An Exploratory Study On Features In English Majors' Development Of Language Aptitude And Thinking Ability In Argumentative Compositions (Science And Engineering School)

The investigation of language and thinking especially the study on its relationship has attracted a good deal of attention for many years. Ever since the proposition of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the debate over language and thinking among scholars home and abroad becomes intense. They have tried to design studies that will support or refute this hypothesis. However, most Chinese research articles focus on the explanation and discussion of related theories, and until recently the researchers have begun their studies to integrate thinking ability with language skills such as speaking and writing, etc. But the study on features in English majors'development of language aptitude and thinking ability is not systematic and not deep enough now. Although it is agreed that English majors'thinking ability is not satisfying and need improvement.The thesis initiates with a review of literatures concerned with language aptitude and thinking ability. It provides a more comprehensive perspective to the interpretation of the relationship between the two. The thesis collects and analyzes the compositions of both English majors and non-English majors and intends to concentrate on their difference in thinking ability which reflected through their writings. The thesis also explores the features in the development of English majors'thinking ability.The author collected compositions written in both English and Chinese from English majors and non-English majors. For each grade, 25 Chinese compositions and 25 English compositions were collected and all together there were 400 compositions written in both languages. Then the author marked each composition from four parameters (i.e. relevance, explicitness, coherence and sufficiency) accompanying the supposedly 4 thinking stages in composing (i.e. understanding the composition topic, developing a thesis statement and supporting arguments, organizing a coherent discourse and putting ideas into writing). On the basis of the measurement, the difference of thinking ability in English majors and non-English majors is found and the features in the development of English majors'thinking ability are clarified. The results show that significant difference exists in L2 thinking ability rather than L1 thinking ability of English majors and non-English majors. With the progress of the grade, English majors'L1 thinking ability has been in a stable state while their L2 thinking ability is improved as they come to higher grade.Unlike previous explorations which limit its scope within English majors without covering other majors, the thesis analyzes English majors'thinking ability by virtue of the comparison with that of non-English majors, and that makes the research more comprehensive and may motivate more rewarding researches to the solutions of improvement of English majors'thinking ability. Moreover, the comparison of each grade in English majors inform of the features found in the development of English majors'thinking ability, and that can provide much insight for the reform of teaching method and can further instruct the study of thinking ability in a larger scale.