College English Writing, Volume (1)

Author: Zhao Wenshu, Kang Wenkai (editors)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-02-01
Features: To ensure this textbook truly assists teaching, we would like to address the following points.
1. For the teaching of English professional writing courses, the syllabus has clear regulations and requirements. However, due to differences in specific circumstances, implementation varies across schools. This textbook is roughly divided into parts one, two, and three for use by first-, second-, and third-year university students, respectively, while the fourth part is intended for fourth-year students for one semester. For schools that only offer writing courses in the second semester of the first year or throughout the entire fourth year, parts of the first volume can also be used for second-year students, and the second and third volumes can be used for third- and fourth-year students, respectively. To help students adapt to the writing requirements of the CET-4 and CET-6 exams, we have included exercises on rapid writing in the second and third volumes.
2. Generally speaking, English writing learning at the undergraduate level involves two stages and four key milestones. The first stage involves writing narrative, descriptive, and general argumentative essays. Students at this stage are expected to use English to write various types of essays they have already mastered during their high school Chinese writing. The two key milestones here are overcoming the fear of writing in English and learning to write well in English. The second stage involves writing argumentative essays, research reports, and academic papers required for undergraduate studies. Similarly, this stage also presents two key milestones: the courage to write and the ability to write effectively.
3. Due to the diversity of teaching situations, instructors should have great flexibility in selecting content from this textbook and need not use every chapter, section, or exercise. First, students have different interests at different times and places, and teachers should organize instruction based on their specific interests and needs. For the exercises in the book, some can be explored in depth, some can be approached superficially, some can be done repeatedly, while others can be omitted—all should be guided by teaching objectives and the goal of stimulating student enthusiasm. Second, writing is a continuous process of deepening understanding and refining skills through revision and improvement. If every exercise in the textbook must be completed, it may consume too much time and hinder the deepening and improvement of a single essay.