2018 Annual Conference of China English Language Education Association (CELEA2018)

189 / 2018-06-30 16:13:55

Empirical Research on the Effect of Recitation-imitation Input Modality on Chinese EFL Students' Writing Proficiency

English writing; language input; recitation-imitation practice; teaching research; writing proficiency

Plenary track > 中国特色英语教学研究

Writing in English is an indispensable skill to a successful language learner. However, for EFL students in China, English writing is still a stumbling block that hinders the improvement of their writing proficiency. The most salient problems lie in the following: lacking enough and necessary English vocabulary, negative transfer of L1, inappropriate uses of words, and ungrammatical structures. The author in this paper argues that the underlying reason is that EFL students are lacking in adequate effective language input. In traditional English writing class in China, the teacher gives the title of the composition to students, puts forward some requirements accordingly and then has students write a composition in or outside the class in the prescribed time. Finally, the compositions are handed in to English teachers for correcting. This traditional writing model, not only makes EFL students feel tedious about writing class but also bores English teachers themselves. And it also makes most of the students think that English writing class is just preparing them for some crucial examinations, which abates their interests in English writing accordingly. This empirical research mainly attempts to examine whether or not recitation-imitation input modality has an effect on the improvement of writing efficiency for EFL students in China. All the data collected were analyzed through SPSS 17.0. The data from empirical research show that recitation-imitation input modality has its significant merits as a traditional writing teaching model. Therefore, it should not be cast aside.