TEACHING ENGLISH WRITING IN CHINA8500字

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1、TEACHING ENGLISH WRITING IN CHINA8500字 I have been a foreign teacher in several colleges for three years. Two of these years have been spent in the English Department of a large key university. During this time, I have taught writing classes. Additionally, in the academic courses I teach , students

2、are required to write academic essays in English of 500 to 1 ,500 words. Thus, I have had an opportunity to review the written work from a large sample of Chinese students. Based on this experience, I have come to the conclusion that most of the students in the English Department are not capable of

3、writing passable formal or academic English. What is the source of this problem? There are many causes. I believe the principal reason is the way in which Chinese people think and express themselves in their native language. My conclusion is that, given the difference in the manner of thinking and e

4、xpression , and the current structure of the educational process in China , it is almost impossible for Chinese students at any age to learn to write grammatically correct formal or academic style English. This situation will not change until there are some fundamental alterations to the way English

5、 writing is taught in middle schools, colleges and universities.1. THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ENGLISH WRITINGGood writing English skills can be seen as the more important, as in writing there is a text or record of exactly what is being communicated for all to see. Any errors are readily apparent to the

6、 reader. In business correspondence, a sequence of writing mistakes quickly make the reader lose not only confidence in the person who has sent the letter, but also with the company they represent. A lack of confidence usually results in a lack of interest in doing business. Good English is good bus

7、iness.Universities in the United Kingdom, America, New Zealand Australia and other Commonwealth countries teach exclusively in English and require foreign students to have a minimum level of proficiency in spoken and written English. Most post2graduate level courses require the student to prepare ac

8、ademic or research papers in addition to master thesis or doctoral dissertation. All of these must be written in English. As I have taught undergraduates and post2graduate students in an Australian university for many years, I can attest that university teachers expect all written work received from

9、 their students to be in clear , concise and grammatically correct academic style writing. This is what they expect , and anything other than this is penalized.2. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEMChinas society has evolved over 5000 years and it is the longest surviving civilization of our modern world. Chi

10、nas early national development and historical isolation from the Western world insured that its culture flourished and was not influenced or adulterated by others.The Chinese language , which is a basic element of this culture is a historical descendent of the Sino2Tibetan language family , whereas

11、English , a Germanic/ Anglo Saxon language , is of Indo2European de2 scent. Most Indo2European languages, especially English, have changed over the years and continue to change with time. Another area where there is a lack of understanding of English grammar is in the use of articles, in particular

12、the use of the definite article “the”. As most native speakers rarely make this type of mistake, it tends to stand out as a glaring error on a page and is very distracting to the reader.English is a living and dynamic language. Every year new words are added to the language. Unfortunately, once in a

13、 dictionary, words continue to remain there well past the time they are commonly used. On occasions, when Chinese students are lost for use of a term , they go to their Chinese2English dictionary to find a word that will express exactly what they want to say. Unfortunately, in some instances, the wo

14、rd that they chose is no longer in common English use. Thus, many Western readers will not understand the meaning of the word or recognize that the word is no longer commonly used and wonder why the writer has chosen such an archaic means of expression.Another common problem is the students failure

15、to revise their written work. It seems that most students finish an assignment in a rush and then, without looking at it again submit it, filled with mistakes, to the teacher. Many simple spelling, punctuation or capitalization mistakes could be easily corrected if students would simply read their e

16、ssays carefully before handing them in.To some extent, this is also a cultural issue as Chinese rhetoric encourages an inductive way of reasoning and expression. Therefore, Chinese students prefer to use quotations and paraphrases rather than draw their own conclusions or observations. Nevertheless,

17、 quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing from other authors without the proper acknowledgment are still plagiarism.3. RESOLUTIONHow to improve Chinese students written English? This is a difficult question to answer as the solution must overcome cultural differences as well as resolving problems with

18、grammar and the mechanics of writing. It is not possible or ethically acceptable to try and alter a students cultural heritage, but it may be possible to implement some changes in the way in which English writing is taught. Following are some suggestions on how this can be accomplished. The first st

19、ep, I believe , is for the educational system , at all levels , to recognize that there is a universal problem with Chinese students English writing. The solution will not be achieved in either primary, secondary or tertiary institutions; rather, it needs to be addressed in all three.Teachers, at al

20、l levels, must emphasize the importance of writing good English, give the students ample opportunity to express themselves in written English , correct their work and give them individual feedback on their mistakes and also praise their satisfactory work.These should be comprehensive courses that fo

21、cus on formal or an academic style of writing. As effective English writing consists of much more than stringing words together to form sentences , course content should include , but not be limited to : LANGUAGE Grammar Diction Punctuation Sentences/ paragraphs Capitalization Word division MECHANIC

22、S and so on. Lastly, but probably most importantly, is the English teacher and the role that he or she plays in the classroom. It is important that, at whatever level English writing is being taught, the teacher is well trained in grammar and the fundamentals of effective writing and has a strong co

23、mmitment to improving the writing skills of their students. Not only should the teacher correct mistakes, they must also reinforce what they teach and show encouragement when the students work shows promise. Students must recognize that writing clear and concise English is every bit as important as

24、speaking good English, that speaking and writing go hand in hand to produce a competent linguist.4. CONCLUSIONWith Chinas entry into the WTO opening many new business opportunities for Western companies and many Chinese students seeking post2graduate positions in Western Universities the ability to

25、write good formal or academic style English is becoming increasingly important.However, it would seem that a combination of cultural differences , inconsistent classroom instruction and careless writing habits are creating universally poor writing skills among most Chinese students.This problem need

26、s to be clearly recognized by the national government and academics so that changes in the present system of English education can be implemented. These changes should relate to the way English writing is taught in an attempt to alleviate the cultural disparities that create writing problems. Emphas

27、is should be given to developing good language skills and learning the mechanics of formal or academic writing. A new cadre of English teachers, well trained in the fundamentals of English writing, should be emplaced in primary schools, middle schools, colleges and universities. English writing shou

28、ld receive as much educational emphasis as oral English.Any process of change requiring this level of effort will take a considerable amount of time to implement. Therefore, it is important that these changes be set in motion quickly to ensure that benefits will be achieved as soon as possible.（责任编辑：段玉）