英语写作在英语学习中的重要性

别急 会把英语写作能力提高的
谈谈如何提高英语写作能力

关键词：英语写作能力 原则 方法
引言：英语写作能力是英语听、说、读、写四种基本能力之一，英语写作能有效地促进语言知识的内化。Swain（1985）提出“可理解输出”假设，认为包括写在内的语言产生性运用有助于学习者检验目的语句法结构和词语的使用，促进语言运用的自动化，有效地达到了语言习得的目的。通过写作，英语知识不断得到巩固并内在化，有利于英语技能的全面发展。但是，英语写作又是广大英语学习者最感头痛的问题之一，且容易被教师忽视，笔者以为如何提高英语写作能力值得我们认真研究。本文就此谈谈初浅的看法。
一、提高英语写作能力的原则
（一）渐进性原则。要坚持“句—段—篇”的训练程序，由易到难，循序渐进。在英语写作的初始阶段，要始终注意培养学生良好的写作习惯，狠抓基本功训练。在学生掌握了基本句型并能写出简单句子后，再要求学生根据一些体例写出小段的文章。在段落写作中要引导学生分析段落的结构、段落的中心句、句与句之间的逻辑关系、写作手法等，这样有利于下一步一篇文章的写作。在文章写作中要教会学生如何构思文章、如何运用正确的写作技巧等。
（二）多样性原则。要坚持训练形式的多样化及写作文体的多样性。从形式上而言，可以用回答提问的口头作文，也可以用续写故事；可以改写课文，也可以仿写课文；可以写提纲训练谋篇布局，也可以写拓展段训练发散思维……。从文体上而言，可以写说明文、议论文、记叙文，也可以写书信、便条、通知等实用文体。
(三)结合性原则。要坚持听说读训练和写训练相结合。根据语言习得理论，学习者在学习时常先通过听和读吸取语言知识，从而了解别人的思想，再通过说和写来表达自己的思想，让别人了解自己。大量的听说训练能促进读写能力的提高。因此，写与听说读紧密结合，进行多元化的能力训练，可使学生的各项能力互相影响、互相渗透、互相促进。
（四）控制性原则。要坚持写作前的指导，控制学生的汉语语言思维，发展英语语言思维。语言学习在很大程度上主要是模仿，而非随心所欲地自由表达。教师要加强写作前的指导，可给出范文让学生模仿，以熟悉其语篇结构。同时要控制其汉语语言思维，尽可能让学生习惯英语语言思维，以便于学生学习和掌握地道、正确的英语。
（五）持久性原则。要坚持长期、正确的写作训练。英语写作能力的提高并非一朝一夕之事，而是一个长期的、艰巨的、渐进的过程。这就要求教师、学生都要有充分的思想准备，要有坚韧不拔的意志和必胜的信心。
二、提高英语写作能力的方法。
（一）通过积累词汇量，提高英语写作能力。犹如土木砖石是建筑的材料一样，词汇是说话写作的必需材料，也是制约写作能力提高的瓶颈。可以想象，如果要写一个句子，10个单词有8个单词拼写错误或拼写不出，有2
个单词用法不当，又怎么能清楚地表达自己的思想呢？因此，在平时的教学中要强调学生记忆单词，记住单词的拼读、用法、意思等。记忆单词的方法有很多，各人有各人的记忆方法和习惯，可因人而异。教师可通过要求学生朗读单词、听写单词、默写单词、遣词造句、词汇竞赛等多种方法促进学生记单词。记忆单词是一个长期的反复的过程，要长期地坚持下去，才能不断积累大量的词汇，为英语写作打下坚实的基础。
（二）通过扩大阅读量，提高英语写作能力。古人云“熟读唐诗三百首，不会作诗也会吟”，这是汉语的一种学习方法，同样可借鉴于英语写作。多阅读是学生增加接触英语语言材料、接受信息、活跃思维、增长智力的一种途径，同时也是培养学生英语思维能力、提高理解力、增强语感、巩固和扩大词汇量的一种好方法，有利于促进英语写作能力的提高。在阅读训练中，教师要注意以下问题：一是指导阅读方法，分析文章结构、中心思想、段落中心句、写作方法等，帮助学生掌握各类文章的结构及写作方法。二要精读与泛读相结合，通过推敲优秀的文章来学会写作方法和选词用词；通过大量的泛读来吸取信息量，扩大词汇量。三要扩大阅读量。提供阅读的材料涉及面要广，才能不断扩大学生的知识面，使学生适应各种题材的写作。
（三）通过提高听说能力，提高英语写作能力。英语听说读写四种能力是相互影响、相互促进的，提高听说能力必定会促进写作能力的提高。要提高听说能力关键在于创设一个良好的英语环境。教师要尽可能地用英语授课，多开展专门的听说训练，同时开展丰富多彩的课外英语活动，让学生沉浸在英语海洋中去领略、去体会、去使用英语，久而久之，学生自然能使用正确的、地道的英语进行交谈与写作。
