Writing constructs are perceptions about writing that many people see as invertible and definite "rules" to writing rather than as changing and mailable according to the situation at hand. One example of a construct related to writing is the old adage that you must start an introduction with an 'attention grabber'. Certainly, some attention grabbers might be necessary given specific situations, but I can think of many situations where starting with an 'attention grabber' is not a great idea. For example, a few years back a close friend to my family passed away, and his family requested that I write the obituary. When I went about writing the obituary, I didn't think up a catchy 'attention grabbing' intro. I read through many obituaries and replicated the pattern of that particular genre. Likewise, when I recently bought a new piece of furniture that required assembly, I wasn't disappointed that the opening paragraph to my instructions didn't have an 'attention grabber'.
There are many other constructs related to writing. I remember being told that a paragraph should have five to seven sentences, and I also remember constructing thesis statements with three parts. Whether it is related to perceived rules or taught ways to write, what we might think of as rules are actually constructs. Defining rules more accurately as constructs allows us to see that language usage and acceptable writing conventions are created rather than inevitable. Many writing constructs are culturally influenced but remain hard to notice because cultural analysis is difficult unless one steps away from the home culture for a significant period of time.
In standard American English, you are often taught to be concise and precise in delivering your point. This is reminiscent of the three part five paragraph essay that so many of you are familiar with. In many other parts of the world, there are other writing conventions that dictate what is or is not appropriate for different writing situations. Your task here is to research some different approaches to writing that are NOT typical of standard American English. Certainly, if you traverse the Net, you should find some sources that showcase how writing happens in different cultures.
In a brief report (1-2 pages), you should identify at least two writing constructs that are different from conventional American English constructs. These constructs must come from a different writing culture than Standard American English. Certainly, other places around the world will practice different styles.Your report should explore how the culture shapes the practice of writing and underscore the relationship between culture and writing practice. You should cite at least two sources in your brief report and you should write a reflective conclusion that explains why it is valuable to view constructs as created rather than as fixed and unchanging.
As a starting point, you might want to view this series of videos presented by Oregon State University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quI0vq9VF-c\
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koViA1gqiUs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0wbDcfltIU
You can use these videos as a starting point, but you must use other sources for this assignment. You have freedom regarding which culture or country you want to investigate. If your background is multicultural, you can use personal experiences, but you must still have at least two outside sources for this assignment.
Our culture is an ever-changing part of our lives that subconsciously undermines every aspect of our social and personal lives, as well as our reading and writing style. In Asian cultures there is a major focus on strictly being able to tell the right or wrong answer with very little gray area for interpretation. Modern American culture however puts a lot more value on analyzing and synthesizing ideas outing little emphasis on the right or wrong answer. Although no one culture is better than another, there are big distinctions in the way these different writing styles are perceived by people of other cultures.
ReplyDeleteIf we turn to our focus to our own American culture, and explore our own writing constructs. From a young age we are taught to write in a way that is straightforward and direct, yet in a way that allows for our personal knowledge and experiences to shine through as we show our own ideas to prove or disprove a prompt. Our culture has shaped our writing style the way that all different cultures inevitably shape the styles of the people that associate with it. Other cultures discourage the incorporation of prior outside knowledge into ones writing.
As we explore Asian culture that is on the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to writing style, we see that Asians generally prefer an even more direct style than what we are used to seeing in American culture. In Asian culture it is actually frowned upon to use outside knowledge and ideas to answer a question, so much so that “many Asian students do not have as much skills when it comes to finding and citing sources that American students have.” Secondary education in Asian culture consists primarily of “ objective tasks that focus on knowing the right answer and not on developing and expressing opinions.”
No matter what style of writing you prefer, there is no denying the overwhelming effect that an individual’s culture has on his/her way of creating a writing piece. Robert Kaplan writes that “different cultures produce distinctive approaches to thinking and writing, just as they each have a distinctive language.” I would like to reiterate a point made earlier that no cultural writing style is any better nor is it any more correct than any other.
Citations:
"Explore Strategies - Enhancing Education - Carnegie Mellon University." Explore Strategies - Enhancing Education - Carnegie Mellon University. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2013. http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/solveproblem/strat-cantwrite/cantwrite-04.html
"Cultural Influences On Styles of Writing and Presenting Ideas." Cultural Influences on Styles of Writing and Persenting Ideas. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2013. .
When people talk about their thoughts on culture, they usually refer to different cuisines, a variety of musical instruments that are played, traditional attire, values, traditions, and beliefs from all over the globe. They usually don’t contemplate and realize that there is more to culture than all of those things. Writing is also one of the abundant things that vary with each culture. They all have valuable constructs that are created as time goes by. The Vietnamese and Germans are two cultures who’s style of writing contrast in different ways with the Americans.
ReplyDeleteIn the United States, Students learn writing skills through their English classes and other courses that are meant to enhance their literacy. In A Comparison of Vietnamese and American Writing- Pedagogy, Vi Tran states that “In Vietnam, however, writing isn't a subject per se, and students develop their writing skills through the study of literature… University students do not take courses devoted to writing.” Instead, they focus on their majors and devote all of their time and attention to it. In the United States, students focus more strictly on topic sentences and thesis statements because of the courses they take throughout their educational careers. Vietnamese students as Tran says, “…don’t go directly to their topic but approach to indirectly.” They circulate around the point they are trying to make while still making the reader comprehend and enjoy it.
