1. Background: Origin and Theoretical Basis of Micro-Writing Teaching
Deng Tong pointed out in his article “Principles of Micro-writing Course Design”: “China’s writing courses have been constantly swinging between the two endpoints of “sequence” and “activity”, and have been growing and declining, but have never found a better way to solve writing difficulties and effectively improve the efficiency of writing teaching. Therefore, constructing a micro-writing course suitable for writing is a feasible path. The characteristics of this micro-writing course include: small scale, small capacity, simple theme, clear goals, strong pertinence, and operability. Micro-writing courses do not seek to explain knowledge to students in an all-round way, but focus on core difficulties, select core knowledge, and solve key problems. It is convenient for students to learn and for teachers to design and teach.” [1]
Tracing the Concept of Micro-writing Teaching Abroad
(1) Research on micro-courses
In 1960, the Affiliated School of Aywa University in the United States first proposed the concept of “micro-course” as opposed to “large-scale course”. At that time, the “micro-course” was similar to the concept of “micro-course” we are talking about now, mainly emphasizing the small and fine content of the course. In 1967, the concept of “micro-learning” was formally proposed. In the same year, Stannick’s “Micro-classroom Suitable for Literary Circles” explained the application of micro-teaching model in the classroom, and on this basis, proposed relevant feasible strategies. In the early 20th century, Penrose of the United States redefined micro-courses from the perspective of knowledge, proposing that micro-courses need to micro-process knowledge, and the results of the processing are presented in the form of special topics. According to Deng Tong’s summary, micro-courses are not divided according to subject knowledge and logical systems, but are mainly compiled according to students’ interest needs, teachers’ abilities, and the needs of social development. The author infers that the current micro-writing teaching emphasizes the students’ learning situation, which is the genetic gene from micro-courses.
(2) Research on American micro-writing
In 2004, Hao Lan translated American Language: A Selection of Famous American Middle School Textbooks and published it in China Women’s Publishing House in Beijing (The micro-writing course first appeared in American Language.) [2]. This textbook mainly includes two writing systems: one is the idea library writing training, which appears after the reading passages and focuses on the combination of reading and writing; the other is the “micro-writing course” section, which is independent of reading teaching and consists of topics composed of knowledge points. The topics are relatively independent of each other. Compared with China’s middle school Chinese textbooks, American Language can still find gaps in terms of compilation purpose, arrangement system, embodiment of purpose, homework design, and ability training, which provides a very helpful perspective for our further research on middle school Chinese writing teaching [3]. Wang Huanying summarized the three characteristics of micro-writing in American Language: the entry point is small and the writing volume is large; the form requirements are small and the writing space is large; the training focus is small and the writing process is complete, which further clarifies the connotation of micro-writing [4]. In addition, Shen Lingrong made a brief analysis of the micro-writing training in the after-class exercises of American Language. The greatest contribution is to provide ideas for micro-writing teaching from the perspective of task design. Xu Hongyan proposed that the writing system design of American Language has the characteristics of situational, purposeful, and comprehensive thinking, which is conducive to the transformation of students’ knowledge into ability [5]. Wang Zhiwei analyzed the differences in writing teaching value orientation, writing knowledge, writing skills, writing process and writing style by comparing the writing system of the People’s Education Press high school Chinese textbook and American Language, and provided ideas for the reconstruction of domestic writing knowledge and writing skills [6]. Chen Sixuan compared American Language with the People’s Education Press high school compulsory textbook in terms of textbook arrangement, content design, guidance method, and writing concept, and put forward teaching suggestions in line with China’s national conditions in terms of micro-training [7]. In 2019, Dong Dan compared the junior high school Chinese unified textbook with American Language, and put forward suggestions for the writing system teaching of junior high school Chinese unified textbooks from four aspects: curriculum standard revision, guidance method, teaching concept and evaluation modification [8]. The above review of the research on American native language teaching materials shows that the American miniaturized writing courses are worthy of reference and study for my country’s miniaturized writing teaching in terms of content design, teaching format, writing philosophy and training methods.
Tracing the Concept of Micro-writing Teaching in China
In 1994, Zhu Ziqiang and others proposed the concept of micro-courses, whose main point of view is that students can choose different micro-courses according to their needs. Micro-courses are relatively independent from each other, and teachers take on the role of guides throughout the process [9].