（四）通过重视写作过程，提高英语写作能力。长期以来，英语写作成果教学法（THE PRODUCT
APPROACH）在我国居于主导地位，教师根据写作的终成品来判断写作的成败，重视写作的技术性细节（如格式、拼写、语法等），忽视写作过程的指导。根据D.Rumechart和J.McClelland提出的连通论（Connectionism)理论，写作包括写前阶段、具体写作、文章修改三个基本过程，这三个过程并非是线性排列，而是循环往复，穿插进行的。教师只有重视加强对写作三个过程的指导，才能更好地提高英语写作能力。在写作前阶段，教师重在指导学生如何挖掘题材，训练发散性思维，以及如何选择材料、谋篇布局等。在具体写作中，教师重在指导学生如何紧扣主题、运用正确的写作方法等。在文章修改中，教师重在指导学生如何修改语法及用词的错误。
（五）通过多写英语摘要，提高英语写作能力。英语摘要是把一篇文章的要点摘录出来，用自己的语言使之独立成一篇短文，这不是简单的摘录，而是忠于原文意思的再创作。写英语摘要有利于学生了解原文的文化背景、理解原文的中心意思、弄清原文的篇章结构，从而提高学生的逻辑思维能力和谋篇布局能力。
（六）通过发展英语语言思维能力，提高英语写作能力。英语写作是运用已掌握的内在化语言知识和表达方法，通过思维进行外在化输出的创作，因此英语语言思维能力在英语写作中作用非凡。对于我国学生而言，在英语写作中易受汉语语言思维的影响，难以直接用英语语言进行思维，不利于英语写作能力的提高，因此发展其英语语言思维能力尤为重要。教师要注意对学生的英语语言思维进行多方位、多角度的训练：要采取各种方法训练学生英语语言思维的广阔性、深刻性、发散性和创造性；要教会学生用英语思考问题、回答问题；要从训练形象思维开始，逐步过渡到抽象思维训练；在课文讲解中要尽可能不用汉语翻译而用英语解释，消除汉语思维的影响；要努力创设良好的英语环境，在英语交际中发展英语思维能力。

写好英语段落的三个标准

首先，一个段落必须有一个中心即主题思想，该中心由主题句特别是其中的题旨来表达。整个段落必须紧扣这个主题（stick or hold to the topic），这就是段落的统一性（unity）。其次，一个段落必须有若干推展句，使主题思想得到充分展开，从而给读者一个完整的感觉，这就是完整性（completeness or adequateness）。再者，一个段落不是杂乱无章的，而是有机的组合，句子的排列顺序必须合乎逻辑，从一个句子到另一个句子的过渡必须流畅（smooth），这就是连贯性（coherence）。下面我们就对这三个标准分别加以说明。
1、统一性
一个段落内的各个句子必须从属于一个中心，任何游离于中心思想之外的句子都是不可取的。请看下例：
Joe and I decided to take the long trip we'd always wanted across the country. We were like young kids buying our camper and stocking it with all the necessities of life. Bella bakes the best rhubarb pie. We started out in early spring from Minneapolis and headed west across the northern part of the country. We both enjoyed those people we met at the trailer park. Joe received a watch at his retirement dinner. To our surprise， we found that we liked the warm southern regions very much， and so we decided to stay here in New Mexico.
