(EGL) and Contrastive Rhetoric: Reflections from L2 Writing Research

Hosney M. El-daly

Abstract


This study argues that if we, really, accept English as a global language, and diversity of cultures, we have to better understand the different composing conventions of different cultures; otherwise, written communication among people of different cultures may break down. This argument is theoretically based on a number of premises drawn from Purves’s (1988) extensive research in contrastive rhetoric. With this in mind, the present study attempts to show how Arabic and Spanish speakers narrate in English and, to what extent their native cultures affect their narrative written productions.  In addition, some of the cognitive factors that may shape the subjects’ written productions were discussed. Using Laböv’ sociolinguistic model of narrative structure, this study shows that the narrative texts of both Arabic and Spanish speakers share almost all the structural properties of Laböv’s model.  This finding may lead us to claim that regardless of the subjects’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds, the narrative structural components seem to be somehow universal. This claim needs to be tested with low-level subjects of various languages and cultures.

 


Keywords


(EGL), Contrastive Rhetoric, Narrative Writing, Cognitive and Cultural factors

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alwi, N., Adams, R. & Newton, J. (2012). Writing to learn via text chat: Task implementation and focus on form. Journal of Second Language Writing 21:23-39.

Beare, S. and Bourdages, J. (2007). Skilled writers' generating strategies in LI and L2: An exploratory study. In G. Rijlaarsdam (Series Ed.) & M. Torrance, L. Van Waves & D. Galbraith (Vol. Eds.). Studies in Writing, vol. (20), Writing and Cognition Research and Applications (pp. 151-161). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Bereiter, C. and Scardamalia, M. (1987). The psychology of written composition. Hillsdale,

NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bickner, R. and P. Payasantiwong. (1988). Cultural Variation in Reflective Writing. In A. Purves(ed.) Writing. Across Languages and Cultures. London and Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Bitchener, J. & Bastukman, H. (2006). Perception of the difficulties of post graduate L2 thesis students writing the discussion section. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1-15.

Bloom, A. (1981). The Linguistic shaping of Thought : A Study in the Impact of Language on Thinking in China and the west. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlboun.

Boas, F. (1986/1911). Linguistics and Ethnology. In F. Boas(ed.), Handbook of American Indian Languages. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institute.

Branigan, E. (1992). Narrative Comprehension and Film . London, Routledge.

Brown, R. (2009). Students' and teachers' perception of effective foreign language teaching: A comparison of ideals. The Modem Language Journal 93: 46-60.

Bruner, J. (1990) . Acts of Meaning. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

Carter, R. (1997). Investigating English Discourse - Language, Literacy V and Literature. London and New York.

Casanave, C. P. (2004). Controversies in second language writing: Dilemmas and decisions in research and instruction. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

Chafe, W. (1990). Some Things That Narratives Tell us about the Mind. In B. Britton, and A. Pellegrini (eds.), Narrative Thought and Narrative Language. Hillsdale, N J, Lawrence Erlbaum.

Chandler, D. (2011). Semiotics: The Basics. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Cobley, P. (2011). The Routledge Companion to Semiotics. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Conley, M. (2008). Cognitive strategy instruction for adolescents: at we know about the promise, what we don't about the potential. Harvard Education Review, 78 (1), 84-106.

Connor, U. and Mc Cagg, P. (1983). Cross- Cultural Differences and Perceived Quality in Written Paraphrases of English Expository prose. Applied Linguistics, 4, 259-268.

Connor, U. (1987). Research frontiers in writing Analysis. TESOL Quarterly 21,677-96.

Cortazzi, M. 1993. Narrative Analysis. The Falmer Press.

Crossley, S.A. & McNamara, D.S. (2009). Computational assessment of lexical differences in L1 and L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 18: 119-135.

Crystal, D. (1998). English as a Global Language. Cambridge University Press.

Cumming, A. (1987). Decision Making and Text Representation in ESL writing Performance. Paper Presented at the 21 st Annual TESOL Convention, Miami.

Darvishzadeh, P., Aguilar-Vafaie, M. & Ali, M. (2012). A comparative study of working memory executive functions processing efficiency considering high and low levels of anxiety. Journal of Second Language Writing 32: 40-44.

Doolan, S. & Miller, D. (2012). Generation 1.5 written error patterns: A comparative study. Journal of Second Language Writing 21:1-22.

El-dali, H. (2010). Second language learners’ metalinguistic ability and classroom instruction: l J Focus on grammaticality judgements. Journal of Language and Literature (56): 46-62.

