Study on English writing strategies of medical undergraduates / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

This study investigates on the use of English writing strategies of medical undergraduates through empirical methods. The results show that the level of English writing strategies of medical undergraduates is average. Its characteristics includes that before writing, metacognitive strategies are commonly used, while memory strategies and social strategies are rarely used; in writing, memory strategies, cognitive strategies and social strategies are widely applied, but compensation strategies are seldom used; after writing, compensation strategies are frequently used, while social strategies are seldom used. Additionally, students with high grades are generally superior to students with low grades in the use of writing strategies, and there are significant differences in the use of most strategies before, during and after writing. Students with high grades are better at examining questions, conceiving and drawing up outlines before writing, pay more attention to supporting sentences/expanding sentences in writing, and much more emphasize the overall structure of composition after writing. Based on above findings, a few measures to improve college English writing are also discussed.