The Investigation of English Writing Teaching in Middle Schools

Liu+Xiaofang+++Gong+Meng

In order to change the present situation of English writing teaching in middle schools， the author did an investigation in several middle schools in Jiangxi Jian and analyzed the reasons.

1. Research Background

Writing is becoming an important part our daily life. People come to understand the importance of English writing such as writing letters or sending e-mails in peoples everyday work. To certain degree writing is a communicative form to transmit information.

2. The Current Situation of English Writing Teaching in Middle Schools in Jiangxi Jian

The author had been engaged in English writing teaching for several years and has done a lot of research through teaching practice and communication with other teachers. Here is a questionnaire survey involving the students interests in writing， their understanding of the standard of good composition and their attitudes toward the traditional composition revising methods. Judging from the statistic analysis， the following conclusion can be made：

More than half of the students have no interests in English writing. As for the standard of good composition， 43% students think good composition means no or less grammar mistakes； half students think composition with no or less spelling mistakes is good； 38% students consider composition with enough word to be good. When asked their attitudes towards the teachers evaluation， 91% students think that it hasnt any help in improving their writing ability. 53% students state that they spend only one minute to skim the mark then immediately put it aside. As for how to improve their English writing ability， 47% students think the present writing teaching method should be changed.

3. Analysis of the Problems Existing in English Writing Teaching in Middle Schools

From the survey above， the existing problem of English writing teaching in middle schools is clear. Here is the analysis of the typical rooted reasons：

1） Poor English level， lack of interest and confidence in English learning. Most middle school students lack interest and confidence in English writing. They have low motivation to practice writing and most students think that writing is boring and time-consuming.

2） Stressing the writing product， ignoring the writing process. Most teachers use the traditional writing teaching methods. After the teacher assigned the writing task， few students spend some time analyzing the title and making an outline.endprint

3） Teacher-oriented education， neglecting students authenticity. Traditional writing teaching method emphasizes the teachers teaching， ignoring the students learning. Teachers are the center of the class while students have few chances to participate in the teaching activities.

4） Negative effects of tests. English teaching in middle schools aims at the entrance exams which have more marks on multiple choices. Take the College Entrance Examination for example， writing has only 23% ratio of the whole150 marks. It is obvious to see that writing is not as important a proportion as listening and reading.

4. Conclusion

The current situation of English writing teaching in middle schools is not optimistic， so it is quite necessary and urgent to develop an appropriate way to solve the problems.

Bibliography

[1] 陶瀅. 要过程还是结果—论英语写作教学的改进[J]. 山东师大外国语学院学报， 20019（04）.

[2] 丁往道. 英语写作手册[M]. 北京： 外语教学与研究出版社， 2001.

作者简介：刘晓芳， 女， 讲师， 硕士研究生，任教于江西吉安师范学校，从事英语教学工作。

（作者单位：江西吉安师范学校）endprint