A comparison between “Product Approach”and “Process Approach”

【Abstract】This paper probes into the teaching method of English writing teaching， namely， the Productive approach and the Process approach.I try to compare these two teaching method in 2 aspects： the advantage aspect， and the disadvantage aspect.

【Key words】The product approach； The process approach； comparison； advantages； disadvantages； integration

Chapter 1

The Product method

The detailed introduction of the Product method

The Product method focus on the attention of the final product， it is a bottom-up model.In a typical class of using this method， teachers told students to imitate and rewrite the sentences.Students through sentence combination and grammar exercises to link the isolated sentences to an essay.No matter to teachers or to students， what is important is the ultimate work.Students writing ability is subjectively assessed from the perspective of language by teacher.This often ignore the communicative function of writing.The behaviouristic theory is the basis of this method.As a result， the process of teaching is that the teacher gives certain stimulus and the students response.Books and Grundy define the product method as “The final results of labor”.

Chapter2

The detailed introduction of the Process method

The process method was originated from the 70th century， this method was focus on the process of the writing.It using the way of psychological observation， observing the writer who was writing and find out the way they create the outstanding articles， they focus on the process of the writing.brainstorming， mapping， free-writing， outlining， drafting， editing， revising， proofreading and conferencing is the main procedures of writing.Teachers provides some kind of guidance to students through the process of writing.And then the teachers gradually withdrawn， so that the students can finally write independently.The basis of the process method is the interactive theory.It believes that the writing was the interactive process between groups， not the individual activities.Emphasize the real use of language to communicate in the real social environment.In the process method， students was more independent and creative.

Chapter3

Comparison between the product method and the process method

3.1 Compare these two method from the advantage aspect

At first， let we discuss the advantages of these two method respectively.The product method still widely used in our class for several reasons.Firstly， the product method is time saving.Secondly， this method give opportunities for teachers and students to consolidate the learned grammar structures.Thirdly， the product method emphasizes on how to teach students to write an essay or passage without grammar mistakes. Fourthly， the teacher also teaches some writing skills but these all happened after the writing， after students hand in their final products.To decide weather the writing are successful or not， the criteria to evaluate the product method have two standard， the first one is the final product， and the second one is the ability to write correctly.So the goal of the product method is static， invariant and ultimate.And when the students hand in their paper， the teacher mostly judge their work from three aspects， the correctness of the grammar， and the rationality of the analysis and the organization of the structure.Next， we will discuss about the advantages of the process method.Firstly， this method is dynamic and interactive.In the process of writing， the students have enough time for preparation， they can choose their own topic which they interested in， they can collect materials and reading a lot before writing， then processing and organizing.the great preparation has been made， this is really useful and helpful to students to write， and give them opportunity to invent their own product and develop their creative ability.Teachers creating motivation of students to write， they make topic as close as possible to students life， encourage collaborative group writing and individual writing.The process method emphasize the development of thinking ability.And this method believes that the writing is the interaction process of groups communication， so they also pay attention to the cooperation between groups.Under the process methods， students become creative both in thoughts and styles.And in group writing， students also help others， and get helped.They are writers and readers at the same time.Teachers do not focuses on the grammar points and forms， so students can fully express their thoughts.They feel been respect， This surely motivate students and improve their enthusiasm.Teachers believes that the writing class is not to teach them the grammar and structures， but let students get familiar with the different stages of the writing process， and master different writing strategies and cognitive skills.Teachers do not care too much on the language competence of students， but the ability of communication， and gives more attention to the development of ideas.

3.2 Compare these two method from the disadvantage aspect

Next， we will analyze the disadvantages of these two methods.The teachers using the product method believes in that the imitation ability is really important， so they often provide them the model essays to imitate， the structure， the rhetorical devices and the useful words and phrases.So this will undoubtedly kill the creativity of students.There is no interaction between teachers and students， that means the teachers still occupy the leading position， so the students were given clear instructions and write the topic that already been set by their teachers， they were learning passively.There have no real communication between the model essay and students.No sense of audience， no sense of authenticity， students were given idea to express rather than being invited to invent their own.There is no opportunity for creative writing， and many of them are test-oriented. The class are designed to practice a certain target structure.And the disadvantages of the the process method is not time saving.Teachers need a lot of time to plan the procedure very carefully.Students needs to harvest a lot from the steps， so teachers need to spend a lot effort on the work.As the writing class was not given many attention， so teachers will not willing to impart time to the writing section， from this aspect， there are not too much teachers will choose the process method.And there have many types of students， not everyone adapt to this method， some students were authority-oriented and some are teacher-oriented etc， and at this circumstances， they may refuse the process method， and the quality of teaching was not good.Since teacher do not care much about the grammar point， students may not good at grammar， and the correct rate of the essay will be low.We need to prove this using some quantitative research and qualitative research， there we got an experiment to explore the effects and differences.It takes place in East China University of Science and Technology， we choose two classes in the same grade， and the two method will both be divided into pre-experiment， while-experiment and post-experiment.Through careful design and strict monitoring and evaluation of experimental activities at different stages， we need to compare these two methods and draw some conclusions： 1）the effects these two methods bring to the college students respectively.2）the effects on the content， language ability and structure of these two methods respectively.3）Which method can improve students writing ability more effectively.4）students feedback on these two methods.Through the experiment， we need some questionnaire surveys for teachers and students in order to get more experimental basis and related data.And using statistical software for data collation and analysis.

Through theoretical research and analysis and discussion of the data， the experiment draw some conclusions as follows： 1）The first language writing ability is an important factor that affects the second language writing ability.2）The writing process， which is determined by the internal psychology and cognitive behavior， is another important factor which influences the writing ability.3）Writing is composed of several sub processes， and the complex cognitive process of each sub process is composed of the writing process.4）Through the process method， Students overall English writing performances has been significantly improved. And through the product method， no significant progress has been made.5） Two kinds of teaching methods have significantly improved the students English writing ability in different areas.6）Most of the students have given a positive feedback to the process approach.And this research result wants to provide some angle of view on teaching writing.So we need to earn from others strong points and close the gap and teach better.

References：

[1]王薔.英语教学法教程（第二版）[M].高教出版社，2006.

[2]李庭芗.英语教学法[M].高教出版社，1983.

[3]舒白梅.外语教学法[M].高教出版社，1999.

[4]Rod Ellis.第二语习得概论[M].上海教育出版社，1999.

[5]何广铿.英语教学法基础[M].暨南大学出版社，1995.

[6]吴棠.中学英语教师手册[M].湖南教育出版社，1990.

[7]许毅译.外语教学新方法[M].北语出版社，1986.

[8]A contrastive study on product and process writing in Chinas college English classroom.

作者简介：瓦丽叶·阿不都瓦依提（1992-），女，维吾尔族，新疆巴州人，研究生就读于新疆师范大学，研究方向：外语教学，学科教学，语言学及应用语言学。