写作档案袋在高中英语写作教学中应用效果的研究.doc

写作档案袋在高中英语写作教学中应用效果的研究

A study on the effect of setting up English Writing Portfolio
to the teaching of senior English writing

石晶

Abstract
While standard teaching methods on writing have been noted to gain fruits in teaching practice, there are still some problems associated with them and much room for development. Writing portfolio appears to show its significance in modern teaching practice, and improve learner autonomy in and out classrooms. Since the year of 2002, the new English Curriculum Standard suggests English writing can be examined and assessed in many ways beyond the traditional texts, and the possibility that the application of English writing portfolio may be used as a effective tool in English writing class.

This study examines the relationship between the construction of English writing portfolio and learner autonomy through experiments in really class and to propose methods to improve autonomy on the base of writing portfolio. The research question that was investigated was: (1)Can the training of setting up writing portfolio promote learners’ ability of autonomous learning? (2)Can the training of setting up writing portfolio promote learners’ writing ability? The correlation was measured for 92 participants in two classes from in a No.1 senior school in the city of JinChang in Gansu Province. This is important because of the relatively low English writing level in senior high school around China, especially in the west part of China. Traditional class has reduced students interest in learning in writing, especially English writing. On the other hand, high school is transitional period of entering to the university, and it also provides the foundation for students of future life due to good time of youth. To some extent, what the students learn and how they learn in senior high school guides, and even determines the whole knowledge of individual’s life.
This study is in hope that it might improve the effectiveness of the students’ learning not only on the class in senior high school, and more importantly, their continuously autonomous learning after the class. This study adopts many approaches, such as observation, questionnaire, formal and informal interview and test, and the data was processed with SPSS software and Microsoft Excel. The findings point to a positive, significant relationship between the construction of English writing portfolio and learner autonomy and the writing ability, a 10% of increase on learner autonomy, and a 15% growth on writing ability within one-year English writing portfolio experiments. It also indicates the possibility to tap students’ potential for autonomous learning and improve their writing competence in senior high school.

Key words：learning autonomy; writing portfolio; senior English writing; portfolio assessment

摘要
尽管传统教学方法在教学实践中取得一些成效，但是还存有许多问题和许多提升空间。现代教学中，写作档案袋在提高自主学习方面越来越体现其重要位置。2002年, 新课程标准指出除了传统的考试,英语写作还可以通过多种评价方法进行检测和评价，它为教师应用档案袋进行英语写作教学的可能性提供了理论上的指导。
本文通过课堂实验案例，探讨了英语写作档案袋的建立与学生自主学习能力之间的关系，为应用英语写作档案袋提高自主学习能力提出些许建议。本文探讨了以下两个问题：（1）建立写作档案袋的训练是否能够提高自主学习能力？（2）建立写作档案袋的训练是否能够提高学生的写作能力？
实验统计了甘肃金昌第一中学的2个班级的92名学生的数据。实验的意义在于中国，特别是中国西部，英语写作水平相对低下，传统课堂降低了学生写作，尤其是英语写作的兴趣。而高中是人生的阳光时期，是大学学习的过渡期，也是为未来学习提供了主要基础的时期。从某种程度上说，高中时期的知识储备和学习方法指导甚至决定一个人一生的知识导向。本文希望通过探讨提高高中学生在课内，更重要的是，在课后的自主学习能力。研究采用观察法，问卷调查，正式非正式采访，测试等多种方法。数据通过SPSS及Microsoft Excel统计整理，结论表明建立英语写作档案袋与提高学生自主学习能力之间有密切的正相关关系。研究显示经过一年的写作档案袋的培训，实验班比普通版学生自主学习能动性提高了10%，英语写作能力提高了15%，为开发学生潜力，提高高中学生自主学习及英语写作能力提供可能。

关键词：学习自主性 写作档案袋 高中英语写作
档案袋评价

List of Tables and Figures

List of Abbreviation
AL Autonomous Learning
LA Learners’ Autonomous
CC Control class
EC Experimental class
e.g. for example
etc. and so forth
i.e. that is
NMET National Matriculation English Tests
SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences

