Consistency of Semantic meaning with Structure and Context in English Writing

邵玉秋

Abstract For English learners， writing is one of the skills most difficult to train and develop. Although writing can be circumvented in many cases by some people， modern civilization is imposing increasing demands on our ability to write， and write well. This paper aims to show the three important elements in English writing-- semantic meaning， structure and context and their relationship--their consistency in English writing. In English writing， consistency of semantic meaning with structure and context is a very important part to evaluate the quality of writing. Once English learners are clear about their relationship， they will improve their English writing ability and form a good habit of English writing.

1.0 Introduction

Writing as one of the four basic skills in English learning is usually considered as the most complex， and the most difficult one. Nunan once said in terms of skills， writing is the most difficult skill to master for those second language learners. As a process of reproduction on the basis of absorbing the language knowledge， it can reflect learners comprehensive ability to use the language. It is also one of the most important abilities for students to master.

2.0 The Three Basic Elements --Semantic Meaning， Structure and Context

In English writing semantic meaning is the smallest unit of the writing. Leach， 1974， has divided semantic meaning into seven types： conceptual meaning， connotative meaning， stylistic meaning， affective meaning， reflected meaning， collected meaning and thematic meaning. The structure and the function of the semantic meaning in different writing are different. Semantic meaning is the core element of an essay because readers are willing to learn something from your essay， and what they could understand is the semantic meaning. The function of an essay is to talk about something that the author is interested in or something that they author wants to tell the readers. Therefore， the structure of the semantic meaning should be consistent with the function， only in this way can you write an effective assay.

Structure is another very important factor when we are going to make an English writing. Halliday points out that “discourse is structured it's a semantic structure， not a grammatical structure.” The structure in English writing mainly refers to sentence structure， paragraph structure and discourse structure. A good composition should grasp the structure on the whole. With clear structure and writing vein your writing can be understood by the readers and they can know what you want to express， and then get an accurate understanding of the main idea for your writing. So design a proper structure is necessary and indispensable in the process of writing.

Except for semantic meaning and structure， context also， please， a very important role in English writing. Different linguists have different interpretations for context. In English writing， context refers to the environment in which the writing is in. Based on Han Lide's context theory， Cramsch divides context into five different kinds： Linguistic context， situational context， communicative context， cultural context， intertextuality context. Situational context refers to the external environment of language communication. Writing is also a communicative behavior which doing communicating in a written form. Because of the different functions and circumstances of discourse in social communication， the dependence on context becomes much more obvious.

3.0 The Importance of Consistency of Semantic Meaning with Structure and Context in English Writing

In order to make a good writing， we need to take this three factors： semantic many structure and context into consideration and make sure the accuracy of semantic meaning， the smoothness of the structure， and the adaptiveness of the context. However， this is not enough. We need to pay much more attention to the consistency of semantic meaning，structure and context. This is the key of making a good English writing. If we compare a good English writing to a fruit. The semantic meaning is seed， the structure is the trunk， and the context is where the fruit is bred. Any of the three is indispensable and without any of them， the writing cannot be a good writing. So When the consistency in semantic meaning， structure and context is achieved，a good English writing comes into being.

4.0 Conclusion

English writing is so important that we must master this skill when we learn English. Writing helps us to communicate with others in a special way. In order to make ourselves fully understood by others， we need to write properly and clearly. Then the consistency of semantic meaning with structure and context must be followed in English writing. It can be regarded as a writing skill. With good skill， comes good writing.

References：

[1]Halliday， M.A.K.，Mclntosh，& Strevens. The Linguistics Sciences and Language Teaching [M]. London： Longman，1964.

[2]Kramsch， C. Context and Culture in Language Teaching [M]. Orford： OUP，1993.

[3]焦全. 簡析“结构”在高中英语写作中的作用及运用[J].中学生英语，2010（12）：50-53.