On the Role of Interest in English Writing Teaching1.doc

On the Role of Interest in English Writing Teaching. IntroductionEnglish education has become more and more important in the class of China, especially after China entered the World Trade Organization. In other words, China will play a more and more important role in the international area politically and economically in the background of the globalization. Undoubtedly, it is a challenge for our English teaching. English, as an important language in communication of the whole world, at first sight, seems complicating, in fact it is not the case. In general, English skills include four basic parts, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Usually most teachers and students take little notice of the English writing and most of them are bored at it. As one of four basic sections of English, however, English writing has not received enough attention for a long time in middle schools, even in universities. When we refer to English writing, many teachers and students shake heads with it. To the teachers point of view, it is difficult to teach English writing. Students cannot make great progress in short period. So most teachers implant the idea as recite some model essays before the exams. For a long time, the students begin to look down upon it and think it nothing serious. The situation gets worse and worse. This makes lots of students have great disadvantages, which are the barriers of becoming excellent English learners in their future. In order to develop students English writing ability, different people choose many kinds of methods, such as special English writing training courses, English tutors, reciting classical compositions and so on.Einstein once said: “Interest is the best teacher.” So interest is the best teacher in English writing. We may have such experiences that when you do something you like, possibly you will do it well, while you do not have any interest in something, but you have to do it, then you do it as a appointed task, it may be done badly, because you tend to think that the only thing you should do is to finish it no matter how the result is. English writing is such a thing. Many students reflect that they are unwilling to write English composition for they have no interest in it. Therefore, as a future English teacher, the writer holds the view that she has the responsibility to stimulate and develop the students interest, and arouse the enthusiasm of students in English writing teaching. Therefore, how to cultivate students interest plays an important role in English writing. Thus, according to the definition and function of interest as well as the characteristics of learners interest, this article discusses some methods to stimulate and develop students interest in English writing. . The current situation of English writingIn this part, the writer will analyze the current situation of English writing in details. Please look at the order of the basic parts, listening, speaking, reading and writing, we can get that writing places the final, so it is easy for students and teachers to ignore it at the beginning of studying English. There is no English writing class form the English courses of middle school, high school and there are at most two English writing classes in university, so it is no wonder many students do poor in English writing. As we all know, English listening is the biggest obstacle in English studying for most Chinese learners. So almost all the schools will broadcast the English listening materials for students to improve their listening skill. With the appearance of Mp3, Mp4, student can listen aural materials and English songs at their will anytime and anywhere. Now listening is not their obstacle any more in studying English. With China entering the World Trade Organization, the so-called “dumb English” cannot fit the tide of development, so more and more people devote themselves in practicing English speaking. A lot of methods are proposed to improve oral English. The most common and efficient way is “English corner”. At present, Most English learning beginners can sing some English songs. It is no wonder that little children in big cities can communicate with foreigners in English without any difficulty. Most Chinese students can speak English as smooth as those whose mother tongue is English. As one of four basic skills of English, reading is very important. As Francis Bacon said, “reading makes a full man. Histories make man wise, poets witty, the mathematics subtle, natural philosophy deep, logic and rhetoric able to contend. In order to acquire information from home and abroad, we depend on reading. Even to pass an examination we need to pay more attention to reading, because reading takes a great part of every exam. In normal times, the English teachers ask students to read world-famous works, English newspapers, English magazines to improve reading efficiency. The students also do many reading comprehensions to improve the ability that acquire information. For many students, reading is just a piece of cake. As for English writing, many students cannot raise the interest in it though they know its importance. Others commonly relate English writing to exams. They do not know what writing is. In fact, “English writing is an activity of which thoughts are expressed in a language. It is a language form of the process of ones thinking and knowing rather than simply printing or recording those of being seen, read and felt in letters down on paper”. (J. Michael 15). It is the learned process of shaping experiences into text, allowing the writer to discover, develop, clarify and communicate thoughts and feelings. Writing requires and supports the development of thinking skills, learning to write brings the learner into the literature community as an active participants in conversation. Writing is our catalysts for creating the future. In terms of individual, it is a way to use characters to express ones feelings, to exchange ideas, to pass on the massages. It is representation of ones real life but not a tool for students to get high marks. In terms of society, good writings can affect others greatly. Next, the writer wants to take her beloved Jane Eyre for example. There are many beautiful sentences in the world-famous works and touch the writer greatly. Now she will share some with you. One, “Sometimes I have a queer feeling with regard to you-especially when you are near me, as now, it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous Channel and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communication will be snapt; and then Ive a nervous notion I should take to inwardly. As for you, -youd forget me.