摘  要

根据学生的写作情况以及导致他们现在写作情况的原因分析，我在许多方面采取了一些方法来提高他们的写作能力。首先我着重在课堂内外来提高他们英语学习的积极性，然后丰富他们的词汇，操练基本技能，组织完整作文，最后组织材料、草稿，编写了这篇论文。

【关键词】：写作  能力  分析  练习  草稿  编写

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract

According to the writing situation of the students and the analysis of the reason which leads to their present writing situations, I have taken some measures to improve their writing ability in many respects. First I begin with increasing their interest in English Study in class and out of it, then enrich their vocabulary, practice their basic skills, scheme perfect composition then end up with organizing materials, drafting and editing the whole article.

Key Words: writing, ability, analysis, practice, draft, edit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am mostly grateful to my teachers—Mr Li, Mr Zheng, Mrs Chen and Mrs Xiao. Without their support and help this project would not be finished.

I am also grateful to my classmates for their time spent on discussing with me.

I must thank my students without their willing cooperation in my project implementation, it could not be completed.

At last I should thank my family who have shared with me my worries and hopeful. Without them I could not finish writing this project.

At all, I am very thankful to all people for their care and help in this project. Let me say, “Thank you very much!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1、          Instruction……………………………………………………1

2、          Problem………………………………………………………1

3、          Project objective………………………………………………2

4、          Project hypothesis……………………………………………2

5、          Project rationale………………………………………………2

6、          Project design…………………………………………………3

7、          Project implementation………………………………………4

8、          Project evaluation……………………………………………5

9、          Project findings and discussions………………………………5

Appendix 1: Questionnaire on English teaching.

Appendix 2: The timetable of the project.

Appendix 3: Teachers diaries

Appendix 4: Some students’ compositions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Introduction

I am from BaiMa Lian Yuan, My name is ShiBin. I am a middle school English teacher. I have already taught English for 6 years. I am twenty-tight years old this year. I enjoy teaching English and I Like my students very much. My students have Lots of difficulties in English study, especially in writing. So how to improve the writing ability of students is a problem for me .

2. Problems

The problem I have in my teaching is that most of students can not express their own ideas and thoughts correctly. Why? At first， some students are afraid to write. They always feel that if they begin to write, there may be so many mistakes in their compositions; Second， some students are eager to express their own ideas by writing, but they don’t know how to write or even what to write. What is worse, they may make lots of mistakes in words, sentences and grammars; Third， English sentences are here and there, even though students can not express their ideas correctly.

When I was busy with the problem analysis, I often discussed my project with my workmate, Miss Peng and Mr Xie talked to my classmates about all the problems. They gave me a lot of instructions and suggestions.

A: The student’s side

Students do not know the importance of their own practice. Learning a language or skill, the most effective way is to practice it. To us English Learners, if we want to master a language including mastering all its skills, we must think something in it, express some in it. Karl Marx ever said, “when you are learning a foreign language, you must learn to forget your native language.” That is to say. When we are learning foreign language, we must put ourselves into an atmosphere of foreign language.

B: The Class size

There are more than 100 students in my two classes It is really difficult to control them in such large classes. In Class, I have no enough time to provide the students to practice writing . On the other hand there are few opportunity for a face-to-face correcting mistakes between my students and I of all the cause , I believe that the teacher is mainly responsible for the failure. I made a questionnaire among the students so as to know what they think about the problem, to see Appendix 1.

C: The teacher’s side

The students’ writing situation is necessary to be changed, but the situation is right like a disease. It has its deep root. It is heavily influenced by the old teaching pattern – the Grammar Translation Method. The method is like that the grammar of the classical language had to be described and broken down into learnable chucks;Verbs are conjugated, nouns were declined, teases were explained and exemplified. The vocabulary also had to be listed and learned with a great deal of attention paid to the more philology of the words, how they were made up and combined. The rules of pronunciation were described, they were regular and they had to be learned only so that the texts could be read aloud, and so teachers speak much but students practice little. I think it is bad for improving the students’ writing level.

At all, how to put the solution of the problem into daily teaching. How to raise the students’ interest in English writing, how to develop the students’ rich imagination, it is very important and necessary, As a Junior III English teacher, I have taken some measures, I made up my mind to solve the above problem.

