【Abstract】As a main language skill like listening, speaking or reading, writing is a valid and expressive form to reflect how well a student of English, especially a student who learns English as a foreign language (EFL), has mastered that language. This paper will explore the nature of writing as compared with the other three basic language skills, particularly speaking, discuss the purpose of teaching writing in the EFL context, and introduce requirements of EFL writing for Chinese college students. 

 

【Key words】writing;language ability; EFL writing requirements

 

1.Nature of writing: compared with speaking 

 

It is widely recognized that there are four main modes in which a language is used. The four modes, generally referred to as the four basic language skills in language teaching, are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Of them, reading and listening are called the passive or receptive skills and speaking and writing, the active or productive skills. 

 

It goes without saying that the demonstration of language ability relies more on the active or productive skills like speaking and writing. As for the two active or productive skills, speaking is of course primary to language since human beings speak before they learn to write. It does not mean, however, that speaking reflects one’s language ability better than writing. In fact, many people, especially teachers, think otherwise. We can understand why writing is at least an equally, if not more, valid and expressive means to display one’s language ability by answering the question of what is the nature of writing. 

 

As R. Neufeld said, 

 

“It [Writing] is thought transformed into a visual form. In other words, writing is a visual expression of ideas. …Writing is the process of taking an idea from inside of one’s head and putting it in a code so that it can be shared with others ”(Neufeld: 4).

 

So, writing covers speaking in that it is more than speaking by pen to someone not present. In other words, the nature of writing is two-fold: the expression of ideas by means of a written “code” that calls for more careful and more exact demonstration of the mastery of vocabulary, grammar and even phonetic knowledge of the language in which one is writing. 

 

Another reason that writing is a more valid and more expressive form to display one’s language ability is that writing can rely on nothing other than pure language itself to express one’s meanings. Speaking, on the other hand, can take advantage of the speaker’s facial expressions, gestures and, most of all, tones for communication. 

 

Empirical facts also show the close relationship between writing skill and language ability (Yang Huizhong & C. Weir: 148), and that is why many important tests adopt writing as a means of judging learners. Take CET for example. If the score for the writing part is 0, then a candidate will fail no matter how high his total score is. No such penalty exists for other parts like listening or reading. #p#分頁標題#e#

 

2.Purpose of teaching writing in the EFL context

 

Considerable literature has been produced concerning the purpose of EFL writing. One of the most concise but comprehensive discussions is given by Jeremy Harmer in his book How to Teach English. According to Harmer, the reasons for teaching writing to college students of English as a foreign language are not only that writing is a basic language skill but also that writing can 1) reinforce acquired language ability, 2) develop language ability further, 3) help to learn style, and finally 4) serve as an authentic means of communication. (Harmer:79)

 

Reinforcement of acquired language ability

Harmer puts “Reinforcement of acquired language ability” first because he believes that people can acquire their mother tongues in a purely oral / aural way, but students of a foreign language in college tend to rely more on the written form to have a sound command of the language. Most college students say that they benefit more from seeing the language written down by themselves as well as by others. The visual demonstration of language construction is invaluable for both understanding how it all fits together and as an aid to committing the new language to memory. Students often find it useful to write sentences using new language shortly after they have studied it. (Harmer:79) 

Further language development

It seems, though Harmer himself cannot be for sure, that the actual process of writing (rather like the process of speaking) helps us to learn as we go along. The mental activity that we have to go through in order to construct proper written texts is all part of the ongoing learning experience. For college students of English as a foreign language, writing is an especially effective way of further developing their language ability since it is such an active (compared with reading, which is receptive) and direct (compared with multiple choice exercises, which are indirect) form of language practice. 

 

Learning style

Although he admits it is possible for a few students to be fairly quick at picking up language just by looking and listening, Harmer argues that for most of the college students of a foreign language, it may take a little longer. To be more exact and to show greater elegance in communication, they have to learn how to write. 

 

Writing as an authentic means of communication

One of the most important reasons for teaching writing, in Harmer’s opinion, is that it is an authentic means of communication. College students of a foreign language need to know how to write letters, how to put written reports together, how to reply to advertisements and, increasingly, how to write using electronic media in the foreign language that they are learning. They need to know some of writing’s special conventions (punctuation, paragraph construction, etc.) just as they need to know how to pronounce spoken English appropriately. They also need to know what is proper, effective and idiomatic writing in order to fulfil their communicative tasks. #p#分頁標題#e#

Writing as a good source of feedback information

 

The research of writing test experts also helps us to understand the purpose of EFL writing from a different angle. Fred Genesee and John A. Upshur, in their book Classroom-based Evaluation in Second Language Education, and J. B. Heaton, in his book Writing English Language Tests, all mention writing as a good source of feedback information of teaching and learning results. The teacher, for example, can learn from students’ compositions how well they have been progressing with their study of the foreign tongue by assigning them writing tasks in or after class. Whether spelling, vocabulary, structure, grammar, or even phonetics (since the correct choices of a or an before a noun, and /–s/ or / -z/ suffixed to a verb depend on the knowledge of speech sound), nearly every aspect of language ability can be checked through writing. By this almost all-around feedback information from actual writing, both teachers and students of a foreign language can get to learn how well teaching and learning have been going and what can be done accordingly in future instruction. 

 

To sum up, the purpose of teaching writing in the EFL context is not only for students to reinforce and further develop their language ability and learn how to communicate by means of writing, but also for teachers and students to use as a good source of feedback information for the improvement of teaching and learning. 

 

3.Requirements of EFL writing for Chinese students 

 

Just as knowing the purposes of EFL writing instruction at college is essential to the understanding of the importance of EFL writing evaluation, learning the present English writing requirements for college students in China is also critical to the improvement of writing instruction and practice. 

 

According to College English Curriculum Requirements (For Trial Implementation), which was put into effect in Chinese colleges and universities in June 2004, the writing requirements for undergraduate college English teaching are set at three levels: basic requirements, intermediate requirements and higher requirements. All non-English majors, according to their level of English upon entering college, are required to attain to one of the three levels of requirements after studying and practicing English at school. The writing parts of the requirements are quoted as follows:

 

For basic requirements

Students should be able to complete writing tasks for general purposes, e.g., describing personal experiences, impressions, feelings, or events, and to undertake practical writing. They should be able to write within 30 minutes a short composition of 120 words on a general topic or an outline. The composition should be basically complete in content, appropriate in diction and coherent in discourse. Students are expected to be able to have a command of basic writing strategies. #p#分頁標題#e#

 

For intermediate requirements

Students should be able to express personal views on general topics, compose English abstracts of theses in their specialization, and write short English papers on topics of their specialty. They should be able to describe charts and graphs, and to complete within 30 minutes a short composition of 160 words. The composition should be basically complete in content, appropriate in diction and coherent in discourse.

 

For higher requirement:

 

Students should be able to express their opinions freely on general topics with clear structure, rich content and good logic. They should be able to write brief reports and papers of their areas of specialty, and to write within 30 minutes expository or argumentative essays of 200 words on a given topic. The text has complete content, logical thinking, and clear expression of ideas. (College English Curriculum Requirements:26-30) 

 

These requirements should be taken into consideration in the design of any writing instruction process.

 

References

 

[1] China Ministry of Education (2004). College English Curriculum Requirements. Shanghai Foreign Language education Press.

[2] Harmer, J. (2000). How to Teach English. Beijing Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[3] Neufeld, R. (1985) .A College English Writing Course: From Essay to Research Paper and Practical Writing. Henan University Press.

[4] Yang, Huizhong & C. Weir. (1998). Validation Study of the National College English Test .Shanghai Foreign Language education Press.