El-daly, H. (1986). An analytical study of lie syntactic errors of Arab students in the skill of writing in English. Master Thesis, Bloomington, IN.

Ellis, R. & Yuan, F. (2004). The effects of planning on fluency, complexity and accuracy in second language narrative writing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 26: 59-84.

Eslamim, Z. and Fatahi, A. (2008). Teachers' sense of self efficacy, English proficiency, and instructional strategies. A study of nonnative EFL teachers in Iran. TESL-EJ, 11 (4).

Fawcett, R., M. Halliday, S. Lamb, and A. Makkai. (1984). The Semiotics of Culture and Language. vol. (2). London, Pinter.

Ferris, D. & Hedgcock, J. 2005. Teaching ESL composition: Purpose, process, and practice. 2nd ed., Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Field, J. (2011). Psycholinguistics. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Freidlander, A. (1990). Composing in English: Effects of a First Language on written in English as a second Language. In B. Kroll(ed.) Second Language Writing. Cambridge, England and New York: Cambridge University Press.

Galloway, V. (1985). Communicating in a Cultural Context. Wakfield, / MA.

Galloway, V. (1992). Toward a Cultural Reading of Authentic Texts. In H. Byrnes (ed.), languages for a Multicultural world in Transition. National Textbook Company.

Gardner, R. and W. Lambert. (1972). Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House.

Gass, S. (1983). The development of L2 intuitions. TESOL Quarterly, vo. 17 (2): 273-291.

Gilabert, R. (2005). Task complexity and L2 narrative oral production. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Barcelona.

Grabe, W. and R. Kaplan. (1989). Writing in a Second language: contrastive Rhetoric. In D. Johnson and D. Roes (eds.) Richness in writing. London and New York: Langman. 263-83.

Gregorious, C. (2011). Language, ideology and identity in serial killer narrative. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Hansen – Strain (1992). Orality/ Literacy and Group Differences in Second Language Acquisition. Language, 3i: 205-212.

Hardy, B. (1987). The Collected Essays of Barbara Hardy, vol. (1). Sussex, Harvester Press.

Harris, M. (1983). Cultural anthropology. New York: Harper & Row.

Hedgcock, J. (2005). Taking stock of research and pedagogy in L2 writing. In Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, ed. E. Hinkel, 597-613. Malwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Hinds, J. (1983). Contrastive Rhetoric : English and Japanese. Text 3, 183-95.

Hirose, K. (2003). Comparing L1 and L2 organizational patterns in the argumentative writing of Japanese EFL students. Journal of Second Language Writing 12 (2), 181-209.

Hoffman, C., Ivy, L. and D. Johnson. (1986). The Linguistic Relativity of Person Cognition: An English-Chinese Comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51 (6).

Hua, Z. (2011). The language and intercultural communication reader. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Hull, G. (1989). Research on writing: Building a Cognitive and Social Understanding of composing. In R., Resnick, and L.klopfer.(eds.) Toward the Thinking Curriculum:. Current Cognitive Research. Alexandria, VA.

Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations of Sociolinguistics: An Ethnogrophic Approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Indrasuta, C. (1987). A Comparison of the written Compositions of American and Thai students. Dissertation Abstracts International 48(7).

Indrasutra, C. (1988). Narrative styles in the Writing of Thai and American students. In A. Purves (ed.) Writing Across Languages and Cultures. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 206-26.

Ishikawa, T. (2006). The effect of manipulating task complexity along the [+/- Here-and-Now] dimension on L2 written narrative discourse. In C.M. Garcia-Mayo (Ed.), Investigating tasks in formal language learning (pp. 136-156). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Jiang, N. (2007). Selective integration of linguistic knowledge in adult second language learning. Language Learning-57 (1): 1-33.

Jones, S. and J. Tetroe. (1987). Composing in a Second Language. In A. Matsulrashi(ed.) writing in Real Time. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Kachru, Y. (1989). Cross-Cultural Texts, Discourse Strategies and discourse Interpretation. In Smith (ed), Discourse Across Cultures: Strategies in World Englishes. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kang, Y.J. (2005). Written narratives as an index of L2 competence in Korean EFL learners. Journal of Second Language Writing 14: 259-279.

Kaplan, R. (1972). The Anatomy of Rhetoric: Prolegomend to a Functional Theory of Rhetoric. Philadelphia: Center for Curriculum Development.

