An analysis of the differences between Chinese and English expressions in IELTS writing

Many domestic candidates can't get high marks in IELTS writing, and one of the important reasons is the difference between Chinese and English expressions, which makes many domestic students unable to get rid of Chinese thinking and Chinglish sentence patterns in their expressions. Teachers also find that students have such troubles, so they also put forward several methods to solve the differences between English and Chinese expressions in IELTS writing.

In the teaching process of IELTS writing, I have the opportunity to correct a large number of students' IELTS compositions. In these compositions, a large number of students do not understand the basic differences between English and Chinese, so they directly copy Chinese thinking into English and write a lot of rich? China characteristics? Therefore, this paper will briefly introduce the core differences expressed in English and Chinese writing in order to help IELTS writing students.

English emphasizes hypotaxis, while Chinese emphasizes parataxis.

English is a very grammaticalized language, and grammatical relations are expressed by some explicit morphological markers. Chinese, on the other hand, does not use morphological changes, but uses word order, function words and contextual relations to express grammatical relations. As Mr. Wang Li wrote in China Grammar Theory? Europeanized grammar? One chapter says: in Chinese, many meanings are legal, and linking elements are not necessary; Western languages use morphological methods, and in most cases connecting elements are essential. ? For example:

He is reading this book. He is reading this book.

He has read this book. He has read this book.

This example is relatively simple, many students are already familiar with it, but in writing, students often make mistakes in these aspects.

In Chinese, sentences are connected by internal meaning rather than formal logic, so conjunctions, pronouns and other components are often omitted. For example:

We should vigorously carry forward the spirit of Lei Feng in the new era!

Develop sports and strengthen people's physique!

Therefore, we can see that in Chinese, linking means is not necessary, and people can judge the implied relationship before and after words through the whole sentence. However, in English, this implied relationship must be? Dominance? Change. For example:

He bought a computer and spent six thousand yuan.

You can never write: he spent 6000 yuan on a computer.

It must be written that he spent 6000 yuan on a computer. Or spend 6000 yuan on the computer.

He didn't come today. His mother is in hospital.

He didn't come today and his mother was ill.

He is absent today because his mother is in hospital.

This desire? Meaning? Not talking? Form? Sentences of ""abound in Chinese, such as:

Let's change places, the classroom is in class!

I'm hungry now, let's go to the canteen!

Ten dollars was spent at once!

If you don't consider the differences between English and Chinese, you can write directly according to Chinese thinking: Let's move to another place, and the classroom is in class. /I'm hungry now, let's go to the canteen to eat. /Ten dollars have been spent. It will make a big joke.

English front center of gravity, Chinese back center of gravity

Let's look at an example, an email from a student:

Dear Kevin:

Although I know you are busy, can you give me a few minutes? I will go to work as soon as I finish class today, so I haven't left work until now, because the dual role makes me bored and tired. I work in a hospital, which is also a teaching hospital. I will participate in the teaching competition as a player. I have to face too many things, and even I have to stay up late these days. Can you tell me how to balance the problem between work and study? I will email you the homework you gave me this afternoon later.

I

XXX

This is a typical letter with China's thinking. China people's thinking is discussed in a natural order, such as: in chronological order, what happened first, then what happened later; According to the logical relationship, according to the logical order of the development of things, the premise, reasons, conditions, ways and means are said first, and then the result is said. English, on the other hand, discusses important viewpoints, attitudes and conclusions in the order of emphasis, and then comes to the point, and then describes secondary information, such as reasons, conditions, facts, examples and so on. That is, English puts the center of meaning first, and then explains and decomposes the narrative. Knowing these paragraphs is very useful for students to expand IELTS composition.

Looking back at this email, if a foreigner reads it, he must be at a loss, because he doesn't know what the main point of your letter is, because at the beginning of the letter, a large paragraph tells his personal situation, experience and so on, and he doesn't ask questions until the end. If you think in English, you should ask the receiver questions directly and then describe them in detail.

1. English has results first, then reasons.

I criticized him because I love him rather than hate him.

I criticized him not because I hated him, but because I loved him.

Perhaps campus life is not always as imagined, so many students feel lost.

Many students feel frustrated because campus life is not always what they think.

2. The conclusion before English narration.

After years of hard work, we finally solved this difficult problem.

We solved this problem years later? Thanks for your hard work.

3. First, the English statement, then the narrative.

What causes people to commit crimes is still uncertain.

We are still not sure what causes people to commit crimes.

We must admit that rote learning has many limitations.

We should admit that rote learning has many limitations.

English is often replaced and Chinese is often repeated.

Because English is hypotaxis, a lot of information is connected in one sentence through various hypotaxis means, which is closely related and logically clear. In this case, pronoun reference is often clear and not easy to be confused. Therefore, in order to avoid monotony, English sentences often use substitution and ellipsis to change the expression of the same word. In Chinese, because Chinese mainly tests parataxis, the logic implied in the test runs through the whole sentence, so in order to preserve the meaning of the sentence? Can't be distracted? Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen cohesion and keep readers' attention through repeated means. Therefore, Chinese often does not use synonyms and other alternatives, because that will distract people. For example, substitute pronouns:

He hates failure. He has overcome failures all his life, surpassed them and despised others' failures.

He hates failure. He has been conquering failure all his life, conquering failure and despising others' failure.

Instead of writing:

He hates failure. He has been conquering failure all his life, conquering failure and despising others' failure.

Look at another example of replacing synonyms:

Low score version:

Think about this situation. One student interviewed another student and many students and asked what it was like to be an only child. If the teacher in charge of the school newspaper does not edit the students' names or facts from the newspaper, thus revealing that particular student to other students, it may cause serious problems for the students who provide their information.

Improved version:

Think about this situation. A reporter interviewed many students and asked what it was like to be an only child. If the teacher in charge of the school newspaper does not edit the names or facts of the interviewees in the newspaper and leaks everyone to the readers, it will cause serious problems to the students who provide information.

The first low-grade edition used many repeated words? Student? It's boring, but the improved version will? Student? Used? Reporter? 、? Interviewee? 、? Everyone? 、? Readers? And other words, the words in the sentence are rich in variety and much more natural and vivid. Therefore, in the usual IELTS learning process, we should pay attention to the accumulation of synonyms and antonyms, so as to write with ease and get high marks.

The above are three ways to deal with the differences between English and Chinese expressions and the difficulties encountered by students in IELTS writing. If students find that their expression in IELTS writing preparation is not authentic enough and influenced by Chinese thinking, they can refer to the above methods for certification.