An Empirical Study on Text Summary Writing Within the Framework of the Production-Oriented Approach: A Case Study of Integrated English II, Unit Four

Abstract

In response to China’s recent foreign language education reform emphasizing language output and discourse construction, this study explores the effectiveness of the Production-Oriented Approach in teaching English text summary writing. Guided by the “motivating–enabling–assessing” pedagogical framework, The Man in the Water (Unit Four of Integrated English II) was used as the instructional material for first-year English majors, who completed a 150-word summary writing task simulating a university WeChat post. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted on students’ written summaries and teacher’s feedback, focusing on information completeness, linguistic accuracy, and discourse coherence. The results indicate that POA-based instruction significantly improved students’ ability to integrate information and express ideas in written English, though challenges remained in grammatical accuracy and cognitive depth. Teacher evaluations mainly addressed grammatical structure, logical organization, and exemplification, reflecting the POA principle of “learning and improving through assessment.” The findings confirm the applicability and pedagogical value of the POA in summary writing instruction and provide implications for optimizing task design, scaffolding, and formative assessment to enhance English writing instruction in higher education.