Kaplan, R. (1988). Contrastive Rhetoric and Second Language learning: Notes Toward a Theory of Contrasive Rhetoric. In A. Purves (ed) Writing Across Languages and Cultures. London and Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 275-304.

Kaplan, R. (1966). Cultural Thought Patterns in Intercultural Education. Language learning 16, 1-20.

Kellogg, R. (1996). A model of working memory in writing. In C.M. Levy & S. Ransdell (Eds.), The Science of Writing: Theories, Methods, Individual Differences and Applications (pp. 57-71). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kimberly, A. (2009). Adult learners' perceptions of the incorporation of their Li in foreign language teaching and learning. Oxford University Press.

Klimova, B. (2011). Evaluating writing in English as a second language. Journal of Second Language Writing 28:390-394.

Knutson, E. (2006). Thinking in English, writing in French. The French Review 80 (1): 88-109.

Kormos, J. (2011). Task complexity and linguistic and discourse features of narrative writing performance. Journal of Second Language Writing 20:148-161.

Kuiken, F. & Vedder, I. (2008). Cognitive task complexity and written output in Italian and French as a foreign language. Journal of Second Language Writing 17: 48-60.

Laböv, W. (1972). The Transformation of Experience in Narrative Syntax. In "Language in the Inner City", University of Pennsylvania press.

Lee, S. (2005). Facilitating and inhibiting factors in English as a foreign language writing performance: A model testing with structural equation Modeling. Language Learning 55 (2), 335-374.

Leeuwen, T. (2011). Introducing social semiotics. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Leki, I. (1991). Twenty-Five Years of Contrastive Rhetoric: TEXT Analysis and Writing Pedagogies. TESOL Quarterly 25,123-43.

Leki, I., Cumming, A. & Silva, T. (2008). A synthesis of research on second language writing. London: Routledge.

Lin, C. (1989). The structures of English and Chinese Narratives, written by College graduates in Taiwan. Dissertation Abstracts International 50 (7).

Loewen, S., Li, S. and Thompson, A. (2009). Second language learners' beliefs about grammar instruction and error correction. The Modern Language Journal 93: 91-104.

Manchón, R.M, Roca de Larios, J. & Murphy, L. (2009). The temporal dimension and problem-solving nature of foreign language composing processes: Implications of theory. In R.M. Manchón (ed.), Writing in Foreign Language Contexts: Learning, Teaching and Research. (pp. 102-129). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Mangubhai, F. (2006). What do we know out learning and teaching second languages: Implications for teaching: Asian EEL Journal 8 (3): 1-20.

Marshal, S. (1979). Cognition: Information Processing in Various Cultures. In S. Marshall (ed.), Cross-Cultural Psychology; Human Behaviour in Global. Perspective. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

McCarthey, S.J., Guo, Y.-H. & Cummins, S. (2005). Understanding changes in elementary Mandarin students' L1 and L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 14 (2): 71-104.

McCutchen, D. (1996). A capacity theory of writing: Working memory in composition. Educational Psychology Review 8: 299-325.

Mitchell, W. (1981). On Narrative. Chicago, IL, Chicago University Press.

Mu, C. & Carrington, S. (2007). An investigation of three Chinese students' English writing strategies. TESL-EJ 11(1): 1-22.

Nation, I. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing. New York: Routledge.

Onaka, N. 1984. Developing Paragraph Organization skills at the College level, English Teaching Forum, 14-22.

Ong, J. & Zhang, L.J. (2010). Effects of task complexity on the fluency and lexical complexity in EFL students’ argumentative writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 19: 219-233.

Ostler, J. (1988). Seeing with different eyes: Another view of literature in the ESL class. TESOL Quarterly, 23(3), 557-584.

Perl, S. (1980). The Composing Processes of Unskilled College writers. Research in the Teaching of English 13,317-36.

Petric, B. (2012). Legitimate textual borrowing: Direct quotation in L2 student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 21:102-117.

Polkinghome, D. (1988). Narrative, Knowing and the Human Sciences. Albany, NY.

Purves, A. (1988). Writing Across Languages and Cultures. New bury Pork, CA: Sage.

Radford, A. (1981). Transformational Syntax. A student's Guide Chomsky's Extended Standard Theory. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics.

Regent, O. (1985). A Comparative Approach to the learning of Specialized written Discourse. In Riley, P. (ed.), Discourse and Learning. London: Longman.

Reid, J. (1990). Responding to Different Topic types: A Quantitative Analysis from a Contrastive Rhetoric Perspective. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Second Language writing: Research Insights for the classroom.. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Révész, R. (2009). Task complexity, focus on form, and second language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 31: 437-470.

