In the final analysis, it is the difference between Chinese and English education models. The set of methods we teach our children is too rigid in their thinking mode, which makes them unable to flexibly change what they have learned in other different examination environments and contents. In this regard, we especially had an in-depth exchange with our English teachers in China, summed up three reasons why children in China can't get high marks in writing, and shared some teachers' learning methods and ideas, which are very worthy of parents' reference.
Near the British school examination season, today we will talk about how to get high marks in creative writing!
1, the writing mode is fragmented, and there is no way to start innovative writing. English writing plays an important role in both the middle school entrance examination and the IELTS test, but Chinese writing is very different from English writing. Contact with many students, the teacher said that China's writing education is biased towards patterns and plates, and children are gradually familiar with this writing mode, because this writing method is very easy to write and does not need more brains. For example, a good article should have an introduction at the beginning, an expansion in the middle and a summary at the end. Some teachers even ask children to recite some classic sentence patterns and paragraph patterns, which can be applied when writing different articles. For example, we often see the following posts or articles that teach students to write a good beginning and end:
But there are actually two disadvantages: first, children don't like thinking. No matter what problems you encounter, you are used to applying them, which limits your child's thinking ability to some extent. The second is to make the article appear stiff and incoherent. The sentences used are often advanced sentences, but if the child's English ability is not high enough, some sentences will be written very well and some sentences will be written very poorly. As soon as these are put in front of the school teacher, the teacher immediately understands that this is an application, and the true level of the students is revealed, and the score will definitely not be high.
The so-called' (creative writing) is an independent subject in British schools, and even some universities will offer such research topics. As the name implies, it is not limited by templates, and it is the shortcoming of China students' English writing. Some of our students have been studying in English schools and got A's in other subjects, but they can't get high marks in creative writing. The reason is that they are too used to fixed writing patterns and don't know how to give full play to them.
The inspiration for writing comes from life.
The teacher suggested that children's creative thinking can be cultivated in life. For example, if you ask them to tell a story, you don't have to follow the thoughts of adults. It's okay to have a beginning but not an end, or even a beginning and an end, just in the middle. In fact, there are many famous works in this form (for example, The History of La Selas, The Prince of Africa, written by British writer samuel johnson, has no end, and it is one of the classic western literary works). They should exert their divergent thinking as much as possible.
2, the basic vocabulary is not firmly mastered, and the meaning of writing is not in place.
In creative writing, imagination can be unrestrained, but words must not be "arbitrary". Only a good article can use words accurately. For some China students with low English vocabulary, mastering the most basic words is the magic weapon to get high marks, so don't ignore the sentence context and abuse advanced vocabulary. Children in China like to express themselves with advanced vocabulary they have learned, because teachers will teach them to use advanced vocabulary to show your English level. Actually, it's not. Using known words correctly and flexibly is king. The examiner hopes to prove your complete mastery of the sentence by seeing the students use words flexibly.
For example, you want to say: I seem to have heard this name somewhere, and I remember it, but I can't remember it at the moment. What would you say? I asked one of our students to translate what I wanted to say. I have heard of this name somewhere, but I can't remember it now. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this translation, but it is a bit lengthy. Teachers can express their meaning well with a simple everyday English word: this name sounds familiar! As we all know, ringing the bell means ringing the doorbell, but do you also know that it also means "I was very impressed in an instant"? This is the charm of learning simple English words in place. When others hear it, alas, authentic English is impressive.
Our teacher also met a very young child with a large English vocabulary, but he lacked the elegance and naturalness brought by some simple words when using English. For example, some children are used to using the word "team introduction" in the English homework demonstration in class. Of course, this is not wrong, but we can also use a more intimate' about us' to state. English is also a beautiful language with a long history. Its purpose is to communicate and bring people closer together. If the level is not enough, don't pile the article too hard with a lot of advanced vocabulary.
For another example, I am very happy to get an offer. Of course you can say: I am very happy! Or you can put it more vividly: I am ecstatic (I am so happy to fly to the moon! Or I feel on top of the world (I feel that the whole world is looking up to me, hahaha). Every word here is not difficult, but the meaning is more authentic. English is the same as Chinese. The simpler the word, the wider the meaning. To really learn English well, you must learn the most basic words well. Learn the existing words well first, and then remember the new words.
How to learn English words is smart?
The teacher also said that another misunderstanding of China children in learning English is learning words. Many children in China tend to memorize words by rote. They can write words and their Chinese meanings skillfully, but they don't necessarily understand the meaning of words. Like Chinese, an English monosyllabic word often has several meanings. For example,' smart' not only has our common meaning of agility, but also can describe a person's dress is very decent, generous and formal: he looks very artistic today.
The teacher advised students to read more books and read the right books. Read carefully, read carefully, understand, understand the meaning of words in the context of the book, and increase the difficulty step by step in the process of reading, and the difficulty is not only in words, sentence patterns and structures, but also in content, literary talent and expression.
3. The argument is simple and clear, lacking critical thinking.
For older children's English writing, the requirements will be higher, and often a topic or topic discussion will be involved. For this kind of argumentative essay, children in China can often write fairly well, with many arguments and examples. However, our teacher found that the text lacked critical thinking. They seldom question and deny a point of view. Britain is a country with special emphasis on critical thinking. The so-called learning of Oxford English majors is often that everyone reads a book and then has a heated discussion in class.
Some time ago, I went to Hangzhou with my foreign teacher, passed by the West Lake, and told my teacher the love story of White Snake. I told the story fairly. When I was indignant at Fahai breaking them up, the teacher said: Fahai is not wrong, he just did what he should do. On the contrary, the flood of white snakes in Jinshan Temple really hurts the innocent! I told my teacher that this is just a fairy tale, but indeed, we are too used to accepting and echoing traditional views. The same is true of English writing. We haven't taught our children the essence of English argumentative writing: critical thinking.
The teacher said that they changed their children's compositions in England. If their ideas are novel and unique, that is, the words are not very fluent, we will also give them extra points. We strongly encourage these ideas and hope that they can be reflected in writing. Because there is no English language environment, children in China have many misunderstandings in learning English, and parents have to spend a lot of time.
Every child's English level is different.
Learning methods cannot be generalized.
The more common problems mentioned above,
I hope I can give a reference to the students who are learning English.
We have been on the way for young people to study abroad.