Action Research On English Writing Teaching Based On Memetics In Junior High School

Writing,as one of the four skills of language learning is the important product of language output,meanwhile it can reflect a person's general language proficiency.According to various surveys and the relevant work experience of the researcher,it is found that for most of the junior high school students,their English writing is poor in which they often miss plenty of scores or even the most scores.When it comes to writing,students often feel anxious and even turn pale.In view of the above problems,Memetics,a new pragmatic theory,is introduced.It believes that the life cycle of effective memes often involves four stages: assimilation,retention,expression,and transmission,laying stress on input and output,which is consistent with the principle of second language acquisition from the perspective of the meme of language.Therefore this study is conducted to confirm the following two questions: 1.Can Memetics help increase students' interests and confidence in English writing? 2.On the basis of Memetics,will students' writing ability be improved? If so,which aspects of English writing can be improved?This research is designed under the paradigm of action research.A total number of50 students from the same class of Grade 8 are chosen.It is conducted in 2 rounds and lasts for 16 weeks.In the first week an assessment is carried out to investigate the pre-intervention situation of students' writing by questionnaire and writing test.Then the intervention is implemented respectively in each round.Later,a post-test is carried out at the end of each round,exploring the differences occurred in the writing of students as post-intervention effects.Finally,with interviewing their English teacher,the researcher further confirms the progress students make in English writing.The data analysis from questionnaire shows students' attitudes,anxiety and habits towards writing are improving,consequently it implies that students' interest and confidence in writing has indeed improved.The SPSS analysis result of the students' English writing scores reveals that the writing level of the students has improved,especially the average score of the whole class has increased from 18.2 to 21.98.Specifically,students improve their scores on vocabulary,grammar,content,form,and coherence.Among them,students make the most progress in the section of grammar,and relatively little progress in form.Through interview,their English teacher also affirms the effectiveness of this memetic-based writing teaching model.