The Effects Of Chunk Instruction On PET-A Writing

This thesis explores empirically the effects of chunk instruction on PET-A English writing, based on the chunks theory. Chunks can promote the acquisition of grammar and improve the idiom, coherence and fluency of utterances. Up till now, there have been plenty of studies on the chunks theory. However, there's no empirical study concerning the effects of chunk instruction on PET-A writing. As students in vocational colleges general have a poor command of English and there is no appropriate English teaching methodology for such students, their English proficiency, especially their writing, remains at a very low level.The study examines the application of five different types of chunks (polywords, phrasal constraints, sentence builders, institutionalized expressions and fixed formats of practical writings) by adopting a teaching model consisting of the following modules:chunk noticing, chunk input, chunk exposure and fluency activities, and explore to what extent students would improve in terms of their practical writing proficiency and English level.25 freshmen from an intact class in a vocational college, who were preparing for the PET-A, participated in the experiment of chunk instruction, which lasted for two months. These students were examined before and after the experiment. The test results, along with data from interviews, were analyzed by means of SPSS17.0.The results show that the majority of teachers and students took a positive attitude towards the pedagogical approach based on chunk input, and it worked well in improving the practical writing scores of vocational college students in PET-A. Besides, the number of chunks was increasing significantly and their writing scores were improved. Furthermore, after the two-month instruction, most of the students could use the fixed formats correctly and improve their writing scores, especially for those low-achieving students. Moreover, the students used more phrasal constraints, and sentence builders. The use of different types of chunks in their writings functioned well in improving the naturalness and accuracy of the students'writing. These findings, to some extent, have a strong pedagogical implication for writing instruction in vocational colleges.