Writing for Publishing: The Web Publications for Composition Classes

Abstract

當學生對英文寫作課所規定的作業失去興趣時，任課老師需要對規定的作業做一調整，以期讓學生再度對寫作產生興趣。在這種情況之下，老師所要做的可以是如何再讓學生產生寫作的動機。在動機(motivation)的研究中，一般認為，學習者願意融入目標語言社會的動機(integrative motivation)，以及源自學習者內在的動機(intrinsic motivation)，對語言的學習有絕對的幫助。同樣地，這兩種學習動機也應該對激勵作文課的學生有相同的作用。本文建議網際網路的出版或者建立作文課的首頁，可以刺激作文課學生的學習動機，不僅能讓學生學習作文的方法，並且可以使學生對英語文的創作產生更濃厚的興趣。

Motivation in a composition class serves an important factor of which the teacher can take advantage in order to change the students' attitudes toward writing. Integrative motivation (Brown, 1994a; Gardner, 1985; Lambert, 1972) and intrinsic motivation (Brown, 1990; Crookes and Schmidt, 1991; Maslow, 1970; Ramage, 1990) in language learning are suggested to help learners acquire higher language proficiency and to have better learning outcomes. Likewise, in a composition class, students would improve in a greater and faster pace when they are motivated integratively and intrinsically. This paper proposes that publishing on the Web motivate students in a composition class to finish a manageable, assigned task with enthusiasm. Furthermore, through such an assignment, students not only learn how to compose an article but also enjoy writing more and better articles.