Reynolds, D. (2010). Assessing Writing, Assessing Learning. Ann Arbor., MI: University of Michigan Press.

Robinson, P. and Ellis, N. (2011). Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. Rout ledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Rosenberg, R. (2009). Tools for activating materials and tasks in English language classrooms. English Forum 47 (4): 2-11.

Rumelhart, D. (1975). Notes on a Schema for Stories. In D., Bobrow and A. Collins (eds. Representation and Understanding : Studies in Cognitive Science, New York: Academic Press.

Sapir, E. (1949/1921). Language: An Introduction to the study of speech. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanevich.

Sapir, E. (1964/1931). Conceptual Categories in Primitive Languages. In D. Hymes (ed.) Language in Culture and Society: A Reader in Linguistics and Anthropology. New York: Harper and Row.

Schoonen, R., Gelderen, A., Glopper, K., Hultijn, J., Simis, A., Snellings, P. & Stevenson, M. (2003). First language and second language writing: The role of linguistic knowledge, speed of processing, and metacognitive knowledge. Language Learning 53 (1): 165-202.

Schoonen, R., Snellings, P., Stevenson, M. & van Gelderen, A. (2009). Towards a blue print of the foreign language writer: The linguistic and cognitive demands of foreign language writing. In R.M. Manchón (Ed.), Writing in Foreign Language Contexts. Learning, Teaching and Research. (pp. 77-101). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Scribner, S. (1977). Modes of thinking and way of speaking: Culture and lagic reconsidered. In Laird – Johnson, P. and Mason, P. (eds.), Thinking: readings in cognitive science. Cambridge University Press.

Sebba, M. & Mahootian, S. and Johnson, C. (2011). Language mixing and code-switching in writing. Rout ledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Segalowitz, N. (2011). Cognitive bases of second language fluency. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Shehadeh, A. (2011). Effects and student perceptions of collaborative writing in L2. Journal of Second Language Writing 20:286-305.

Silva, T. (1993). Toward an Understanding of the Distinct Nature of L2 Writing: The ESL Research and its Implications. TESOL Quarterly 27: 657-77.

Simon, P. (1980). The Tongue-Tied American. New York: Continuum.

Soler, A. (1988). The second language learner and cultural transfer in narration. In A. Purves (ed.) Writing across languages and cultures. London and New bury Park, CA: Sage. 177 – 205.

Spada, N. (2006). Communicative language teaching: Current status and future prospects. In J. Cummins & C. Davis (eds.), The International Handbook of English Language Teaching. Norwell, MA: Springer.

Stigler J. and Hiebert, J. (2009). The teaching gap: Best ideas from the world's teachers for improving education in the classroom. Free Press.

Toolan, M. (1998). Language in Literature: An Introduction to Stylistics. Arrowsmith, Bristol, Great Britain.

Tyler, A. (2011). Applying Cognitive Linguistics. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Vahapassi, A. (1988). The Problem of Selection of Writing Tasks in Gross-Cultural study. In A. Purves (ed.) Writing Across Languages and Cultures. London and Newbury Park: CA: Sage. 51-78.

Valdes, J. (1989). Cultural Bound. Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching. Cambridge University press.

Van Patten, B. and Williams, J. (2008). Theories in Second Language Acquisition. New York: Routledge.

Van Weijen, D., Van den Bergh, H. Rijlaarsdam and Sanders, T. (2008). Differences in process and process - product relations in L2 writing ITL. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 156, 203-226.

Walker, J. (2011). Variation in linguistic systems. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Weijen, D., Bergh, H. and Rijlaarsdam, G and Sanders, T. (2009). L1 use during L2 writing: an empirical study of a complex phenomenon. Journal of Second Language Writin 18, 235-250.

Whorf, B. (1956). Language, Mind, and Reality, in J. Carroll (ed.), Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected writings of B. Lee. Whorf. Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press.

Wilkinson, A.; Barnsley, G.; Hanna, P., and Swan, M. (1980). Assessing Language Development. Oxford : Oxford University Press.

Wong, A.T.Y. (2005). Writers' mental representations of the. intended audience and of the rhetorical purpose for writing and the strategies that they employed when they composed. System 33, 29-47.

Wong, L. (2001). Switching to first language among writers with differing second language proficiency. Journal of Second Language Writing 12: 347-375.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.6p.154

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2012-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD. 

International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature

To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the journal emails into your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.