The Application Of Knowledge Visualization To Writing In Task Section In Junior Middle School

As a fundamental part in English learning,writing reflects a person’s language competence.English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2011)put forward clear and higher requirements for writing according to different grades.Based on this,the Junior Middle School English Textbook of the new Yilin version adapted the Task section by using images and other visual representations to help students organize ideas and improve their writing skills.Knowledge visualization has increasingly become a common form in English teaching.Knowledge visualization mainly relies on the use of visual representations to promote the dissemination and innovation of knowledge.It also refers to all the graphic means that can be used to construct and convey sophisticated knowledge.The key to knowledge visualization is the application of visualization methods,among which mind map and thinking maps are commonly adopted in English teaching in Junior Middle School.By applying two visualization methods,i.e.,mind map and thinking maps,to the teaching of writing in Task section,this paper attempts to,through an empirical approach,explore two research questions:1.What are the respective roles of mind map and thinking maps in writing teaching?2.What are the positive effects the two maps may have on students’ writing?The author conducted a three months’ empirical study in a junior middle school in Xuzhou with 72 students chosen as the experimental subjects.During the study,questionnaires,interview and tests were applied as research instruments.A paired sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted to analyze the data collected from the questionnaires and tests.Through the experiment,the results obtained are as follows:Firstly,mind map should mainly be used to present the writing topic,define the writing structure and extend the main ideas of writing,whilst thinking maps should be mainly used to increase writing details,assist students in the choice of words and expressions and enrich writing content.Secondly,When applied properly in the writing teaching in Task section,these two knowledge visualization methods can help the students change their attitudes towards writing and improve their interest in writing.There are some improvements in content,language and the mean score of the post-test which is 1.3 higher than that of the pre-test,indicating the application of knowledge visualization can promote the quality of their language,grasp key know-hows in writing and enrich their writing content.In conclusion,applying knowledge visualization to writing in Task section can improve students’ writing ability,develop their interest and change their attitudes towards writing.Certainly there are still some limitations,such as the small sample size and a short period of time for the experiment,which need further research.It is expected that the results of this study can provide some practical help for the writing teaching in Task section.