(Bronte 324)Another,“Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automation? -a machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you,- and full as much heart! And if god had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. (Bronte 325)Jane words tell us what is love and how to love. Love is pure, it has nothing to do with wealth, beauty and status, etc. These sentences help us inform correct value of love and marriage and teach us should treat love correctly. Good writing lives long. To make a long story short, good writings can make you understand something deeply, can help you shape good characters, such as strong, self-confident, self-respects, self-love, etc. So it is not going too far to attach more significance to English writing. . The problems in teaching English writingMost learners think that writing composition in English is difficult. When asked, some of them will say that they do not know how to write in English. Some of them write composition in English, just according to the Chinese meaning word by word. Some of them cannot express themselves clearly. Why many students do poor in English writing? The writer thinks that the reasons not only exsit in students but also in teachers.A. On the part of students1. Being short of wordsTo my investigation, many kinds of reasons attribute to students doing poor in English writing. The basic one is short of words. Words are the basic elements of language. You do have to own enough words to express your ideas clearly and exactly. In the process of English writing, many students cannot express themselves correctly because of deficiency in English words. Sometimes they use the same word groups or sentence pattern, sometimes they may misuse some words so that they express themselves unclearly, sometimes they know how to express their ideas but fail in spelling the words correctly. So lack of words is the main problem for students to write English composition. 2. Making syntactical errorsThe second common phenomenon is syntax error. Once a time, I was an English tutor for a middle school student who had taken the examination to high school. He got full mark in math but got about forty marks in English. He doesnt know what is “be” verbs. What is subjective, what is objective, how to prepositions, adverbs. In a word, he knows nothing about English. The following is his composition,Dear teacher, How are you! Under yours help, I makes great progress on me English. Now I very like EnglishAfter reading his composition, you will admire him. There are six errors in two sentences. A person who can make such evident errors is a successor among losers.3. Having cultural differences Another factor is cultural difference which may leads to thinking obstacles. There are much cultural difference between Chinese-speaking countries and English-speaking countries, which bring Chinese students a lot of thinking obstacles. Different countries, different language systems bring about different thinking. However, many students write English composition as they do in Chinese composition. So the composition reads strange. For example, many students begin their composition with such sentences as “Do want to knowlet me tell youif you ask meIll tell you It is natural for Chinese students to use these sentences as beginning but it is completely contrary for English-speaking people. They think these sentences talk nonsense. Generally, we can find that the theme sentence lies in the beginning or ending of the English test. So in the process of teaching English writing, the teachers should help students analyze the thinking differences between Chinese and English and help them overcome the influence of Chinese writing on English writing. 4. Having psychological blockLast but not least is the psychological block. When the writer was a practice teacher, she found that most students were afraid of English writing. They usually regard English writing as a burden and would do some subjects rather than write a composition, which makes students lack of interest in English writing. Some students are introverted and weak in basic English, they get headache and tension when it comes to English writing. Others are so sensitive that they care about evaluation from teachers and students and feel disappointed and frustrated when making mistakes in English writing. For a long time, it gets harder and harder for them to take writing.B. On the part of teachers 1. Having unreasonable English writing teaching methods Let the writer come to the second aspect, on the part of teachers. From the writers own experience, on the whole, all the teachers belittle English writing. They just look English writing as an extension of English reading comprehension and do not separate the English writing from reading as a separated course. They take it for granted that students are good at reading will do well in writing. They do not consider that the potential for writing needs to cultivate. Many teachers omit the function, position and affection of English writing.Sometimes, students being poor in English writing has something to do with teaching methods. Some methods are machinery, simple, and drudgery. The writer remembers clear what had happened when she was a middle school student. Usually the teachers do not have us write composition. We have no idea to write. We just try our best to put all sorts of sentences together to reply the examination. However, when vocation is coming, both English teacher and Chinese teacher must arrange ten or more compositions. We will get punishment if we cannot complete the compositions on schedule. When the vocation indeed coming, we enjoyed the vocation and had already forgotten the school assignments. We suddenly remembered there were many compositions had not completed two or three days before new terms begin. So we stayed up to make for composition to avoid punishment. We do not know what we write about, let alone write good composition with interest and passion. As usual time, teachers find a subject or several pieces of pictures causally, then ask the students to write a composition. Without any direction and true feelings and emotions how can one write a composition? The teachers should ask students to write according to what happens around, the beauty they see to express their love for a person, animal, plant, or something they love. Taking one of the public advertisements “washing feet for mom for example, if one doesnt wash feet for his mother how can he express exact feelings about that? So good English writing needs firsthand experiences and true feelings as one saying goes wit bought is better wit taught. 2. Repeating English writing modelFor quite some time, English writing is always repeating the same model. Teachers arrange the subject, students finish it, teachers correct it then return it to students. In the process of writing, the writing model makes teachers pay more attention to the result of writing but ignore the expression of real emotion. So there is no progress in English writing. Most teachers pay no attention to students individual differences and do not enough in teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. The problems in teaching English writing from students and teachers attribute to the lost of interest in English writing. How to suit the remedy to the case and solve the problems correctly and properly? How to cultivate interest in English writing? That is a question. Ways to cultivate the interest of English writingA. On the part of schools 1. Arranging the English writing class As one of the four basic English skills, undoubtedly, writing is important. The writing ability can in