时间：2022-10-15 08:48:34
Abstract
With the constant deepening of China’s opening to the outside world ，the modern society demands stronger ability of foreign language communication， especially the writing competence. English composition has been playing a key role in College English test. According to the new College English Teaching Program， it has been found that students with different level of English grammar perform differently in the writing test. A key factor affecting students’ grammar competence， which plays an important role in English writing， is that they have difficulty in applying the rules of grammar creatively. However， very little empirical research has been done in this field in China. This paper will discuss the relationship between grammar teaching and writing skills It will response the questions about the important place of grammar in the writing classroom. The best way to learn both grammar and writing is to learn them together in context.
1. Definition
“Grammar is the sound， structure， and meaning system of language. All languages have grammar， and each language has its own grammar. People who speak the same language are able to communicate because they intuitively know the grammar system of that language―that is， the rules of making meaning. ” （Beverly Ann Chin，2003）
The purpose for studying grammar is more closed connected to the art of written composition. Students need guidance to become effective writers. They need to learn how to transfer their knowledge of grammatical concepts from oral language to written language. So it is very important to learn the grammar. However many students， parents and some teachers complaint that grammar is boring and unnecessary. For instance， sentence diagramming is now a lost art to most people. As a language lover， I’d like to explore the importance of good grammar.
In my opinion， Grammar can help us to learn a language more quickly and more efficiently. In the beginning grammar is boring but when you learn more， you realize how useful it is. You have to learn the grammar of the language， so you can use it， feel comfortable and make you really understood.
2. Factors Affecting Writing Competence
What are Factors Affecting Writing Competence ？ What is the relationship between grammar teaching and writing ？ Students with higher level of grammar will probably performs better in the writing. Based on an analysis of the current situation of college students’ English writing performance， it has been found that there are many factors affecting students’ writing competence， such as differences in language structures between English and Chinese， cultural differences， grammar， quantity of vocabulary， writing skills of mother language， various knowledge and skills in English， and etc. The mastery of Grammar has a lot to do with the capability to express accurately and fluently in English and can not be ignored in English teaching and learning.
Nida， a famous translator， once pointed out that Chinese stresses parataxis while English stresses hypotaxis. That’s to say， Chinese arranges clauses one after another without the cohesion of vocabulary and grammar， and this means a text can be formed coherently through the logical relation between the meanings of words and clauses. However， English discourses need dependent or subordinate construction or relationship of clauses with cohesion， showing more stringent language features. According to the studies conducted by Humboldt， Chomsky and other linguists， all languages are dominated by certain grammatical rules， the use of limited grammar rules can generate unlimited different sentences， and thus we can see that English grammar and discourse are closely related. We are not able to clearly express the meaning of a sentence and even the central idea of an article if we do not use the grammatical rules properly.
After some surveys of some practical college English teaching activities， most of the teachers， including the author herself， agree that students with higher level of grammar will probably performs better in the writing exercises or test and those who could not understand and apply grammar rules properly will usually perform worse in their writing. It shows that the performance of students with different level of grammar varies greatly in their writing test. Thus， due to so close relationship between writing competence and grammar level， to improve the students’ grammar level is a good way to improve their writing skills.
3. Strategies of English Teaching about Writing and Grammar
The traditional English teaching method in China emphasizes isolated vocabulary and sentence units. As a result， after many years’ hard study， students still can not make their writing in accordance with the expressive habits of English. Fortunately， this problem has been increasingly concerned in China， scholars have studied and developed lots of effective teaching methods to improve the teaching. And this paper will introduce three of them to help college students improve their writing skills.
The Teaching Method of Module in China
The teaching method of module， a new style of teaching method in China， is a dynamic pedagogy comprising of a number of different but interrelated function unit. The module units mentioned here refer to some kind of special ability. This kind of teaching method combines grammar modules and writing modules together so as to improve students’ writing skills in English effectively. As grammar and writing belong to the same linguistic system， and they will influence each other to a certain extent. Therefore， we can divide our teaching modules according to sentence， cohesion and coherence， etc. This approach is student-centered while the teacher is a leading factor， with the aim to improve the writing ability of students through the module practice. In this section we need to pay attention to the fact that it is necessary to divide teaching modules in accordance with the teaching syllabus and students’ common writing problems， and then define the teaching target and method and choose the proper measure and media.
The Reading-guide Teaching enhance the sensitivity of grammar structure
Reading can enhance the students’ sensitivity of grammar structure， cultivate their language sense， and cause them to remember the overall framework of English sentences， so as to enhance their writing skills. Teachers should guide students to combine intensive reading with extensive reading during the course of reading training. Intensive reading can help students to analyze the sentence structure， discourse structure， topic sentence， writing skills as well as the cohesive device between sentences and chapter. As an ancient Chinese poetry goes， “After reciting many works of famous writers， you can become an expert in writing yourself.” Moreover， with the help of extensive reading， students can get closer to English materials， expand their knowledge， activate their thought， and grow their intelligence. Students can consolidate and improve their grammatical competence when they read enough， and they are bound to promote their writing skills in English.
Grammar Feedback
Linguistic and cultural differences between English and Chinese often confuse Chinese students and cause various kinds of grammar and syntax problems in student’s writing. For a long time， teachers have just been attaching importance to the end products of writing but neglecting the guide in the writing process. However， during recent years， people has paid attention to importance of the grammatical correctness， and the focus of English writing teaching has shifted to the writing process from the assessment on the end product. The notion of "feedback" has also been introduced into English writing teaching. Feedback teaching method refers to a series of communicative activities between teacher and student as well as student and student. It not only helps to conduct interactive teaching， but also helps to form a sophisticated feedback loop so as to exert composition assessment incentives. As an integral part of teaching writing， grammar， which emphasizes the correctness of the contents of the structure and expression， should be given enough attention. Many teachers consider the sentence correction is time-consuming， but almost all teachers would more or less correct students’ grammatical errors in various ways in their practical teaching. Some researchers are also convinced that grammar is an essential part in the writing classes and they consider the grammar feedback is very necessary. Teachers can conduct classroom group discussion to correct common grammar mistakes in writing and solve the particular problem face-to-face after class. This can encourage students’ interests in writing.
4.Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above discussion that teacher should do their best to let the students hand in their writing， pick out some excellent ones， and correct the mistakes， so as to really improve their English writing competence and comprehensive linguistic competence. important place of grammar in the writing classroom. The best way to learn both grammar and writing is to learn them together in context. So we should reconnect writing and grammar .With the benefit of grammatical rule system， students can learn English systematically， and produce natural and complex chapter according to their own understanding and reasoning， so that they can realize their communicative purposes in English.
References
Noguchi， R. R. （1991）. Grammar and the Teaching of Writing： Limits and Possibilities. Urbana， IL： National Council of Teachers of English.
O'Hare， F. （1973）. Sentence-Combining： Improving Student Writing Without Formal Grammar Instruction. Urbana， IL： National Council of Teachers of English.
Shaughnessy， M. P. （1977）. Errors and Expectations： A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing. New York： Oxford University Press.
Weaver， C. （1998）. Lessons to Share on Teaching Grammar in Context. Portsmouth， NH： Heinemann.