The concept of “miniature writing teaching” in China was first proposed by Professor Wang Rongsheng and Dr. Deng Tong in 2013. They believed that the micro-course based on students’ actual needs reversed the design path of previous writing courses. It is based on the difficulties of students’ writing and adjusts the content and learning methods of writing learning according to students’ writing cognitive level, interest and learning style, which is more efficient [10]. This new discovery represents the proposal of the “micro” writing theory and points out the characteristics of “micro” writing. Since then, related research has continued to deepen. In the same year, Yu Yingchao mentioned in “Micro-writing in Reading Teaching” that in reading teaching, students can be designed to “write” from the perspective of micro-writing, and explained the value of micro-writing teaching from the perspective of combining reading and writing. In “Practical Research on Micro-writing Courses”, Shen Jianjun provided theoretical and practical experience for miniature writing courses from five aspects: language, content, form, goals and activities [11]. In 2014, Deng Tong introduced in detail the theoretical basis for the construction of the micro-writing course, the analysis framework of writing learning conditions, the path to determine course objectives, the principles of course content development, the path to setting learning scaffolds, and the organizational form of the course in “Miniature Writing Course”. He made a significant contribution to the systematization of the micro-writing course. In 2016, Chen Danni paid attention to the importance of learning outcomes to writing teaching, and emphasized that micro-writing teaching needs to pay more attention to the establishment of an evaluation system [12]. In 2019, Xu Chunlei discussed the theoretical basis and practical strategies for micro-writing teaching in the form of whole-book reading in “Reading to Promote Writing: A Study on Micro-Writing Teaching in High School Whole-Book Reading”, opening up a new direction for reading to promote writing in micro-writing teaching [13].
There are still many studies on miniaturized writing teaching, such as Wu Wenyue’s “Research on Miniaturized Writing Teaching in High School Chinese”, Liu Wangyue’s “Research on Miniaturized Writing Teaching in Junior High Schools”, and Zeng Xiaoling’s “Research on the Current Situation of High School Writing from a Miniaturized Perspective”, but they are basically based on the framework of “student learning situation-teaching objectives-teaching content-teaching scaffolding”. Although their arguments make sense, they lack novelty and have insufficient practical significance for improving Chinese composition teaching.
2. What to Solve: The Proposal and Basic Ideas of Micro-Writing
The Background and Theoretical Basis of Micro-writing
(1) Provide background
Since the emergence of Taylor’s curriculum theory, school curriculum development has entered a scientific era around the world. Its characteristics are that the course opening time is relatively long, basically with a cycle of one year, and the course content is mainly subject knowledge, emphasizing the systematic and logical nature of knowledge. Traditional curriculum development is time-consuming and labor-intensive; the curriculum development cycle is long, the curriculum knowledge lags behind, and it is difficult to combine the cutting-edge research results of the subject; because of the excessive emphasis on the systematic and logical nature of knowledge, it also imposes a certain degree of constraints on teachers’ teaching, which is easy to squeeze the free space of teachers’ teaching, undermine students’ desire for knowledge, and make students feel bored with learning. Micro-courses are not divided according to subject knowledge and logical systems, but are mainly compiled according to students’ interests and needs, teachers’ abilities, and the needs of social development. It can make up for the shortcomings of traditional curriculum development.
In China, Deng Tong, based on the dual background of the introduction of the concept of micro-courses and the fact that serialized writing courses cannot meet the needs, proposed that “improving students’ writing does not require serialized and comprehensive writing knowledge, but only requires providing necessary knowledge support for one or two key difficulties in students’ writing, which is sufficient to promote students’ writing learning. Therefore, if students’ writing learning needs can be diagnosed, the “construction” of students’ writing knowledge can proceed smoothly.” [14] Micro-writing has the characteristics of “writing teaching based on the learning situation, based on students’ real writing difficulties and needs, simplified teaching objectives, miniaturized teaching content, and immediate teaching support”. It is easier to scientifically “miniaturize” the course content based on students’ needs, so it can avoid the shortcomings of serialized writing teaching. Therefore, he believes that micro-writing is a possible choice for the shift of writing courses. Deng further clarified the characteristics of micro-writing teaching: “Micro-writing courses should have two major characteristics: first, they should be based on students’ learning needs; second, the course objectives and course content should be miniaturized. Micro-writing courses do not seek to cover everything, but rather focus on core difficulties, select core knowledge, and solve key problems. Since students are subject to various constraints of time and energy in the process of writing learning, the writing course knowledge must be highly concise to be effective. Overly grand and complex course content may turn writing learning into pure knowledge learning. Therefore, it is necessary and urgent to construct a micro-writing course with small scale, small capacity, simple theme, clear goals, strong pertinence, and operability.” [13] This was the definition ten years ago, but our research on micro-writing teaching in the past ten years has basically not deviated from this definition.