German students’ way of writing differs from the Vietnamese way of writing because they do focus directly on the topic. They share this in common with the United States but both of their writing structures still counteract. In Germany, students aren't taught a particular way of writing. They also aren't instructed on what essays should be composed of like Americans are throughout the years. Their schools require them to be isolated when they write essays and later hand them over to their professors for feedback. They do not discuss the essays in person; instead the professors write comments and then return them to the student. In Dirk Sierpmann’s article, Academic Writing and Culture: An Overview of Differences between English, French, and German, he defines some of their writing constructs when he states that “As a result, the focus in German academic writing is on subject-matter knowledge and content rather than form or style, and there is a greater tolerance of digression.”
In the German culture, content is crucial because they are never forced to write in a certain format like the American writers are. Americans focus on the topic and the thesis and while Vietnamese pay attention to the thesis, they don’t approach it directly. These three countries have similar yet very different ways of writing essays because their cultures and the way they are educated are what influence them. As time goes by and the world becomes more modern, the customs of these cultures along with the writing will continue to change. Who knows? The Germans might change the way of teaching writing and enforce a particular form of writing on their students, the Vietnamese may start to focus on subjects other than their majors and devote courses to writing, and maybe a new format of writing essays will be born in the United States. Only time will tell how all of these writing constructs will be improved and transformed by their specific culture, but one thing is for sure, they will not stay consistent.
Works Cited
Siepmann, Dirk. "Academic Writing and Culture: An Overview of Differences between English, French and German." Www.erudit.org. Consortium
Érudit, 1 Mar. 2006. Web. 10 July 2013.
Tran, Vi. "A Comparison of Vietnamese and American Writing-Pedagogy." Castle.eiu.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2013.
People are never able to understand why someone is the way they are until you understand their culture. In the United States thousands of international students come to the country to continue their education. Even though the students have good intensions for coming to the country there is always a barrier that they must overcome. In this case the barrier is changing their style of writing from where they came from to the standards of the United States.
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, Haiti is an underdeveloped country. People are always in a rush trying to go places so they could make money for their family. In the Haitian culture, it is rude to bush around a subject when you want to tell someone something because they feel like you are wasting their time. That is why when writing an essay in the Haitian culture the introduction is one to two sentences long and right off the back tells the reader what the essay will be about. Unlike the United States where the introduction is four to five sentences long and must hook the reader on the essay. The body of a Haitian essay is about the same length as an Untied State essay, but the only difference is that in a United States essay you can add extra facts in the essay to sound better while in a Haitian essay added facts that the teacher did not teach you would get you a low grade. In the United States added extra facts would mean that you are well rounded. In Haiti is means that you are getting off topic. Writing a long essay in the United States sometimes mean that you did a lot of research on the topic of the essay and have a lot to say, in Haiti writing an essay that is more than a page and a half means that you have a lot of fluff in the essay that was not need. Just like in the introduction, the conclusion of a Haitian essay is around one to two sentences and just recaps the introduction. The conclusion of a United States essay you must state the main point of the essay while recapping the essay.
In Indonesia their style of writing the reader wants the person to get straight to the point of the easy. They do not need a four to five sentence paragraph as the introduction, they want the writer to get straight to the point. The write must not add any extra fact to the essay for outside sources because they believe that the person reading the essay is already knowledgeable in the subject. Not being able to use outside sources makes the Indonesian students unable to write good research papers or cite their work after using outside sources.
All in all, the obstacles that culture brings to international students writing essays make it difficult for them to transition from their old ways. This brings about more pressure on the students. They must catch up to the American students even though they might be a better writer because the structure in which they write is acceptable in our culture.
Work Cited
"Explore Strategies - Enhancing Education - Carnegie Mellon University." Explore Strategies - Enhancing Education - Carnegie Mellon University. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2013.
Lord, Karen. "Writer from an Other Culture." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 July 2013.
"Overcoming Obstacles in Your Presentation." Overcoming Obstacles in Your Presentation. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2013.
Kwintessential Ltd, . N.p.. Web. 10 Jul 2013. .
"Second Language Writing and Research: The Writing Process and Error Analysis in Student Texts." Second Language Writing and Research: The Writing Process and Error Analysis in Student Texts. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2013.
Parents
Parent’s Friend
Here is a link to my essay on Dropbox:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dropbox.com/s/9qfqdwayig3uu0y/CulturalDifferencesinWriting.pdf
All across the world there always has been and always will be things that we do that that are the same and the complete opposite as others. Things such as going to work, playing sports, and watching television are things that most people do, but the ways in which we go about doing these things often are completely different. Writing is something that everyone does at some point in his or her life, but the way that it is done is different all across the world. For most people learning how to write in the Standard American English writing style can be an enormous challenge, but as you explore into the ways that others have learned to write, you will realize you would be having those same exact challenges learning how they did.
ReplyDeleteThis particular assignment calls for you to research into a different culture’s writing style and find out differences they have compared to the Standard American English style so the language I have chosen is the language of my family, Italian. The writing styles of American and Italian both have very much in common but one major difference is the each region of Italy has their own dialect, whereas in American people have different accents but the meaning and pronunciation of the words are the same. “The Sicilian dialect for example, is sometimes regarded as a separate language and has a literary tradition older than Italian itself. The letters j (i lunga), k (cappa), w (vi/vu doppia) x (ics) and y (i greca) do appear in Italian but are thought of as foreign letters. They are used mainly in foreign loan words and their pronunciation depends on the word they appear in.” (Omniglot, pg.1). This is quite interesting because although the language is practically the same no matter where you go throughout Italy, but depending on the region in Italy that you are in, the literacy will be somewhat different unlike in America where it is all generally the same.
