自我纠错在初中英语写作教学中的实证研究

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 The background of the research
As one of the four basic skills in foreign language learning, the importance of writingis becoming more and more significant in the new century. Both the new curriculumstandards and entrance examination programs require higher competence of studentsin English writing. But the writing level of junior high school students is notoptimistic. In other words, there is great room for improvement in middle schoolEnglish writing teaching. Therefore, it is necessary to make a new exploration andattempt in English writing teaching.
1.1.1 The present situation of English writing in junior high school
Writing is the most complex skills among listening, speaking, reading and writing.Similarly, as output skills, writing requires accurate output. However, the presentsituation of English writing in junior high school is far from the requirement ofcurriculum standards.
English writing skills play an important role in improving students’comprehensive ability to use the language. However, it is not easy for teachers andstudents to improve their English writing ability. Many students regard Englishwriting as a matter of headache. Facing with the topic of composition, the students donot know how to write. Even if they can write a complete composition, there areplenty of grammar errors and linguistic errors as well as discourse errors. But facingwith these kinds of errors, they do not know how to correct, where to correct, not tospeak systematic error correction methods. Similarly, teachers also ignore thecorrection of students’ compositions and ways to evaluate them as feedback.
From the view of the current situation of education in our country, theeducational thoughts and conditions in some areas are relatively backward. In termsof evaluation, the teachers’ integrated evaluation is the main way to correct errors inthe composition of the students. This kind of evaluation ignores the role of students inlearning and it also has some drawbacks. In order to explore a more effective way ofwriting teaching, researchers and teachers have made a lot of efforts. This paper willintroduce another way of feedback and evaluation of error correction in Englishwriting. That is self-correction.
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1.2 The purpose of the research
Based on the above research background, as well as the requirements of the newcurriculum, the demands of the state, schools, patriarchs and students themselves areincreasingly higher and higher, which brings great challenges to the English writingteaching in the classroom of junior high school teachers.
Based on the research on self-correction and English writing teaching both athome and abroad, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the validity of self-correctionin English writing teaching in junior high school. According to the results of practicalresearch, the influence of self-corrections on the English writing ability of students’ injunior high school will be analyzed. On this basis, some specific suggestions are putforward.
With the continuous reform of English teaching in China, English writing ability hasgradually become an important part of students’ English learning. English writingability, as one of the four major skills in the process of English learning, is the abilitythat students should possess both in daily life and in exams. Therefore, a large numberof language researchers and English teachers are constantly trying to improvestudents’ English writing ability in different ways. However, the focus of junior highschool students’ English writing teaching is still teacher-centered teaching, and theevaluation method is mainly teacher-centered error correction, which istime-consuming and inefficient. To a certain extent, it is not conducive to cultivatingstudents’ English writing ability and improving students’ comprehensive languageapplication ability.
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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.1 Researches on error correction
Definition and classification of errors have always been a hot topic in foreignlanguage research. Corder (1971) said that the basic process of human learningincludes making errors. In the process of second language acquisition, error is anormal and universal phenomenon. This view is generally accepted by foreignlanguage researchers, but there are different opinions on the meaning andclassification of errors.
2.1.1 Definition of error
Corder (1974), the pioneer of error analysis theory, first defined errors and pointed outthat errors are the linguistic forms of language deviations from the target languagewhich result from the learners’ lack of a firm grasp of the knowledge system of thelanguage at a certain stage. This kind of error is often repeated in foreign languagelearning, which can reflect the problems of learner’ language knowledge and ability.However, mistake refers to the accidental speech act of a learner due to the limitationof memory and psychological factors in the actual use of language.
Based on the definition of errors in traditional linguistics and the researchachievements in modern linguistics, and combined with the practice of junior highschool English teaching, students’ errors refer to the errors made by students becausethey have not mastered the knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, sentence patterns andso on. In terms of mistakes, it refers to those made by students in the process ofcommunication and writing due to psychological and physiological factors under highpressure.
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2.2 Researches on English writing
Writing, as a very important part of language teaching, is one of the important meansof language output and communication. English writing ability is a core competencethat has been emphasized in foreign language teaching. Many people think thatwriting is a complex task. In the four major skills of language learning, writing isusually regarded as a skill that cannot be taught because of its greatest difficulty.However, for foreign language learners, it is very important to develop their writingskills. As an indispensable part of students’ English learning skills, English writing isa way to express the author’s opinions and disseminate knowledge and information. Itis also indispensable for contemporary middle school students. Therefore, it isimperative for the majority of junior high school students to improve their writingability. This part introduces some studies of English writing at home and abroad.
2.2.1 Studies on English writing abroad
Writing abroad originates from rhetoric. Paying attention to the so-called “writingrhetoric environment” (title, reader, writing purpose) is the tradition of foreign writingteaching. The author believes that writing should originate from the actual needs ofhuman communication. The four fields of L2, which are writing process, writingresults, writing environment and writing teaching are the focus of current internationalL2 writing research. Some scholars have pointed out that there is a “imbalance” in thestudy of international second language writing. There are few empirical studies onsecond language writing in foreign language environment, and the research on secondlanguage learners in English-speaking countries is more concentrated. The training ofsecond language writing teachers, the transfer of native language writing competenceand the study of writing corpus will be the main trends of future writing research (LiHui, Huang Yanmei &Chen Yanping, 2014).
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Chapter Three Research Methodology...............................20
3.1 Research questions............................ 20
3.2 Research subjects..................................20
3.3 Research instruments.................................21
Chapter Four Data analysis and discussion....................32
4.1 Data analysis of tests........................................... 32
4.1.1 Data analysis of pre-test in CC and EC......................................32
4.1.2 Data analysis of post-test in CC and EC......................................33
Chapter Five Conclusion..................................41
5.1Findings..................................................... 41
5.2 Limitations.....................................42
5.3 Suggestions.........................................42

