英文写作特征英文.docx
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英文写作特征英文.docx
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英文写作特征英文
The
characteristics
of
EnglishWriting
Abstract:
DevelopingastrongabitityofEnglishwritingisessentialandwillbenefitEnglishlearnersfortheirfuturecareerbothasanaspiringEnglishscholorandasanactive,cometentmemberoftheglobalsociety.ThispapermainlydiscussesthebasicconceptandthecharacteristicsofEnglishwriting.
Keywords:
characteristics;Englishwriting;criticalreadingandthingking;thoughtfulrevision;creatity
WhatwouldbeconsideredgoodEnglishwriting,then?
SomeeducatorsinEnglish-speakingcountriespromotedasetofbasiccharacteristicsofEnglishwriting,forexample:
unity;coherence;emphasis;developmentandclarity.Whilethesegoodvaluesarestillrelevant,ourdiscussionofEnglishwriting,focusesonadifferentsetofconcepts.
1.Englishwritingcallsofcriticalreadingandcriticalthinking
Goodwriting,especiallygood,effectiveEnglishwriting,callsforcriticalreadingandcriticalthinking.LiMing,acollegestudent,hastoreadsomethingsaboutJohnKennedyinordertowriteaneffectivetermpaperonherchosentopic.MichelleWilliamsneedsmorethanherfirst-handexperiencesanddirectobservationsinBeijingtowriteaneffectivebookletonChina.EventhoughJulongWang’sessayonhishometownismore“personal”,heneedstogetmoreinformedontheargumentsthathavebeenmadeconcerninghowtohelplessdevelopedregionstomoderizeandcatchupwiththecoastalprovinces.
1.1What’sthecriticalreadingandcriticalthinking
Whatiscriticalreading(orreadingwithacriticaleye)?
Itisreadingnotonlyforcomprehension,butalsotoanalyzethevaluesandassumptionsembodiedinthetextsandexaminetheirhistorical,culturalaswellasliterarycontexts.
Whatiscriticalthinking?
Inthinkingcriticallyaboutanyessueofcertaincomplexity,youneedtobewillingtoseeitfromdifferentperspectives,tofaceobjectionstoyourownbeliefs,andtoadoptaskepticalattitudetowardauthorityandtowardviewsthatseemobviouslyrighttoyou.Tothinkingcriticallyistowillinglygiveupyourmonopolyantruthandrespectyouropponentsbyanalyzingtheirviewscarefully.Ifyouengageinmulti-perspective,analytic,andevaluativethinking,youwillofterhavesecondandthirdthoughtsconcerningthesubject.Youmayfindyourself,toyourownsurprise,adoptingapositionthatyouinitiallycouldn’timagineyouwouldhold.Goodwritingischaracterizedbyinsightgainedthroughanintellectuallyrigorousandopen-mindedinquiry.
1.2Theimportanceofcriticalreadingandcriticalthinking
GoodEnglishwritingcallsforcriticalreadingandcriticalthinking.Thisconceptisparticularlyimportantforyoubecamemanynon-nativespeakersofEnglishtendtobeoverlyconcernedwithbeingcorrectingrammarandspeaking.WhilegoodEnglishwritingisexpectedtobefreefromgrammaticalandothererror,itisworthrepeatingherethatgoodwritingisnotgoodgrammar.
Actually,excessiveanxietyovergrammarcanonlyhinderyoufromexpressingyourselfeffectivelyinEnglishwritingorspeaking.Atthisadvancedlevel,youshouldbemuchmoreconcernedwithhigher-level,moreimportantissuesofEnglishwriting.
2.Englishwritinginvolvesthoughtfulrevision
Thenecessityofthoughtfulrevision
Thisistrueevenwiththemostexperiencedwriters.Youwillbeconvincedofthisfactifyougoandstudythemanuscripshaveevolved.Manygreatwriterssubjecttheirwritingstonumerousrevisionbeforefeelingsatisfied.LuXun,thegreatmodernChinesewriter,forexample,talksaboutpacingpensivelyinthestudyfordayssearchingfortherightword.Evenifyouhavedevelopedthefinestplanandyourdraftinghasgonerathersmoothly,youwillneedtorevisewhatyouhavewritten.
2.2Thefunctionofthoughtfulrevision
Byrevision,ofcourse,wedonotmeansimplyeditingandproof-readingtocleanupgrammaticalandspellingerrors.Effectiverevisioninvolvesmakingchangesasboththemacroandmicrolevels.Duringmacro(meaning“large”inGreekorigin)revision,youlookatthewholeessayintermsofsuchdeterminingfactorsasyoursubject,audience,andpurpose,andtrytoidentifymajorproblemsandfixthemsoastobringaboutbetterunityanddevelopment.Duringmicro(meaning“small”initsGreekorigin)revision,youworkattheparagraphandsentencelevelstobringclarityandcoherencetoyourwriting.
3.Englishwritingisdirctedtowardanaudience
3.1Theimportanceofit
ThetermaudienceusuallyreferstoviewersofmoviesandTVshowsandlistenersofradioprograms.Itisnowexpandedtoincludereadersofwrittenmaterialsindiscussionsofwritingactivities.Thisconceptissoimprotantbecausedifferentaudiencescanhavesignificantimpactonthecontent,structure,andstyleofyourwritingevenifyouarewritingaboutexactlythesametopic.
