English Writing ——Introduction Chen Dongmei Centre of Curriculum Studies in Basic Education Tel:

Why is writing unpopular?  “Communication is more important than writing.”  “Writing is boring.”  “Practicing writing is a waste of time.”

Discussion  Who likes writing?  Why?  Who doesn’t like writing?  Why not?  Why are you studying writing?  Why do you think practicing or improving your English writing might be useful?

Writing and communication  Most international communication is written  Written communication provides less context than spoken communication so must be more accurate and more descriptive

Writing is not boring  Writing gives you a chance to be creative  Writing gives you a chance to express your opinions and encounter the opinions of others

The benefits of writing  Learn to think clearly about new subjects  Develop good habits of thought  Develop good language habits

WWriting is the hardest of the language skills PPracticing writing is slow practice What is English Writing?

Slow training  If you want to perform any skill well and consistently, Train the skills slow over and over again.  “but I need speed!”  You can practice fast, but first master the skill.  Performing a strike fast but sloppy, for example, is a great way to injure yourself.  If you always practice fast, you are less likely to perceive when you are doing things wrong and self- correct.

 That’s just not true. You will still be able to move fast, and your movements will be more effective.  Imagine throwing 100,000 sloppy but fast punches at a training partner that just attacks you constantly as fast as he can.  You may never learn to throw an effective punch, and you will probably be very frustrated. Will slow training hinder fast movement ？

 Now Imagine throwing 10,000 perfect slow punches at a partner who attacks you slowly.  You have time to perceive the attack, adjust appropriately, and make sure you hit the target with a proper weapon.  Which one of these scenarios would make you a better fighter?

For learning —— slow training is best. slow training is best. Medium speed is then used for practice.

Writing is Slow Practice  Spoken language disappears  Written language stays on the page  Use writing practice to observe your  Good habits  Bad Habits  Use writing practice to transform  theoretical knowledge into…  …practical knowledge: good habits

What will we learn in this course? —— Topics  Unit 1 Friendship Is Gold  Unit 2 Love Makes the World Go around  Unit 3 Let’s Go in for Sports  Unit 4 Internet Makes the World Smaller  Unit 5 Everyone Needs Food  Unit 6 Self-Confidence Makes You Powerful  Unit 7 Christmas is round the Corner (Revision)  Unit 8 To Fly My Dreams  Unit 9 Job Hunting  Unit 10 Cooperation Contributes to Success  Unit 11 Honesty, an Important Part of Our Character  Unit 12 Learn to Enjoy Your Free Time  Unit 13 Why I Want to Teach  Unit 14 English, a Gate to the World (Revision)

What will we learn in this course? —— Knowledge about Writing  Manuscript Form ( include punctuation )  Figures of Speech  Sentence  Paragraph  The whole composition  Types of Writing  Practical Writing

My thoughts on English writing  1. The ideas of your articles can only come from your daily accumulation of extensive reading and your thinking;  2. Good articles come from your arduous practice;  3. The teacher’s role is to stimulate your interests in writing;  4. The teacher’s task is to teach you some techniques on writing and design suitable writing tasks for you to practice;

 5. The teacher will not correct your compositions word by word, but judge them as a whole.  6. You can know how to write good articles not through your teacher’s correcting the grammar mistakes in your exercises, but through your daily practice.  7. you will have to do many exercises for this subject.

How to learn?  Reading and comprehension  summing-up the knowledge points  Learn from the Sample  Practicing  Error Correcting Discussion Practice

Elements your final marks depend on  1. Your attendance and classroom performance account for 10%;  2. Your accomplishment of the assignments accounts for 20%;  3. Your final examination mark accounts for 70%.

Some Requirements  1. Attend my lectures regularly;  2. Be active in class;  3. Finish my assignments in time;  4. Try to read good articles as many as possible;  5.Sum up what you have learn from different unit;  6.Always being ready to learn from each other;  7.Prepare one exercise book.