Another interesting thing that differentiates between American and Italian styles of writing is the ordering of phrases when clarifying an action. “English manuals often introduce instructions (condition) followed by a final clause (outcome). In Italian it may be preferable to put the outcome first, followed by the instruction.” (Crivello, pg.1). That is not an extreme difference from the looks of it but once you dive deeper into how that exactly impacts the way both respective parties write, you can see how it is a major difference. A drastic difference between American and Italian writing is composed would be, “ Avoid linguistic clichés – words and expressions that are overused in technical writing. The same English word can be effectively translated with a whole range of terms.”(Crivello, pg.2). In Italian there are multiple words that have the same meaning as their English counterparts, so in order to write more proficiently in Italian, it takes more time to choose the correct words for the given situation. Italians and Americans both have things that they do better than the other but when it comes to writing, both styles that the respective countries have are very effective ways of getting the job done.
Over time people learn to write in different ways from the time that they are born and as life situations transpire they adapt to the expectations and requirements for the new arena of literacy that they are in. There are many facets to writing that you could choose to talk about for differences, and although writing is something that everyone does, it varies among cultures all across the world. Writing is writing and although everyone has their own styles to how it should be done, we all need to be open minded to new styles that could help us improve our own writing.
Citations:
Simon, A. (n.d.). Italian language (italiano). Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/italian.htm
Roberto, C. (1997, August). A matter of style:effective writing in Italian technical translations. Retrieved from http://robertocrivello.com/matter-of-style/
Cultures help define various countries and play a major influence on different aspects of a person’s life. It marks certain traditions, values, and beliefs that people of a country try to practice on a daily basis. Culture not only influences peoples’ lives it also manages to influence writing styles. Each area of the world has their own specific style of writing that classifies their country and culture. American writing style is unique as well as those from Japan, and Russia which greatly differ from one another.
ReplyDeleteAmerican writing is classified as having a linear style of writing. This is defined as having no deviations, and getting straight to the point. It also involves many writing constraints such as having the classic five paragraph format (introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion). Supporting details and a thesis statement are common features that classify an American style of writing. It is common to have the idea of adopting an audience that the writer must tell everything to and reiterate various times throughout the essay.
However, in different countries such as Japan, this same principal of writing does not apply. It is custom in Japanese culture to place a huge emphasis on Confucianism which stresses the importance of harmony. Since many people try to apply this teaching in their life, when they talk to people they tend to speak indirectly and gentle, and place an importance of working as a group rather than having individual competition. Considering the values that the Japanese uphold, it can be used to explain their main style of writing that consists of a circular pattern. They tend to provide facts that surround the main topic, and in the conclusion the argument is then presented. Their writing is characterized as being indirect and relies more on reader responsibility rather than on writer responsibility, which means that it is up to the reader to catch the main message that the author/writer is trying to present. Learning the culture of Japan can reveal various aspects that are seen in their writing style.
Russia differs from both Japan and the United States in various ways. Their main writing style is classified as having a zigzag pattern which is characterized as containing some deviations in the piece, but ultimately it manages to come to a point at the end. In Russian writing, structure is not tended to be the main importance, however, they do elaborate on the details and context in their writing. They are also known for not stating their point and usually delegates that power to the reader so that they can form their own opinion. This main writing style can be explained from their culture, they highly place an importance on dependence from others which can explain why they don’t state a main topic since they want the reader to be part of a group effort that the piece of writing represents, where the writer provides the details and context while the reader comes up with their own idea of what the paper is about.
Writing styles from different countries differ completely from the United States. One of the constraints that are placed on American writing is being direct and straightforward, and to the point, however in Japanese writing this is not what constitutes as a major necessity to have. They focus on giving background information and then stating their point near the end of the writing. In American writing, stating a main topic is a constraint heavily emphasized, but in Russian writing a main point is nonexistent since they place that responsibility on the reader.
Outside resources:
http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/emmons/writing/pedagogy/BBP_ESLHandout.pdf
http://eslbee.com/advanced_composition.htm
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/russia-country-profile.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/japan-country-profiles.html
Jack Cassaro
ReplyDeleteAmerican culture- fast paced, impersonal, no bull****, straight to the point, much like our writing. Americans don’t take their time with writing because of the influence of the fast paced culture we live in today. In Kaplan’s Cultural Thought Patterns in Inter-Cultural Education, Kaplan diagrammed the English writing style as a straight line: straight to the point. Chinese culture, however, influenced different writing constructs thanks to different cultures. In Gonzalez’s Cultural Thinking and Discourse Organizational Patterns Influencing Writing Skills in a Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) Learner students are found to have a hard time adjusting to the English style of writing. Gonzalez cited the problems of “unfamiliarity with the cultural components of a topic... heavier focus on grammar and syntax than on the communication of meanings or ideas... (and) unfamiliarity with the cultural conventions of expository writing (Gonzalez).” In laymen’s terms Chinese students are taught to write differently than English students. In a case study in Gonzalez’s work, a girl named Lucy Marie submitted papers to be graded by English criteria. The syntax in her essays was criticized due to discrepancies in verb conjugations, verb agreements, pronoun use, and redundancies which would have been seen as acceptable in Chinese writing. Other areas are more interesting for writing criticism, such as her thought and discourse organization. Lucy Marie’s paper about her vacations to Japan and America were “not consistent in the linear presentation of her ideas” and had “no coherent plan of following a logical lineal sequence of parallel contrast of both countries across areas of comparison (Gonzalez).” Her writing pattern resembled Kaplan’s diagram of Oriental writing, a swirling pattern moving out from the center. Lucy Marie’s case accurately represents Oriental writing; Oriental writing is slow and circular. It takes its time and pays attention to detail and does not have to relate one thing to another. It is perfectly acceptable in Eastern writing to make unrelated points as long as accurate descriptions are made.
