How to Improve your English Writing如何提高英語寫作能力

Abstract:

In this article ，the author teaches English for manyyears . During this perord，the students often ask the author to help them with theirEnglish composition .As an English teacher ，the author givesthem some advices on how to improve their English writing.

Key words :

improve English writing;listening and speaking;writing nutrients ; practise ; requiremens.

As a teacher of English ， many students often ask me to helpthem with their English composition.I think this is a hard job that can’t be done well inone or two days .Also ， It is a big question that can not be madclear in one or two words .After a long consideration ， I have to open my thoughts about it ，but right or wrong ，only for reference.

I .Start From Listening and Speaking

First，I must say writing is relative to listening and speaking .If you want to improve yourEnglish writing to write a good composition ， you should start from listening and speaking.This is because only on the condition that you have improved your hearing and speaking ability，can you follow suit to speak in right words which agree with grammar.lf your hearing is poor and you can’t follow suit，how can you open your mouth to learn to say as others do? Likewise ，if you couldn’t open your mouth to say ，how could write a correct sentence both in words and in grammar? So ，I dare say ”without listening and speaking，without good writing”.

A baby，when he or she was born，he or she only knows crying.But as the time passes by，he or she gets to know how to listen.He or she slowly knows to listen to what his or her father，mother or someone else is saying. After a longer listening，a baby learns to open his or her mouth to follow suit.And after a longer modeling ， a baby can speak in right words that can be understood by others.This progress will lay a foundation for the future writing.

Some students may say that they have no chance to practise English listening and speaking. The reason is that they are living in China， a country whose most people don't speak in English. At home， at school and at public places， people everywhere always speak in Chinese.

I say this is not the right reason. They are talking nonsense. They can take many opportunities to listen to and to speak English. They can listen and talk to their teachers in English. They can listen to and talk with their classmates. They can listen to the English broadcasting and recording. Any chance is created by oneself. “Where there is a will， there is a will”，as Chinese saying.

IIAbsorb Writing Nutrients From Extensive Reading

Anyone， who is good at writing， must have gone

through a great deal of reading. If you want to be a teacher， you have to be a pupil at first. Through extensive reading， one could become a teacher from a pupil. That is， one could get many things that is helpful to one's writing from extensive reading. Those things are knowledge or nutrients which can help you to improve your writing. Without a great deal of reading， one could be able to write nothing.

The reason is very simple. A person， who doesn't learn archlecture， can build up a high building? A woman， who doesn't learn sewing， can make a beautiful dress? A man， who has never driven a car， can drive his car far away from his house? These imaginations are not practice at tall .If you want to know what taste a pear is， you'd better try it by your own mouth.

Someone may say:” l like reading， but I don'tknow how to read. ” I say reading is also very skillful. First， as a beginner， one should start from the materials which are very easy to understand， from which there are less new words and phrases. This kind of material can cause your reading interest.

Second， while reading， one should pay much more attention to those new words and expressions. One should accumulate a lot of vocabulary， phrases and sentence patterns though extensive reading.

Third， one should also take notice of others writing methods while reading. Different articles have different writing feature.Different writer has different writing methods. We must learn from them.

One word in all， when one has absorbed many nutrients from extensive reading， surely one can be able to write out a good composition. Because he has bought many steel sticks， bricks and cements， because he has prepared many materials for the building， I think， a grand high-building will be put up there in some day.

III．Practise More to Improve Your English Writing

At the basis of listening ， speaking and reading ， One should begin to prictise writing .The more practice ， the better one can write.

No one can become a fat just by eating a rich meal. Anyone ， who wants to reach a top of a mountain ， must scramble step by step . The same is true of English writing . As long as we keep on practising ， We can improve our writing ability. In China ， there is a famous word， that is ， “Practice makes perfect .” We must learn to write by practising writing .

How to practise writing ? First ， in my opinion ， one should learn to make sentences . One should learn to make those sentences the verbs of which agree with their subjects in number and person .

Then， one should learn to arrange those sentences in right order to form a passage so that it can state an event or express an idea .

Second ， I think， one can practise writing by taking down diaries . It is a good way to improve your writing . One can write down those events happening every day .Doing so can make you learn to consider in English .

Third ， one can put some good sentences into English to get ready for your future writing . By doing translation， one can learn to express in English and avoid many mistakes in grammar . It is helpful for you to remember many new English words，either.

IV．Requirements When Writing

About English writing， I have put across several pieces of my suggestions above . It doesn't mean that one can write out a very good composition after a longer listening ， speaking and writing practice . Those I say aims at stressing the importance of gaining basic English knowledge. If one wants to write a good article in English ， he still need to pay much more attention to the following point:

1.Write in correct sentences . It means the sentences used in your article don’t have any mistakes . There are no mistakes in grammar ， in number and in person. The words are used properly. The tenses describe the different time. The voices express the relationships between subject and predicate in English grammar ， one of the most important rules is that a verb used as predicate must agree with its subject in number and person.

2.Describe clearly. You should let your readers know what you are writing after reading your article. So in your description， you should state the time， the place and the person concerning with the event. You should give a whole process of a happening event according to the time order.In some places， you should describe in detail so that they can give your readers a clear information.

3.Stress the central idea . It is the key point to stress the central idea when you write. Judging an article good or not， people often give their comments based on the central idea of an article. If the main idea of an article is very clear，it can be easy to read and understand， people would think it a good article . So，you should write those things that are close to the main idea. The things that are unrelative，you'd better avoid to write.You should list quantity of facts to serve the central idea of an article.Doing so，I think，surely you can make much progress to write a good English article.

Reference:

1.李金達《英語寫作捷徑》外語教學與研究出版社2006 .

2.胡文仲《實用英語寫作》外語教學與研究出版社2006.

3.談芳吳云《高等學校應用文寫作》學林出版社2008.

4.戴煒棟《英語閱讀與寫作》上海外語教育出版社2004.

附：

1.作者：凌勇（副教授）俞書瓊（副教授）

2.工作單位：湖北咸寧職業技術學院