TSOL 531
Second Language Acquisition
(Fall '02)
(Fall '02)
Fan Shen was a Chinese International student in 1975. He tells of reconciling his Chinese identity with an identity dictated by the rules of English composition. He reports that many Chinese students reported having the same or similar experiences in their initial stages of learning to write in English. He does limit discussion to argumentative discourse.
Thus, when I write papers in English, I am able to obey all the general rules of English composition. In doing this I feel that I am writing through, with, and because of a new identity. (p 132)
Being conscious of these different identities has helped me to reconcile different systems of values and logic, and has played a pivotal role I my learning to compose in English. (p 132)
Fan Shen reports difficulty adjusting to the comparatively Idealist and individualistic mind-set that is the norm in American English composition. Materialism is a central feature of Marxist philosophy, and Communist China strongly discouraged expression of individualist ideas. So he had a lot of cultural ‘baggage’ to overcome in developing college-level composition skills.
Ba Gu (the 8-legged essay) illustrates what Shen (1989) calls the illogical component of Chinese discourse organization – or the thought process underlying and reflected in the discourse. Ba Gu is a well-developed theme in Chinese academia – as much so as the syllogism in Western composition.
He also refers to an alogical component (as reflected in literary criticism), which he illustrates with yijing (aka I-Ching). He calls yijing ‘the process of creating a pictorial environment while reading a piece of literature’ (p129), thus, ‘Thinking is conducted largely in pictures and then “transcribed” into words’ (p 130). Shen identifies Ezra Pound’s poem, In a Station of the Metro, as a classic example of yijing.
| Summary | |||
| English composition | Communist education | ||
| idealism (“Be yourself”) | materialism | ||
| individual identity | group identity | ||
| topic sentences / linear | 8-legged essay (illogical) | ||
| verbal logic | yijing - pictorial logic (allogical) | ||
A quantitative study aimed to identify cultural effects on argumentative strategies preferred by American and Japanese writers in college essays on capitol punishment. I don’t think it can be denied that such effects exist, but this study attempts to identify them in some useful detail. They identified four categories: organization, rhetorical appeals, diction, and cultural influences.
* from
http://athena.english.vt.edu/~1styear/bb/arrangement.html
Stephen Toulmin's model of argumentation has three parts: the claim or issue, which concludes the argument; the data, or evidence for the claim; and the warrant, which is the general principle that links data and claim. In simple arguments, the warrant may be assumed. If the warrant is specified, then three more elements enter the model: the qualifier, an acknowledgment that the claim is probably but not certainly true; the reservation, which spells out constraints on the warrant; and the backing, which supports the warrant. Teaching students to analyze essays according to this model will improve their ability to write coherently and argue reasonably. Cf. Toulmin [199].
The introduction to a recent book on college composition identifies two major sources of confusion in the ESOL instustry:
The students in need of services commonly called "ESL" represent a very diverse spectrum. Generation 1.5 refers to students who began growing up in another culture (literate or not), then moved with their families to the US and attended primary and/or secondary schooling here. Their language at home may or may not be English. Regardless, their writing skills often require special attention to 'accluturate' them to college writing. Some identify more with US culture, others more with their native culture, still others with the international student community in general. Many generation 1.5 students resist special language instruction because of the stigma attached to ESL as 'remedial', and many of their writing 'errors' are specifically attributable to their linguistic backgrounds.
The programs intended to serve these students are equally diverse. ESL is often seen as 'remedial' education, so the classes are non-credit-bearing. This means that many students can't qualify for financial aid to get the extra languge instruction they need to succeed in mainstream college studies. Apparently there is a move underway on several college campuses to eliminate ESOL instruction entirely from the course offerings. Other programs are self-supporting, so tuition is much higher for these courses than for the mainstream curriculum.
The essays in this book address all of these issues, but I just got it today so I haven't had time to review it in any detail. It looks promissing, but most directly applicable to ESOL in the US, not EFL abroad.
Kamimura, Taeko; Oi, Kyoko (1998). Argumentative strategies in American and
Japanese English. World Englishes, 17/3, 307-323. (EJ577568)
Shen, Fan. (1989). The classroom and the wider culture: Identity as a key to learning
English composition (Staffroom Interchange). College Composition and Communication, 40/4, 459-466. (EJ403608 )
Harklau, M., Siegal, M., & Losey, K. M. (1999). Linguistically diverse students and college
writing: what is equitable and appropriate? In M. Harklau, M. Siega, & K. M. Losey (Ed.),
Generation 1.5 meets college composition (Pp. 1-14). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum
Associates, Inc. (ILL from SPU)