Effects Of The Process Approach On The Teaching Of English Writing In Vocational Institutes

Writing is regarded as a challenge for many learners. In recent years, the teaching of English writing has gained much attention and a series of pedagogies are accordingly proposed, among which the process approach and the product approach are of most concern.This thesis is an empirical research, aiming at investigating the effects of the process approach on the teaching of English writing in vocational institutes. This study addresses the following three questions:(1) In comparison with the product approach, is the process approach more effective on enhancing vocational institutes students’ attitude toward English writing?(2) In contrast with the product approach, is the process approach more beneficial to enhancing vocational institutes students’writing habits?(3) Compared with the product approach, is the process approach more advantageous to improving vocational institutes students’writing proficiency?With these three questions, a three-month experiment was carried out in Hunan Urban Construction vocational institute. The subjects were 94freshmen from two classes with one as the experimental class and the other as the control class. The experimental class was adopted process-approach-oriented writing training, while the control class product-approach-based writing training. Before and after the experiment, a questionnaire survey and a writing task were carried out in both classes. The questionnaire was designed to compare students’writing habits and their attitudes toward English writing before and after the experiment. The writing task was designed to explore the effects of process approach on enhancing vocational institutes students’writing proficiency. Besides, an interview was carried out in the experimental class after the experiment to collect information about students’opinions on the process approach. Three major findings of this study are as follows:(1) In comparison with the product approach, the process approach is more helpful to cultivate students’positive attitude to English writing.(2) In contrast with the product approach, the process approach is more effective on cultivating students’good writing habits.(3) Compared with the product approach, the process approach is more beneficial to improving learners’overall writing ability.Based on the findings of this research, some pedagogical suggestions are provided.