Influential Factors and Countermeasuresof College Students’ English Writing Ability

汪兰 周丽

【Abstract】English writing is a basic ability that the college students must master. The cultivation of college students English writing ability is more important in college English writing teaching. English writing is based on the students English comprehensive application ability. Because of many factors， nowadays， college students English writing level is generally low and English writing ability is very poor. Therefore， how to improve college students English writing ability is an urgent problem which must be solved.

【Key words】writing ability； influential factors； countermeasures

1. Introduction

English writing is a complete exploration of art， which uses written communication to express ideas and is the advanced stage of language learning as well as the output stage. English writing is an important aspect of language application； it is also an important means for the determination of language ability. Writing should include language knowledge and writing skills etc. Language knowledge and contextual knowledge can be used as input for the author to provide enough and can make the scholars have words to express， to mobilize students' writing potential. （Badger， R. & White， G， 2000） The measure of writing is to see whether he or she can use the learned language materials and grammar knowledge and others to express in the form of words. It is an important way for the college students to consolidate the learned knowledge and cultivate the practical ability of using language. Many English experts believe that English writing is a transition from thought to language in the process rather than a finished product. People should use the language to achieve three functions in this process： the expression and clinical significance of function， interpersonal function and textual function， more important is whether the other person is readable. （Li， J， 2008：9）Whats more， College students English writing ability is a process of comprehensive language knowledge on the basic of absorbing to creative process， is also the process of learning foreign in an effective way.

2. The current situation of college students English writing ability

At present， with the deepening of the reform of the education system， university English writing has achieved some results， but the situation is yet not optimistic. At present， the Chinese intellectual circles in English listening. Speaking ability has been greatly improved， but the level of English writing is not satisfactory （Li Funing， 2000：7）. According to statistics. National College English Test Band-Four six writing average has been hovering at around 6.8 and has not yet reached the passing level. Students English writing ability is vacuous generally， with sentence， vocabulary， structural mistakes. In recent years Chinese college students' English level has been greatly improved， but the ability of English writing has always remained stagnant （Cai Jigang， 2002：9）. It is not hard to see from this. The present situation of college students English writing ability is not optimistic. So， what influences college students English writing ability？ Then， let us talk about the cause for improving college students English writing ability.

3. Countermeasures of College Students English Writing Ability

3.1 From the students themselves

The college students should change the past study attitude and increase the interest in English writing. They can start to try to write the simple essays by doing some simple sentence translation. And at the beginning， they can write some short articles. Interest is the basis of learning English well； it can arouse the college students curiosity and urgent desire for knowledge. Different people in the same study environment， the effect is not the same， their own quality is one aspect， more important is that the learners attitude and felling. What I said here， the attitude and feeling is learners interest. As the old saying goes， interest is the best teacher. It need a long time and long process for a student writes good writing. So， college students should make a good use of their limited time and energy and take advantage of the efficient resource that can be used to train their English writing. They should make interest in English writing on the basis of listening， speaking， reading and writing in the usual learning process. They can do exercises from most use short sentence in writing， copy writing sentences， make up sentences， from imitation composition to free writing， sentence length unlimited， how much does not restrict， they can gradually develop interest in English writing. When the college students are interested in English writing， then they make the first step to the gate of English writing.

Increasing vocabulary， lacking of vocabulary has been a major hinder for college students to write， as the old saying goes， even a clever woman cannot cook without rice. Vocabulary is the basis of language. Vocabulary is important for students to improve the level of English writing and the ability. If the college students want to improve their level of English writing ability， they must get as much as vocabulary. Because， the more vocabulary， the more content that the college students can write in English， and the quality of their writing is better （Lin Yangyang， 2014：8）. So the college students should try their best to remember more vocabulary. They can give themselves a task in the usual learning； they can remember some vocabulary day by day. Reading can help students master the knowledge of language， and reading is an important channel to obtain information. So， the college students should take advantage of their every seconds to read more in the college， such as they can look through some English magazines and newspapers， and they can choose the reading according to their hobby and actual level. The college students can read some English reading. In the process of reading， the college students themselves should remember some commonly used words， and conclude a number of synonyms and antonyms. From reading， the one can get comprehensive understanding and knowledge of some typical sentence pattern， and the knowledge of discourse structure. In addition， the college students should be good at summing up some typical sentences as more as possible in reading some passages， and the accumulation of material can be used for his writing in English in the process of reading. When the college students expand their reading， their vocabulary will be more and more that they can use in English writing. Vocabulary can directly promote the improvement of English proficiency （Ma Guanghui， Wen Qiufang， 1994：4）. Thus， the college students will not afraid their article content is not rich. So how to enlarge college students vocabulary is through reading.

