型学术英语写作课堂对英语专业本科生学术能力的影响

【Abstract】AdvancedEnglishWriting（AEW）classisamajorEnglishcourse.ButinthetrainingofadvancedEnglishintellects,mostoftheChineseeducationalinstituteslaylessemphasisoncultivationofstudents’academicresearchability.Asaresult,anewandfeasibleteachingmethod―research-basedmodelwasintroduced.Thisstudyfocusedontheinvestigationoftheimpactsoftheresearch-basedapproachappliedinacademicEnglishwritingcurriculumontheacademicresearchabilityofEnglishundergraduates.

【KeyWords】Impact；Research-BasedAEWClass；AcademicResearchAbility

【摘 要】高级英语写作课是一门非常重要的英语专业主干课,但当下在英语专业高级人才培养过程中,多数中国学校忽略了对学生学术研究能力的培养.这就要求引入一种新型的教学方法--研究型教学法.本研究旨在调查学术英语写作课中应用研究型教学方法对英语专业本科生学术研究能力的影响.

【关 键 词】影响研究型学术英语写作课堂学术研究能力

I.Introduction

AEW（AcademicEnglishWriting）classisacrucialapproachincultivatingstudents’logicalandcreativethinking,especiallyinpletinggraduationthesis.ButnowadaysresearcheshebeendonetoinvestigatetheproblemsexistinginAEWclassinChina.ThelackofresearchcapacitypreventsEnglishmajorromkeepingupwiththerequirementforhigh-qualitytalentsintheadvancementofthesociety（Wen38）.Ascanbeindicated,thetrainingofstudents’researchabilityisnecessaryinuniversities.Researched-basedteachinginAEWclasschangesthetraditionalEnglishteachingmodelandestablisha“learning-based,teach-led”（Sun13）.BetweentheFebruarytoSeptemberin2014,theresearch-basedapproachwasappliedintheAEWclassinSchoolofEnglishStudies,DalianUniversityofForeignLanguages.Thisstudywasconductedtoinvestigatetheimpactsoftheresearch-basedAEWclass’simpactontheresearchpetenceofEnglishmajorsinDalianUniversityofForeignLanguages.

Intermsoftheconceptofacademicability,researchersabroadhenotreachedconsensusesonitsdefinition.Tikunoff（Richards&Nunan2000）supposedtheacademicabilityistheabilitytoacquirenewskills,assimilatenewinformationandtoconstructnewconcepts.FormostChineseresearchers,theacademicabilitywasblendedwiththeresearchability.Specifically,itincludestheabilitytoraisequestiones,collectandgatherinformation,createacademicthesisanddesignthestudyprocess.BasedonthecharacteristicsofEnglishsubjectandthecognitiveaffectionofgraduatestudentsinEnglishmajor,WangXuemei（2013）considerstheacademicabilityforEnglishmajorstudentsconsistoflanguageability,knowledgeabilityandresearchability,amongwhich,theacademicresearchabilityisdividedintotwoparts―generalresearchabilityandinnovativeresearchability.Ⅱ.ResearchMethodologyandresults

Thisresearchemployedabinationofqualitativeandquantitativeresearchmethod.Questionnaireswithbothclosed-endedandopen-endedquestionsandthesisanalysiswereadoptedinbinationinthisstudy.

Accordingtotheresults,theresearch-basedAEWclasscontributedmuchtostudents’academicresearchability.Undertheresearch-basedapproach,studentsintheAEWclasswereencouragedtoworkontheirownandeupwithtopicsthattheywereinterestedin,afterwhichtheprofessorgefeedbacksandsuggestionstohelpstudentswithfeasibleandinnovativeresearchtopics.Consequently,whenaskedabouttheiropinionsonthestatementthat“theresearch-basedAEWclasshelpedtoimprovethecapabilityoffindingandraisingquestions”,studentswhoagreedoccupied70%.Meanwhilestatisticsshowedthat62%ofthestudentsconsideredresearch-basedstudyasofgreathelptobroadentheirminds,trainthemtothinkdivergentlyandstimulatecreativity.What’ore,students’thinkingabilitywastrainedinresearch-basedAEWclass.Therewerealtogether70%oftheinformantswhoweresatiiedwiththeimpactofresearch-basedAEWclassasitimprovedtheirabilityofanalyticalthinkingsothattheycouldeupwithinsightfulopinionsandsuggestions.Inaddition,throughtheanalysistowardsthegraduationthesis,itcanbefoundthatstudentswhowereconductedbytheresearch-basedAEWclasshadmorecreativeselectionsonthethesistopic.Studentswerecloselyrelatedtotheresearchfrontierandmoreinclinedtofurthertheirresearchininterdisciplinaryfields.Besides,seeingfromstudents’responses,theresearch-basedapproachservesasafeasibleteachingmethodtoequipstudentswithmethodologytosearchforliterature,carryoutresearch,andsolveproblemsinthesiswriting.85%ofthestudentswerecapableofobtainingusefulliteraturethroughInterandinthelibrary.Students’abilityofreadingandprehendingacademicliteraturewasimprovedintheprojectstudy.75%ofthestudentsapprovedthattheyhedeepenedtheirunderstandingofbothChineseandEnglishliterature,academicjournalsandmonographs.Inaddition,90%ofthestudentsaggreedthattheresearch-basedAEWclassplayedanimportantroleinpromotingmyabilityofcollectingdataandtheywereabletocollectusefuldatabycollectingcorpus,employingquestionnairesandcarryingoutinterviews.Thiscanbealsoreflectedinthethesisanalysis.TheauthorityandeffectivenessoftheworkcitedenhancedmuchparedtothethesiswithoutguidelinesintheAEWclassandtheresearchmethodologywaorelogicalthroughtheAEWclass.Ⅲ.Conclusion

Eventhoughtheresearch-basedAEWclassisnewlyadopted,itdisplayeditsstrengthsandachievementsinimprovingEnglishundergraduates’academicresearchabilityandpreparingthemforfutureacademicresearch.Inanutshell,theresearch-basedAEWclassprovidesafreshangletoconductEnglishteachingandcultivateacademicresearchabilityoftheEnglishmajors.Althoughnotwidelyadopted,itstillhassomereferenceeanings.

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