1、A Study on the Approach of Sentence-Combining in Senior High School English Writing Class Chapter One Introduction Chapter Two Literature review Chapter Three Research methodology Chapter Four Data collection and analysis Chapter Five Conclusion 1.1 Current situation of English writing teaching in S
2、enior High School Table 1 Mean T-unit length in the students writing each phase 1.2 Purpose of the study The thesis is an attempted effort to see whether sentence-combining approach can improve students syntactic maturity in high school English writing class.2.1 The study of improving English writin
3、g ability through sentence-combining at home and abroad 2.2 Definition of T-unit 2.3 Definition of sentence-combining 2.4 Theoretical basis of sentence-combining approach 2.5 Three major contrasts between English and Chinese sentence structures 2.6 Sentence patterns of English writings Hypotheses 1.
4、What are senior students attitudes towards sentence-combining approach?2.What is the effect of sentence-combining on syntactic maturity?SubjectsThe subjects of the experiments are students of Grade 3 in Suizhong Liwei Senior High School.There are four classes,265 students participate in this study,a
5、nd they are Class A,Class B,Class C and Class D.The latest final examination shows there is no significant difference in terms of their over-all English level.After all the pre-test passages were handed in,the number of mean words per T-unit was calculated.We remove the classes of the highest and th
6、e lowest score.So the rest two classes are randomly assigned as the experimental group and the control group;70 students in Class A are randomly assigned as the experimental group who receives sentence-combining approach and 65 students in Class B are randomly assigned as the control group who recei
7、ves traditional teaching in class.Research instruments Writing tests T-unit length Questionnaire Interview Procedures Pre-test Teaching procedures Post-test 4.1 Data analysis of writing tests Data analysis of the length of T-unit in pre-test paper Data analysis of the length of T-unit in post-test p
8、aper 4.2 Data analysis of questionnaire Data distribution of the questionnaire0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%12345678910itempercentageA EGB EGC EGD EG 4.3 Analysis of interview An interview has been carried out after the experiment.A casual talk has been arranged in the teachers offi
9、ce and some students are invited to take part in discussing their studies in school,confining not exclusively to English learning.The teacher also tries to first introduce topics concerning studies in other subjects and then gradually shifts to talk about the new teaching model in English learning a
10、fter those students have reduced their tensions and began to feel free to talk.5.1 Major findings 1)The aim of questionnaire used after post-test is to investigate the experimental subjects interests,attitudes,their motivation towards sentence-combining approach,requirements and their opinions on th
11、e current writing teaching method they received.All analytical results come to the point that the new teaching model-sentence combining is a more effective way to improve the students syntactic maturity than traditional writing teaching.Through the interview,we know,there is significant difference b
12、etween experimental group and control group in the attitudes,motivation and cognitive level for sentence-combining.2)There is significant difference between experimental group and control group in syntactic maturity;the T-unit length of experimental group is higher than control group.5.2 Limitations
13、 of the study 1.Although the experimental group and control group are randomly assigned,it is also difficult to avoid other factors interfering with the learning process and the results.2.The samples of the subjects are not large enough.3.According to the instructor involved in the experiment,a few
14、students,especially those with poor English,refused to write composition and as a result they did not make much progress in writing.4.To maintain the writing teaching in its proper sequence and continuity is of great significance for getting the reliable data.The present experiment has been carried
15、only for six months.One or two academic year is recommended.5.3 Implication for the study 1.Designing writing tasks is also an essential factor in the present study.It can help arouse the interests and motivations of the students if handled properly.2.When writing is taught together with speaking,re
16、ading and listening,it will be more productive.If one student is good at speaking or listening or reading,he/she is sure to have done better in writing.3.When doing sentence-combining exercises,the teachers must repeat the structures of the five different kinds of core sentences,which work as the basis of complex sentences.4.More practice and training will be needed to improve students writing,for the heavy teaching task prevents teachers from spending too much class time in teaching them how to write.
