Do you often face these issues when writing?
"I thought I expressed my meaning clearly, so why did the teacher say they couldn't understand?"
"I wanted to write this paragraph more tactfully, but the teacher commented that my point was unclear and wordy."
These problems arise because your native language influences your thinking and logic in writing.
Differences in Thinking
The theory of contrastive rhetoric regarding writing thinking differences was proposed by Kaplan in 1996.
As shown in the image, this diagram illustrates how different native languages influence logical thinking. The English on the far left is a straight line, meaning when writing in English, our expression is very concise and clear, with the true meaning fully expressed only at the end of a paragraph.
Eastern thinking is circular in the middle, meaning under the influence of Chinese, we tend to be more indirect. If you write in English using a Chinese mindset, the teacher may not understand what you intend to convey.
So when encountering differences in writing thinking, students need to understand that their native language affects their writing logic.
Writing Motivation
"I feel stuck, not knowing how to start."
"Examples and structures written according to templates feel hollow."
If students can develop a habit of long-term English writing, they will find that English writing is not so intimidating. Once good habits are formed, writing becomes a burden-free task.
Writing Warm-up Exercises
Free Writing on a Topic
Free writing means giving yourself three to five minutes, setting a slide, and writing whatever comes to mind without worrying about grammar or vocabulary. This makes you feel like you have ideas to share.
Progressive Free Writing
Use three to five minutes: one minute for free writing, one minute to identify key words or sentences in that text, then elaborate and analyze those points more specifically, and use the remaining time to summarize the above content.
You can also find classmates to practice logical thinking through mock debates or group debates.
The purpose of warm-up exercises is to help students stop feeling anxious about English writing and realize that organizing ideas is not as difficult as imagined. In fact, during progressive free writing, students apply many academic writing methods, and because there are no grammar or vocabulary restrictions, they feel writing is not a stressful task.
"Five Senses" Writing Method
The "Five Senses" writing method uses hearing, sight, touch, and taste for English writing. This method starts from your own senses, recalling your feelings to describe scenes or express opinions.
The following describes a seaside scene through smell, taste, hearing, and touch, creating an immersive experience.
The smell of fish from the fishing boat (smell)
The slight taste of salt on the breeze (taste)
The screeching seagulls (sound)
The slippery rocks (feel/touch)
Starting with smell, descriptions of smell evoke memories of scents, making the text feel vivid and real.
Next is hearing. Descriptions of hearing include many different sounds, such as voices, laughter, and action sounds.
When describing senses, you can use many rhetorical devices.
Collecting Authentic Materials
In fact, many materials come from daily reading or media exposure.
News Reports
We can get rich examples of current events from news reports, whether in Chinese or English, which helps accumulate writing materials.
Movies, Music, Food Reviews
Similar to many domestic platforms like Dianping, students can think about what makes these movies, music, or food reviews interesting and appealing. In fact, they use the "Five Senses" writing method, making readers want to learn more through vivid descriptions.
Different Types of Books
Every year, many media sites rank best-selling books, with various categories. For example, children's literature is an excellent reading resource because its language is easy to understand, with many good vocabulary and writing techniques that we can learn from.
Making Yourself the Protagonist of Your Writing
Actually, making yourself the protagonist of your writing means creating a comfortable environment for your daily writing. You can sit by the window of a very quiet café or write in a corner of the school library. Academic research shows that creating with appropriate background sounds helps generate inspiration and express ideas. Don't worry that getting used to such a constrained environment will affect your exam performance, because developing a long-term English writing habit allows you to adapt to different environments. We recommend the Tide app, which provides sounds simulating natural environments.
High School English Writing
Daily writing in high school can start with these types: diaries, movie reviews, recipes, and fiction.
If you want to write a successful essay, the most important thing is to incorporate your own feelings and thoughts.
The "Five Senses" writing method applies to many types of writing. To write a good movie review, you can start from your own senses, such as special effects, sound effects, personal feelings and thoughts. When collecting these, you can use a notebook or create a document to categorize and record these questions and thoughts. These writing types help train our logical thinking and word choice abilities.
Create Your Own "Little Red Book"
The "Little Red Book" includes vocabulary, grammar, sentence patterns, and wonderful passages from books. Its purpose is to collect good words and sentences, summarize grammar issues encountered, and use these materials in future writing topics. Additionally, regularly summarize your own mistakes, categorize them, and reinforce your memory.
English Academic Writing
Common types of English academic writing include argumentative essays, research reports, and literature reviews. In the introduction section of an essay or full paper, we need to express the core thesis of the entire piece.
Looking Back and Reviewing
Writing a clear thesis is very difficult, and the recommended method is to look back and review. After writing a paragraph, check whether it revolves around the thesis. If it doesn't convey the thesis, revisions are needed.
Reading Summary Exercises
Thesis and reading summary skills are closely related. Therefore, it's recommended to do some small reading summary exercises regularly.
Essay Structure
Main Structure
When writing an essay, you first need to establish the main structure, including introduction, body, and conclusion. Once these parts are determined, you'll clearly know what to write in each section.
Transitions that Connect
After determining the main structure, you need to use transitions that connect the previous and following parts, i.e., linking words between sections. We need to carefully consider whether the relationship between two paragraphs is progressive or transitional, and express it with appropriate words.
Supporting the Main Thesis
Whether from a positive or negative angle, each body paragraph needs to analyze issues around the main thesis.
Five-paragraph Structure
In addition, cultivate good awareness and habits in daily writing. Everything in daily life can be written about. Be good at discovering writing materials from life, fall in love with English writing, you are not alone in this fight!
We hope this article helps you. If you have any other questions about study abroad applications or essay writing, feel free to add "CheersYou（清柚教育） Bro" (WeChat ID: qingyouwendy23) for consultation~
