An Empirical Study On The Effects Of Analysis Of Differences Between Chinese And Western Thinking Patterns On Textual Structure Of Senior High School Students’ English Writing

In regular English writing teaching,teachers usually provide model essays for students without analyzing and explaining why the specific textual structure should be adopted.As a result,it is difficult for students to figure out the factors which influence the organization of the textual structure,so they fail to effectively improve their wring ability.In recent years,an increasing number of studies have found that the differences between Chinese and Western thinking patterns have much influence on Chinese students’ English textual structure.However,it has not been verified whether integrating the analysis of the differences between Chinese and Western thinking patterns into writing teaching can optimize students’ English textual structure.In this study,108 students from Grade 2 in a senior high school in Zhanjiang City are selected as the participants and divided into the control class and the experimental class for a 12-week writing teaching experiment.During this period,the control class is taught with a regular writing teaching method,while the teaching in the experimental class focuses on analyzing how the differences between Chinese and Western thinking patterns are reflected in the English textual structure.Through questionnaires and writing tests in both classes before and after the experiment,as well as an interview with six students at different levels in the experimental class after the experiment,this study aims to answer the following two research questions:1.What are the features of the textual structure in senior high school students’ English writing under the influence of the differences between Chinese and Western thinking patterns?2.Can the textual structure of senior high school students’ English writing be optimized by incorporating the analysis of differences between Chinese and Western thinking patterns into English writing teaching?Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data collected,this study draws the following conclusions:(1)Under the influence of the differences between Chinese and Western thinking patterns,the textual structure in students’ English writing presents obvious features.Specifically,in the introductory paragraph,students’ lack of abstract thinking results in poorly summarized thesis statements showing no guidance in the organization of the whole text;in the main body paragraphs,students mostly adopt the inductive textual structure pattern,which to some extent reflects the features of Chinese circular thinking pattern;in the ending paragraph,less than half of the students summarize what has been discussed and they tend to use quotes and slogan-like exclamations to summarize their ideas.This also shows the influence of Chinese subjective and intuitive thinking patterns on students’ English textual structure.(2)The analysis of differences between Chinese and Western thinking patterns has a significant effect on the optimization of students’ English textual structure.Compared with the students in the control class,students in the experimental class are more able to adopt proper thinking patterns and have a clearer awareness of the textual structure in English writing.Also,the textual structure patterns have apparently changed from the inductive pattern which is advocated by Chinese thinking patterns to the deductive pattern which is more in line with Western thinking patterns.In conclusion,this study suggests that in the practice of English writing teaching,teachers should attach importance to the analysis of differences between Chinese and Western thinking patterns and provide more relevant background knowledge of English textual structure in order to address problems in students’ English textual structure and enhance their English writing skills.