The Meaning and Effect of Outlining Teaching in College Writing Education

Abstract

Outlining is an educational training activity to strengthen writing capabilities that focuses on the exploratory nature and dynamics of the writing process. Based on this understanding, this study aims to explore practical and effective strategies for outlining teaching. The main errors learners make in outlining are closely related to the requirements of good writing and the core competencies of writing. Therefore, in response to the strategic importance of outlining guidance in writing education aimed at improving learners' writing ability, I proposed a method to strengthen outlining and confirmed its effectiveness. The strategy to strengthen outlining ability was designed according to two principles: creating and revising an outline through a multi-step process and providing differentiated feedback for each step. This strategy is effective in helping beginners in writing not only internalize the intertextual nature of the writing process and learn the dynamics of thought composition but also experience developmental changes through the process.