A Study on the Application of Productionoriented Approach to English Writing Teaching in Junior High School

College of Foreign Languages,Bohai University,Jinzhou,China Email:1195251411@qq.com

[Abstract]Writing teaching is an important part of junior high school English teaching.With the deepening of curriculum reform in China,the requirements for English writing teaching are also constantly improving.However,there are still many problems in the teaching of junior high school English writing.A common problem is that there is often an imbalance between“input”and“output”in English teaching.In order to overcome the drawback of the traditional teaching and make students truly apply what they have learned,Wen Qiufang led her team members to jointly develop a theoretical system of English teaching with Chinese characteristics namely,the production-oriented approach.On the basis of in-depth study of the theoretical system,the author designs a teaching procedure which has four stages:motivating,enabling,assessing and re-output.This study not only finds a solution to the imbalance between“input”and“output”in junior high school students’English writing,but also provides new methods and ideas for improving junior high school English writing teaching.

[Keywords]Junior high school English Writing;production-oriented approach;output;input

Research Background

Language skills are important component of language proficiency,mainly including listening,speaking,reading,writing,translation and the comprehensive application of these skills.They complement and interact with each other in language learning and communication(English curriculum standards for compulsory education,2011).According to the 2011 Edition of English Curriculum Standard of Compulsory education,after junior high school,students can collect and prepare the writing materials positively according to the writing requirements,and they can write essay and message by themselves;students can correct their writing by the instruction of the teacher,and they may write the simple paragraph or the operation instruction under the diagram and the table tips.

With the deepening of curriculum reform and the development of the core literacy concept of English subject,more and more English experts,scholars and teachers pay more attention to English writing teaching,and they try to apply various new English writing teaching modes into teaching practice.Under the background,Wen Qiufang,led her team developed a theoretical system of English teaching with Chinese characteristics,the production-oriented approach(POA).The system focuses on solving the common problem of“paying attention to learning,not paying attention to use”,and the separating of learning and using at English classroom in China.At present,the theoretical system has gone through several rounds of empirical research by front-line educators and education experts,and it has achieved many positive results.The author on the basis of further study of the theoretical system,with the theory as guide,combining the reality of the junior high school English writing teaching,designs a set of“the teaching model of POA on English writing”.The type includes four steps:motivating,enabling,assessing and re-output,each step is closely linked,and it hopes to improve students writing ability.

Research Purpose

The author attempts to use POA to improve the current students’English writing ability.Firstly,teacher guide students to“output”,with the purpose of students realize their own shortcomings and enhance their internal motivation of learning.Through the“input-enabling”,students can selective learning,it can save students a lot of time and make up their shortcomings,then assess the writing by students themselves and their classmates,it can make students realize and correct their mistakes,finally,the purpose of re-output is to let students consolidate their new knowledge.The author hopes to be able to improve junior high school English writing teaching through the POA.

The Definition of POA and Its Related Researches

The prototype of the production-oriented approach is“output-driven hypothesis”(Wen,2007),which is aimed at the curriculum reform of English professional skills(Wen,2008).It was extended to college English teaching in 2013(Wen,2013)and revised to“output-driven--input enabling hypothesis”in early 2014(Wen,2014).In October of the same year,it was officially named as POA in the 7th International Seminar on English Teaching in China(Wen,2014).Unlike traditional teaching methods,the POA emphasizes the process and the outcome of output.

The core of many theory of second language acquisition is the role of input,which is formed and promoted by Krashen’s input hypothesis.We think Krashen’s hypothesis first proposed in 1970.Krashen’s hypothesis states that we acquire language in a very simple way,when we read and understand information.(Krashen,1985,p.vii; see Krashen 1980,1981,1982 for earlier formulation of this hypothesis).Input theory holds that convertible language input is a necessary and sufficient condition for second language acquisition.Assuming that the current level of language learner is“i”,if he can understand the language input of“i+1”,then he can achieve the language level of“i+1”.There is no doubt that input plays a vital role in language acquisition no matter first language or second language.So,the acquisition of these knowledge is subconscious and automatic.Therefore,in production-oriented writing teaching,teachers should provide students with appropriate and understandable input writing materials,it is conductive to the improvement of students’writing ability.

The output hypothesis of Swain has caught the attention of scholars all over the world since it proposed.With regard to Swain’s viewpoint that output can promote the learner to shift from semantic processing to syntactic processing in the process of understanding.Lzumi(2003),pointed out that the process of language output is conductive to the learner’s to form an internal motivational mechanism by reviewing previous literature on cognitive psychology of language acquisition,understanding and output,In other words,in the output process,learners,due to their limited interlanguage ability,they will find that they cannot find the appropriate form and meaning connection for their personal expression,so as to find problems and solve them.Therefore,the first step of POA,“motivating”is conductive for students to realize their own shortcomings and then conduct“selective learning”in“enabling”stage.