Chapter One Introduction
This study considers the effect of application of writing portfolio on learner autonomy by a case in the West part of China, and it was due to my desire to my language teaching practice with my teaching theory and beliefs, which reserved an important space for students' interests coupled with autonomous learning.
1.1 Background of this study
As an international language, English works as the channel for communicating not only on language itself but also on the culture between people around the world. The cultivating for personnel tackling with good english abilities gradually show its significance. Therefore, the English teaching on senior high school students arouses more public attention. However, writing , one of the most language abilities, get the least satisfactory results comparing to other language abilities. According to the official statistics , in 2010, the national average score of the writing in the entrance exam to the university is 19 points out of 30 points, just around the passing line 18 points. This is much due to the lack of training on English writing and, what’s more, to noneffective way of teaching English writing. traditional teaching mode is still teacher-centred at present （Lan Tudor, 1993). Giving out homework and recording all parts of teachers work, no feedbacks and recommendations, leading to a result of no interest in English writing for students.
The new English Curriculum Standard in 2002 points out that except the traditional texts, English writing can be examined and assessed in many ways . It also provides a list of materials such as writing activity, wring assessment table, and the portfolio assessment. the english writing ability can be measured beyond traditional text.
1.2 Purpose of the Study
While standard teaching methods on writing have been noted to gain fruits in teaching practice, there are still some problems associated with them and much room for development. Writing portfolio appears to show its significance in modern teaching practice, and improve learner autonomy in and out classrooms.
The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship between writing portfolio and learner autonomy through experiments in really class and to propose methods to improve autonomy on the base of writing portfolio.
1.3 Significance of this Study
The low efficiency, over-stressfulness on the summative assessment, and the low initiative and interest in learning lighten the importance of the study. The score from a test is not the only criterion of measuring student’s English proficiency. The basic educational curriculum innovation has definitely set forth the establishment of assessment system that promotes students’all around development.It asserts the assessment on students should be mainly based on formative assessment,in combination with summative assessment.The English Curriculum indicates that the English learning portfolio is one of the important tools of the formative assessment,and it is a collection of the evidence that documents students’efforts,progress and accomplishments made in the learning process and reflects their learning outcomes.learner autonomy is expected to be motivated through the construction and application of English learning portfolio.
1.3.1 High-efficiency in class
The new English Curriculum Criteria put an emphasis on the fact that teachers must pay more attention to students’ emotion and motivate their interest. During English study, teachers should also help students develop effective strategy and widen their international vision. In this way, students can use English language better with ability of autonomous learning and excellent character. All these have been considered as effective measures for improving results, practicing efficiency, lightening students’ burden and enhancing teaching.
1.3.2 Digestion of knowledge after class
Through the construction and utilization of writing portfolio, the digestion of knowledge after class which has been neglected in traditional class earns attention. Continuous record of the work after class give the clue of the steps on the way to a whole writing and give preparations for the next writing.Confucius said, “Look back to the old, if you would learn the new，writing portfolio set the way for students to review the way back and pay to the way forward.
1.3.3 The Development of self-character
Writing portfolio, according to the new English Curriculum Standard, is encouraged to shape and develop the students’ self-character through continuous self-assessment and self-evaluation, in other words, learner autonomy is developed through the application of writing portfolio.
Every teacher owns his fixed teaching methods and styles, but his students own different language talent, cognitive and learning styles and emotion features. In this aspect, teachers can not satisfy each student’s need and demand, so they only talk about some general rules and laws of language. For example, about how to remember English words, teachers only teach students they should use the best method to do it. However, different individual possesses different time for high-efficient memory. Some students can remember words clearly in the morning, but others in the evening. So students must learn to self-manage and rethink self-learning features. They should also choose proper method and strategy to enhance quality of learning.
1.3.4 Need for life-long learning
English learning , especially for writing, is not one-time thing, covering all life long. No school can provide its students with all knowledge and skills they will need for their adult lives.Learning a language is a life-long endeavor that can be done mostly by the learners themselves. Taking learners’ role as crucial in their learning and stimulating learner autonomy should be the aim of language education because autonomous language learners would be truly effective language learners and language users (Little, 2000).
In traditional class, teachers usually missed out the inwards connection between every steps of learning. The brain storming, the construction of ideas, the outline, etc, which could been saved as treasure for next time writing, has been neglected and left out after one time writing.
1.3.5 individual need of learners
The diversity of individual needs make no classroom teaching can satisfy. What the teachers are expected to do is enrich the class to maximize the individual needs of the students. Meanwhile, it is the learners themselves who know their needs best. Learner autonomy caters to the individual needs of learners at all levels. In this way, learners get the right to gain what they really want. Allowing students more freedom and autonomy will enhance the learner’s motivation and quality of learning (Dickinson, 1996).