In Arabic writing systems Kaplan described another form of writing constructs: the focus on syntax. Arabic and Semitic systems focus heavily on sentence structure, specifically the use of parallelism. Semitic writing was shaped by parallelism and is demonstrated predominantly in the King James Bible, a Semitic work. Uses of synonymous parallelism, synthetic parallelism, antithetic parallelism, and climactic parallelism are “the core of paragraphs in Arabic writing (Kaplan).” Examples of these parallelisms are “His descendants will be mighty in the land and the generation of the upright will be blessed.” Sentences like these do not fit in with English writing, they would be seen as archaic and awkward (Kaplan). These sentences do, however, make perfect sense and were noted in a case study of six hundred Arabic students which demonstrated many of these parallelisms. Sentence structure is the core of Arabic writing, and is what good writing is based off in Semitic countries. These sentences are different than that of the simple yet descriptive Chinese writing, and are more intricate and differently formed than the “get to the point” sentences found in English writing. While writing constructs in each country are varied and different, they are all center around the culture of the country and influence writing.
Works Cited
Kaplan, Robert. "Cultural Thought Patterns in Inter-cultural Education." Kennesaw.edu. Kennesaw State University, n.d. Web. 10 July 2013.
Gonzalez, Virginia. "Cultural Thinking and Discourse Organizational Patterns Influencing Writing Skills in a Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) Learner." Uc.edu. University of Cincinnati, n.d. Web. 10 July 2013
People are sometimes weary or critical of people that are different. The truth is that we are all actually the same but are different in the sense of all of the diverse ways that we are brought up. Several people in the world are ‘different’ due to them having a different heritage or culture that is different from the norm. Most people are not able to comprehend a person unless they actually decide to learn and understand their actual cultural background. In today’s day and age, there have been several students from all around the world coming to the United States to study and attend universities. The main thing that stops some students to come to the United States is the fact that they have much difficulty speaking and writing in the normal American way. This is a huge hindrance to them due to the entire education system wrapping around the ability to read and write. The only way that they can succeed in this situation would be to change their ways of writing and adapt the ways of the American style of writing.
ReplyDeleteMany individuals from India have recently been coming to the United States to further their education or to find work. The main thing that stops them is obviously their reading and writing skills being different from the normal American standard. Many of these people are then left to read ‘guidebooks’ in order to thrive in America. These so called guidebooks are definitely not the way that a person can learn proper English. “The poor quality and narrow goals of these guidebooks undermine the acquisition of English” (Writing Studies Summer 2013). Various Indian languages have corresponding scripts for them. The Hindi, Marathi and Angika languages are all written using the Devanagari script which contains its completely own alphabet different from the normal American one. In writing, most people in India use as much detail as possible in order to show a clear description of what is going on. They honestly overdo it on the amount of details causing the essay to be extremely confusing and this in turn takes away from the actual main idea of what they are trying to pass to the reader. People in India also use quite a bit of spirituality and references in their day to day writing. This is definitely something that is not usually appropriate in American writing because spirituality is one of the most controversial topics discussed among individuals.
In my opinion, instead of criticizing the way people from around the world read and write, I believe that we can actually learn from each other. I believe that we should actually maybe change some of our own constructs in the English language with mix of other cultures’ writing styles. Even though many people based on their different cultural backgrounds and heritage have different ways of writing, it is after all still the universal way of communicating with one another.
Work Cited:
"Indian-style writing | Think Clearly, Write Clearly." Think Clearly, Write Clearly | Why and How to Write Clearly in English. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2013. .
"Writing Studies Summer 2013: Writing Constructs (due by July 11 at 11:59pm)." Writing Studies Summer 2013. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2013. .
Parents
Writing constraints are shaped by culture, and are a direct influence on the society’s behavior. Constraints are not to be perceived as limitations but should be viewed as the construct of culture. As explained in the academic journal, Factors That Influence Chinese International Students’ Academic Writing at Universities in North America, constraints reflect the behavior of the society. In China the traditional culture affects the writing constraints, such as using long sentences, writing your main point at the end of the paper. In China the logical thought process includes a steady climb or detail leading to their overall point at the end of their thought. While Americans introduce what their topic is then they elaborate on it. While both the book and the video depicts this difference the YouTube video goes more in depth about how Americans are so fast-paced meaning they only concerned with what information they desire. For example in the video the guy from Brazil uses his email to explain what the American way is perceived as. He explained that if he were to go to the main point of the email first then it was considered rude because it would show that he had no consideration for who it may concern. While in China they value self-discipline which allows them to gradually introduce their ideas to their audience without becoming invasive.
ReplyDeleteThough constraints in other cultures are different, they all share a common purpose. In the international student’s feedback about writing in America they can all relate that the writing culture of their native land is related to the lifestyle of the people. Whether they are Swedish, Brazilian, Japanese, or American they all learn their behaviours and culture through their writing habits. As they realized that writing affects them socially they explain that their culture shapes who they are.
Work Cited
Zhong , L. n. page. .
Work Cited
ReplyDeleteZhong , L. n. page. .
All over the world our cultures vary, from the different types of music to the different types of clothes we wear. The one thing that most people don’t think of is how writing changes from one culture to another. It is often hard to see, because most do not explore the writing of other cultures as they do their food and music. When stepping out of the writing constructs of the traditional American, it can be seen that many cultures have there own style. Such as writing in different directions, how they organize there thoughts and even the length of what they write. In this report you will see an example of two different cultures and how they differ from American English and how there culture has affected this.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows about the French culture, there beautiful art and there amazing food. The most common shared aspect of the French is that they are rude, but I don’t believe that. There culture has directed them to be more direct and persist, which has come off as rudeness to most people. This aspect of being more direct comes into play in there writing structure. Where in American English we associate writing to have five paragraphs, but the French based off “Academic Writing and Culture: An Overview of Differences between English, French and German” focus on three to four paragraphs in there writing. The French pinpoint the problem or the topic and then give an explanatory summary about the topic or how to solve the problem. There ultimate goal is to be direct and to the point.