Michael Long’s interaction hypothesis is developed based on Krashen’s input hypothesis.But Krashen called back that comprehensible input includes interaction,and it is still not necessary for second language acquisition.Long agreed with the idea that comprehensible input plays an important role in second language acquisition,but stressed the“negotiation of meaning”.“Negotiation of meaning”refers that the conversation participants use repetition,paraphrase and adjustment of speed to understand each other when communicative misunderstanding appears.He holds the idea that correct language input attaches more importance than simple language input.Interaction in certain context provides learners with some hints based on the postures,expressions and speech from both speaker and listener,and then adjust their language to reach the goal of communication.It is the perfect combination of language input and output.Therefore,in the stage of“motivating”,teachers should provide a communicative content for students,and they need to tell the students the output tasks.The combination of input and output will promote second language learning.

To sum up,Krashen overemphasizes the role of“input”in second language acquisition,but neglects the nonnegligible influence of output on language acquisition.But Swain recognizes the vital role of language input,and proposed the importance of output.However,he did not specify the output has an important driving effect on input.Long interaction hypothesis emphasized to provide comprehensible input through interaction,and speaker and listener can improve their language ability.

The Application of POA in Junior High School English Writing

The teaching process of POA theory system consists of four stages in this paper.The first stage is motivating.According to the writing topic and writing requirements,teachers create relevant situations for students,and guide students to enter the situation to produce the corresponding desire for expression.Teachers can guide students to do oral expression according to the situation,and present the writing task to students at an appropriate time,so that students can write for the first time according to the writing topic in the situation and their own ideas.The teacher only defines the writing requirements and task,without any writing instruction and intervention.The purpose of writing for the first time is to enable students to find their own“deficiencies”in writing.In other words,even if students have thousands of words to express,they may not know where to start and how to write due to lack of relevant knowledge.When students realize their own“lack of knowledge”,they can make up their drawbacks in the following stages,and at the same time,it also lays a solid foundation for the following“input-enabling”.

after the students finish their first writing,the teacher reviews and divides them into three degrees:excellent samples,typical samples and poor samples.Excellent samples have few mistakes,and it can be used as examples for students to appreciate;typical samples have some mistakes,where students’writing needs to be modified;poor samples have too many problems.So,the typical samples have common problems refer to the problems that most students have appeared in their compositions.The selection of typical samples can help teachers to better clarify and summarize the common problems of students writing,and it is convenient for teachers to select appropriate reading materials and input knowledge in class.It should be emphasized that teachers should implement anonymity when demonstrating and explaining typical samples and their existing problems in class,so as to avoid damaging students’writing enthusiasm and protecting students’self-esteem.

The second stage is enabling.The teacher presents the reading materials prepared in the first stage after the class.The content of the materials is closely related to the topic of this writing.The learning of the reading materials is divided into two steps:the first step,the teacher leads the whole class to learn the reading materials,and then explains the relevant knowledge in detail according to the requirements of the writing task.Then,the teacher explains the common problems in the typical samples,at the same time,students engage in selective learning.

The third stage is the evaluation stage.On the basis of the teacher’s evaluation,the students make self-evaluation and revise their own compositions.After that,peer review will be carried out,four or five students in a group,they can evaluate each others’composition.

The students write for the second time on the basis of the draft.The topic and task requirements of the second writing can be determined according to the students’writing level and practical ability.In this re-output writing,excellent samples,the typical can be the same as the first writing,and the task can be changed; the writing topics and tasks of the typical samples and the poor samples are the same as the first writing.The re-output stage can be arranged in class or after class according to the actual situation of class schedule.At this point,the whole process of production-oriented English writing teaching has come to an end.It should be noted that although some stages are completed in class and some stages are completed after class,the four stages of the model are closely linked.

Research Significance

The teaching process of POA is motivating(writing output),enabling(relevant knowledge about writing),assessing(students and teacher)and re-output(correct writing).The model is helpful to solve the phenomenon of“learning can not use”in traditional teaching.From the perspective of students,the motivating stage is conductive to encourage students to write on their own initiative and find their own shortcomings.The enabling stage is conductive to make up drawbacks of students’composition through relevant materials and students’selective learning.The assessment stage,which is accomplished by students and teacher,it can make students to aware their errors.The re-output stage is helpful for students to consolidate their new knowledge and apply it to their writing practice.From the perspective of teachers,this model can help teachers understand their students better,and it is helpful for them to get more teaching feedback,and make them constantly adjusting their own teaching.Students’dominant position and teachers’leading role are organically integrated together,so that teaching and learning can truly be achieved.