我国英语写作实证研究:现状与思考

Empirical Studies on L2 Writing In China: A Review

本文评述了我国十多年来的英语写作实证研究。首先分析、归类了国内重要外语刊物上发表的30篇英语写作实证研究的文章,涉及写作过程、写作文本、影响写作的因素和写作教学法。在此基础上总结了这些研究的发现,最后指出我国在该领域中存在的不足和未来值得研究的问题。

The paper reviews 30 empirical studies on L2 writing conducted by scholars on the China's Mainland over the past 12 years. The results show that the focus of L2 writing research in China is fourfold: (1) the role of L1 in L2 writing; (2) the lexical, syntactic and discourse features of Chinese EFL writing; (3) the factors affecting L2 writing performance, and (4) the effective L2 writing instruction. These studies provide four important findings. Firstly, Chinese L2 writers rely on L1 thinking in L2 writing. L1 plays multi- functional roles in L2 writing process, including positive and negative ones. Secondly, Chinese EFL writers display distinctive patterns in terms of lexical and syntactic structures such as simple sentences, adverbial initials, run-on sentences, overuse of second personal pronouns, discourse markers, connectors and adjectives, under-use of because-clause and that clause, causative verbs as well as mis-use of articles. In addition, the Chinese L2 written discourse reveals a highly spoken register. Both positive and negative evidence have been found about the influences of L1 thinking patterns in L2 writing. Thirdly, L2 writing quality and length are affected by a multitude of factors such as L1 literacy, L2 proficiency, L1 writing competence, L2 writing task types and conditions, frequency of exercise as well as affective factors. Fourthly, Chinese EFL writers are weak in content organization. Some effective teaching approaches are not applied extensively.