Another culture that differs from American English is the Spanish writing culture. The Spanish culture is very sociable, they are not very direct, and they love to talk and are not quick to getting to the point. This is shown in there writing style; in how the organize their papers. Where in American culture we organize our papers to flow from one idea to another building to a point. Spanish culture as stated in “The Traits of Effective Spanish Writing = Las caracteristicas de la buena escritura en espanol’ doesn’t always have to tie in all the pieces write away. They usually wait till the end to tie all the details together to relate it to the whole. Basically the Spanish usually dance around the subject with detail and points that are related to the theme but don’t tie them together till the end. Which ties back into how the Spanish culture loves to talk and be sociable and not so direct.
In the end, cultures vary in many ways. This is how we express our selves, the French are very direct and the Spanish are not and they show in their writing structures. As time goes on cultures change, they adjust to the time. Just like music changes with culture change, so does writing construct. It is forever evolving and this is important because people always need a new way to express themselves, and pushing the bounds of the constructs creates new one. If constructs were thought of as fixed and unchanging, no one would explore different ways of expressing them selves and be stuck in a mundane life of writing.
Works Cited
Siepmann, Dirk. "Academic Writing and Culture: An Overview of Differences between English, French and German." Www.erudit.org. Consortium
Érudit, 1 Mar. 2006. Web. 10 July 2013.
Flores, Will. "The Traits of Effective Spanish Writing = Las caracteristicas de la buena escritura en espanol. Second Edition.." Education Resources Information Center(ERIC). Northwest Regional Educational
The way Standard American English is taught in our culture varies vastly from the many other cultures in the world. We are taught to focus heavily on critical thinking and to support our ideas with outside sources. We are taught general rules to follow in forming sentences, and we are also taught how to go about stating and supporting whatever argument we may have. The traditional five paragraph essay is taught to almost any student in our educational system. We first introduce what our general point is, then we support our argument/statement with related sources, then we conclude our argument with a few closing sentences that sum everything up. We are heavily encouraged to voice our own opinions and taught that two conflicting ideas can both be “right” with the proper support. This outside sourcing is an attempt to teach students how to learn independently.
ReplyDeleteThis can’t be said for Japanese education. Japanese education, especially at the university level, prohibits educational techniques that are common in our culture. They tend to shy away from debate and opinion based arguments, which is deemed vital in our educational system. We are commonly taught that most of our arguments are not “wrong” as long as they can be supported by facts and other sources. The article states that “self-expression and critical thinking are sadly weak in the majority of graduates from institutions of tertiary education in this country.”
Another culture that differs vastly from our own is that of Africa. The article I chose focused on Zambia, Botswana, Malawi. The study was conducted in 3 universities with senior staff. They were asked about what they thought lacked in the educational system and what could be done to improve it. The general consensus was that unlike our education, they are not taught to be independent leaners and have trouble with finding sources to support their ideas. Most don’t have command in the skill of information literacy. They do respond well to “real world settings,” and demonstrate a strong hands-on learning approach. A major problem is the lack of resources available to them: small faculty and limited funding are two examples.
It is easy to see that there is a very different focus between different cultures on specific elements of reading and writing. Some cultures, due to their hierarchal system, do not encourage expressing opinions and thinking outside of the box. Our culture, on the other hand, relies on this as an essential building block in our educational systems. It was said in both articles, that if the Japanese and African students were removed from their educational environments, it would be likely that they would tend to shift to free thinking and voicing their own opionions.
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/publicity/news-releases/2013/50_Critical-Thinking.html
http://www.autonoblogger.com/uncategorized/how-japanese-education-works-against-critical-thinking/
Growing up in a Hispanic house hold I noticed at a young age the differences between my family’s culture, and what was outside of our home. My brother and our cousins were the only fluent English speakers in our family; we were the first generation to grow up in the United States and begin school here. I noticed anytime my parents would try to help me with homework, something always seemed wrong; I was confused because their methods of learning and writing were so different from my teacher’s. I didn’t understand till I grew up that it was not that their methods were incorrect, they were just not teaching me the American way, the way my teachers wanted me to learn.
ReplyDeleteHaving visited Colombia several times and having spoken Spanish my entire life I’ve noticed that the way my family interacts with other Hispanics and how they interact with Americans is bizarrely different. I feel almost as if they are acting, putting on a face for different cultures, because how we are among each other is natural. They do not come off as uptight or uneducated, but when they speak in English they try to mimic Americans. This comes off in their writing. As stated by David Limon in his article on Writing Across Cultures “Writing is an attempt to communicate with the reader.” (Limon) Seems obvious, however, it explains why different cultures have these different methods of communicating to a reader on paper. Every culture has a different way they present themselves, a different language, different gestures, and even their tones while speaking are different. There is no universal language, therefore there is no universal way to write.
The Hispanic culture does not believe in personal space. Everything we do is “in your face” for the most part, and among one another it is normal. We speak to each other very close, while walking we stand closer, and our dances usually consist of partners standing pressed against to one another holding hands. We greet each other with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Our writing is very similar. We are not as straight forward in our writing, we prefer to entertain the reader, take them on an adventure before ever mentioning the main idea. What is appropriate to write about varies. Many of the stories they tell in Colombia, for instance, involve families and friends do to the fact that they are extremely family oriented. In writing they worry about being proper and respectful, always being mindful of the intended audience. The writer tends to ask the reader questions throughout the writing, making them more involved, to better understand the point they are trying to get across. Spanish punctuations are different as well. When asking a question in Spanish you place, what looks like, an up-side down question mark before the sentence and then end it with the traditional question mark. The question mark in the front of the question prepares the reader so they know what tone to start with. Unlike in English sometimes you cannot tell that a question is being asked until half way through reading, or at the end when you reach the question mark.