3. Project objective

English is widely used in the world. As Chinese students, they must learn it well. In order to make the students’ confident, I think the best way is to improve their ability of writing in English. I lead them to write in English in and out of class. My project objective is that students can understand and write in English.

4. Project hypothesis

It is hypothesis that students can understand and write the language through effective output exercises. This method benefits the cultivation of students’ writing ability in English which is the purpose of language learning. The students will be never puzzled in writing . If their interests are aroused. They will have confidence to engage in various written practices.

5. Project rationale

  A: Mastering quite a lot of words

We all know, a sentence is made of some words. So I always encourage my students to remember more words. I have taken some measures to them to master words. The students can remember or master words by teaching the knowledge about affix(prefix and suffix). For example, the word “difficult” is an adjective pattern, but if we change the word ”difficult” into “difficulty”, it has become a noun pattern; Again the word “appear” is a verb pattern, if we change it into “appearance”, it has a opposite meaning of “appear”. Each word is each brick, it is the most basic material for putting up a high building. The more, the better.

B: Mastering and practicing the basic sentences.

Even though we have mastered quite many words, We should know how to make sentences with these words correctly and properly. Mastering and practicing all kinds of basic sentences is necessary.

C: The role of teacher.

In order to make students master all kinds of sentences. I have also taken some measures. At first, I ask my students to master some grammars; members of sentences, kinds of sentences, tenses of verbs and so on. I ask my students to familiar to them , then speak them out and at last use them . Second I try my best to make my students be interested in writing in English. If they have interest and courage, they must learn it well. Third I can speak English as much as possible in class and out of class, and encourage them talk to each other in English.

D: The role of students.

Students are mainly part of education. With the help of their teachers, they should use English in listening, speaking, reading and writing, especially writing. Students should write more compositions. So they can recreate these real life activities.

6. Project design

I designed four activities to be tried out in four weeks so as to test the hypothesis.

These activities are described follows:

A: weck1  Activity1   shopping

This activity is based on lesson 54, Unit 14 students Book 3 Junior English For China. Purpose; After reviewing the basic sentence structures, give Ss a chance to practice. Instructions; Students should grasp the main idea of the text “shopping online”. Then they can write out a story using given words and practice.

Procedure: After the teacher leads in the new text lesson 54 Unit 14, the students are given no more than 5 minutes to look back on the content of the unit. Then ask one or two students to retell the story. Then teacher provides some words and phrases and ask them to complete the story sentence by sentence, at first in oral English then in written English , especially pay attention to the sentence structures.

B: Week 2 Activity 2 A doctor for animals.

This activity is based on lesson 58 unit 15, students’ Book 3 Junior English for China, Purpose: After learning some skills about translation, students are given a task – to find some sentences in the text, then Change another sentences with the same meaning. Instructions: Students understand more about translation in different ways by finding and exchange some sentences in the text. Procedure: questions given by teachers; then check the answers; The teacher ticks out some sentences from the text, then ask is do these exercises on the blackboard then ask other Ss to tell whether they are right or wrong.

C: Week 3 Activity 3 The football match

This activity is based on lesson 62 Unit 16 Students’ Book 3 Junior English for China.

Purpose: After learning how to write an article well, including to collect information to choose information to draft and to edit, Instructions: Based on learning to write separate sentences, the students should learn how to make them into a complete article.

Procedure: After the leads in the new text, the students are allowed 4 minutes to Look book upon the story in unit 16, then the teacher give students a task in P182. “Do an interview”, Make a dialogue.

D: Week 4 Activity 4 The missing necklace

This activity is based on lesson 66 unit 17 students’ Book 3 Junior English for China. Purpose: After Learning the dialogues “who stole the neck lace”, Let the Ss make up a story.

Instructions: The activity is aimed to get Ss to know how to write a composition.

Procedure: At first the teacher asks the Ss to read the dialogues on page 82,83,then let them say something about each picture and make up a story.

7. Project implementation.

My students are third-year students. They have learnt English for mostly three years. It took me four weeks to carry out my project design . The following are my project implement.

A. Week     Activity 1    shopping

Date Monday  March 27  9:00-9:45

Step 1 Revision

Revise Lesson 53. Read and act step2 Pre – read SB page 67 part1, Ask and answer the questions in pairs, Then ask Ss “Who owns a camera? What do you think is this best kind of camera?” Let the Ss answer them.

step 3 Reading.