(2) Theoretical basis
The author believes that the most direct theoretical basis of micro-writing teaching is micro-learning theory. In addition, there are also scaffolding teaching theory and life education theory.
The concept of micro-learning was proposed in 2004. Peter A. Bruck, an authority on learning research in Europe, defines micro-learning as “the breaking down of knowledge into small, loose but interrelated learning units, and an activity that can be carried out in people’s daily communication and work.” [14] Micro-learning has the following characteristics: First, the learning time and location are not fixed. Learners can learn anytime and anywhere. Secondly, the learning objectives are short and practical. The learning content of learners is processed in micro-processing, the overall learning content is divided into small learning units. Finally, there are many ways to learn. Learners can learn by themselves, collaborate with others, or use digital resources to learn. Micro-writing relies on the micro-learning theory to divide large knowledge points, refine the goals, and use limited class time to carry out learning activities. It allows students to understand the knowledge content in a shorter period of time and achieve a higher degree of goal achievement. In addition, micro-learning can use micro-media for learning and use the Internet for training, which puts higher demands on both teachers and students. For front-line teachers, in addition to establishing small training points, teachers must also learn to use network media for effective teaching. It should be noted that the learning content in the micro-learning theory is multi-layered, and the entire learning content is broken down into many small learning units. These learning units are independent of each other, but there are certain connections. This puts higher demands on teachers’ ability to grasp knowledge. Teachers need to integrate the teaching content first, then refine the teaching objectives, and solve students’ difficulties in a targeted manner. They also need to implement knowledge points in a hierarchical manner in each micro-writing training, conduct cyclical and progressive micro-writing training for students, and drive students to independently conduct micro-writing learning.
Scaffolding teaching theory and life education concept can provide inspiration for micro-writing teaching. The setting of micro-writing teaching objectives is designed according to the zone of proximal development, which conforms to the essence of scaffolding teaching theory. Scaffolding teaching theory guides teachers on how to design appropriate writing tasks and situations according to students’ writing level. And guide and inspire students based on their original experience, so that students can gradually master the content of writing teaching through independent learning and reach their potential development level. In addition, micro-writing uses its unique network attributes to allow students to record the little things they encounter in life and the beautiful scenery they see anytime and anywhere, and even the life experiences on the Internet can be used as students’ life database. The life-oriented composition education theory emphasizes the close connection between students’ writing and life, and advocates that students can observe life, tell their life experiences through language and words, accumulate life material libraries, enhance their writing confidence, and stimulate their interest in writing. With the support of multiple theories, micro-writing teaching has a broader research prospect.
3. The Value of Micro-Writing Teaching
Stimulate interest in writing: First of all, the academic definition of micro-writing teaching focuses on the “micro” of the writing content, that is, the length is short and concise. From the “micro” of the length, micro-writing can also be called micro-composition or small composition, which refers to works with short length and concise content. For example, micro-writing in primary school Chinese teaching is usually compared with large compositions. Unlike large compositions of 300 - 500 words, micro-writing usually does not exceed 200 words, and micro-writing in middle school Chinese ranges from 300 - 500 words or 400 - 600 words. Use short length, concise language, and flexible forms to carry out life-like or personalized writing. The topic usually focuses on only one aspect, such as scenery description, character description, environment description, etc., focusing on the cultivation and improvement of students’ writing ability. Micro-writing training is to use micro-writing to train students’ writing ability. Micro-writing training is more targeted, targeted and operational.
