A study of improving medical university students＇ writing ability by English newspaper reading teaching

Abstract

Objective To verify the effect of English newspaper reading teaching on improving students＇ writing ability. Methods Forty students in Binzhou Medical College choosing English news- paper reading as elective course were enrolled as experimental group while 40 students not choosing English newspaper reading as elective course were enrolled as control group. English newspaper read- ing was introduced into the selective course and www.pigai.org was employed to do online real-time composition writing. Differences in pre-test （before online real-time composition writing） and post-test （after online real-time composition writing） scores were compared by paired t test and P〈0.05 wasconsidered statistically different. Results There were statistical differences between pre-test and post- test scores in experimental group （t=-17.590, P =0.000）. There was no statistical difference between pre-test and post-test scores in control group （t=1.347, P=0.186）. There were statistical differences in accuracy, complexity, fluency and coherence of the composition between pre-test and post-test in ex- perimental group. Conclusions English newspaper reading teaching plays an important part in im- proving medical college students＇ writing ability. After a semester of English newspaper reading, the writing ability of students had obviously improved in language accuracy, complexity, fluency and co- herence. Key words: English newspaper reading; Medical university; College English; Writingability