目录

　    编写原则
　　写作是英语学习者综合应用能力的重要组成部分，更是英语语言应用能力的综合体现，因此英语写作教学在本科教学阶段非常重要。从事本科阶段英语写作教学工作以来，笔者用过也参考过多种英语写作教材。每种教材都有各自的编写原则和特色，但多数教材都遵循词、句、段、篇的编写体例。教师教学时也往往遵循这样的安排，学生写作时亦始于选词造句，而不是先确认写作目的、确定主旨大意，然后在写作目的的导引下，围绕这个主旨去展开、推进。而一篇好的文章应该是作者遵循先立意（篇）、后构思（段）、再写作（句）、又修改（词）的先后顺序写就，也就是说写作时的“推敲”往往发生于写作基本轮廓成形后的词、句选用斟酌阶段，而不是写作之初。学生写作之初就开始斟酌词句，往往很难写下去。兼受应试模板作文的影响，中国学生写出的英语作文往往空有框架，思想内容粗浅，逻辑性不强。
　　同时，教师在词、句、段、篇讲解时，重理论讲解，轻选词造句、联句成段、组段成篇的实践操作的具体指导；讲解篇章写作时，绝大多数教材将英语篇章分为四类——描写、记叙、说明和议论，并逐一讲解，但重点一般都放在说明和议论，描写和记叙，尤其是记叙，只是粗略涉及。有写作实践和教学经验的人都明白，描写和记叙对学生语言水平和创造性使用语言的要求实际上比说明和议论更高，学生更难把握。虽然英语对于中国学习者而言常常只是一种工作工具，描写和记叙并不比说明和议论用得更多，但作为一种语言交际工具，擅长描写与记叙会为英语使用者的工作和交流锦上添花。
　　基于对我国英语写作教材、写作教学及学生写作实践存在的这些问题的反思，笔者特编写这本遵循写作实践原则、注重实践操作指导的写作教材，从确定写作目的、作者身份、读者对象和主旨大意开始，带领学生构思篇章结构、推进段落发展、选词造句，最后修改初稿、完成写作。希望为有效促进中国英语学习者写作能力的发展与提高提供更具操作性的指导。
　　本教材的主要读者对象为大学本科阶段英语写作教学的英语教师和基础写作能力有待提高的大学生，对英语自学者也不失为一本指导性很强的参考用书。
　　教材结构
　　本教材分为七大部分。
　　第一部分为“英语写作基本规范”，讲解英语写作在标题格式、标点符号、大小写等方面的基本规范。让学生从学习写作、进行写作练习之初，就明了并遵循这些规则，规范自己的写作行为；教师在习作批改时也始终关注学生的基本写作规范，帮助学生养成良好的写作习惯。
　　第二部分为“阅读与写作”，讲解英语读写关系和读后写作的各种任务类型，是笔者“写作导向英语阅读教学”研究在写作教学中的实践。尝试通过本章内容的教学，引导学生在“理解导向”阅读活动基础上，开展“写作导向”阅读活动，学习在阅读过程中体悟、习得常用写作方法与技巧，同时尝试通过读后写作活动弥补传统写作教材对记叙和描写的不够重视并增加说明与议论的形式。
　　第三部分为“写什么”，讲解作文内容的构思。学生苦于写作的主要原因是不知道写什么，笔者将其归因于写作目的、作者身份和读者对象不明确，尝试通过本章内容的教学，引导学生提笔写作前明确自己的写作目的、作为作者的身份立场和自己的读者对象，完成写作内容的粗略设想。
　　第四部分和第五部分都为“怎么写”，讲解作文写作时联句成段、组段成篇的具体操作。尝试通过这两章内容的教学，引导学生以第三部分确立的写作目的为纲，构思全文框架，此所谓“举纲”，然后根据构思，选择段落推展策略进行段落写作，此所谓“张目”。以“举纲张目”之过程教学，指导学生写出框架结构合理科学、内容充实富有逻辑的英语作文，避免“东奔西突”式写作之后的不知所云。
　　第六部分为“选词造句”，讲解词、句类型及功能。尝试通过本章内容的教学，引导学生斟酌、推敲初具框架、基本成形的作文的选词造句细节，甄别、遴选恰当句型和词汇，清楚准确、生动形象地传情达意。
　　第七部分为“作文修改”，讲解如何修改初稿作文。尝试通过本章内容的教学，培养学生“好作文是改出来的”的写作意识，培养学生修改作文的良好写作习惯。
　　本教材不讲解应用文写作，因为应用文写作往往属于具体语境下的格式写作，学生基础写作水平和能力达到一定程度后，应用文写作也是可以自学的。

Part One Manuscript Form
Ⅰ．Arrangement
Ⅱ．Capitalization
Ⅲ．Word Division
Ⅳ．Punctuation
1．The Comma
2．The Period
3．The Semicolon
4．The Colon

Part Two Reading and Writing
Ⅰ．The Relationship Between Reading and Writing
Ⅱ．Writing After Reading
1．The Summary
2．The Book Report
3．Creative Writing After Reading

Part Three What We Write
Ⅰ．Why We Write
1．Benefits of Writing Activities
2．Functions of Specific Writings
Ⅱ．Who We Are & Who We Write For
Ⅲ．What We Write
1．Reader-Oriented Writing
2．Types of Writing

Part Four How We Write： The Composition Organization
Ⅰ．The Outline
1．Brainstorming
2．Working Out the Outline
Ⅱ．Three Main Parts
1．The Beginning Part
2．The Body Part
3．The Concluding Part
Ⅲ．The Composition Organization
1．Narration
2．Description
3．Exposition
4．Argumentation
Ⅳ．Principles of Good Composition
1．Unified
2．Well-Organized
3．Proportioned
4．Justified