This feature has a significant effect on stimulating interest in writing, and has a significant effect on lower grade students. For example, primary school teacher Zhu Feng found: “In this way, students do not need to spend too much time on the idea, structure and composition of the composition. In terms of layout, there is no need to try to make up the number of words. You only need to play freely according to the writing requirements to complete the writing task, and the writing difficulty is greatly reduced.” [15] Therefore, micro-writing training usually takes a shorter time, classroom training is more convenient, and students are motivated to create. higher. Secondly, the theme is single and the language is concise. Micro-writing training is targeted composition training. It usually focuses on a certain theme each time, such as scenery, characters, events, etc. Micro-writing training requires students to express their thoughts in concise and concise language as much as possible. The structure and layout do not need to be too complicated. Micro-writing training can more specifically improve students’ language and layout abilities in writing, laying a foundation for improving students’ writing abilities. Again, the form is rich and interesting. Micro-writing training uses small, partial training to connect the dots and comprehensively improve students’ writing skills. The form of micro-writing is very comprehensive and rich, involving various genres and forms, such as stories, descriptions, explanations, and comments, notices, letters, etc., to ensure that students are exposed to as many writing forms as possible. The writing forms are rich and diverse, and the content is closely related to students’ lives. It is easy to stimulate students’ interest in writing, mobilize their writing enthusiasm, and improve the effectiveness of writing teaching.
At the same time, the scientific nature of micro-writing propositions is also conducive to stimulating interest in writing. Zhu Feng also pointed out that “scientific and appropriate propositions can not only improve students’ writing skills in a targeted manner, but also stimulate students’ interest in writing and make students fall in love with writing. Therefore, teachers should scientifically determine micro-writing propositions based on students’ abilities, levels, interests, development needs, etc.” [15] Shen Rui proposed that students’ writing interest can be stimulated by creating a real context, and then through teacher guidance, writing initiative can be effectively improved. For example, in the teaching unit that introduces the physical characteristics of characters, teachers can discuss the topic by presenting pictures, videos, and stories related to the writing topic, so as to stimulate students’ willingness to write. Then guide students to use words and sentences related to appearance descriptions to express their thoughts, so that English writing classroom teaching can get twice the result with half the effort [16].
Ye Guoyong also paid attention to the role of “micro-word count” in stimulating interest in writing and conducted micro-writing teaching from multiple perspectives. He commented on the value of micro-writing: “It is conducive to students reshaping their writing cognition, from easy to difficult, gradually experiencing and discovering the fun of writing, feeling the charm of language and words, and then falling in love with writing, stimulating enthusiasm for writing, turning passivity into initiative, and constantly improving their writing level.” [17]
In short, because of the short length of micro-writing, it can reduce students’ boredom caused by the high word count requirements and the long time spent on writing. Especially in elementary school and the early stages of middle school, the effect of stimulating interest in writing is more obvious.
Implementing core competencies: Liu Yang once proposed that writing itself plays an important role in cultivating students’ core competencies in Chinese. “Specifically, through writing, teachers can guide students to actively use the language knowledge learned in the classroom, improve students’ language construction and application abilities, and at the same time cultivate students’ thinking ability in the planning of articles; in addition, with the help of writing activities, teachers can also It can guide students to express their experiences and perceptions of the truth, goodness and beauty in life, and then cultivate students’ aesthetic creativity. In this way, students’ core Chinese literacy can be improved to a certain extent through systematic writing training.” [18] In addition, writing ability can be improved to a certain extent. The implementation of core competencies is also reflected in cultivating students’ thinking ability and thinking habits, and the flexibility of micro-writing is more prominent. It can be targeted at students’ exploration of life materials, such as thinking about current affairs hot spots, or sharing what they have observed in life. knowledge. Shen Jungao once pointed out, “Incorporating micro-writing into the curriculum will help students actively integrate into social life, strive to dig out high-quality materials, and use concise language to describe things, express opinions, and express emotions. Based on this, in high school Chinese teaching, teachers have It is necessary to organize students to improve their creative abilities through independent participation in micro-writing activities.” [19] Shen Rui once designed a micro-writing text about the conflicts between students and parents, which is in line with the requirements of the new curriculum standards for middle school students’ writing ability under core competencies, and fits students’ daily life to enhance their language application ability [16].
It is conceivable that, with the characteristics of micro-writing’s strong flexibility, many opportunities for development, multiple writing genres, and rich angles, it will also be helpful in cultivating students’ imagination. In teaching practice, the path of miniaturized writing teaching design based on writing learning conditions has been roughly explored. Others such as “detection, analysis, and miniaturized technical processing of writing learning conditions, creating multiple writing situations based on writing learning conditions, and grasping learning nodes to develop writing scaffolds” are in urgent need of in-depth research, which will have great value in promoting students’ writing learning and improving teachers’ writing guidance. However, it complements Zhao Yongfeng’s micro-writing teaching strategy of combining reading and writing, especially the division of specific nodes, which can provide support for the former’s need to “pay attention to learning conditions and build scaffolds.”
Other researchers have also proposed implementation paths to link micro-writing teaching with large-scale composition teaching [20].
Figure 1. Implementation path diagram for linking narrative micro-writing teaching with large composition teaching.
As shown in Figure 1, this path includes the following four key links: based on the curriculum standards, sort out the narrative writing knowledge in the writing unit in the textbook; establish a connection between the teaching objectives and teaching content of micro-writing and big composition, and establish micro-writing training points in the text or life; expand micro-writing into big composition through expansion and combination methods. Considering the new teaching method of micro-writing to take care of the general big composition writing requirements, this is also a research angle worthy of attention in front-line teaching.
4. Conclusion
Micro-writing teaching, as an emerging teaching method, can stimulate students’ creative enthusiasm and improve their writing skills in a short period of time through streamlined writing tasks. This review systematically reviews the development history, theoretical basis and teaching practice of micro-writing, and emphasizes its importance in improving students’ core literacy. Research shows that combining micro-writing with real life, focusing on micro-novel creation, strengthening teaching methods of core literacy, and teaching strategies combining reading and writing are all key ways to effectively improve teaching effectiveness. In addition, the study also puts forward the challenges and future development directions faced by micro-writing teaching, providing valuable references and inspiration for educators. As a teaching method that focuses on refinement and efficiency, micro-writing teaching has broad development prospects in the future field of education.
5. Outlook
The following is a prospect for the future development of micro-writing teaching:
teacher:
With the rapid development of information technology, teachers have more diverse teaching resources and tools. They not only need to master emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analysis, but also skillfully integrate these technologies into daily teaching to provide students with a more personalized and interactive learning experience. For example, teachers use artificial intelligence to assist in writing guidance, which can provide instant feedback and personalized suggestions, further improving the efficiency and effectiveness of writing teaching.
The essence of micro-writing teaching lies in its flexibility and openness. In the future, teachers can explore interdisciplinary teaching models that integrate micro-writing with other subject knowledge. By combining writing tasks with subject content such as science, history, and art, it can not only stimulate students’ interest in various subjects, but also promote the improvement of students’ comprehensive literacy.
In addition, with the deepening development of globalization, future micro-writing teaching will focus more on cultivating students’ global vision and cross-cultural communication skills. By designing writing tasks involving different cultural backgrounds and international issues, it can help students develop a global mindset and improve their international understanding and communication skills.
Finally, continuous research and evaluation are essential for the development of micro-writing teaching. In the future, more empirical research on the effectiveness of micro-writing teaching is needed, as well as the exploration of more effective evaluation criteria and methods to ensure that micro-writing teaching can truly improve students’ writing ability and core literacy.
student:
With the advancement of information technology, micro-writing teaching is no longer limited to the traditional classroom framework, but with the help of digital platforms, social media, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, personalized customization of teaching content and instant feedback are achieved. Students will be able to choose micro-writing topics according to their own learning pace and interests, participate in online interactive discussions, and even experience writing practices in different scenarios through virtual reality technology.
In addition, students will learn how to analyze problems and construct opinions from a global perspective through micro-writing, and express themselves using diverse languages and styles, thereby improving their critical thinking, innovation, and cross-cultural communication skills.
Finally, students will actively participate in the co-creation of micro-writing teaching resources, and build an open, collaborative, and shared learning community by sharing their excellent works, learning experiences, and creative ideas. This student-centered teaching model not only promotes the dissemination and innovation of knowledge, but also cultivates students’ teamwork spirit and social responsibility, laying a solid foundation for their future academic research and career.
In summary, the future development of micro-writing teaching will rely on technological innovation, interdisciplinary integration, the expansion of global education perspectives, the strengthening of teacher professional development, and continuous research and evaluation. Through continuous exploration and innovation, micro-writing teaching is expected to play a greater role in the future education field and lay a solid foundation for students’ lifelong learning and all-round development.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.