英文写作特征英文.docx

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