A Study of Non-English Majors'Writing Strategies：非英语专业学生写作策略研究

PAGEAStudyofNon-EnglishMajors’WritingStrategiesContents摘要………………………ⅰAbstract…………………ⅱ1Introduction…………………11.1CurrentSituation……………………..11.2SignificanceofthePresentStudy…….11.3PurposeofheStudy…………………..12LiteratureReview……………22.1AReviewofStudiesonWritingStrategies…………...22.2ClassificationofWritingStrategiesAdoptedinthePresentStudy……33ResearchDesign……………...43.1ResearchQuestions……………………43.2Subjects………………...43.3Instrument………………54Analyses………………………..54.1Dataanalysis……………54.2Discussion………………75Conclusions…………………….7References………………………...9Appendixes………………………..10PAGEii摘要写作是大学英语学习的一个重要部分，也是大学英语教学中较为薄弱的一个环节。历年来大学英语四六级统考成绩的分析报告显示，写作一直是失分最多的部分。为了进一步了解中国学生的英语写作策略的运用情况，本文比较了不同写作水平学生的英语作文在质量上的差别以及他们在写作过程中使用的不同策略。本研究用一份有关英语写作策略的调查问卷以及认知风格测验，得出以下结论非英语专业大学生在英语写作中一记忆策略运用最频繁，其次是补偿策略，用得最少的是情感策略。至于具体的写作策略，运用最多的是使用话语联系语策略，最少的是与别人谈论感受策略。关键词：大学英语写作策略AbstractThisstudyaimstodiscoverwhatstrategycollegenon-EnglishstudentsappliedinEnglishwriting.Thisstudycombinedwithonequestionnaire.Thesubjectswere60juniorsatTheNorthwestNormalUniversity.TheywereaskedtocompleteonequestionnaireaboutEnglishwritingstrategies.Thestudyproducedthefollowingmajorfindings.Firstly,memorystrategiesareusedmostfrequentlyinChinesenon一Englishmajors’writingcompensationstrategiesthenext，whileaffectivestrategiesgiventheleastattention.Asforthespecificwritingstrategies，usingdiscourseconnectiveismostfrequentlyused，discussingfeelingswithothersistheleastKeyWords:collegeEnglish;WritingStrategyPAGE11.Introduction1.1CurrentSituationEnglishteachinginChinahasbeenexperiencingaboomformorethantwodecadesandhasachievedtremendousprogress.Amongthefourbasicskillsrequiredtobemasteredbyallthesecondlanguagestudents,whicharelistening,speaking,readingandwritinginlanguagelearning,writingisthemostcomplicatedskill.Writingisanindispensablepartofsecondlanguageacquisition.Asoneoftheproductiveskills,writingcanbeagoodreflectionofstudents’overallmasteryofEnglishlanguagelearning.Infact,writingissoimportantthatitispartofalmostallkindsofentranceexaminationsandlanguageproficiencytestsinChinasuchastheCollegeEnglishTests(CET)andtheTestsforEnglishMajors(TEM).Writingrequiresmoreeffortofalanguagelearnerbecauseofitneedforaccuracy.Evennativespeakerconstantlymake“mistakes”whentheyarespeaking;exceptinveryformaloccasions,probablytheywillnotbecriticized.However,apieceofwritingwithgrammaticalmistakeshereandtherewouldlikelybejudgedasilliterateandunacceptable.AlthoughChinesestudents’EnglishwritinghasbeenanissuethatdrawstheattentionofmanyEnglishresearchers,thepresentsituationofstudents’writingisfarfromsatisfactory.Scholarsfrombothhomeandabroadhavedonequitealotofresearchwork.Mostoftheirwork,however,failstodealwithhowChinesestudentswritinginEnglishorganizeandconstructtheirtexts.LittleresearchworkisdoneonthestudyofhowChinesestudentsusetransitionsintheirEnglishcompositions.1.2SignificanceofthePresentStudyInordertoimprovestudents’writing,researchersonsecondlanguagewritingalsobegantoexplorestudents’writingstrategiesduringtheirwritingprocess.Andmanyencouragingfindingshavebeenmade.Wu(2004)foundthatamongthevariousfactors(e.g.