In the process of English learning, enhancing language productivity is one of the main purposes of language learning. In addition, language output ability-speaking and writing-is more difficult to improve than language input ability-listening and reading.
On the basis of investigation, this paper discusses the present situation of English writing teaching in senior high schools and the cultivation and improvement of writing ability. Through data analysis and comparison, it is the main purpose of this paper to find out the relevant strategies to improve English writing teaching in order to improve students' written expression ability.
First, language productivity and information processing theory
We often understand the written expression of language as a process of information processing. This process includes receiving information, organizing information, processing information and outputting information. Broadly speaking, this is also the process of language learning. Therefore, we believe that the training of writing skills is also the guidance and training of all links in the process of information processing. The theory that language learning is information processing has been widely accepted. Information processing is a term in psychology and social psychology. In this process, information obtained by people through different channels is stored, organized and extracted in memory. The research of information processing theory includes the study of memory, the study of decoding and verifying hypotheses, and the study of learners' strategies to express their ideas in the target language.
The most influential theoretical model of information processing in the field of cognitive psychology is JohnAnderson( 1983)' s Act (Act) model. [1] It is a memory-based type: first, it is "the knowledge of that"-that is, you need to know something, such as the past tense of English verbs, which mainly has three forms. The second is "how about knowledge"-that is, you have to master the specific content of this knowledge. For example, how to form the past tense of verbs. Language learning often begins with the first one, that is, first of all, we should know that there are three main forms of English verb past tense, and then we should master the concrete construction methods of the three forms. This model is both convincing and practical for language teachers. KeithJohnson( 1996) explained that the theory of automation and information processing has certain influence on language teaching and learning. [2]Hallidy's exposition on language is not only closely related to this theory, but also discusses its role in communicative teaching. [3] From their series of theories and analysis, we can be sure that writing in a second or foreign language is the process of information processing.
Second, the design and operation of survey methods and questionnaires.
This survey adopts quantitative and qualitative analysis methods in applied linguistics research, and obtains relevant data through questionnaires and interviews for empirical discussion. Through the analysis of the data, we can understand the present situation of English writing teaching in senior high schools and put forward some suggestions and strategies to solve the problems.
Third, the survey results and analysis
The purpose of the first part of the questionnaire is to understand how teachers guide students' writing training in the classroom. To sum up, it includes several common forms of practice: Chinese-English practice, sentence-making and dictation. Among them, 52.6% freshmen think that the practice form that teachers often use is Chinese-English translation. Senior two students also choose "often" the most. Rarely used methods are: oral composition and picture composition. Among them, 465%, 438+0.8% and 43.9% students in Grade Two chose "seldom" for the frequency of using these two writing training modes in class.
Judging from the feedback from the survey questions, the cultivation of written expression ability in English classroom teaching still focuses on traditional practice methods such as translation and sentence making. Of course, we do not exclude this kind of training, which is also an essential part of basic training in English teaching. However, confined to such a range, it is far from meeting the needs of students to improve their written English expression ability. Different training modes with different forms, levels and purposes are the only way to improve the writing level.
The second part of the questionnaire is mainly to understand students' views on writing problems and their own practice methods. The problems in writing mainly focus on the lack of vocabulary, inaccurate expression of sentence structure, improper collocation of words and so on. Among them, 50.3% of senior one students think that the main difficulty is small vocabulary, 36. 1% of senior two students think that the vocabulary is small and the sentence expression is inaccurate, and 34% of senior three students think that it is basically a problem of improper vocabulary and word collocation. Speaking of "the teacher doesn't assign you writing tasks, do you consciously practice writing after class?" Most senior one and senior three students answered "very few". 38.2% of senior two students answered "never". From the above figures and interviews with students, we can understand the following problems: there is a certain distance between teachers' classroom writing guidance and students' training to improve their writing ability; Although teachers give students some writing instructions in some aspects, students still have some difficulties in using them, such as word collocation and sentence structure; Teachers' classroom writing guidance and individual tutoring after class should be more targeted; Students' autonomous learning ability needs to be strengthened, and how to improve their learning strategies also needs the help of teachers. Mode and Guidance of English Writing Training In view of the problems reflected in the questionnaire, we discussed the corresponding strategies with relevant teachers and classmates. Through discussion, we summed up the following writing training modes: First, the general structure. By analyzing students' feedback on writing difficulties in questionnaires and the common mistakes collected in students' college entrance examination compositions, we can see that the training of basic knowledge and structure is essential. In basic training, teachers should pay attention to the sentence patterns commonly used in writing, such as the sentence patterns commonly used in the beginning, transition and ending paragraphs. In addition, students should also be required to master the use of transitional words, such as and, more, however, but well, in short, simply put, and so on. In order to achieve the unity and coherence of the article.
In this kind of training, teachers can use conjunctions to make sentences, fill in the blanks, correct mistakes, change sentence patterns, imitate writing and expand writing. [4] Different levels of exercises can be designed according to students' different levels and grades. For example, students with strong writing skills complete the first-level training, and students with slightly greater difficulty complete the second-level training, and then gradually improve.
Products. In a sense, we can say: without process, there is no product. Teaching activities that only focus on language practice cannot arouse students' enthusiasm. Only by giving writing activities a certain degree of communication can students actively express their ideas. This means that students' compositions must have an assumed audience, such as writing letters to friends, writing notes to teachers, recording telephone calls for others, or exchanging views with pen pals on specific topics through e-mail. Because of the different writing objects and writing purposes, students' compositions will be very different.
In recent years, writing teaching at home and abroad has increasingly advocated process writing teaching method. [4] It focuses on the writing process and emphasizes helping students find, analyze and solve problems in the writing process. Through various teaching activities, teachers focus on guiding writing at the discourse level, including conception, outline writing, first draft writing and revision. Process writing involves four steps to cultivate students' specific writing skills. First, preparation before writing, including understanding writing tasks, narrowing the scope of topics, collecting ideas and considering readers; The second is organization, including clear beginning and end, writing a central sentence of an opinion or purpose, and smooth transition between paragraphs; The third is development, including supporting the main points with concrete details and developing the central idea with facts, examples, concrete descriptions and personal experiences; The fourth is to check and revise, including rethinking the writing purpose of the article, using accurate language and avoiding common grammatical and syntactic errors. The third is genre-based writing. This writing mode in classroom teaching is a circulating method and a writing training mode that interacts with the text. The specific operation steps are as follows: first, teachers choose different styles of articles to show to students, and then analyze the stylistic style, writing purpose, language and structural characteristics of the articles. The second step is cooperation. The teacher wrote the students' opinions one by one on the blackboard. Third, students' independent writing stage. Students complete the writing task according to the prompts on the blackboard. This stage includes preparation stage, first draft stage, discussion stage and evaluation stage. Finally, the teacher comments on the students' compositions. Affirm the advantages and encourage students to practice a lot.
Some researchers think that this is an imitative writing method. Because imitation is a cognitive behavior of human beings, imitation writing is effective in complete writing training.