本段的主题句是段首句，controlling idea（中心思想）是take the long trip across the country.文中出现两个irrelevant sentences，一个是Bella bakes the best rhubarb pie，这一段是讲的是Joe and I ，中间出现一个Bella是不合适的。还有，Joe received a watch at his retirement dinner这一句更是与主题句不相关。考生在四级统考的作文卷上常常因为造出irrelevant sentences（不相关语句）而丢分，值得引起注意。再看一个例子：
My name is Roseanna， and I like to keep physically fit. I used to weigh two hundred pounds， but I joined the YMCA for an exercise class and diet program. In one year I lost eighty pounds. I feel much better and never want to have that much weight on my five-feet frame again. I bought two new suitcases last week. Everyday I practice jogging three miles， swimming fifteen laps， lifting twenty-pound weights and playing tennis for one hour. My mother was a premature baby.
本段的controlling idea 是like to deep physically fit，但段中有两个irrelevant sentences，一个是I bought two new suitcases last week，另一个是My mother was a premature baby.
从上面两个例子可以看出，native speakers同样会造出来irrelevant sentences.卷面上如果这种句子多了，造成偏题或离题，那问题就更严重了。
2、完整性
正象我们前面说得那样，一个段落的主题思想靠推展句来实现，如果只有主题句而没有推展句来进一步交待和充实，就不能构成一个完整的段落。同样，虽然有推展句，但主题思想没有得到相对圆满的交待，给读者一种意犹未尽的感觉。这样的段落也不能完成其交际功能。例如：
Physical work can be a useful form of therapy for a mind in turmoil. Work concentrates your thoughts on a concrete task. Besides， it is more useful to work —— you produce something rather than more anxiety or depression.
本段的主题句是段首句。本段的两个推展句均不能回答主题句中提出的问题。什么是“a mind in turmoil”（心境不平静）Physical work又如何能改变这种情况？为什么它能起therapy的作用？读者得不到明确的答案。由于四级统考的作文部分只要求写一篇100～120个词的三段式短文，每一段只有大约40个词左右，因此，要达到完整就必须尽可能地简明。例如：
It is not always true that a good picture is worth a thousand words. Often writing is much clearer than a picture. It is sometimes difficult to figure out what a picture means， but a careful writer can almost always explain it.
段首句所表达的主题思想是一种看法，必须有具体事例加以验证。上述两个推展句只是在文字上对主题作些解释，整个段落内容空洞，简而不明。如果用一两个具体的例子的话，就可以把主题解释清楚了。比如下段：
It is not always true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes， pictures are pretty useless things. If you can't swim and fall in the river and start gulping water， will you be better off to hold up a picture of yourself drowning， or start screaming “Help”？
3、连贯性（coherence）
连贯性包括意连和形连两个方面，前者指的是内在的逻辑性，后者指的是使用转换词语。当然这两者常常是不可分割的。只有形连而没有意连，句子之间就没有内在的有机的联系；反之，只有意连而没有形连，有时行文就不够流畅。
1）、意连
段落中句子的排列应遵循一定的次序，不能想到什么就写什么。如果在下笔之前没有构思，边写边想，写写停停，那就写不出一气呵成的好文章来。下面介绍几种常见的排列方式。
A.按时间先后排列（chronological arrangement）
We had a number of close calls that day. When we rose， it was obviously late and we had to hurry so as not to miss breakfast； we knew the dining room staff was strict about closing at nine o'clock. Then， when we had been driving in the desert for nearly two hours —— it must have been close to noon —— the heat nearly hid us in； the radiator boiled over and we had to use most of our drinking water to cool it down. By the time we reached the mountain， it was our o'clock and we were exhausted. Here， judgement ran out of us and we started the tough climb to the summit， not realizing that darkness came suddenly in the desert. Sure enough， by six we were struggling and Andrew very nearly went down a steep cliff， dragging Mohammed and me along with him. By nine， when the wind howled across the flat ledge of the summit， we knew as we shivered together for warmth that it had not been our lucky day.