,competence,andwritingstrategies)whichaffectwritingachievement,writingstrategiesbelongtothekeyfactors.Someresearchershaverevealedthatexperiencedwritersandnovicewritersdifferedintheirwritingstrategiesuse(Raimes,A,1987;Petric,B.andCzarl,B.,2003).1.3PurposesoftheStudyTosumup,thepresentstudywasundertakentoexploretheuseofwritingstrategiesbyChineseNon-Englishmajorsintheirwritingprocess.Thespecificgoalsoftheexaminationsaretofindouthownon-EnglishMajorsemploywritingstrategies.Whatkindofwritingstrategiestheyusemost.2LiteratureReview2.1AreviewofstudiesonWritingStrategiesThestudyoflearningstrategieshasseenan“explosionofactivity”[1]inrecentyears.However,differentscholarsdefinelearningstrategiesdifferently.Ellisputforwardageneraldefinitionoflearningstrategy:astrategyconsistedofmentalorbehavioralactivityrelatedtosomespecificstageintheoverallprocessoflanguageacquisitionorlanguageuse.Thus,writingstrategiescanbeviewedasthelearningbehaviorsorproceduresstudentsexperienceinthespecificstagessuchasplanning,drafting,andrevisingduringtheprocessofEnglishwriting.LawsonandHogbendiscoveredthestudentswhohavebeenstudyingaforeignlanguage,evenifonlyamonthorsohavemostlikelydevelopedconsciousorunconsciousleaningstrategies.Inthefieldofwriting,SondraPerlfoundthatevenunskilledwritersemployconsistentandstablecomposingstrategies,whichrepresenttheirattemptstodiscovermeaning.Whileitisclearthatbothexpertandunskilledstudentsadoptcertainstrategiesintheirlearningprocess,theformerdoesmanifestsomestrategiesusewhichdistinguishesthemfromthelatter.O’MallayandChamotclaimedthatmoreeffectivestudentsuselearningstrategiesmoreoftenandhadawiderrepertoireoflearningstrategiesthandidlesseffectivestudents.WhileVannandAbrahamdiscoveredintheirstudythatunsuccessfulstudentswerealsoactivestrategyuserbutonlyusedthestrategieslesseffectively.Actually,amongthefewstudiesonwritingstrategy,aconsiderablepartofthemattemptedtoexplorethedifferencesinstrategyusebetweenskilledandunskilledsecondlanguagewriters.Inherprotocol-basedstudyofL1andL2writing,Arndtfoundthattherewasconsiderablevariationamongthewritersintheirapproachtothetaskofproducingwrittentext.Thus,alotofattentionhasbeenpaidtodescribingthestrategiesusedbysuccessfulstudentwriterswiththeassumptionthat“thelearningstrategiesofgoodlanguagelearners,onceidentifiedandsuccessfullytaughttolesscompetentlearners,couldhaveconsiderablepotentialforenhancingthedevelopmentofsecondlanguageskills”.SasakiandHirosediscoveredthatgoodwritersaresignificantlydifferentformpoorwritersinfouraspects:firstly,goodwriterspaymoreattentiontooverallorganization;secondly,goodwriterswritemorefluentlyintermsofquantity;thirdly,goodwritersshowgreaterconfidenceinL2academicwriting,andfourthly,goodwritershavepreviouswritingexperiencesbeyondoneEnglishparagraphlevel.KrashenwentfurtherintothevariationbetweenexperiencedandInexperiencewriters,pointingoutfiveaspectsofdifferences,namely,planning,rescanning,revising,recursion,andawarenessofaudience.YangShuxian’sstudyisoneofthefewattemptsundertakeninChinatoexplorestrategyuseduringtheirwritingprocess.Usingquestionnairedesignandthink-aloudcomposingasthesourceofdata,shefoundthatsuccessfulwritersdifferedfromunsuccessfulonesinplanning,focusing,andrevising.ThevariationinstrategyusebetweenmoreandlesssuccessfullearnersiswidelyrecognizedandillustratedinmorestudiessuchasRubin,WenQiufang,WenandJohnson.2.2ClassificationofwritingstrategiesadoptedinthepresentstudyNoteveryoneisabletoproduceagoodwriting.Whetheronecanwritewellisdeterminedbyone’swritingability.ScarcellaandOxford(1992)maintainthatwritersdrawnonfourtypesofcompetencies:1.Grammaticalcompetence:useofgrammaticalrulers,morphology,syntax,spelling,andpunctuation;2.Sociolinguisticcompetence:rulersthatenablewriterstovarytheirwritingaccordingtotheirpurpose,topic,andaudience;3.Discoursecompetence:abilitytoorganizetextscohesivelyandcoherentlythroughtheuseofdevicessuchaspronounreferenceandellipsesordeletionofrepetitivewords;4Strategiccompetence:useofstrategiessuchasbrainstormingwritingideas,writingdrafts,andrevising.Itcanbeseenclearlythatitisnecessarytoknowaboutstudents’writingstrategiesusebecauseitisoneoffactorsaffectingtheirwritingability.WhenKrapels(1990)madetheoverviewofempiricalresearchonL2writingwhichincludedstudiesofwritingbehaviorsofexperiencedversusinexperiencedwriters,differentwritingbehaviorsinL1andL2writing,theuseofL1insecondlanguagewriting,etc.headoptedtheterm“process”fromFlowerandHayes’L1processwritingtheory.Whilewritingresearchtraditionreferstowritingbehaviorsaswritingorcompositionprocess,inSLAstudiesitisusuallyreferredtoaslearning(writing)strategies(PetricandCzarl,2003).PetricandCzarl(2003)intheirstudy,basedonthetheoriesoflanguagelearningstrategiesandliteratureonFlowerandHayes’processwritingtheory,definedwritingstrategiesasactionsorbehaviorsconsciouslycarriedoutbywritersinordertomaketheirwritingmoreefficient.Thencomingtotheclassificationofwritingstrategies,WangandSui(2004)arguethatwritingstrategiesincludeframing,coherenceanddevelopinggoodwritinghabits.Framingstrategycontainsthreeaspects：doingalotofreading,writingdownsomeideasatanytimeandmapping.Coherencestrategycontainsrememberingmanyconjunctions.Developinggoodwritinghabitsincludespracticingwritingatafixedtime,imitatingandrevising.InChina,Wen(2003a:78-82),ChengandZhang(2002:124-133)intheirbooksmentionedsomewritingstrategiesrespectively.Forexample,ChengandZhangmentionedthefollowingwritingstrategies:freewriting;brainstorming;mapping;incubating,etc.Ascanbeseenclearly,thereisnoconsensusregardingtheclassificationsofwritingstrategies.Duetothelengthofthisthesis,Iwillnotdiscussthemrespectively;insteadI’lljustfocusmyattentiononsomeofthemwhicharecloselyrelatedtomystudy.FlowerandHares’researchonwritingprocessresearchledtoanewpedagogicalapproach-theprocessapproachtowriting.Andfromwhathasbeendiscussedinthewritingprocess,wecanknowprocesswritingrequiresstudentstobuildthestrategiesofpre-writing,drafting,editingandrewriting.Thepracticetrainsthestudentstomakeuseofthewritingstrategiesconsciouslyintheireffortstoimprovingtheirwriting.Studentsinawritingclassadoptingtheprocessapproacharesupposedtogothroughthreeroughstrategiesofthewritingprocess-pre-writingstage,while-writingstage,andrevisingstages.3ResearchDesign3.1ResearchquestionsAsanattempttoexplorethewritingstrategiesusedbyChinesenon-Englishmajors,thisstudytriestoinvestigatethequestionwhatarethefrequenciesofwritingstrategiesusebythelearnersinthestudy?3.2SubjectsThesubjectsinvolvedinthestudyare60Chinesestudents(30ofthemareChinesemajors,and30ofthemaremajors)atNorthwestNormalUniversity.Theywereattheendofthefirsttermoftheirthirdyearcollegestudy.ThereasontochoosethesejuniorasthesubjectsismainlybecauseallofthemhavepassedtheCET.AndtheyarespendingmuchoftheirstudytimeonEnglishandtheyweremorecooperative.ThesestudentsweregoingtotakeCET—Band6attheendoftheterm.Inordertopassthetest,theyhadtospendcertainamountoftimeandenergypracticingwriting,whichcouldguaranteethattheywouldshowgreatinterestindoingthequestionnaireandtreatitseriously.Furthermore,witheightandahalfyear’sEnglishlearning3.3InstrumentTheinstrumentusedinthestudyisonequestionnaire.Thequestionnairewastoexplorestudents’strategiesusedintheirprocessofwriting.Fromtheaspectofproduct-basedapproach,students’writtentextsarecollectedandgradedaccordingto5criteria:content,organization,vocabulary,grammar,andmechanisms.Thenthesegradedwrittentextsareanalyzedtoexamineinwhataspectsuccessfulwriters’articlesarebetterthanthoseoflesssuccessfulwriters.Inthepartofprocess-orientedapproach,learners’strategyuseintheircomposingprocessisinvestigatedthroughaquestionnairewithaviewtodiscoveringwhatstrategiesarefrequentlyadoptedbystudentsandwhatstrategyusedistinguishestheskilledwritersfromthelessskilledones.Analysis4.1DatacollectionThedescriptivestatisticsofstrategiesemployedbytheChinesenon-EnglishmajorsintheirprocessofwritingwasshowninTable4.1.InTable4.1,themeansofvariableinvestigatedrangfrom3.85to2.44ona5-pointscale.Thestandarddeviationshowsthedifferencesofthesubjects’responsestoeachrelevantitem.AccordingtoOxford’skeytounderstandingtheaveragescoreoflearningbehaviors,thosevariablesscoredbetween4.5to5.0areregardedas‘alwaysoralmostalwaysused’,andthosebetween3.5to4.4areconsidered‘generallyused’andthosebetween2.5to3.4‘sometimesused’.Whilethosevariablesscoredbetween1.5to2.4areviewedas‘generallynotused’.Amongthe60students,memorystrategies(M=3.75,SD=.83)ranksthehighest,andcompensationstrategies(M=3.70,SD=.90)thenext,whichindicatesthatlearnersgenerallyusethesestrategiestodealwithproblemsordifficultiesencounteredintheircomposingprocess.Affectivestrategiesranksthelowest(M=2.61,SD=.72),whichshowsthattheyareinfrequentlyadoptedbyChinesecollegewriters,whilesocialstrategies(M=3.30,SD=1.06),.Asforthespecificstrategiesunderthe60students,thestrategyofusingdiscourseconnectives(M=3.85,SD=1.22)hasbeengiventhemostattention,andthestrategyofdiscussingfeelingswithothers(M=2.44,SD=1.23)istheleastemphasized.Othergenerallyusedwritingstrategiesareselectingtopic(M=3.81,SD=1.23),grouping(M=3.75,SD=1.02),mentalassociating(M=3.75.SD=.96),usingresources(M=3.67,SD=1.06),usingcircumlocutionorsynonym(M=3.67,SD=1.00),adjustingorapproximatingthemessage(M=3.63,SD=1.08),andrereading(M=3.62,SD=1.20).Tab.4.1：WritingstrategiesemployedbyChinesenon-EnglishmajorsCategoriesofstrategiesNo.ofstrategiesMSDN=60Memorystrategies(2)3.750.83Group3,751.02Associate3.750.96Cognitivestrategies(8)3.200.41