大学英语写作是检验大学生英语实际运用能力的一种重要方法,是衡量大学生英语综合水平和应用能力的一个重要指标,也是大学英语四级考试的一个重要内容。但从全国大学英语四级考试的情况来看,学生写作部分的平均得分率一直最低。这反映出大学生英语写作能力相对薄弱。从某种程度上来看,这一现象归因于两个主要因素:1. 学生英语写作能力的开发滞后;2. 学生写作能力出现石化现象。这两种主要症状清晰地反映在学生的作文中。
1. 单词拼写错误
例1. (误) I am writting a letter in reply to you.
(正) I am writing a letter in reply to you.
例2. (误) You said you wanted to come to my colege.
(正) You said you wanted to come to my college.
例3. (误) You must have some probelems.
(正) You must have some problems.
例句1 是字母添加错误,即把不该双写的字母双写了;而例句2 是字母减略错误,即把双写的字母拼写成单写;例句3 是典型的语音变异型错误,为加音错误。这些错误均发生在单词的非重读音节中,这说明音响的强度对单词的拼写有相当程度的影响。
2. 时态方面的错误
写议论文一般用现在时态。只有举例，提到过去的事才会用到过去时。
3 主谓，人称等违反一致性方面的错误
写一个句子，乃至一篇文章里人称始终要保持一致，不能一会儿用第三人称，一会儿又用第一人称。
4 修饰语的位置错误
a) Without television, people can’t get information which comes from other parts of the world immediately.
Immediately既可以修饰 comes：“得到迅速从各方面传来的消息”，也可以修饰 get：“迅速得到从各方面传来的消息”，意思含糊不清，所以要把它放到can’t的'后面。
b) To participate in class discussion, a lot of books have to be read.
不定式短语的逻辑主语决不是o lot of books，为了把逻辑关系表达清楚，要么把不定式短语改成 If one wants to participate in class discussion，要么把主句改成you have to read a lot of books。
5. 语法结构平行方面的错误
a) With the computer, one can do shopping, banking, and read at home.
用语法平行结构原则来衡量。前面用ing 形式，最后一个用动词原形 read是不妥的， 为了和 do shopping, do banking保持结构上平行，接下来的一个内容要用 reading。
b) Participating in class discussion is not only good for the pursuit of knowledge, and through it we can also develop our analytical skills.
同样， 在说同样的事时， 相邻的句子在语法结构上尽可能要保持一致。后半句宜改为：It is also beneficial to the development of our analytical skills。
6. 代词用法方面的错误
a) Sometimes teachers will inform students of the difficulty they will meet with in studies.
They既可以指代 teachers，也可以代students，明显的是指代不清。 其实只要把其中的一个名词变成单数，用 he和 they 分别代不同的名词就清楚了。如：Sometimes a teacher will inform students of the difficulty they will meet with in studies.
b) People have been fighting against the influence of TV commercials, but it often proves useless.
It指什么?指 influence ，在often proves useless句子中显然不通。作者知道 it指人们的努力， 但 effort这个词前面没有出现过，就不能用it，所以要把 it改成 the effort。
7. 可数名词与不可数名词方面的错误
information, evidence, advice, knowledge等是不可数名词，不能用复数。many, a great number of, another, few等只能与可数名词配用。而 a great amount of, a great deal of, less, much等须与不可数名词配用。
8. 冠词方面的错误
a) Book knowledge is important, but we should also learn something in the society.
b) When I was in the high school, I always had a beautiful picture of the college life.
在没有特指意义时，不能用表示特指的定冠词The。这几句中的the都应去掉。
c) There is a lot of discussion in the class.
表示上课，用手，走路，上学，住院等都不用定冠词：In class, by hand, on foot, go to college, at hospital。
9.句子完整方面的错误
a) TV now plays an important role in our daily life. Because we cannot live without it.
中文用“因为”引出的句子可以独立， 而英文不行，用Because, since, as从句，只能附属主句：because we cannot live without it。
b) There are many ways to contact with society. For example, joining clubs, take part time jobs and help the poor.
For example 引出的应是句子：For example we may join clubs, take part time jobs and help the poor. 而Such as引出的只能是词或词组，不能独立成句： Such as joining clubs, taking part time jobs and helping the poor.
c) Unlike the movie, TV shows on continuously, and doesn’t need to pay any extra money.
Doesn’t need to pay any extra money的主语是什么? 显然不是TV。汉语可以说：电视可以一直看下去，无需再花什么钱。将主语省去，但英语一定要有明显的主语，所以在 doesn’t need to pay any extra money 前要加上one。
d) Reading books can acquire knowledge.
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