The Study Of Intertextuality-based Text Generation Process And Its Application In English Writing Of Chinese College Student

The concept of intertextuality, which can be traced back to as early as Plato, is widely acknowledged as a theory stemming from Saussure’s semiotic view of language and Bakhtin’s dialogism and heteroglossia. However, it is the French semiotician Julia Kristeva who first articulated the term in 1967 and formulated the theory of intertextuality. Kristeva utilized the term "intertextuality" to render the complexity and heterogeneity of discourse intersecting in particular textual productions by stating that the construction of every text is based upon the absorptions and transformations of other texts.Since its emergence, intertextuality has gradually become a research focus in the domains of literary criticism, cultural studies, and discourse analysis. Although in recent decades both domestic and overseas educators have shown keen interests in using intertextuality theory to support pedagogical research, most of researches are confined to text in the narrow sense and position single respect such as reader-writer; linguistic context and cultural context. The author contends that it is unlikely to uncover comprehensively the essence and process of writing as well as intertextualities in writing teaching and learning by solely positioning a single respect since writing, in the perspective of intertextuality, is a dialogic and interactive practice involving multiple factors such as writer, reader, text and context. In addition, the majority of pedagogical researches on intertextuality in the context of English teaching in China focus on discussing coincidences between intertextuality and specific educational practices macroscopically; or identifying, describing and classifying the forms and statuses of intertextualities in teaching practices. There are few studies on how language learners generate texts based upon intertextuality and how to apply intertextuality theory and the intertextuality-based text generation process in instructing foreign language learners to write effectively and get their English competences improved.In view of the research backgrounds, this dissertation puts forward four types of text involved in writing and probes into how writer generates a text on the basis of the Lotman’s late text view, Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics as well as Kristeva’s intertextuality theory. The author then constructs an intertextuality-based text generation process in order to reveal the intertextual essence of writing. The dissertation intends to answer the following research questions:(1) How does the intertextuality-based text generation process manifest in college students’English writings? (2) How can the intertextuality-based text generation process be employed as an approach to writing pedagogy to guide college students in English writing and to improve their writing competences?Grounded on the literature review, the author defines intertextuality as a dynamic process of texts’absorptions and transformations of, and responses to other texts and an assembly of intertextual relationships that a text forms with other texts in the process of comprehension, interpretation and generation. The author then divides texts involved in writing into four types and presents an intertextuality-based text generation process containing four intertextual processes. In line with Lotman’s late text view, there are four types of texts involved in writing process------individualized text, intertext, reader text and context text, among which intertext is formed by schema text and exterior text collaboratively. Taking systemic functional linguistics as the analytical tool and theoretical support, the author gives further elaborations on the intertextual relationships and intertextual processes in writing. It is found that there are at least four intertextual processes embodied on two levels during the course of text generation. On the extra-linguistic level which contains the context of situation and the context of culture, thematic intertextuality occurs between immanent schema text and exterior text; reader text leaves generic and cultural intertextual influence on schema text and individualized text; and context text leaves cultural intertextual influence on intertext, reader text and individualized text. On the linguistic level embracing the stratums of graphology, lexico-grammar and semantics, material intertextuality and generic intertextuality occur between intertext and individualized text.Within the foregoing theoretical framework, a pilot study is first conducted in order to find out the existing problems by examining the manifestations of intertextualities in students’English writings and provide pertinent guidance for the designs of writing tasks in the follow-up research. The author finds that students did not show enough awarenesses of intertextuality in the process of writing especially in terms of generic intertextuality and cultural intertextuality. Besides, most of them neglected the criteria of material intertextuality. Based on the findings from the pilot study, the author chooses four freshmen majoring in English from a Chinese university as the research subjects for a case study and designs a research program primarily consisting of three writing tasks taking the intertextuality-based text generation process as an intervention. Three writing tasks in the case study aim at stimulating intertextualities between four types of texts during students* writing processes. It is found that in writing tasks under intervention, students’writing processes manifest the aforementioned four intertextual processes. On the extra-linguistic level, sufficient exterior texts of diversified language modalities help to arouse more schema texts in writing while at the same time schema texts play as the foundation for comprehending, selecting and applying exterior texts. In addition, reader text and context text leave certain intertextual influence on the entire course of writing including comprehending writing theme; brainstorming; information searching and integrating; learning and analyzing exterior texts; choosing proper contents and strategies for writing; and evaluating and modifying essays; along with writing subjects’modes of thinking and speech. On the linguistic level, students’activated language and content schema texts manifest relatively distinct material and generic intertextuality. There are also evident material intertextualities between exterior text and individualized texts. However, generic intertextualities among individualized text, exterior text, and structure and strategy schema texts are comparatively scarce.After certain guidance and intervention combining with application of SFL methods, students have achieved much progress in the aspect of normative material intertextuality and generic intertextuality, and have shown more intertextualities among four types of texts and more considerations towards reader text and context text during the course of brainstorming, information searching and integration, model analysis as well as evaluation and modification in writing. In the final task, four intertextual processes are all distinct in students’writings. Students have attached more importance to intertextualities among multiple texts and begun to develop certain consciousnesses of intertextuality in writing with an aim to improve writing competences.Conforming to the intertextual essence of writing, the author believes that by motivating intertextualities among multiple texts in writing, the intertextuality-based text generation process is able to inspire students’ intertextual awarenesses and enthusiasms for writing, and improve their capacities of expression as well as the readabilities of their writings. Besides, it is generally compatible with the objective conditions and guiding ideology in the current English writing teaching in Chinese universities.This dissertation puts forward an intertextuality-based text generation process embracing four intertextual processes, validates it in writing practice by taking English language learners as the research subjects. Through intervening writing processes of language learners, the author explores how they integrate intertext, context text, and reader text with individualized text during writing by observations, questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The study broadens the research perspective of intertextuality and provides the theory with more evidence from English teaching practice in the context of Chinese university. Although it is difficult to quantify every intertextual process, the study proposes certain analytical indicators for the intertextual process between intertext and individualized text on the linguistic level in the text generation informed by SFL theory, in the hope of facilitating the application of such text generation process in writing teaching and learning practice and underpinning the future research with large samples. In the practical sense, the study holds that the intertextuality-based text generation process can serve as a theoretical support and guidance for the current English teaching in Chinese universities in several aspects such as the design of teaching content and objective, and the roles of teacher and students. It lays the groundwork for constructing an intertextuality-based writing approach and indicates directions on how to improve college students’ overall English competences.