Imitate2.811.07Socialstrategies(2)3.621.20Reread3.210.54Connective3.851.22Rhetoric3.080.99Resource3.671.06Translate3.071.00Outline2.811.09Compensationstrategies(3)3.700.90Select3.811.23Adjust3.631.08Synonym3.671.00Metacognitivestrategies(3)2.970.53Attention3.320.71Planning2.490.90Evaluate3.130.71Affectivestrategies(3)2.610.72Anxiety3.041.17Encourage2.480.86Feeling2.441.13Correct3.301.06Empathize3.471.234.2DiscussionInordertofindoutwhatwritingstrategiesthestudentsuseintheirwritingprocess,Ifindtwosampleofcompositionstoanalysistheirwritingstrategies.One\ofthecompositionisabouttheFakeCommoditiesandtheotheroneisabouttheProsandConsofAdvertising.Ireadthesecompositionsverycarefully;Ifindthatinthesecompositionsthestudentusearrangingandplanningatfirsttopreparethecomposition.Andthememorystrategyiswhatthestudentslikemost.What’smoreitaveryconvenientandeffectivewaytofinishacompositionquickly.Thestudentswillusethefollowingwaystorevisetheircomposition.1.Readthefeedbackgivenbytheteachercarefullyandtrytolearnfromthem;2.Checkifthemessaymatchestherequirements;3.Onlycheckwhattheyhavewrittenwhentheyhavefinishedthewholecomposition;4.Makechangesinvocabulary;5.Readtheircompositionaloud;6.Makechangesinsentencestructure;7.useadictionarywhenrevising;8.focusononethingatatimewhenrevising(e.g.content,structure);9.Makechangesinthecontentorideas;10.Givethemselvesarewardforcompletingthecomposition;11.Dropthefirstdraftandstartwritingagain.Readthefeedbackgivenbytheteachercarefullyandtrytolearnfromthemisusedinahighfrequencybystudentsamongallofthem.AndthesefourstrategiesCheckifthemessaymatchestherequirements,Makechangesinvocabulary;Readtheircompositionaloud,MakechangesinthecontentorideasandReadtheircompositionaloud,areusedwithaverylowfrequency.ConclusionsThepresentstudyexploresstudents’writingstrategyuseintheirwriting.First,anunderstandingofthestudents’useofwritingisobtainedinlightofthisstudy.Thestudyrevealsthatasforindividualstrategyuse,thestudentsemployedavarietyofstrategieswithdifferentfrequencies.Forexample,inthetopic-examiningstrategywasattachedgreatimportancebythestudents.MemorystrategiesareusedmostfrequentlyinChinesenon-Englishmajors’writing,compensationstrategiesthenext,whileaffectivestrategiesgiventheleastattention.Asforspecificwritingstrategies,usingdiscourseconnectivesismostfrequentlyused,discussingfeelingwithothersistheleast.ReferencesBermudez,A.B.andPrater,D.L.1990.UsingbrainstormingandclusteringwithLEPwriterstodevelopelaborationskills.TESOLQUARTERLY24,523-528.Brookes,A.andGrundy,P.BeginningtoWrite.Cambridge:CambridgeCohen,A.D.2000,Strategiesinlearningandusingasecondlanguage[M].Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress.邓探，非英语专业本科生写作学习策略研究「J〕.武汉科技学院学报，2006，19(2).121一124.Ellis,R.UnderstandingSecondLanguageAcquisition.NewYork:OEllis,R.TheStudyofSecondLanguageAcquisition.NewYork:OFlower,L.&Hayes,J.R.Acognitiveprocesstheoryofwriting.CollegeCompositionandCommunication.Grabe,w.&Kaplan,R.B.TheoryandPracticeofWriting.London;Longman.1996.Leki,I.CopingStrategiesofESLstudentsinwritingtasksacrossthecurriculum[J].TESOLQUARTERLY.1995,29:235-260.李献伟.四级写作.合肥：中国科技大学出版社，1995：Ⅲ.将家平.