Spanish writing is mean to be proper and easily interpreted by the reader. The point in this form of writing is not to have the audience questioning what the author meant, but for the point to be clear and understood.
Work Cited
Limon, David. "Writing Across Cultures." (n.d.): n. pag. Print.
Wu, Haisheng, Wei Wang, and Lanlan Wang, Ms. "A Comparative s Journalism Study of Different Writing. Patterns Across Cultures: From the Perspective of Comparative Rhetoric." Amic.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 July 2013.
Cultures make people very distinct. Not only from where they’re from, what they look like and what they eat but their writing styles as well. Coming from America we have learned such a specific way to write that it is embedded into our brains. Most of us have learned to be so direct and straightforward in our writing that everyone knows what it’s about at the beginning. And not only do we have the same style but how our writing is set up is the same as well, 5 paragraphs, an introduction, a conclusion and the thesis is in the first paragraph. This writing style has stuck with most American students from the beginning of middle school to he start of high school and maybe into college as well. It’s unfortunate that we have to everyone has to be so similar in our writing but it was the way we were taught to write and we cant do anything about it but expand on the knowledge we have now.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between American and French writing is most obvious in the introduction and conclusion. In America we place the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph while the French place it in the conclusion. It is said that the French like to create suspense and build up to the thesis in the concluding paragraph. Also, the introduction in France is supposed to have questions in them so they will be telling the reader what questions will be answered in the essay to come. The body of the paragraphs for Americans and French are essentially the same. But the introduction and conclusion are very much different.
In Spain they put less emphasis on structure and organization compared to America. They allow a lot more flexibility in their writing with what they are allowed to do. In the U.S., we're often taught that in an essay, we have to restate people's ideas in a different way and draw our own conclusions from them, whereas in Spain, it's acceptable to just rearrange the ideas without adding a personal take on them.
It’s harder to understand that all these other countries have a lot more flexibility when it comes to writing compared to America. I also find it weird that countries look down and find it rude when they hear how an American writes or even speaks. Apparently how we do things is disrespectful and after learning this I would maybe like to do a study abroad program so I can learn the proper way to talk to certain people.
http://www.tuftsdaily.com/getting-it-write-essay-styles-vary-by-country-creating-difficulties-for-international-students-1.838709#.Ud9WbqU1ZSU
http://www.tuftsdaily.com/getting-it-write-essay-styles-vary-by-country-creating-difficulties-for-international-students-1.838709#.Ud9WbqU1ZSU
It's no surprise that writing constructs around the world are different from one another. Due to vastly different cultures around the globe, writing is taught and learned in a way that is unique to most other cultures. However, not all cultural writing constructs are different from one another. For example, I have a cousin who is currently enrolled at La Universidad de Lima in Lima, Peru. I recently talked with him about the writing constructs that are implemented at his university. His response surprised me since he said that they the write in the same way as in the United States. Just like in the US, they write linear with no deviations and consistently stay on topic. They also write in the same three parts that students here were taught at an early age; intro-body-conclusion. Semitic and Eastern writing structures are very different from traditional writing here in the United States and are worth looking at.
ReplyDeleteIn Aaron Brazell's article "Western style writing vs. Eastern style writing", he states that the eastern style of writing is all about Zen. It is very Buddhist in that sense. In Buddhist culture, one becomes great when one progresses in ethical discipline and mental culture. With that cultural background in mind, Brazell states that an article written in an eastern style generally has the thesis statement in the middle. Leading up to a thesis statement are usually supporting details. This could be similar to the aspect of the culture stated earlier because someone must build up their writing similar to the way that someone must build up their discipline and virtues. The writer could also take as long as he wants to get to the thesis, which is generally accepted by that culture. Everything, like the planets in the solar system, revolves as a whole around the thesis. Semitic writing, however, is a different story.
In Laurie Miller's article "Internationals Writing in English", she states that Semitic writers tend to use a series of parallel coordinated forms, in contrast to English which favors writing in hierarchy terms. Miller also states that another characteristic of Semitic discourse is repetition. This can be in the form of paraphrasing content on the idea level or on a smaller scale through the use of specific synonyms and hyponyms. Overall, many different cultures from around the world shape their respective writing structures. Most of them differ greatly from American English where you were taught to be precise in your point. Because of this, viewing constructs as created rather than fixed is a good thing. Due to the many writing cultures changing and putting a spin on constructs is a great thing allows other people from different cultures to further appreciate their respective constructs
Works Cited
Brazell, Aaron "Western style writing vs. Eastern style writing" http://technosailor.com/2008/07/05/western-style-writing-vs-eastern-style-writing/ Web. 5 July, 2008
Miller, Laurie "Internationals Writing in English" http://www.scribd.com/doc/2339047/Cultural-Differences- Web. Spring 2007
The way we speak and talk develops over time through the culture we are placed in. As we get older how we talk and think about language is developed through a mixture of conscious work and through our subconscious from listening and experiencing things in our culture. However, without the experience of other cultures it might not be realized that way in the way one uses language could be perceived differently than the way one sees it. For people adapting to a new culture the challenge involves figuring out the differences in language and how it is formatted.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were in English class and taught how to write research papers most of us have been told that it is critical to cite any direct or indirect quotations from an author at the end of your paper. However, students in China are taught that they do not need to cite authors because they feel that the choice of using a direct quotation from an author in itself gives the author honor. Chinese students face an issue when they take American standardized tests in the essay section such as for the SAT, because how they write is a lot different. In the Chinese language to get a point across is done so by vague and indirect language. Chinese language also a lot of times finishes off essays with a very grand message, however in English the final paragraph we basically summarize and wrap our whole essay together. The way the Chinese write is different and that’s why making the transition of switching over to English takes a lot of practice and getting used to and it would be the same of transitions from English to the Chinese language.
