Rationale

 

         Composing in the 21st century is an incredibly important skill. Katie Wood Ray (2001) divided writing into two categories in "Two Kinds of Writing": one is to support people’s lives; the other is to communicate ideas to others. The latter is what we call composition. The starting point of composition comes from an impulse that a writer wants to deliver his or her idea to the readers in an exquisite way so as to have an impact on them. Composition embodies writers’ passion and interest. The motivation and the content of writings need to come from students themselves. Besides, composition cannot be done in a second. Atwell (2015) believes that writing is a process of thinking and rethinking on paper. Composition is not just a reflection of thinking, but a generator of thinking. In a word, composition is a way for us to express ideas and passions, to grasp and share the beauty and inspiration of life, and to find the nature of writing itself.

         

        MacArthure et al. (2006) note that the best practice in the teaching of writing includes not only improving writing products but also developing positive dispositions, social behaviors, problem-solving, and other skills that have value in and of themselves. We teach composition for students to value their inner world, to have the power to communicate with and improve the world, and to benefit from being lifelong writers. However, the current English composition teaching in the ESL classroom in Chinese middle schools is not quite the same case. The writing class in China has always been criticized as examination / teacher-centered, a creativity killer, and low efficiency. To our delight, in the recent decade, the Chinese Department of Education, schools, and teachers have been learning from western education so as to avoid developing “high score but low ability” students. As a result, it is worthwhile to explore what the effective ways are to teach English composition in ESL classroom in Chinese middle school in the 21st century.