努力提高学生的英语写作能力.外语界.1995，（4）：23-26.刘东虹.写作策略与产出性词汇量对写作质量的影响仁[J].现代外语，2004(3):302一310.文秋芳.大学生英语学习策略变化的趋势及其特点[J].外语与外语教学，1996(4).文秋芳,英语学习策略论.上海:上海外语教学出版社，1996:129,133.Willing,K.LearningStylesinAdultMigrantEducation.Adelaide:NationalAppendixASampleObservationRatingScaleofWritingContent5=excellentMainideasstatedclearlyandaccurately:changeofopinionveryclear4=goodMainideasstatedafairyandaccurately:changeofopinionrelativelyclear3=averageMainideassomewhatunclearorinaccurate;changeofopinionstatementsomewhatweak2=PoorMainideasnotclearoraccurate:changeofopinionstatementveryweakl=veryPoorMainideasnotallclearoraccurate;changeofopinionstatementveryweakOrganization5=excellentWellorganizedandperfectlycoherent4=goodfairlywellorganizedandgenerallycoherent3=averagelooselyorganized:logicalbutincompletesequencing2=PoorIdeasdisconnected:lackslogicalsequencing1=veryPoorNoorganization:incoherentVocabulary5=excellentVeryeffectivechoiceofwordsanduseofidiomsandwordforms4=goodEffectivechoiceofwordsanduseofidiomsandwordforms3=averageAdequatechoiceofwordsbutsomemisuseofwords，idioms，andwordforms2=PoorLimitedrange:，verypoorknowledgeofwords,idioms，andwordforms1=verypoorVerylimitedrange;verypoorknowledgeofwords，idiom，andwordformsGrammar5=excellentNoerrors;fullcontrolofcomplexstructure4=goodAlmostnoerrors;goodcontrolofstructure3=averagesomeerrors;faircontrolofstructure2=poorManyerrors;poorcontrolofstructure1=verypoorDominatedbyerrors;nocontrolofstructureMechanisms5=excellentMasteryofspellingandpunctuation4=goodFewerrorsinspellingandpunctuation3=averageFairnumberofspellingandpunctuationerrors2=goodFrequenterrorsinspellingandpunctuation1=verypoorNocontroloverspellingandpunctuation调查问卷同学您好！请您认真回答一下问题，您的答案仅作为研究数据使用，所以信息将为接受调查者保密。非常感谢您的合作！学号：专业：性别：请根据自身情况，每题选择一个答案，写在题号前。你认为所学专业对你思维方式的影响如何？A影响很大B影响不大C没有影响你认为所学专业对你的学习策略，学习方法（如英语学习）的影响如何？A影响很大B影响不大C没有影响非英语专业学生写作策略调查何卷这个问卷是为了了解你的英语写作方法及写作情况而设计的，每一个问题都无好坏对错之分，请仔细阅读每一句话，并一定要技里迩鱼迭赞蜻逸选择答案，并在相应的数字上划勾。每个问题后均有12345五个选项。分别表示:5—这句话完全或几乎完全符合我的实际情况4—这句话大部分符合我的实际情况3—这句话有点符合我的实际情况2—这句话基本上不符合我的实际情况1—这句话完全或几乎完全不符合我的实际情况PartA(1)在写英语作文时，我会由作文题目想到与该主题相关的词语，如与环境保护这一主题相关的词语有“生态环境、空气污染、温室效应、全球变暖”等。54321(2)写作时，我会由题目要求联想到自己或他人的经历或听到看到的故事等。54321PartB(3)我平时会背诵一些范文或写的好的段落文章，在写作文时有意识地模仿运用。54321(4)在写作的过程中，我会回头看看读读前面刚刚写下来的字词语句。54321(5)作文我一遍写好就算，不再修改。54321(6)我写英语作文喜欢边写边修改。54321(7)我先写好初稿，然后再修改、定稿。54321(8)修改作文时，我考虑思想内容是否表达清楚，并对其进行适当的增加或删除。54321(9)修改时，我考虑句与句之间的逻辑衔接关系，调整文章是段落组织结构。54321(10)修改时，我考虑选词是否恰当、词组搭配和词性是否正确。54321(11)我修改动词的时态、主谓一致、句子结构及从句等语法错误。54321(12)修改作文时，我改正拼写、标点符号、大小写、省略等错误。54321(13)写英语作文时，我使用一些话语连接语(如and，but，however，firstly，secondly，inaWord，inshort，toconclude等)，以使内容具有逻辑性，文章衔接自如。54321(14)我使用一些修辞手段(如比喻、拟人、引用谚语或名人名言、反问、排比等)以使文章生动有趣。54321(15)我写作文时先用汉语思考，再一句一句地翻译成英语。54321(16)写作时，我尽量避免逐字逐句的翻译，而用英语思考。54321(17)我在写文章前先列个提纲。54321(18)写作时，我把脑子里出现的所有想法记录下来，再进行整理。54321PartC(19)当遇到表达不来的词语句子时，我采取回避的态度，转而使用简单一些的字词语句。54321(20)当想不出合适准确的词句来表达思想时，我用拐弯抹角(迂回)的说法或用同义词、近义词来代替。54321PartD(21)我先根据题目要求分析一下哪个部分或方面是写作的重点，并确保文章中己包括了题目要求中的每个内容点。54321(22)写作的过程中，我会注意文章的论点及每一段的主题句是否清楚。54321(23)写作时，我会注意文章的整体布局结构，做到段落清晰，要点明了。54321(24)我把平常学到或看到的好的词汇句型结构等摘抄在笔记本上，并运用到写作中去。54321(25)写作文时，我注意检查自己在拼写、标点符号、语法、词汇、结构等方面是否有错误。54