Chapter Four Data analysis and discussion

4.1 Data analysis of tests
At the end of the four-month experiment, the experimental class and the control classhad a post-test. After that, students’ writing scores were collected effectively. In thispart, the computer data analysis software SPSS was used to analyze the data, whichmade the data more real, effective, objective and easy to observe. The following is theresult of the analysis.
4.1.1 Data analysis of pre-test in CC and EC
This part of the research is to answer the second question, whether self-correction canimprove students’ writing proficiency. At the beginning of the semester, writing scoresin the final exam of the second semester of 2017-2018 are taken as pre-test scores.SPSS is used for accurate data analysis. The results are as follows:


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Chapter Five Conclusion

5.1 Findings
Based on the self-correction theory, contrastive analysis theory, error analysis theoryand other related theories of English writing, this paper analyses the current situationof junior high school students’ English writing, introduces the research status ofself-correction theory at home and abroad, and introduces the definition andclassification of error analysis. The research carried out for four months. Data arecollected in the form of self-correction teaching, self-correction self-practice, testing,questionnaires and interview. Then data are analyzed by SPSS. Finally, the followingconclusion is obtained:
In the course of the experiment, the students’ reaction to new writing methodis very positive. Through practical exercises, students learn about the mistakes oftenmade in the writing process. In the process of writing, the students try their best toavoid the mistakes they often make, and when they understand their writing abilityand level, they can make a clear effort to improve their English writing ability.
In the process of practical research, the experimental class and the controlboard adopt different ways of error correction. Self-correction and teacher errorcorrection can improve students’ writing ability to varying degrees. However, the datashow that the improvement of English writing ability in the experimental class isgreater than that in the control class. After four months of self-correction teaching inthe experimental class, through questionnaire and interviews, it was found that thestudents in the experimental class had a positive attitude towards self-corrections. Theself-correction of composition revision is also helpful to improve students’comprehensive language proficiency. In the process of self-correction, studentsimproved their English writing ability to a certain extent. Using self-correction tolearn English writing is a process of critical thinking, and this process will not only beapplied in English teaching, but also have certain reference significance for othersubjects. Therefore, the method of self-correction has many possibilities ofapplication.
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