SB Page 67, Part 2, Speech Cassette Lesson 54. Say Look at the title. Ask What is “shopping online?” Help the students to say shopping on the computer. Ask What does Sato Miyoko buy online? Get the students to scan the text for the answer( A digital camera). Then have the students read the text more carefully.

In pairs, get the students to orally answer the questions from Wb Lesson 54, Ex. 1. Check the answers with the class.

Teach the new words and expressions ad, shape, decision, make a decision, screen, form, credit car, successfully, interest, a place of interest and forever.

Then play the tape for students to listen and repeat.

Step 4 Workbook

Let the Ss do Exercise 2-4. They must finished them by themselves. Then do Exercise3 listen to the tape and choose the right answers.

B: Week2 Activity2. A doctor for animals

Date Tuesday  April 5   9:55-10:40

Step 1 : Revision

①   Check the homework exercise

②   Read and act Lesson 57

Step2 Pre-read

SB page 72 part 1. In small groups discuss the following questions.

①   What do you think an animal doctor does?

②   Where does an animal doctor work?

Step3 Read

SB Page 72, Part 2, Speech Cassette Lesson 58. Have the students look at the title. Ask What do you think this story is about? Students discuss the question in pairs. Then ask several pairs to give their opinion. And ask Who is the man who loved dogs? Students scan the passage for the answer(James Herriot). Then get them to scan the passage and underline any words that are unfamiliar. Words and expressions that should be covered are: Scotland, make up one’s mind, vet, mostly, heal, education, Yorkshire, countryside, treat, before long, regard, regard…as, exactly, keep and experience.

Do Wb Lesson 58, Ex. 1.

Play the tape one more time for the students to listen and repeat. Draw their attention to the pronunciation and intonation.

Step 4  Workbook

Let the Ss do Exercise 2-4. In pairs do Exercise 3.

C: Week 3 Activity 3 The football match

Date Friday April 14   9:00-9:45

 

Step 1  Revision

Check the homework

Step 2  Pre-read

SB page 77 part 1. Let the Ss ask and answer the questions in pairs.

①      Do you like watching and playing football?

②      What do you think make a good football player?

Step 3 Read

SB Page 77, Part 2, Speech Cassette Lesson 62. Have the students read through the passage carefully. Then ask What was the ending score of the game? Why do you think the girls won? Let the students give their opinions. Teach the new words train, training, captain, deserve, confident, striker, midfield, midfield player, excellent, shot and nervous. Explain some of the new words using simple English as follows:

Training in this passage refers to training for a competition. While in training, one exercises a lot and may eat certain foods to help them compete better.

The word captain in this passage refers to the captain of the team=the leader of the team. A striker is a player in football whose main job is to kick a goal.

Midfield is the central area of a sports field. Then play the tape for the students to listen and repeat.

Do Wb Lesson 62, Ex. 1 orally as a class.

Step 4 Work book

Let the Ss do Exercise 2-3, do Exercise 3 in pairs.

D: Week 4 Activity 4 The missing necklace

Date: Friday April 21  11:00-11:45

Step 1, Revision

①  Revise Lesson 65 , Let the Ss read and act.

②  Check the homework exercises.

Step 2: Pre-reading

Step 3 Reading

SB Page 82, Part 2, Speech Cassette Lesson 66. Ask What else besides the necklace is missing? Have the students quickly scan the play for the answer( Polly the parrot). Then play the tape while the students read along. Get the students to guess the meaning of the new words rob, detective, inspector, thief and notice. Explain some of the words like the following:

Rob=steal;

thief=a person      who steals;

detective=a person, especially a police officer whose job is to discover robbers and other criminals;

inspector=a police officer.

Have the students look at Wb Lesson 66, Ex. 1 and answer the questions in pairs. Check the answers with the class. In small groups of four, have the students practice reading the play. Encourage them to use their voices to show worry, excitement and contemplation.

Step 4 Workbook

Let the Ss do exercise 2-3

8. Project evaluation

In the four weeks, my students were interested in writing in English. They have already improved the ability of writing. The following is the scores of the two classes. Let’s have a Look.

 

We had an exam on April 28, and to see appendix 4.