The students themselves should change their study strategies. First， they should know that learn is for themselves， improving the English writing ability is necessary and important for them to improve the comprehensive English skills. In the usual time， they should get more English writing exercises though the teachers don not give the English writing task for them. We can choose the different topics and we can use different ways. At the beginning， we can write something easy to write， and with sometime later we can write something complex. In addition， the college students should get into the habit of English diary and making notes in the class. As the saying goes， good or you will forget it. So， in the spare time， we college students should take good advantage of time and available resources to write more， and college students should not afraid to make mistakes. The more we write， the better our article will be. I believe that if all the college students can give some minutes to write in everyday time， their English writing ability will soon be improved.

3.2 From the teachers and teaching

University teachers should attach importance to the teaching of English writing. The college students lacked the necessary guidance and supervision， resulting in the quality of writing is not high， the students writing ability is low. University teachers should be specifically set up some plans to guide students writing training. Teachers should discovery the errors in the process of writing， and help the students to solve the problems， particularly in the use of words and grammar in the choice； teachers must guide students to use the correct grammar and the correct word in order to promote the improvement of the quality of writing.

Strengthen the training of writing and writing instruction， students often complain that they do not know what to write， or I can't write. The consequences of this are usually lack of writing practice. As the saying goes， skill comes from practices. So in the usual teaching process， teachers should allow the students to practice diligently. In a word， the final purpose of learning English is communication and application； writing is a kind of ability， needing to rely on long-term training. The cultivation of students writing ability is not a short duration of time things； it needs for a long time. Therefore， teachers should continue to explore in practice， summed up the appropriate teaching methods for students writing， help students to gradually eliminate the impact of various factors on English writing ability， improve students' English writing ability. Teachers should strengthen the writing process. English teachers at the time of writing， often simply get the English divided into two parts， writing and correcting the layout， and the university teachers usually have heavy task， some teachers have no time refer to the students English writing modified. Result both the teachers and students do not know English writing mistakes， the teacher also can not know the students English writing still exists the problem. So， in the teaching of English writing at ordinary times， the teachers should spend a little more time on students English writing process and writing correction. On the one hand， it can help teachers to understand students English writing level. On the other hand， it helps students to understand their own lack of existing in English writing process and which aspects need to be improved. In this way， it can effectively help teachers improve teaching methods； it can also enhance the self-confidence of students， stimulate students love of English， and so improve English writing ability effect can not be ignored.

Try to get rid of the influence of exam oriented education， the ultimate purpose of both teachers and students should understand that learning English is not easy to pass the exam， but the ultimate goals is to communication and application. However， most students learn English for the aim of passing the exam. So the country should try to consummate education policy，to enable students to understand the real purpose of English writing learning initial and final purpose， and not just pass the exam， but for their own future， to meet the need of the society. Only when these policies are to be improved， students can truly understand the importance English writing， students English writing ability will be improved.

3.3 From the environment

School and college management should try to work for college students quality of foreign culture atmosphere （Zhang Jing， 2010：24）. Schools can organize students English reading in the morning， school information bar， dormitories place a variety of personalized motto and classic text， library， room and other places rich configuration， the use of books in English or English video. All of these ways can create a rich atmosphere for English learning， inspire students to learn English. In addition， classes and schools can organize English writing competition regularly， set up a variety of awards， to inspire the students to join writing competition. In addition， the teacher can try to let students English write diaries or letters， which will help students to get more training in the spare time， and help to improve college students English writing ability.

4. Conclusion

Nowadays， English writing ability of Chinese students is very low， and this has made many problems for English teaching. Whats more， according to this， many students are not interested in English writing. So， this problem has been a popular topic. Improving students English writing ability can improve students comprehensive ability. But how to improve students ability is also a complex and difficult thing for students and teachers.

English writing is an important part of English teaching. It is also an important part for English learners to explore. However， for many factors， at present， the college students English writing ability of our country is common low. So college students English writing teaching is in vulnerable spot. English writing ability is important for English learners to learn English well. It is meaningful to improve college students English writing ability for improving college students comprehensive abilities.

References：

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[2]D.A.Wilkins.Linguistics in Language Teaching[M].Cambridge：MIT Press，1972.

[3]Li J.Problems encountered in college English writing and strategies to teach[J].Testing weekly，2008（9）.

[4]Nunan D.Second Language Teaching and Learning[M].Cambridge：Cambridge University Press，1999.

[5]Swain.Three Functions of Output in Second Language Learning[M].Cambridge：Cambridge University Press，1995.

【基金項目】湖北省教育科学“十二五”规划2015年度课题——“写长法”在提升TEM-4写作成绩中的有效性研究，课题编号：2015GB209。

作者简介：

汪兰（1981-），女，湖北大悟人，讲师，硕士，从事英语语言学与翻译学研究。

周丽（1982-），女，湖北武汉人，武昌工学院讲师，硕士研究生，研究方向为应用语言学、高校英语教学，英美文学。