In Hungary the writing style is very different than from what is applied in the U.S. In the article posted in the Fandem site cited below, is an experience of Valerie Harteg, who had been placed in a Hungary school for a semester. When Valarie came back to the U.S. it was hard to get back to her old way of writing that she had been taught in the U.S. . In Hungary the intent for the writers is that they remain very passive when using information and to stay away from personal thoughts and not to analyze much. In the U.S. we are very much encouraged do the opposite, often we are told to pull from our experiences and dig deep through knowledge. The way of thinking sort of collides between these two cultures in how they feel writing should be.
Not only are different cultures divided in the languages they speak, but also in the ways people are taught to write in their native tongue. Every country has certain things that they do that can differ them from other areas. Because of this it does make the transition to different cultures harder because not only is there the language that has to be learned but also how to apply the language in the correct way.
Blakemore, Amy. "Talking About Writing: An Approach to Cross Cultural Differences." http://www.fandm.edu/. Franklin and Marshall College, n.d. Web. 11 Jul 2013.
Fallows, James. "How Chinese Students Struggle to Apply to U.S. Colleges." Atlantic. 28 Feb 2011: n. page. Web. 11 Jul. 2013.
Every section of our grand world comes with its own people, cultures, and language. And when we think about culture and its influence on those immersed in it, we rarely take into account its effect on the reading and writing of that nation. Most cultures create writing constructs for those who are either forced to write or write for enjoyment. As a student, I am accustomed to the standard of conformation in our society. This standard has created very common constructs in writing as I have seen throughout high school. Other cultures that are oppressive and less free than the culture I was raised in often control more than the structure of the writing. Writing is often regulated by the government, in cultures like those in Malawi, and fear is planted in writers to ensure rules are followed. Cultures like those in Japan are often grave or very serious. For a student or writer growing up in a culture such as this one, his or her writing may not have such a humorous or light mood as those in our culture.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned previously, one’s culture can and will affect how one decides to write a story or essay. In cultures like those found in Japan, there is a writing construct that is somewhat similar to the writing construct known as the “five paragraphs” setup in American English writing. The only difference however, is the idea of using only four paragraphs to deliver a main point. Another difference between our writing traditions and the ones of Japan is the fact that they also developed a poem that helps students excel in essay writing. This is considered a writing construct because their format of writing must follow an introduction, development, turning point, and conclusion format. Because this format may not be appropriate for every writing situation, it is considered a writing construct.
Culture not only affects the format a paper or essay is written in, but also the content that can be found in the paper. For example, the country Malawi holds a culture that rarely allows people to speak for themselves. People who often oppose the government publicly are made examples of. As expected this has had an effect on the writing of the people who were born and raised into the surrounding culture. Because the government often forbade certain types of printed and written material, I would describe this as a construct. Most of the writing in Malawi is censored and considered “safe”.
Although it may seem as though writing constructs are fixed and unchanging, this is not true however. Due to the fact that in every culture there is always some factor that creates change, writing constructs are almost always subject to change. For example, the way high school students are taught to write in high school was concrete. We were told to grab the attention of our reader from the beginning, to explain our main idea, and to conclude the paper. Once former high school students become college students, the writing format changes and is no longer set to a specific format like in high school. When we get rid of old writing constructs, we are able to expand our writing abilities and increase our writing skills.
Works Cited
Lord, Karen. "Writer from an Other Culture." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 11 July 2013.
"JAPANESE LITERATURE." JAPANESE LITERATURE. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 July 2013.
Every country has its own set of rules and expectations about ways of communicating through writing and speaking. In some countries, they may place less emphasis on written materials and more emphasis on verbal communication. However, in the United States, they tend to be straightforward and right to the point. Our writing tends to be like this mainly because of our fast paced culture were we don’t stop to smell the roses; instead we just pass our days knowing that there will be more roses to come.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan, they create very personal relationships with one another. They mainly rely on facial expression and the tone of voice and posture to tell them what someone feels. Depending on the way you say it and use your facial expressions it can end up meaning one of many things. The context in which something is said affects the meaning of the words. That is why people are so expressive and concerned with what they are talking about in a conversation so that they know what exactly is going on. In their culture, it is considered disrespectful to stare into another person's eyes, particularly those of a person who is senior to you because of age or status. Since their form of communication is mainly through the expression of facial features their writing can sometimes be indirect or lost in translation from paper to what the author meant. What may be a bit strange for us Americans is that in Japanese writing styles it really depends on the reader; it’s up to the reader to understand what the author was trying to convey.
There are many cultures that have different writing styles. Some examples are Hispanics and Russians. As us American get straight to the point is the essays we write, Hispanics tend to be more descriptive and make you guess what it about. They start off by explaining the background information that leads you up to the point. By the time tell you what it was about you already probably guessed it correctly. Russians form of writing might be hard for some to follow. They start of by leading you on this path then turn it around to another story and another. By the end both stories end up leading to the big main point. They tend to miss some important details that confuses people, but that’s why their form is so unique.