9. Project findings

A: advantages

The Project has been Lasted four weeks. The writing ability of students has been improved more or less. At first the students have remembered more words. The second, most of the students can write in English. The third, the students have good habit-think in Chinese first and then write in English. The fourth, the students’ ability of organizing a whole composition has been improved.

B: Short comings

This project has its advantages, mean while has its shortcomings. At first, I haven’t made the best use of the relationship among the four skills-Listening, speaking, reading and writing. The second, I haven’t taught the students how to write a good composition. The third, I gave them few chances to practice.

Appendix 1 英语教学调查问卷

请根据自己的实际情况选择一个最佳答案：

1、你喜欢英语写作吗？

A、很喜欢      B、较喜欢    C、不喜欢

2、在英语写作中，你认为最难的是：

A、单词     B、语法      C、时态和语态

3、日常生活中，你喜欢用英语写日记或书信吗？

A、多常      B、时常      C、很少

4、在平时的英语考试中，你的英语写作如何？

A、很好   B、一般   C、较差

5、你的英语老师指导你们的英语写作如何？

A、很好   B、较好         C、较差

6、在平时的英语阅读中，你做得如何？

A、多常阅读    B、很少阅读       C、从不阅读

7、课常内外，你是否多用日常英语与同学交谈？

A、多常      B、有时      C、很少

Appendix 2: The timetable of the project

 

 

 

Appendix 3 Diaries

Date: Monday April 4 rainy

The first class was English. I asked my students to write a composition. Its name was “My teacher”. Most of the students didn’t write well. There were many mistakes in the composition. Several Students wrote better Then I told them how to write it and what to write. They were very thankful to me.

Date: Tuesday April 12 sunny

After we learned unit 15, I told my students to rewrite the article: A doctor for animals. Some of the students did better in the composition. I praised them. They were pleased with their composition. But some of them didn’t do well. There were quite a lot of mistakes in the words and grammars. I helped them correct their mistakes.

Date : Friday April 22 cloudy

Yesterday we learned “the football match”. Today I asked my students to retell the story and then write it. The girls did better than the boys. Halt of the students told the story in English. They thought that the boys deserved to lost because they were too confident. The football match was wonderful. The students’ stories were very nice. I spoke highly of my students.

Date: Thursday April 28 Sunny

The third class was English. I asked my students to write a letter to their father or mother. Most of them wrote well. They thanked their parent for his(her) working hard. They promised to study hard at their lessons and told their parents not to worry about them. They could take good care of themselves. I praised my students. I hoped that they would make more progresses in the future.

Appendix 4   Some students’ compositions

                  A  letter to my mother

Dear mother,

Today our English teacher asked us to write a letter to you. You are working hard for me. You must look after yourself. Now the weather is getting hotter and hotter. You should have a good rest. Don’t be too tired and keep healthy.

Now I am studying hard at my Lessons. My teachers are very strict with me. They are friendly to me and often help me with my lessons. I will graduate from Junior school. I’m sure that I can get into serious school. Don’t worry about me. I can do well in everything.

                                             Your love

                                         April 5,2005

One possible version:

Dear sir,

    I’d like to tell you something about our out-of-class activities. We have all kinds of activities between 4:50 and 5:50 in the afternoon. We can play games like football, basketball and table tennis. We also have many interest groups such as dancing, singing, drawing, and computer. Most students like such activities. The students who like English can go to English Corner on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. But few teachers join us. So we hope more teachers can teach us how to do them. And we hope to spend more time on activities and less time on homework.

Thank you

 

In a dark evening, Mrs Brown was going home by bike. There was very few people in the street Suddenly, a robber rushed out. He stopped Mrs Brown from going home. He had a knife on her hand his face had a cloth. Mr Brown was too frightened. The robber pushed Mrs Brown down and grabbed her handbag, then ran away. Mrs Brown was very worried just then, Mrs Brown took out of her mobile phone and called the police. Then the police arrived and caught the robber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

1.     Gu yueguo 1999 English language Teaching Methodology.

2.     GU yueguo 2000 Practical Project Design

3.     Jeremy Harmer 2000 How to Teach English

4.     New practical English

5.     English Teaching & Research Notes

6.     English Weekly (Junior English teachers Education)

7.     English Language teaching Methodology(1)、(2)

                                       

2006.4.29

                                        石斌