Advanced Writing Skills Training Course: Practical Writing

Author: Ma Zhengping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: This book is one of the research outcomes of the project "Reform of Teaching Content and Curriculum System for Higher Normal Education Towards the 21st Century" funded by the Ministry of Education. This series of textbooks consists of three volumes: "Introduction to Advanced Writing Studies," "Tutorial on Writing Thinking Training," and "Advanced Writing Training Tutorial" (Volume 1 and 2). "Introduction to Advanced Writing Studies" focuses on writing theory, while "Advanced Writing Training Tutorial" (Volume 1 and 2) emphasizes writing practice. "Tutorial on Writing Thinking Training" serves as an intermediary between basic writing principles and writing skill training.
In each chapter of the textbook on stylistic writing, the content is primarily divided into three knowledge modules:
1. Stylistic norms or stylistic thinking;
2. Analysis and imitation of stylistic writing thinking;
3. Demonstration and imitation of stylistic writing thinking operations;
4. Writing practice and after-class activities. If teaching time is sufficient, all content can be covered for instruction and training. If time is limited, some parts can be assigned for self-study in advance, with classroom teaching focusing mainly on the second and third modules. The fourth module can also be assigned as after-class activities.
This textbook, set against the profound academic background of contemporary writing philosophy and writing aesthetics, emphasizes the revelation of principles (patterns, models) in writing thinking, writing culture, writing strategies, and writing diction, as well as the effective and operational training of writing quality and skills, aiming to truly improve students' writing proficiency. As a result, the writing theory and teaching training design of this textbook have a relatively high learning difficulty, so teachers and students using this writing teaching system should be mentally prepared.
1. The two volumes of this textbook, based on the latest academic achievements in contemporary writing theory and writing pedagogy, have constructed a brand-new discourse system for contemporary Chinese writing studies. These theories not only delve into the humanistic spirit of writing philosophy, writing aesthetics, and writing culture but also enter the scientific and operational layers of writing thinking studies and writing diction studies, bringing them closer to the actual state of writing behavior. In a sense, this writing textbook has little to do with the popular "Basic Writing Studies" of the 20th century; it should be truly "Advanced Writing Studies." It is precisely here that university writing studies are distinctly separated from middle school composition teaching.
2. To transform the knowledge of writing principles and patterns into real and effective writing abilities and levels, this series of textbooks designs various writing training programs from different perspectives in the third volume, forming a three-dimensional and systematic new writing teaching and training system. Each chapter in this volume is divided into three modules:
(1) Theoretical knowledge of stylistic norms or stylistic writing thinking;
(2) Analysis and imitation, operational demonstration and imitation, and rewriting exercises for stylistic writing thinking;
(3) Writing practice and after-class activities. This approach ensures that writing training is grounded in practice.
3. The writing knowledge and teaching of this textbook are highly specialized. Many examples in the stylistic writing training are selected from articles and works already published by the authors. While these articles may not be as typical or ideal as those by writing masters, this approach fulfills the long-standing professional expectation that writing teachers and scholars should not only write well but also teach effectively, not only discuss (explain) but also imitate (model). These authors have conducted in-depth analysis and operational demonstrations of these articles using advanced scientific writing theories. This will make writing teaching more specialized, gradually forming a professional entry system for Chinese writing teaching, where not just anyone can teach writing studies or writing courses. This is of great significance to the development of writing as an independent discipline.
This series of textbooks provides a "textbook library" or "knowledge network" for contemporary writing teaching. Schools can flexibly select and combine the volumes based on their specific circumstances. Schools that place special emphasis on writing ability and allocate more class hours to writing courses can fully utilize all three volumes of this textbook for solid writing theory teaching and writing skill training. For schools that cannot allocate sufficient class hours to writing courses, the second and third volumes can be chosen as required courses, while the first volume can be offered as an elective. This will still largely achieve the teaching effects and goals of this textbook system.
Originally, this series should have included a fourth volume, "Analysis of Contemporary Article Writing," but due to space constraints, it had to be omitted. When conducting article analysis in writing training, teachers can refer to the writing analysis methods in this textbook, while the examples for analysis can be freely chosen, leaving teachers with creative space for article analysis.
The academic level of this textbook is striving to be no lower than the latest textbooks in other main disciplines of Chinese language and literature. This sets relatively high requirements for the qualities and abilities of writing course teachers. We hope that through the promotion and application of the writing theory and teaching training system in this series of textbooks, we can reshape the academic-personality image of contemporary Chinese writing studies, writing courses, and writing teachers in the 21st century. Let writing courses and writing studies contribute to the construction of the spiritual and material civilizations of contemporary humanity.