词汇能力与二语作文质量相关性研究综述

The relationship between lexical competence and the quality of L2 writing—An overview

词汇在写作中起着重要作用，但是对于两者的关系目前还没有明确的结论。学者们的研究结果各不相同，甚至相互矛盾。本文纵览了近二十年有关词汇能力和限时写作水平相关性的实证研究，分析研究结论各异的原因，并指出其对教学实践的指导意义。比较结果显示，各项研究因为词汇测试手段、控制变量的选择、被试的二语水平以及写作任务的安排等方面各不相同，所以得出的结论也大相径庭。纵观各项研究得出的结论，限时作文的质量受一系列内因和外因的影响。内因包括词汇水平、语法能力、写作策略、二语的熟练程度、二语阅读能力、母语写作水平、百科知识等；外因包括文章类型、话题的熟悉程度、写作的环境和条件等。词汇水平作为内因的重要组成部分，和其他因素一起直接或间接地影响写作的质量，但词汇水平本身并不足以完全决定文章的质量，尤其是对于处于中级或高级阶段的学习者而言。最后笔者指出写作教学应关注学生积极词汇量的提升及写作技巧和策略的培养，同时尽可能多地选择学生的熟悉话题供学生写作，以提升学生的兴趣。

The role of vocabulary in writing can never be overemphasized, but the relation between lexical competence and writing quality remains elusive; researchers' findings diverge from one another and their conclusions sometimes contradict. This study gives an overview of empirical studies in recent 20 years concerning the relationship between lexical proficiency and L2 timed writing, elaborates on the causes for the divergence in conclusion and finally points out the pedagogical implications for L2 writing. Comparison of different studies reveals that the clashing conclusions obtained from various studies are attributed to their differences in the defining of lexical competence, selection of controlling variables, participants' L2 levels and writing tasks. It is concluded that the quality of timed writing is determined by a cluster of internal and external factors: the internal factors include vocabulary competence, strategy, L2 proficiency, L2 reading ability, L1 writing ability, encyclopedic knowledge, etc; the external factors consist of text type, familiarity of topic, writing requirements and conditions, etc. Vocabulary as an indispensible internal element of writing, functions together with many other factors to affect the final product either directly or indirectly. But vocabulary itself can not account for the quality of writing, especially the writing produced by intermediate or advanced learners. Finally it is suggested that in writing pedagogy teachers should attach more importance to the expansion of students' active vocabulary, training of writing strategy and selection of familiar topics for writing tasks so as to promote students' interest in writing.