摘 要

英语写作是高中英语教学和高考英语测试的重点和难点之一。因此，如何提高英语写作教学效率一直以来都是热门话题。以往的研究主要集中在将英语核心素养渗透到课堂教学中，以提升高中生的英语写作能力。本文研究目的是调查高中生英语作文中存在的一些常见问题，然后从核心素养的角度提出相应的策略来提高升高中生的英语写作能力。为分析和梳理写作问题的常见类型，本文收集了贵州省铜仁市一所高中120名学生在2019年一次诊断测试中的英语作文，通过定量分析的方法对学生的英语作文进行测评分析，从语言学层面将它们分为三个大类，分别是词汇错误，句法错误和语义错误。然后基于将核心素养渗透到多元教学课堂与学生的写作实践中去的设想，提出了提升高中生英语写作能力的一些策略，以期为高中英语写作教学提供一定的借鉴。

关键词：核心素养，高中英语，写作教学，提升策略

Abstract

English writing is of vital significance, as the emphasis of English teaching in senior high school and one of the difficult points of English test in the College Entrance Examination. Therefore, how to promote efficiency of teaching and practicing English writing has always been a heated topic. Previous studies have focused on the infiltration of English Key Competences into classroom teaching and learning to promote senior high school students’ English writing ability. The purpose of this paper is to investigate some shared problems existing in senior high students’ English compositions so that corresponding strategies can be taken to promote their English writing ability from the perspective of Key Competences. To analyze and sort out the common types of writing problems, this paper collects 120 students’ English writings in a diagnostic test in a senior high school in Tongren City, Guizhou Province in 2019. The quantitative analysis method was conducted to evaluate and analyze the students’ English writings.The results of the study reveals some common problems and classifies them into three broad categories at linguistic level, namely lexical errors, syntactic errors, and semantic errors. This paper proposes some strategies to promote senior high school students’ English writing ability based on the idea of infiltrating the Key Competences into the pluralistic classroom teaching and the students’ writing practice, in order to provide some reference for senior high school teaching and learning of English writing.

Key words: Key Competences; senior high school English; teaching methodology of writing; promotion strategies

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature Review 3

2.1 Previous studies of Key Competences 3

2.2 Previous studies of writing ability 6

3 Research Methodology 9

3.1 Research questions 9

3.2 Participants 9

3.3 Subjects and Instruments 9

3.4 Procedures 10

4 Results 11

4.1 Descriptive statistics of students’ English writing 11

4.2 Problems in students’ English writing 12

4.3 The correlation between Key Competences and English writing ability 13

5 Discussion 15

5.1 Current situation of senior high school students’ English writing 15

5.2 Counterpart strategies for promoting Students’ English writing ability 16

6 Conclusion 19

Acknowledgements 21

References 22

Appendix A 23

Appendix B 24

Analysis of Promotion Strategies of Senior High School Students’ English Writing Ability

－From the Perspective of Key Competences

1 Introduction

With the acceleration of globalization process, English, as a lingua-franca, has been being of emerging popularity and importance across the world in different fields, such as politics, economy, cultural communication and education. In China, modern education attaches great importance to English teaching and learning, particularly in fundamental education. Students begin their English courses in their early years and till they finish their education without stopping learning English. For this reason, the methodology of teaching English as a foreign language has received significant attention and there has been more and more theoretical and analytic studies on strategies of learning English and acquiring linguistic skills. What is more, with the development of English language and the new curriculum reform, the emphasis on second language acquisition suggests that both teachers and language learners should take the promotion of language learning into serious consideration. In senior high school, students get to the crucial turning point to attend the College Entrance Examination, requiring them to do well in scholastic attainment and grasp learning methods. In the meantime, the task for teachers is to work out more teaching strategies of English writing to assist learners to command efficient means of improving their writing skills.

In 1997, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) firstly proposed the concept of Key Competences, and from then on a host of studies have been carried out to analyze the correlation between Key Competences and education. Key Competences is also identified as Core Competences, characterized by integrated development and lifelong learning. The Ordinary High School English Curriculum Standards (2017 Edition) states briefly “It is designed to build profound foundation for students’ college English study and lifelong learning. English course, as a language for learning and its application courses, emphasizes linguistic skills, cultural awareness, quality of thinking and comprehensive training of learning ability, with instrumental and humanistic characteristics”. English course is offered from primary even kindergarten for students’ further development. It suggests that English classes in senior high school create necessary conditions for students to learn other subjects, extract the world cultural essence, spread Chinese culture, and provide them with more opportunities for continued study and career development.

