A tentative Study of English Writing: “True Tolerance”

蒋雪晴

1. Introduction

As English majors， listening， speaking， reading and writing play remarkable role in our learning， among which writing is the most complicated skill. Its considered to be difficult and time-consuming by many students because it is a relatively high-level exchange of information which requires students high written language ability of expression. English writing is an integrated mental activity including not only knowledge but also features of learning method. Writing has an unique function in the development of students ability of thinking and expressing. Thus， it is imperative to take some measures to improve students writing ability.

Although most teachers and students make considerable efforts in the learning of writing， English writing is still a weak stage making us headache. Many factors cause students weakness in writing， such as teachers neglecting of the importance of English writing. Students lacking awareness of writing and the lacking of writing method etc， among which I think what matters most is the lacking of appropriate strategies. Up until now， there have been less empirical studies on writing strategies both at home and abroad. Thus， its imperative to research some sufficient and adequate English writing strategies to help students to improve their writing. In this essay， I will introduce some strategies for English writing in light of a tentative case study of “What it means to be True Tolerance？”

2.         A tentative Study of English Writing： “True Tolerance”

It is one wonder of the world that some countries attitudes to homosexuality have changed a lot. These countries include not only the West， but also Latin America， China， and other places. Most Americans already live in states where gays marriage is legal. Today gay sex is legal in at least 113countries. Gay marriages or civil unions are recognized in three dozen and parts of others. However， five countries still execute gay people： Iran hangs them; Saudi Arabia stones them.

2.1 Writing Strategies for the topic： “What It Means to Be True Tolerance”

As writing strategies are one kind of strategies， Id like to write something about it firstly in order to learn the writing strategies clearly.

The tern “learning strategies” was first used by Rubin and Rubin（1975：43） uses learning strategies to mean “the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge”. （Free D.L. and M.H. Long， 2000：199）

In this thesis， I will mainly introduce some writing strategies of Cheng Xiao tang and Zheng Min which include：

1） Brainstorming： a process of generating a lot of information within a short time by building on the association of precious terms you have mentioned.

2） Free writing： it is a pre-writing activity in which students write as much as possible about a topic within a given time period without stopping.

2.1.1 Connotation and denotation of the given topic： “What It Means to Be True Tolerance”

Tolerance is a hot topic all the time. Whats the true nature of tolerance？ Different people stick to different views. But it seems that few people really understand the true meaning of tolerance. If you search the internet， you will find that there are various definitions of the word tolerance. Most people hold that tolerance means a willingness to accept the thing they agree with， the thing that they allow and tolerate， as right and true and correct， and to regard those who do not share the same tolerance as being intolerant， and the ability to accept experience， or survive something harmful or unpleasant. What more， the word tolerance means to bear or to put up with. I can put up with the noise made by my doormats who wash clothes when I sleep. The act of tolerance is my great effort to desist or convey my dissatisfactory emotion or complaints to the existence of phenomenon. Although it is difficult， it is a necessity for us to get along well with others. All these are true natures of tolerance.

2.1.2 Ideas and theories related to the topic

The following are some ideas and theories which I want to cite to illustrate the true nature of tolerance.

The opening statement of the Wikipedia entry for tolerance states the following：

Tolerance or toleration to tolerate， or to put up with， conditionally， also to suggest a fair， objective， and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions， practices， races， religions， nationality etc. differ from ones own.

The Princeton university Wordnet Dictionary simply states：

Tolerance — a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior.

The Websters 1913 Dictionary has some very interesting entries regarding tolerance including this enlightening entry.

Tolerance--- the endurance of the presence or actions of the expression of offensive opinions; toleration.

Michael W. Austin， PH D

A contributing expert to psychology today （publication and website）， and a professor of philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University wrote this in his article， “true tolerance” which appears on psychology today website：

The capacity to disagree strongly with another person about issues， including significant ones， while maintaining civility and respecting their right to hold a different view than you， even if you are convinced it is false.

The Heart Math Solution， Doc Childers and Howard Martin.

In the long run， its not a question of whether they deserve to be forgiven. Youre not forgiving them for their sake. You are doing it for yourself. For your own health a well-being， forgiveness is simply the most energy-efficient option. It frees you from the incredibly toxic， debilitating drain of holding a grudge. Do not let these people live rent free in your head. If they hurt you before， why let them keep doing it year after year in your mind？ Its not worth it but it takes heart efforts to stop it. You can muster that heart power to forgive them as a way of looking out for yourself. Its one thing you can be totally selfish about.

Wendy Brown： Tolerance in the Age of Identity and Empire：

The retreat from more substantive visions of justice heralded by the promulgation of tolerance today is part of a more general depoliticization of citizenship and power and retreat from political life itself. The cultivation of tolerance as a political end implicitly constitutes a rejection of politics a domain in which conflict can be productively articulated and addressed， a domain in which citizens can be transformed by their participation.

3. Conclusion

Students English writing has been a troublesome problem. Most teachers and students make efforts to improve it but it seems makes little progress. Some foreign experts ever said：The use of appropriate language learning strategies can improve students learning activities， （Wenden & Rubin1987; Cohen 1990; OMalley & Chamot 2001）. So， I think appropriate writing strategies can also improve students writing ability. There are fewer studies on writing strategies both at home and abroad. In this essay， I strive to find some studies on writing strategies and classify writing strategies by myself. I falls them into three categories： firstly， the planning strategies which include free writing， brainstorming， clustering， and looping. Secondly， the while-writing strategies include avoidance strategies; strategies of consulting the dictionary; and social strategies. Thirdly， the Revising strategies include： Consulting the dictionary; Giving up the first draft and write another article; Proofreading strategies; Checking if the article digress the subject. Then， I use these strategies to write the essay about the topic “What It Means to Be True Tolerance”. I find that these strategies help me a lot. I hope that more and more students can explore strategies suiting them well and use the strategies appropriately to improve their writing ability. Thats the meaning of writing this essay.