Chapter Two Literature Review
In the past decades, many researches have been conducted to study learner autonomy and writing portfolio. In this part, we will briefly review the history and theories of learner autonomy and writing portfolio domestic and worldwide.
2.1 The Definition of learner autonomy
There is no definite answer to the definition of learners’ autonomy, the exploration of it starts as early as 20th century. In1981 Holec (1981: 3) had defined autonomy as ‘the ability to take charge of one’s own learning’ (Gardner & Miller, 2002: 6). Then he developed this definition further in 1985 by talking about autonomy as a conceptual tool . He regards autonomy as personal characteristics. Benson (1997: 29), viewing autonomy within a political framework, defines learner autonomy as representing ‘a recognition of the rights of learners within educational systems’ and, within the context of teaching English as a Foreign Language, as ‘ a recognition of the rights of the “non—native speaker” in relation to the “native-speaker” within the global order of English ’. Pintrich (2000) states that autonomy is an active and constructive learning process, in which first students set their learning goals, then monitor, regulate and control cognition, motivation and behavior guided or bound by goals and context characteristics. Autonomous learning activities play a role of mediation in student’s individual, environment and general accomplishments ( Pang Weiguo, 2003: 4). In Phil Benson’s terms, autonomy is “about people taking more control over their lives individually and collectively. Autonomy in learning is about people taking more control over their learning in classroom and outside them and autonomy in language learning is about people taking more control over the purposes for which they learn languages and the ways in which they learn them” (Benson, 2003). Autonomy can also be described as a capacity to take charge of, or take responsibility for, or control over one’s own learning. From this point of view, autonomy involves abilities and attitudes that people possess and can develop to various degrees.
In China, many educations try to define learner autonomy in their own way. Han Qinglin (1999) considers ‘autonomy’ in a narrow sense means that with teacher’s scientific guidance, students realize autonomous growth through active and creative learning activities; Broadly, ‘autonomy’ means people take learning activities purposely and selectively by a wide variety of means to realize autonomous development ( Lin Li &Wang Zhijiang, 2005: 33). Chen Shuiqing (1999) states ‘autonomy’ means learning agents dominate their own learning; it refers to the active and constructive process of self-design, self-management, self-regulation, self-check, self-assessment and self-transmission conducted in the aspects of learning goals, process, effect and so on (Lin Li &Wang Zhijiang, 2005: 33).Above all, we learn that the foregoing definitions of learner autonomy have revealed to us the essence of autonomous learning. Here we believe that learner autonomy means that under the guidance of the teacher, students assume the awareness of their own learning, actively participate in the learning process, take the accountability for their own learning, set their personal learning goals, self-monitor their progress, reflect on their learning, self-assess their learning outcomes and timely modify learning plans for moving ahead.
2.2 The Research on learner autonomy in the West
Early in the 19th century, the idea of learner autonomy came into people’s view. Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates figures out that in the class the students play the main role rather than teachers. he ponders that the task of the teacher is not transform knowledge, but innovate knowledge, inspiring the student to seek for knowledge themselves. British educator Herbert Spencer stresses the importance of developing the students’ ability to autonomous learning, he argues that teachers should encourage the students to obser