Research On English Writing Blocks Of Non-English Major Tibetan Students

As one of the basic language skills,English writing is an effective way to evaluate English learners’ ability on language output,playing a crucial role in English learning.A lot of research has shown that most non-English major students have various blocks in English writing,and these blocks prevent them from using English comprehensively.Moreover,most of the previous scholars’ research on English writing blocks are Han students,and there are very few studies on minority students,especially Tibetan students.As trilingual learners,Tibetan college students face more challenges in English writing than Han college students.Given this,the research takes Tibet University as an example,aiming to investigate English writing blocks non-English major Tibetan students have,to analyze the causes of these blocks,and put forward corresponding suggestions,improving the English writing ability of Tibetan college students.The research methods are questionnaire,think-aloud protocols,text analysis and interview.258 non-English major Tibetan students of Grade2 in Tibet University are selected randomly to fill out the questionnaire firstly,while eight students participate in think-aloud protocols process and interview subsequently.Then SPSS and Excel are employed to conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data obtained from questionnaires and think-aloud protocols respectively,to find out English writing blocks non-English major Tibetan students have.Finally,combined with the data of the interview,causes of these blocks are analyzed.The findings are listed as follows:(1)Generally speaking,non-English major Tibetan students have big blocks in English writing.These blocks include English writing content block,English writing structure block,English writing language block and psychological block.Students have the biggest block in language and the least block in psychology.English writing language block is mainly reflected in lack of vocabulary and poor grammar,leading to many language errors in the compositions.English writing structure block is mainly shown as loose structure,and lack of central sentences and conjunctions in the compositions.English writing content block is mainly manifested in the poor content and lack of depth in the composition.Psychological block is mainly embodied in students’ anxiety and lack of self-confidence about English writing.(2)The main reasons for students’ language block involve students’ memorizing words by rote,poor grammar knowledge,the negative transfer of Chinese,and the general explanation of grammar by teachers.The main reasons for students’ structure block cover students’ ignorance of the structure of their compositions,no accumulation of transition words and sentences and rarely accepting systematic writing teaching.The main reasons for students’ content block include that students lack extracurricular reading,their own Chinese writing skills are poor,and teachers only pay attention to the content of the textbook.The main reasons for students’ psychological block come to students’ lack of initiative in learning,and lack of interest and self-confidence in English writing.Based on the above findings,some suggestions are put forward on language block,structure block,content block and psychological block in English writing.For college English teachers,they should use colorful reading materials,ask students to discuss different types of hot topics,explain English writing skills,strengthen students’ English writing training,pay attention to vocabulary and grammar teaching,and enhance students’ interest and self-confidence in English writing.For students,they should take the initiative to learn English,do more extracurricular reading,accumulate writing materials and useful expressions,pay attention to analyzing the structure of articles,and have a good attitude towards English writing.