A Tentative Discussion on How to Help Junior High School Students Improve Their Writing Skills Through Post-Reading Activities

Abstract

The present situation of English writing in junior high schools includes the following aspects: first, students are weak in English writing because they lack vocabulary and do not use vocabulary appropriately; second, they often make grammar errors in writing; as a result, they do not obtain high scores in English writing; third, they form sentences based on their habit of thinking in their mother-tongue because of the influence of mother tongue transfer; in that case, Chinglish often appears in their compositions, and this is one of the main reasons they do not obtain high scores in English writing; finally, they do not arrange their compositions well, so most of their compositions are loosely organized. As reading and writing are designed as two separated parts in most English textbooks used in China, it is a challenge for teachers to design post-reading activities to integrate reading and writing because it is time-consuming. Based on the present situation of students’ English writing and the teaching situation of English writing in junior high schools, this paper will discuss how to utilize post-reading activities to help students memorize vocabulary effectively, use vocabulary and grammar appropriately, avoid the influence of mother-tongue transfer, and build compact structures, so that they can improve their English writing skills. This discussion is based on the awareness of integrating reading with writing and making reading a supportive element of writing by utilizing post-reading activities.