高中英语写作研究-一项利用有声思维法的实证研究的中期报告

高中英语写作研究——一项利用有声思维法的实证研究的中期报告AbstractThisreportpresentsamid-termanalysisofanempiricalstudyontheuseofauditorythinkingmethodinhighschoolEnglishwriting.ThestudyaimstoinvestigatewhetherusingauditorythinkingmethodcanimprovethewritingperformanceofChinesehighschoolstudents.Thedatacollectioninvolvedpre-andpost-testwritingtasks,whichwereassessedbasedonasetofwritingcriteria.Thefindingsshowthattheinterventiongroup,whoreceivedauditorythinkingtraining,outperformedthecontrolgroupintermsofoverallwritingquality,coherence,andvocabularyusage.However,nosignificantdifferencewasfoundongrammaticalaccuracyandmechanics.ThereportdiscussestheimplicationsofthefindingsforteachingandlearningEnglishwritinginhighschool.IntroductionEnglishwritingisachallengingskillformostChinesehighschoolstudentsduetothelackofopportunitiesforimmersioninanEnglish-speakingenvironmentandinadequatetraininginwritinginstruction(Wang&Wen,2015).TeachersinChinatendtofocusongrammaticalaccuracyandmechanicerrors,neglectingaspectssuchascoherenceandvocabularyusage.TheselimitationsinthecurrentEnglishwritinginstructionhaveledtoagrowingneedforinnovativeandeffectivepedagogicalapproaches.Onepromisingapproachisauditorythinking,whichemphasizestheuseoforallanguageasameansofdevelopinglanguageandcognitiveabilities(Campbell&Dickinson,2004).Inanauditorythinkingapproach,studentsareencouragedtoarticulatetheirideasorallybeforewritingthemdown.Thisapproachisbelievedtoprovidestudentswithascaffoldfororganizingtheirthoughtsandexpressingtheminaclearandcoherentmanner.ThepresentstudyaimstoexploretheeffectivenessofauditorythinkinginhighschoolEnglishwritinginstruction.Specifically,weseektoinvestigatewhetherauditorythinkingtrainingcanimprovetheoverallqualityofwriting,coherence,vocabularyusage,andgrammaticalaccuracy.MethodParticipantsTheparticipantswere60highschoolstudents(30malesand30females)fromtwointactclassesinahighschoolinChina.Theywererandomlyassignedtoaninterventiongroup(N=30)andacontrolgroup(N=30).Themeanagewas16.3years.ProcedureBeforetheintervention,allparticipantswereaskedtowriteanargumentativeessayonagiventopic,whichwasassessedusingaholisticrubric(Jiang,2010).Theassessmentcriteriaincludedoverallquality,coherence,vocabularyusage,grammaticalaccuracy,andmechanics.Theinterventiongroupthenreceivedauditorythinkingtraining,whichwasdeliveredoverafour-sessioncourse.Thetrainingfocusedondevelopingoralexpression,buildingvocabulary,andimprovingcoherencebyintroducingvarioustechniquessuchasbrainstorming,peerdiscussion,andgrouppresentation.Thecontrolgroupreceivednointervention.Aftertheintervention,bothgroupswereaskedtowriteanargumentativeessayonadifferenttopic,andtheirwritingwasassessedusingthesamerubric.ResultsBeforetheintervention,therewerenosignificantdifferencesbetweenthetwogroupsintermsoftheirwritingperformance.Aftertheintervention,theinterventiongroupscoredsignificantlyhigherthanthecontrolgroupintermsofoverallwritingquality,coherence,andvocabularyusage(seeTable1).However,nosignificantdifferencewasfoundongrammaticalaccuracyandmechanics.Table1:Comparisonofpre-andpost-testscoresofwritingperformancebetweeninterventionandcontrolgroups.VariableInterventiongroupControlgroupPre-testPost-testPre-testPost-testOverallquality2.73(0.50)3.54(0.72)*2.77(0.52)2.98(0.65)Coherence2.50(0.43)3.34(0.62)*2.50(0.45)2.69(0.43)Vocabularyusage2.33(0.38)2.89(0.51)*2.27(0.41)2.40(0.49)Grammaticalaccuracy2.97(0.41)3.02(0.49)3.02(0.49)2.98(0.41)Mechanics2.90(0.41)2.92(0.41)2.96(0.44)2.91(0.45)Note.Mean(SD)*Significantdifferencebetweenpre-andpost-testscoresoftheinterventiongroup(p<0.05).DiscussionThefindingsofthisstudyindicatethatauditorythinkingtrainingcanenhancetheoverallqualityofwriting,coherence,andvocabularyusageofChinesehighschoolstudents.Theseresultsalignwithpreviousstudiesthathaveshownthebenefitsofauditorythinkingforlanguageandcognitivedevelopment(Campbell&Dickinson,2004;Taguchietal.,2014).Onelimitationofthisstudyisthatgrammaticalaccuracyandmechanicsshowednosignificantimprovementaftertheintervention.Thissuggeststhatadditionaltrainingfocusedontheseaspectsmaybenecessary,especiallygiventheimportanceofthesecomponentsinEnglishwritinginChina(Wang&Wen,2015).ConclusionThisstudyprovidesevidenceofthepotentialeffectivenessofauditorythinkingtrainingforhighschoolEnglishwritinginstruction.Althoughthefindingsarepreliminary,theysuggestthatauditorythinkingcanenhancewritingquality,coherence,andvocabularyusage.TheseresultshaveimportantimplicationsforteachingandlearningEnglishwritinginChina,wheretraditionalpedagogicalapproacheshavefailedtomeettheneedsofstudents.Furtherresearchisneededtoexplorethelong-termeffectsofauditorythinkingtraininganditspotentialintegrationintoEnglishwritinginstructioninhighschools.ReferencesCampbell,R.,&Dickinson,D.K.(2004).Theimportan