communication,

they

have

to

learn

how

to

write.

Writing

as

an

authentic

means

of

communication

One

of

the

most

important

reasons

for

teaching

writing,

in

Harmer’s

opinion,

is

that

it

is

an

authentic

means

of

communication.

College

students

of

a

foreign

language

need

to

know

how

to

write

letters,

how

to

put

written

reports

together,

how

to

reply

to

advertisements

and,

increasingly,

how

to

write

using

electronic

media

in

the

foreign

language

that

they

are

learning.

They

need

to

know

some

of

writing’s

special

conventions

(punctuation,

paragraph

construction,

etc.)

just

as

they

need

to

know

Writing

as

a

good

source

of

feedback

informationThe

research

of

writing

test

experts

also

helps

us

to

understand

the

purpose

of

EFL

writing

from

a

different

angle.

Fred

Genesee

and

John

A.

Upshur,

in

their

book

Classroom-based

Evaluation

in

Second

Language

Education,

and

J.

B.

Heaton,

in

his

book

Writing

English

Language

Tests,

all

mention

writing

as

a

good

source

of

feedback

information

of

teaching

and

learning

results.

The

teacher,

for

example,

can

learn

from

students’

compositions

how

well

they

have

been

progressing

with

their

study

of

the

foreign

tongue

by

assigning

them

writing

tasks

in

or

after

class.

Whether

spelling,

vocabulary,

structure,

grammar,

or

even

phonetics

(since

the

correct

choices

of

a

or

an

before

a

noun,

and

/–s/

or

/

-z/

suffixed

to

a

verb

depend

on

the

knowledge

of

speech

sound),

nearly

every

aspect

of

language

ability

can

be

checked

through

writing.

By

this

almost

all-around

feedback

information

from

actual

writing,

both

teachers

and

students

of

a

foreign

language

can

get

to

learn

how

well

teaching

and

learning

have

been

going

and

what

can

be

done

accordingly

in

future

instruction.

To

sum

up,

the

purpose

of

teaching

writing

in

the

EFL

context

is

not

only

for

students

to

reinforce

and

further

develop

their

language

ability

and

learn

how

to

communicate

by

means

of

writing,

but

also

for

teachers

and

students

to

use

as

a

good

source

of

feedback

information

for

the

improvement

of

teaching

and

learning.

3.Requirements

of

EFL

writing

for

Chinese

students

Just

as

knowing

the

purposes

of

EFL

writing

instruction

at

college

is

essential

to

the

understanding

of

the

importance

of

EFL

writing

evaluation,

learning

the

present

English

writing

requirements

for

college

students

in

China

is

also

critical

to

the

improvement

of

writing

instruction

and

practice.

According

to

College

English

Curriculum

Requirements

(For

Trial

Implementation),

which

was

put

into

effect

in

Chinese

colleges

and

universities

in

June

2004,

the

writing

requirements

for

undergraduate

college

English

teaching

are

set

at

three

levels:

basic

requirements,

intermediate

requirements

and

higher

requirements.

All

non-English

majors,

according

to

their

level

of

English

upon

entering

college,

are

required

to

attain

to

one

of

the

three

levels

of

requirements

after

studying

and

practicing

English

at

school.

The

writing

parts

of

the

requirements

are

quoted

as

follows:For

basic

requirements

Students

should

be

able

to

complete

writing

tasks

for

general

purposes,

e.g.,

describing

personal

experiences,

impressions,

feelings,

or

events,

and

to

undertake

practical

writing.

They

should

be

able

to

write

within

30

minutes

a

short

composition

of

120

words

on

a

general

topic

or

an

outline.

The

composition

should

be

basically

complete

in

content,

appropriate

in

diction

and

coherent

in

discourse.

Students

are

expected

to

be

able

to

have

a

command

of

basic

writing

strategies.

For

intermediate

requirements

Students

should

be

able

to

express

personal

views

on

general

topics,

compose

English

abstracts

of

theses

in

their

specialization,

and

write

short

English

papers

on

topics

of

their

specialty.

They

should

be

able

to

describe

charts

and

graphs,

and

to

complete

within

30

minutes

a

short

composition

of

160

words.

The

composition

should

be

basically

complete

in

content,

appropriate

in

diction

and

coherent

in

discourse.For

higher

requirement:Students

should

be

able

to

express

their

opinions

freely

on

general

topics

with

clear

structure,

rich

content

and

good

logic.

They

should

be

able

to

write

brief

reports

and

papers

of

their

areas

of

specialty,

and

to

write

within

30

minutes

expository

or

argumentative

essays

of

200

words

on

a

given

topic.

The

text

has

complete

content,

logical

thinking,

and

clear

expression

of

ideas.

(College

English

Curriculum

Requirements:26-30)

These

requirements

should

be

taken

into

consideration

in

the

design

of

any

writing

instruction

process.【References】[1]

China

Ministry

of

Education

(2004).

College

English

Curriculum

Requirements.

Shanghai

Foreign

Language

education

Press.[2]

Harmer,

J.

(2000).

How

to

Teach

English.

Beijing

Foreign

Language

Teaching

and

Research

Press.[3]

Neufeld,

R.

(1985)

.A

College

English

Writing

Course:

From

Essay

to

Research

Paper

and

Practical

Writing.

Henan

[4]

Yang,

Huizhong

&

C.

Weir.

(1998).

Validation

Study

of

the

National

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