A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Lexical Chunks In IELTS Writing

In recent years, an increasing number of young people choose to study abroad and a decent IELTS score has been an important factor deciding foreign students, chances of getting admitted to Ivy League Universities. However, according to the statistics from the Cambridge ESOL, the global average IELTS writing score is 5.43, while the average writing score of the inland Chinese applicants is 5.3. Sadly, the unsatisfactory IELTS writing score (one part of the IELTS test) has hindered many Chinese applicants from receiving offers. And thus it is imperative to find ways of improving Chinese candidates’writing score.The "Lexical Chunk" as a new method is meant to enhance learners’ writing capacity. This is mainly because lexical chunks are not single words or collocations.Instead, they are unity of grammatical rules, semantic meanings and pragmatic contexts.Large quantities of theoretical and practical researches have proven the value of chunks in foreign language acquisition. However, whether lexical chunks can effectively improve test takers’ capability in IELTS writing is unknown and thus it requires study to test the effectiveness of lexical chunks in IELTS writing. Hence the research questions are as follows:(1) Are lexical chunks effective in improving IELTS writing?(2) In which aspects can lexical chunks improve students’ performance in IELTS writing (e.g. coherence and cohesion, lexical range, grammatical accuracy)?(3) Can students’ confidence be enhanced in writing through the application of lexical chunks?The empirical experiment, lasting for two months, involves 60 students who will take IELTS test. Generally, two months is a session when most students prepare for their IELTS. In the experiment, control group and experimental group are designated each 30 students. Though these two groups use the same learning materials and have the same teaching hours, the experimental group experiences various chunk activities, accumulates more lexical chunks and eventually develops the concept of chunks while the control group is taught in the traditional way. After two months, statistics analysis shows that students in the experimental group get higher marks in coherence and cohesion, lexical range and grammar accuracy than their counterparts in the controlled group. This result testifies the effectiveness of lexical chunks in improving IELTS writing. At the same time,the results from interview indicate that students hold a positive attitude towards IELTS writing after the introduction of lexical chunks in the IELTS writing teaching...