Let’sayyouwanttowriteapaperanalyzingwhyterroristschosetohijackpassengerplanestohittheWorldTradeCenterinNewYorkandthePentagoninWashington,D.C.onSeptember11,2001.You’dmostlikelyapproachthesubjectdifferentlyifyouarewritingforreadersintheU.S.thanforreadersinAfghanistan,Iraq,andotherIslamiccoutries.
Let’stakeSARS(SevereAcuteRespiratorySyndrome)asanotherexample.Youcanwriteaboutitssymptoms,causes,andpreventionmeasuresto1)foreigntourists;2)elementaryschoolstudents;3)averagecityresidents;4)medicalpersonnelinvolvedinSARS-relatedresearch.Thetopicismoreorlessthesame,butwouldyouwriteexactlythesamewaytothefourdifferentgroupsofaudience?
3.2Awarenessofyouraudience
AkeenawarenessofyouraudiencethroughoutthewritingprocessisesstentialtoeffectiveEnglishwriting.Oftentimes,itisnecessarytositdownandanalyzeyouraudienceintermsoftheirknowledge,values,assumptions,etc.GoodEnglishwritingwillshowakeenawarenessoftheintendedreadersandusethemosteffectivestrategiestoachievethepurposeofwriting.
Thisisaveryimportantconceptbecausedifferentaudiencescanimpactandshapeyourwritingsignificantlyintermsofcontent,structure,andstyle,evenwhenyouarewritingaboutthesametopicorsubject.Forexample,explainingthecharacterofLuXun’sAhQtocollege-educatedChinesereaderswouldbequitedifferentfrompresentingthesametopictocollegestudentsintheU.S.Inthelattercase,muchmorebackgroundinformationaboutLuXunandthesocialandhistoricalenvironmentinwhichhecreatedthecharacterwouldneedtobeprovidedbeforeyoucouldproceedtoanymeaningfuldiscussion.Foranacademicpaper—oranywritingforthatmatter—tobeeffective,itisoftennecessarytositdownandanalyzeyouraudiencebeforeactuallystartingtowriteyourpaper.Audiencescanbeexaminedfromseveraldifferentpersectives:
1)AudienceandAuthorsocialrelations
2)Audience’sknowledgeaboutyoursubject
3)Audience’sattitudestoorviewpointsonthesubjectandyourpositioninthewriting
4.Englishwritingachievesaclearpurpose
4.1ThepurposeofEnglishwriting
Wheneveryouwrite,youwriteforapurpose,regardlessyouareawareofitornot.Ifyouwanttowriteanessayaboutfinancialaidforcollegestudentsunderthecurrentsystem.whatpurposewouldyouliketoachieve?
Itcouldbe:
1)Toinformreadersofthemeritsandproblemsofthisnewsystem
2)Tomakepeopleawareofthefinancialdifficultiesofstudentsfromlow-incomefamiliesandruralandlessdevelpedareas
3)Tosuggestcertainchangestofine-tunethesystemsothatthesestudentswillnotbepricedoutofhighereducation
Adifferentpurposewilldifinitelyhaveadifferentimpactonyourwriting.
Theconceptofrolereferstothetypeofpersonyouwantyouraudiencetothinkyouare.Generallyspeaking,youwouldwantyouraudiencetothinkthatyouareknowledgeable,intelligent,andwell-informed.Whywouldtheybothertoreadwhatyouarewritingiftheythinkyouareignorant,stupidandnotknowingwhatyouaretalkingabout?
Butyoumayassumedifferentrolesfordifferentpiecesofwritingdependingonsuchdeterminingfactorsasthesubject,audience,andpurpose.Youassumecertainpersonaproperforaparticularwritingevent,muchasifyouwereanactorbeingassignedaroleinaplay.Abouttuitionofhighereducation,forexample,youcanwriteasacollegestudentwhohasfirst-handexperience(aninsider’sview);asaparentwithaloworaverageincomewhoseesamuchlargerpictureandmakessomerelevantpolicyrecommendations.
Theroleorpersonayouhaveadoptedforthepieceofwritingmayhaveadirecteffectonthetoneofyourwriting.Howdoyouwantittosound?
Serious,scholarly,andtrustworthy?
Practical?
Philosophical?
humours?
Youchoosetheonethatbestfitsyoursubject,audience,andpurposeandthatyoufeelmostcomfortablewith.
Inaword,Whatisthepurposeinwriting?
Itcouldbe
1)Toinform
2)Toexplain
3)Toimpactthereader’sbehavior
4)Tochangetheirmindaboutsomethingcontroversial
4.2Aclearpurposeisnecessaryandimportant
IfyouwanttoproposethatChinaadoptalegaldrinkingage,youshouldmakeitcleartothePeople’sCongresswhysuchalawisnecessary,whatitshouldbe,howtoimplementsuchalaw,andsoon.
Ifyouwanttoconvincereader’sinAmericaandEuropeancountriesthatChinaneedstofindaformofdemocracywhichwouldfitChina’shistory,culture,andtheneedsofitspeoplethemost,thatsentenceofpurposewillshapethecontent,thestructure,andthestyleofyourwritingandinfluenceyourchoiceofthestrategiestobeused.
Writingwithoutaclearsenseofpurposewouldbelikejumpingintothecaranddrivingoffatfullspeedwithoutknowingfirstwhereyouwerearegoing.Chancesarethatthefasteryoudrive,thefurtherawayyouarefromtherightdestination.
5.Englishwritingnee
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