An Experimental Study On The Application Of The Continuation Task To English Writing Teaching In Junior High Schools

Writing focuses on examining students’ comprehensive language use skills,and since it is the focus of English teaching,it is also a difficult learning point for students.Especially in junior high school English writing,students need to fully grasp the basics based on their basic knowledge and try to develop their logical thinking skills to improve their writing.The Continuation Task is a new writing task that closely integrates reading and writing.Many researchers have applied the Continuation Task to writing and have launched an exploration of the Continuation Task’s facilitative effects and synergistic effects.This study aims to explore the effects of the Continuation Task on junior high school students’ English writing skills and to provide a reference for junior high school English writing teaching practice.The participants of this study are students from two classes in Grade 8 of junior secondary school in T city.The Continuation Task is applied in the experimental class,and the proposition writing task is applied in the control class.A pre-test is administered in the experimental and control classes before the experiment to ensure that there is no significant difference between the writing levels of the two classes.A questionnaire on students’ current writing status is distributed to understand students’ affective attitudes towards writing.After the experiment,a post-test is administered to students in both classes,the questionnaire about the current writing situation is distributed,and interviews are conducted in the experimental classes to examine the impact of the Continuation Task on students’ writing ability and whether there are changes in students’ emotional attitudes towards writing and their attitudes and perceptions of the Continuation Task.This thesis studies the following four questions:(1)What effect does the Continuation Task have on language accuracy in English writing for junior high school students?(2)What effect does the Continuation Task have on coherence in English writing for junior high school students?(3)What effect does the Continuation Task have on the language range in English writing for junior high school students?(4)Can the Continuation Task increase students’ enjoyment of English writing?The results of the study are as follows:(1)The Continuation Task has a significant impact on junior high school students’ English writing skills.Compared with the proposition writing task,the Continuation Task can more significantly improve students’ English writing skills.(2)a.The Continuation Task significantly affects the language accuracy of junior high school students’ English writing,with students making significantly fewer errors in vocabulary,grammar,and syntax.b.The Continuation Task has a significant effect on the coherence of junior high school students’ English writing,with students being able to use more and correct conjunctions and having a clearer organizational structure.c.The Continuation Task significantly affects the language range of junior high school students’ English writing.The students can use various words and more complex language structures.(3)Students show a more positive attitude towards the Continuation Task,which to some extent increases their enjoyment of English writing.Students are more inclined to accept the Continuation Task than the proposition writing task.The above findings suggest that the Continuation Task in junior high school English writing effectively influences the accuracy,coherence,and range of writing and increases students’ enjoyment of English writing.Therefore,(1)teachers should try out new writing tasks in their writing practice to increase students’ enjoyment and motivation in English writing.(2)After students have completed the Continuation Task,teachers should give students comprehensive feedback on their writing,focusing on multiple dimensions of writing assessment,including accuracy,coherence,and range,to identify and correct problems in their English writing timely.