A Study of the Rhetorical Features of English Exposition by Chinese College Students

摘要

This article is a quantitative and qualitative study based on textual analysis of Chinese college students' English expository writings over five semesters. The focuses of the study is on the students' mastery of English textual patterns and argument structures. The analysis shows that this is a dynamically developing process moving towards the expected goal with Writing Ⅲ reaching the top of writing quality in five aspects among the samples under study. This indicates a positive influence of intensification of formal instruction and regular practice on students' performance. A closer look at the thesis statement reveals that its explicitness is topic-bound and it does not include a developing plan in most cases. A problem with topic sentence is its poor generality. Exemplification is much employed cross-levels in arguments to which there is poor linking between the main ideas and weakens its force. These findings provide important feedback to English teaching which the writer believes it is time to shift the instructional focus on students' generalizing ability and logical thinking over grammatical correctness.