Investigation on the effects of the linguistic and the non-linguistic factors on Chinese college-level students' English writing ability

Investigation on the effects of the linguistic and the non-linguistic factors on Chinese college-level students' English writing ability 摘要 中国大学生英语写作能力较为低下的现状是当前大学英语值得注意的问题。提高学生英语写作能力从而提高其整体的关语水平是英语写作的主要目的，而如何提好学生的写作能力是英语写作教学研究的重点和难点。本论文认为从分析影响学生英语写作能力的因素入手将有利于解决这一难题。因此，本论文较为全面地分析讨论了影响大学生英语写作能力的各种要素。通过研究发现:除了学生的语言因素(包括学生的母语、母语写作能力和英语口语、词汇、阅读等各项英语语言技能)对学生英语写作的语言和组织等能力有直接或间接的影响外，文化差异、写作策略等其它非语言因素也在修辞、篇章、写作过程等方面影响着学生英语写作能力。 论文第一部分介绍了英语写作中的一些基本理论，为后面的有关论述提供理论支持;第二部分分析总结了大学生英语写作中的常见错误，为考察影响英语写作能力提供了线索;第三部分是论文的中心，具体讨论了影响学生英语写作能力的各种重要因素极其影响结果;第四部分则通过归纳前述内容得出结论。 由于受资料、时间等方面的限制，本论文对影响学生英语写作能力的因素不能做详尽分析，譬如:反馈、学生个体差异等因素本文未能论及，但它们对学生英语写作能力的影响也是不可忽视的，需留待笔者今后继续探讨和思考。 关键词: 英语写作能力 错误分析 语言因素文化 写作策略 Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of the linguistic and the non-linguistic factors on Chinese college-level students' English writing ability. The study finds that students' linguistic variables including the mother tongue, the mother tongue writing ability, English speaking ability, English productive vocabulary, and English reading comprehension have obviously direct or indirect effects on students' English writing ability. In addition, some non-linguistic factors such as the cultural difference and writing strategies also have effects on students' English writing ability in that they influence the aspects of rhetorical paradigms, the textual organization, and the writing process in students' English writing. The study indicates that an investigation on effects of factors on students' English writing ability is much help to the further researches into approaches to the improvement of Chinese students' English writing ability. Part 1 concerns the related general knowledge about English writing which offers the theoretical support for the later discussion. Part 2 demonstrates the main problems of Chinese college level students' English writing. These problems give clues about some factors affecting students' English writing ability. The key content of the paper is described in Part 3 where the main related factors and their effects on students' English writing ability are described respectively in detail. The final part puts all that has been discussed in the former together and draw a conclusion according to which some personal views and suggestions about college English writing are presented in the end. However, the study in this paper is by no means exhaustive owing to the limitation of resources, references and time. Some other problems (e.g.’ feedback') are assumed to be the factors affecting the developments of students' English writing ability and worth further studying. Key words: English writing ability error analysis linguistic variables culture writing strategies Contents Introduction 3 Chapter 1 Conceptual orientation 5 Chapter 2 Main problems in students' English writing 8 Chapter 3 The influence of variables on students' English writing ability 3 .1 The influence of linguistic variables on the writing ability 15 3 .1 .1 Effects of Ll (Chinese) and Ll (Chinese) writing ability 16 3 .1.2 Effects of L2 (English) speaking ability 19 3 .1.3 Effects of L2 (English) vocabulary 20 3 .1.4 Effects of L2 (English) reading comprehension 21 3.2 The influence of culture on students' writing ability 22 3.2.1 The cultural influence on rhetorical paradigms 23 3.2.2 The cultural influence on textual organization 23 3.3 The influence of writing strategies on the writing ability 25 3.3.1 A review of published researches in foreign language writing strategies 25 3.3.2 The effect of writing strategies on the writing ability 26 Conclusion 27