Research On High School English Writing Instruction Based On Production-oriented Approach In Blended Learning Environment

English writing skill is one of the key language expression skills for high school students in China.Writing activities are important for developing students’ core competences,such as language ability,cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning ability in the process of English teaching.However,the cultivation of English writing ability is hardly satisfactory in senior high school in China.Students show major problems when learning to write in English,such as low level of motivation,lack of learning strategies and disappointing academic performance,etc.Therefore,it is urgent to improve the quality of high school English writing instruction.The Production-oriented Approach(POA)emphasizes taking the output goal as the language learning motivation,and learning towards the goal so that language learning and using are combined,and students’ overall improvement of comprehensive language ability is promoted.POA has been widely used and effectively verified in English teaching in colleges and universities,which is inspiring for the English teaching in high school.Meanwhile,the development of information technology(IT)has provided new means and support for the development and reform of education.The blended learning environment emerging in recent years has provided strong support for students’ personalized learning and deep learning.On this occasion,it is of great significance to explore a framework of high school English writing instruction based on POA in a blended learning environment,so as to improve the quality of high school English instruction,which is the ultimate purpose of this study.Three research questions are involved when exploring the new writing instruction method,which are: “What are the reasons why Chinese high school students have difficulty in learning English writing”“How to design POA-based high school English writing instruction in blended learning environment?” and “How to implement the design of POA-based senior high school English writing instruction in blended learning environment?”A questionnaire survey,group interviews and text analyses of students’ compositions were conducted among the first graders of a high school.Through qualitative analysis,the study found out major difficulties they encounter,analyzed the causes,and put forward four implications for English writing instruction in senior high school: In terms of teaching objectives,teachers should develop diversified and long-term teaching objectives and care about students’ emotional attitudes towards writing learning.In terms of teaching content,teachers should take advantage of rich teaching resources and teach both language and content of English.In terms of teaching activities,it is necessary to design learning activities that require high-order thinking,and build cognitive and emotional scaffolds for students.In terms of teaching evaluation,teachers should promote continuous evaluation throughout the teaching process,and conduct the joint evaluation of multiple subjects,so as to increase the efficiency of writing evaluation.Under the guidance of the POA theory and the theory of Integrating IT into Curriculum,combined with the previous research results,the study put forward four principles for high school English writing instruction in dimensions of the teaching objectives,the teaching contents,the teaching activities,and the teaching evaluation.The corresponding instructional design framework and key strategies are also put forward based on the three steps of POA.Afterwards,the study conducted three rounds of teaching actions to design and implement high school English writing teaching practices according to the instructional design framework.From the research data of teacher’s journals,peer teacher evaluation,student compositions,etc.,the researcher analyzed the teaching effect,examined the problems,adjusted the teaching procedures,and summarized the key points of the design of teaching materials and teaching activities in each step.To be specific,the motivating materials should show multiple objectives,relatively high complexity,and multi-media feature of the writing task.The motivating activities should be thoroughly undertaken and allow output gap to emerge gradually;The enabling materials should be integrated,focused and of medium difficulty,and the enabling activities should include transformation of multiple modals,be of increasing cognitive levels,and be retrospective;The evaluating materials should be complementary among different parties,and the evaluating activities should run through the entire process and show close collaboration.To investigate the effect of writing instruction,the study conducted a closed questionnaire survey and group interviews after three rounds of actions,supplemented by analyses of students’ compositions.The results showed that students had a good overall experience of writing learning,a high degree of satisfaction with teaching,and a positive evaluation of the application of IT.The students also performed well in using the target language items,and students’ high-order thinking quality,intercultural communication awareness and learning abilities were also developed.Students’ writing scores increased significantly as well.Therefore,this study suggests that the framework of POA-based high school English writing instruction in blended learning environment provides clear guidelines for the designing of teaching materials and activities in each step.The method shows enormous potential in improving students’ English learning attitudes,enhancing their comprehensive language using ability,and improving their composition scores.From the perspective of the integration of IT and English curriculum,the study constructed a design framework of POA-based high school English writing instruction in blended learning environment,and further verified its feasibility.It enriches the teaching practice research of high school English writing instruction,provides guidelines for the improvement and innovation of English writing teaching,and offers inspirations for the application and development of POA in blended learning environment.It also provides referencing cases for promoting the reform of English writing instruction and improving the quality of English teaching in secondary education.