本段从“rose”（起床）写起，然后是吃早餐（“not to miss breakfast”， “closing at nine o'clock”），然后是“close to noon”，一直写到这一天结束（“By nine——”）。
B. 按位置远近排列（spatial arrangement）。例如：
From a distance， it looked like a skinny tube， but as we got closer， we could see it flesh out before our eyes. It was tubular， all right， but fatter than we could see from far away. Furthermore， we were also astonished to notice that the building was really in two parts： a pagoda sitting on top of a tubular one-story structure. Standing ten feet away， we could marvel at how much of the pagoda was made up of glass windows. Almost everything under the wonderful Chinese roof was made of glass， unlike the tube that it was sitting on， which only had four. Inside， the tube was gloomy， because of the lack of light. Then a steep， narrow staircase took us up inside the pagoda and the light changed dramatically. All those windows let in a flood of sunshine and we could see out for miles across the flat land.
本段的写法是由远及近，从远处（“from a distance”）写起，然后“get closer”，再到（“ten feet away”），最后是“inside the pagoda”……当然，按位置远近来写不等于都是由远及近。根据需要，也可以由近及远，由表及里等等。
C. 按逻辑关系排列（logical arrangement）
a. 按重要性顺序排列（arrangement in order of importance）
If you work as a soda jerker， you will， of course， not need much skill in expressing yourself to be effective. If you work on a machine， your ability to express yourself will be of little importance. But as soon as you move one step up from the bottom， your effectiveness depends on your ability to reach others through the spoken or the written word. And the further away your job is from manual work， the larger the organization of which you are an employee， the more important it will be that you know how to convey your thoughts in writing or speaking. In the very large business organization， whether it is the government， the large corporation， or the Army， this ability to express oneself is perhaps the most important of all the skills a man can possess.
这一段谈的是表达能力，它的重要性与职业，身份有关，从“not need much skill”或“of little importance”到“more important”，最后是“most important”。
b.由一般到特殊排列（general-to-specific arrangement）
If a reader is lost， it is generally because the writer has not been careful enough to keep him on the path. This carelessness can take any number of forms. Perhaps a sentence is so excessively cluttered that the reader， hacking his way through the verbiage， simply doesn't know what it means. Perhaps a sentence has been so shoddily constructed that the reader could read it in any of several ways. Perhaps the writer has switched tenses， or has switched pronouns in mid-sentence， so the reader loses track of when the action took place or who is talking. Perhaps sentence B is not logical sequel to sentence A —— the writer， in whose head the connection is clear， has not bothered to provide the missing link. Perhaps the writer has used an important word incorrectly by not taking the trouble to look it up. He may think that “sanguine” and “sanguinary” mean the same thing， but the difference is a bloody big one. The reader can only infer what the writer is trying to imply.
这一段谈的是a writer's carelessness，先给出一个general statement作为主题句，然后通过5个 ”perhaps”加以例证。
c. 由特殊到一般排列（specific-to-general arrangement）
I do not understand why people confuse my Siamese cat， Prissy， with the one I had several years ago， Henry. The two cats are only alike in breed. Prissy， a quiet， feminine feline， loves me dearly but not possessively. She likes to keep her distance from people， exert her independence and is never so rude as to beg， lick， or sniff unceremoniously. Her usual posture is sitting upright， eyes closed， perfectly still. Prissy is a very proper cat. Henry， on the other hand， loved me dearly but possessively. He was my shadow from morning till night. He expected me to constantly entertain him. Henry never cared who saw him do anything， whether it was decorous or not， and he usually offended my friends in some way. The cat made himself quite comfortable， on the top of the television， across stranger's feet or laps， in beds， drawers， sacks， closets， or nooks. The difference between them is imperceptible to strangers.
