Abstract

Writing plays an important role in language learning and it is also the intuitive and accurate way to testify the language competence of the learner. But in China nowadays, the current situation of English writing is not optimistic because many middle school students are still not equipped with the English writing abilities that they are supposed to have, and the discrepancy between different students seems to be greater. In recent years, this phenomenon has arisen the attention of many educational researchers and English teachers. They are trying their best to find more new creative, effective and adaptable techniques in writing teaching. And this thesis aims to find out whether mind mapping is a beneficial to English writing learning for middle school students and English teachers should how to use this technique in class properly and efficiently. According to the results of two questionnaires and the interview, most students and teachers are in favor of the application of mind mapping in English writing. Besides, it is obviously indicated from the data of two writing tests, that many students’ writing abilities have been improved after they use mind mapping in their writing learning, which proves the effectiveness of mind mapping in English writing. And it is also suggested that much more importance should be attached to the process of teaching as well as the results of teaching. Then, some reflection to the weakness of this experiment and some suggestions about English writing are given at the end of this thesis. It is hoped that this thesis could provide English teachers with some adaptable ideas about writing teaching.

Key words: mind mapping; English writing; junior middle school students

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 The background of the English writing-1

1.2 The purpose and the significance of the thesis-1

2. Literature Review-2

2.1. An introduction to the theories on writing-2

2.1.1 Some definitions on writing-2

2.1.2 The difficulties students are facing in their learning to write-2

2.1.3The requirements of English writing in New English Curriculum in China.-3

2.2 What is Mind Mapping-4

2.2.1 The Definition of The Mind Mapping-4

2.2.2 The Origin of The Mind Mapping-5

2.2.3 Present Researches on Mind Mapping-5

  2.2.3.2.1 Related researches aboard-7

  2.2.3.2.2 Related researches home-8

3. Research Procedure -9

3.1 Research questions-9

3.2 Participants-9

3.3 Method-9

3.3.1 Questionnaires-9

3.3.2 Interview and Observation-10

3.3.3 Writing tests (pre-test and post-test)-10

4. Data collection and analysis -11

4.1 Questionnaire 1 and interview-11

4.2 Questionnaire 2 and interview-15

4.3 Results of two tests-16

4.4 Discussion-17

5. Conclusion -18

5.1 Significant findings of the research-18

5.2 Pedagogical Implications-19

5.3 limitations of the study-19

5.4 Suggestions for the further study-19

References-20

Appendix-22