Part Five How We Write： The Paragraph Development
Ⅰ．Paragraphs in Essays
1．Paragraphs That Signal a New Idea
2．Paragraphs That Expand an Old Idea
3．Paragraphs That Function as a Transition
4．Paragraphs That Conclude an Idea
Ⅱ．Paragraphs Between Themselves
1．Transitional Words and Phrases
2．Repetition
3．Transitional Questions
4．Bridging Sentences
5．A Combination of Varied Paragraph Transition
Ⅲ．Paragraphs Within Themselves
1．The Topic Sentence
2．The Supporting Sentences
3．The Concluding Sentence
Ⅳ．Characteristics of Effective Paragraphs
1．Unified
2．Coherent
3．Well-organized
4．Complete

Part Six How We Polish Our Writing： Choice of Sentences and Words
Ⅰ．Choice of Sentences
1．Complete Sentences
2．Types of Sentences
3．Effective Sentences
Ⅱ．Choice of Words
1．Classification of Words
2．The Word Meaning
3．Idioms
4．Figures of Speech

Part Seven How We Revise Our Writing
Ⅰ．Self-Cheek
1．Content
2．Organization
3．Sentences
4．Diction
Ⅱ．Mistakes in Mechanics
Ⅲ．Peer Review
后记

《英语基础写作教程》：
　　Step 2 Read the article. First of all, we need to read and study the article carefully. When reading, we can underline or summarize its thesis and the main ideas of its body paragraphs, important claims, and supporting evidence. If having enough time, we may annotate our reac-'tions to the main idea, its development and reasoning.
　　Step 3 Write the summary. Then, we can write a brief summary of the article. When doing so, in our first sentence, we are advised to present the author's name, the full title of the arti-cle, and its thesis to show our readers that we are writing a summary (e.g. In his article Why I Teach , Peter G. Beidler explains that ...) . And then we present the main ideas of its body par-agraphs. Throughout the summary, we need to use our own words, not the original words or phrases in the article, to objectively present its main idea, chief points and whatever is worth including in the summary. If we mean to quote the original words/phrases to clarify or emphasize the idea conveyed by them, we put them between a pair of quotation marks.
　　Step 4 Write the response. After the summary, we come to write the most imp《》rtant part of the summary-response essays - our response. We need to handle it carefully:
　　First, decide on our overall reaction to the article and prepare for our response part.Before writing about our " response" , we can read once again the underlined sentences and the annotation made on the article. And we may ask ourselves such questions as : What's our general impression of the article? Do we agree or disagree with the author? Why? Do we have personal examples, or more desirably, facts, statistics, testimony, or other information to support our position.? Perhaps we only agree with some points but disagree with others? What reasons make us accept or reject only part of the author's opinion? Or perhaps we agree with the main ideas but think that those ideas can be better developed? Do we like the author's logic, style, or tone? By answering these questions, we may eventually decide on our overall response and get prepared to write our body paragraphs.
　　Then, indicate the beginning of our response. Our first paragraph of the summary-response essay is usually the summary of the article. We may start a new paragraph with a sentence that clearly indicates the beginning of our response. And at the same time we claim our general opinion about it. Ideally, we indicate to our readers what points we will discuss in the response part. For example, we may indicate the beginning of our response this way :
　　Although in his article Higher Entrance Fee Is Reasonable" Peter correctly identifies three benefits of raising the entrance fee of places of historical interests, he only argues for the rich. Higher entrance fee denies the poor the right to go to such places.
　　This two beginning sentences not only once again summarize the writer's approval of the opinions about the benefits of raising the entrance fee, but also point out its harm to the poor, indicating that the writer may talk about the unfair side of such practice.
　　Next, make clear what we support or refute and offer convincing evidence. When writing our response, in each of our own body paragraphs, we need to remind our readers of which claim or idea we are refuting or supporting by using " tag lines" like:
　　Although Peter argues that the increased entrance fee will limit visitor flow, he doesn't realize who will be
　　more likely to be excluded.
　　After we signal the point in discussion and state our position, we need to support our posi-tion with sufficient specific evidence, convincing our readers. If we disagree with a point, we must explain why we disagree clearly, logically, and thoroughly, and proceed to state our own opinion. If we agree, we can't simply repeat it (like, "I think Peter is right when he says raising the entrance fee is reasonable. He is also right about the benefits of doing so ..." ).Instead, we must offer more incontrovertible examples, convincing reasons, or other persuasive information to strengthen the points that we share with the author. Or we may try proving the point from a different but conclusive perspective.
　　Finally, write a brief concluding paragraph. After finishing our response, we may briefly mention the value or the imperfection of the article in question again before we call for action for or against the article's ideas, or project its effects into the future. However we end our essay, our conclusion should always be consistent with our overall assessment of the article and its ideas.
　　The following article Our Youth Should Serve was written by Steven Muller. It was assigned to students who were asked to write a one-paragraph summary and a response essay, expressing their opinion of the article's proposal. The essay Youth Service: An Idea Whose Time Has Come following it is a sample student essay. The student author thought the article itself could have been stronger, but s/he liked Muller's proposal for a volunteer youth service, and supported her/his approval with her/his own experience.
　　Our Youth Should Serve
　　1 Too many young men and women now leave school without a well-developed sense of purpose. If they go right to work after high school, many are not properly prepared for careers. But if they enter college instead, many do not really know what to study or what to do afterward. Our society does not seem to be doing much to encourage and use the best instincts and talents of our young.
　　……