A Study Of Audience Awareness In Different Learners' English Writing

The issue of audience awareness in different learners' English writing is examined from the perspective of linguistic features and social communication as well as the relationship between audience awareness and English writing proficiency. Different from the previous domestic studies, the paper aims to highlight the differences of audience awareness between different learners in argumentative writing. The research purposes include: 1) What are differences of audience awareness between learners with different English proficiency from the perspective of linguistic features? 2) What are differences of audience awareness between learners with different English proficiency from the perspective of social communication? 3)What is the relationship between audience awareness and English writing proficiency? This study employs qualitative and quantitative research method. Through SPSS16.0 statistical software, all data are processed and the texts are analyzed, based on which the research findings are made.There are six chapters in this paper. Chapter one introduces the research background, the purpose of the study and the significance of the study. Chapter two reviews the literature.Chapter three expounds the theoretical basis of the present study. Chapter four describes the research design, including research questions, research subjects, research instruments and data collection. Chapter five shows the results and a discussion of the research results. Chapter six ends the study with some of our important findings and some implications and suggestions for the future English writing teaching. The major findings of this research are as follows: 1)From the perspective of linguistic features, both writers at high English proficiency and writers at low English proficiency use metadiscourse markers to guide their audience. Writers at high English proficiency are better at using metadiscourse markers to guide audience than writers at low English Proficiency. However, writers at low English proficiency have a closer relationship with audience than writers at high English proficiency; 2) From the view of social communication, writers at high English proficiency have s cursory awareness of alternative view. They know the opposing views but they never demonstrate or elaborate them. Writers at low English proficiency are egocentric. They just focus on expressing their own ideas while writing. Writers at high English proficiency have a higher level of audience awareness than writers at low English proficiency; 3) The relationship between audience awareness and writing proficiency shows a weak positive correlation. With the improvement of English writing, the level of audience awareness is also improved, but has no significant difference; 4)Both writers at high English proficiency and writers at low English proficiency have basically the same attitude towards audience awareness. They have an ambiguous, vague and confusing concept about audience awareness. They always see the English teacher as their audience.However, writers at high English proficiency revise their drafts according to their audience but few writers at low English proficiency revise their drafts.Based on these findings, this study is expected to have a positive impact on English writing teaching. These implications are that: 1) The appropriate use of metadiscourse markers can improve the level of audience awareness as well as writing proficiency, so students should be purposefully cultivated the ability to appropriately use metadiscourse markers; 2) English teachers should create some conditions to help writers realize readers in the process of writing. Timed writing or any de-contextualized writing situations should be avoided in a composition class; 3) The writer-reader communication occurs in discourse community, so teachers should help students build the concept of discourse community, and teach students rhetorical and linguistic conventions in English writing to improve the level of audience awareness and English writing proficiency.