Key Competences is classified into various subcategories according to different criteria. One of the subcategories is applied to school subjects, known as English Key Competences. There are four linguistic skills, among which listening and reading are receptive skills, while speaking and writing productive skills (Wang, 2006). In the process of language learning and acquisition, writing is usually considered to be more difficult to teach and learn, because it refers to more comprehensive abilities of a learner. English writing belongs to a kind of learning behavior that needs the support of mutual integration of linguistic skills. The process of writing requires abundant vocabulary, full command of grammar, appropriate thought quality, as well as thorough understanding of English linguistic culture. This paper is intended to reveal shared problems existing in high school students’ English writing by analyzing some samples collected, and on the basis of the problems, it provides some suggestions for the promotion of senior high school students’ writing ability based on recent studies and findings from the perspective of English Key Competences.

2 Literature Review

This part is intended to introduce theories and previous studies of Key Competences, English Key Competences and English writing. It begins with the introduction to the definition, significance and source of Key Competence as well as relevant studies and findings. English Key Competences, one subcategory of Key Competences, is stated from the aspects of its denotation, relations with Key Competence and its educational value. In the last parts of the literature review, teaching and learning of English writing is the topic of discussion.

2.1 Previous studies of Key Competences

The concept of Key Competences was initially proposed by OECD in 1997. OECD launched the research project “Definition and Selection of Competences: Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations (DeSeCo)”, but it did not directly use the word “Key Competences” to denote the concept. It was in 2003 that OECD presented the concept Key Competences, also defined as “21^st Century Competences” or “21^st skills”, in the final report (Chu, 2016).

There are mainly three reasons for its birth and development. The first and foremost, it is because of the rapid development of science and technology and speedy innovation for new and better products, which leads to the trend of continuous change in human career－traditional occupation gradually fades and the new constantly rises up. That is to say, future education should not only be well-prepared for innovation-driven profession but also get ready to face up with jobs unborn. Therefore, Key Competences with extensive mobility becomes the primary objectives of education. There is one more point, the advanced information era brings new opportunities and challenges to social fairness and democracy. Several questions need solutions for global education, how to eliminate social injustice, how to promote the process of social nationalization, how to be eligible citizens in the information era and so on. Last but not least, the information era provides individuals with unprecedented opportunities and challenges for private freedom and self-actualization. Generally speaking, education in the traditional industrial era faces with up-and-coming challenges from the new economic model and professional form in the information era, the new characteristics of social life and the new demands of personal self-realization, therefore, the concept of Key Competences emerges in response to the proper time and conditions. Key Competences’ rise and development are closely combined with the developing ages and social reform. It is the very international trend of educational reform and development, based on social demand out of educational system.

Key Competences is defined as essential character and qualities that students should be equipped with so as to adapt themselves to individual lifelong development and the need of social progress. In China, the starting point to study and establish Chinese students’ Key Competences is to crystallize and refine the Ministry of Education’s policy. The chief aim is intended to cultivate citizens who are fully developed, which implements the fundamental task of fostering character and civic virtue and enhancing the core competitiveness of national talents in 21^st century. Key Competences is classified into different subcategories according to different norms in different area. Taking the classification method of European Union (EU) as an example, EU structures its Key Competences into eight key competencies, with descriptive definition of each. Furthermore, it describes the classification specifically from three dimensions, knowledge, skills and attitudes, highlighting the discrepancy between competences’ complexity and knowledge, and also sets clearer requirements for implementation and evaluation, namely communication in mother tongue, communication in foreign language, mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competence, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression (Peiamp;Liu, 2013). In China, the concept of Key Competences is put forward by the Ministry of Education in 2014, with the goal to cultivate full-scale development of individuals. It includes three facets, cultural basis, independent development and social participation and there are six competencies, humanistic connotations and scientific spirit, learning to learn and living healthily, responsibility practical originality. There are three key points under six competencies. In teaching practice, specific requirements, are presented to students in different grades according to their age characteristics: Humanistic Connotations (humanitarian deposit, humanistic feelings and aesthetic taste); Scientific Spirit (rational thinking, critical attitude and crush of exploration); Learning to Learn (interest in learning, frequent reflection and information consciousness); Living Healthily (cherish of life, healthy personality and self-management); Responsibility (social responsibility, national identity and international understanding); Practical Originality (labor consciousness, problem solving and technology application) (Chengamp;Zhao, 2016). The criteria of classification vary from each other, while there still something common, for instance, both the mentioned categories indicates that Key Competences is intended to facilitate integrated and lifelong development.