本段的主题句是段首句，它仅提出一个问题：为什么两只猫会被搞混。然后对两者进行比较，末句才下结论。
2）、形连
行文的逻辑性常常要靠适当的转换词语及其他手段来实现。请读下面这一段文字并找出文中用以承上启下的词语：
Walter's goal in life was to become a successful surgeon. First， though， he had to get through high school， so he concentrated all his efforts on his studies —— in particular， biology， chemistry， and math. Because he worked constantly on these subjects， Walter became proficient in them； however， Walter forgot that he needed to master other subjects besides those he had chosen. As a result， during his junior year of high school， Walter failed both English and Latin. Consequently， he had to repeat these subjects and he was almost unable to graduate on schedule. Finally， on June 6， Walter achieved the first step toward realizing his goal.
本文中起承上启下的词语有两种，一种是转换词语（transitional words or phrases），另一种是起转换作用的其他连接手段（linking devices）。前者依次有：first， though， so， in particular， and， because， however， besides， as a result， both…and， consequently， and， finally.后者依次是：he， he， his， his， he， these， them， he， those， his， he， these， his. 本段中共有词汇105个，所使用的转换词语及其他连接用语共26个词，约占该段总词汇量的四分之一。由此可见，掌握好transitions不仅对行文的流（smoothness）有益，而且对于学生在半个小时内写足四级短文所要求的120个词也是不无好处的。
一个段落里如果没有transitions也就很难有coherence了。我们看下面一个例子：Speaking and writing are different in many ways. Speech depends on sounds. Writing uses written symbols. Speech developed about 500 000 years ago. Written language is a recent development. It was invented only about six thousand years ago. Speech is usually informal. The word choice of writing is often relatively formal. Pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from. Pronunciation and accent are ignored in writing. A standard diction and spelling system prevails in the written language of most countries. Speech relies on gesture， loudness， and rise and fall of the voice. Writing lacks gesture， loudness and the rise and fall of the voice. Careful speakers and writers are aware of the differences.
本段中除了第6句开头出现一个起过渡作用的”it”之外，没有使用其他的过渡词语。这样，文中出现许多重复的词语，全段读起来也显得生硬而不自然。如果加上必要的过渡词语来修饰的话，这一段就成了下面一个流畅连贯的段落：
Speaking and writing are different in many ways. Speech depends on sounds； writing， on the other hand， uses written symbols. Speech was developed about 500 000 years ago， but written language is a recent development， invented only about six thousand years ago. Speech is usually informal， while the word choice of writing， by contrast， is often relatively formal. Although pronunciation and accent often tell where the speaker is from， they are ignored in wiring because a standard diction and spelling system prevails in most countries. Speech relies on gesture， loudness， and the rise and fall of the voice， but writing lacks these features. Careful speakers and writers are aware of the differences.
4、有损连贯性的几种情况：
考生在写作中经常出现下面几种错误：
1、不必要的改变时态，比如：
In the movie， Robert Redford was a spy. He goes to his office where he found everybody dead. Other spies wanted to kill him， so he takes refuge with Julie Christie. At her house， he had waited for the heat to die down， but they come after him anyway.
2、不必要的改变单复数，比如：
Everybody looks for satisfaction in his life. They want to be happy. But if he seeks only pleasure in the short run， the person will soon run out of pleasure and life will catch up to him. They need to pursue the deeper pleasure of satisfaction in work and in relationships.
3、不必要的改变人称，比如：
Now more than ever， parents need to be in touch with their children's activities because modern life has the tendency to cause cleavages in the family. You need to arrange family like it so that family members will do things together and know one another. You need to give up isolated pleasures of your own and realize that parents have a set of obligations to sponsor togetherness and therefore sponsor knowledge.
因此写作中，一定要注意时态，人称以及数的变化是否正确，要注意保持一致。

Writing can practise the usage of sentences stuctures and language ，moreover, it is the most important in application and at workplace .

不言而喻
废话少说，抓紧练习

monly used around the world