Work Cited:
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/japan-country-profiles.html
http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/emmons/writing/pedagogy/BBP_ESLHandout.pdf
We as Americans contain a very unique form of writing; it is one that is linear, one that is quick and concise when coming to a point. As children we are taught the way of the 5-paragraph cookie cutter essay, containing 4-5 sentence paragraphs; our writing constructs. Although U.S. natives may view this as the “correct” way to write, foreigners would believe it to be inadequate and less than appealing. What many people don’t realize is that, in other societies and cultures this type of writing is not the social norm; but rather different approaches to writing are contrived which might take alternate paths to arriving at a desired point (Use of different writing constructs, if you will.). Two that follow this criterion are that of the Arabian and Oriental cultures; both of which contrast greatly from the American style of written literature.
ReplyDeleteIn Arabian culture, written work, down to the base, is constructed differently than that of English. One distinct difference is in how an idea is developed, they use what is know as parallelism, which is defined as: a statement that is made and then repeated with a slight variation that adds to, reflects or contradicts the original meaning. Along with parallelism, Arabic cultures come to the “point” of a paragraph or statement in a completely different manner than that of Americans. What they do, in contrast, is build up to the “point” rather than making it obvious from the beginning. A great example of this is one that is provided by the research from Robert B. Kaplan; The Arabian students paragraph starts as such: “It happened in a small city, early in the morning on a hot day”. So instead of stating there was a fire from the start, he slowly builds up in order to reveal it later on in the passage. This may seem to be a minimal difference, but to different cultures it can be very significant.
Oriental writing, more closely related to the style used by Arabian culture than that of Americans, uses a roundabout method of thinking. One in which the writer will start off very general and not reveal opinions or key issues until the end of the piece, if at all. Another name for this style of writing is, spiral writing or thinking, which is primarily used by the Chinese. The Chinese also tend to emphasize more on ethical aspects within their writing as opposed to Americans who tend to be open minded in what they speak about. Another great example that was stated in the article I read was this: The Chinese order of thinking is “concrete to concrete” whereas the western way of thinking is “concrete to abstract”. What this means is that the Chinese don’t use the same long complex or compound sentences that Americans use; they use shorter, less complex phrases.
All of these different writing constructs or styles are effective in their own way, not one better than another, but rather a cultural difference in learning. Whether you write as an American and get straight to the point or as the Chinese who beat around the bush until arriving at the purpose; either way still gets you to the same ending, just a different method. Although we have these “constructs” (which I personally see as general templates of writing), I would like to bring to light that, at the end of the day YOU decide how you write and that nothing is fixed.
Works Cited
Contrastive Rhetoric and the Teaching of Composition
Robert B. Kaplan
TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Dec., 1967), pp. 10-16
Wang Hong-mei (Basic Courses′ Dept.of Pingyuan University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003 China); Discrepancies of the Oriental & Occidental modes of thinking and its effect on college English writing [J]; Journal of Pingyuan University; 2005-06
Writing constructs vary tremendously from culture to culture. Writing styles in our culture could be on opposite sides of the spectrum in comparison with cultures across the globe. Growing up in the typical school system of the United States left very little room for creativity. Five paragraph essays with thesis statements and repetitive conclusions were very typical throughout middle and elementary school. This style of writing seems very routine to any child growing up in the American English schooling system. If we take a look outside to the many cultures around us, we will realize how different children in other cultures have been brought up in terms of writing. They have never learned the styles of writing that have been so relevant to us. Students who come to the United States are flustered by our style of writing. They receive low scores for writing the way that they have been brought up. Researching different cultures and styles of writing has taught me very interesting cultural information.
ReplyDeleteThe Spanish culture is very different from our culture. In Spanish, a long story that we would write with many details and descriptive words, would be put into one long sentence. In Spanish writing, the message is clear and straight to the point. They do not include adjectives and sensory words to make the writing more exciting, as our American culture frequently does. (David Acevedo). Spanish speakers like to talk quickly and have their moral of the story heard from the beginning. In our culture, we have always been taught to add in expressive words that will help the reader feel like they are in that situation. Descriptive words are always encouraged by our schooling systems. The Renaissance period has influenced this way of writing tremendously. To avoid affectation, simplicity and clearness of sentences was encouraged. The vocabulary was simple and very easy for people to understand. (David Acevedo).
The Arab writing style can be considered almost an opposite to the American writing style. Arabic writing style is a high context culture. This meaning that Arabic writings are not straight to the point. They will circle around the main point of their paper or subject giving enough clues to the reader to make them figure it out on their own. In our culture, this is far from the norm. We state the subject or point right away and do not leave the reader clues. The Arab culture is considered a “being” culture. In the Arabic culture your family and background are more important than what you do with your life. If you are from a high society family, you are looked highly upon. In our culture, someone who is from a poverty-stricken family and works their way up to the top is looked at in a very positive way. (Zaharma).
Learning about different cultures has really opened my eyes up to how different writing styles are in other countries around the globe. Structure in life is important but when it comes to literature, freedom of imagination should be encouraged. Giving students a specific outline to write by prohibits them from writing what they truly care about. If a student has a limit to how much they can write, for example, they will likely leave out key concepts that were profound to them to abide by their directed guidelines. Students who come to the United States often have a difficult time adjusting to these strict and somewhat concrete boundaries.
David Acevedo, . N.p., n. d. 10 Jul 2013.
Zaharma, R.S. Understanding Cultural Preferences of Arab Communication Patterns. 1995. Print.
Internationally students are taught to write within the conventions of their given culture. Interestingly enough, many of the writing conventions and constructs taught to these students are mere reflections of the culture at large. Even within general kinds of cultures there are differences in the way in which each culture affects their writing styles. Take for example the fact that many of the countries deemed “Western” are all mostly industrialized. The influence industrialization usually departs unto a culture primarily deals with the idea of brevity, and of presenting the information in a sort of formulaic and easy to identify manner. Whereas the German and American culture might have been heavily influenced by industrialization, and therefore there writing styles were made to be more brief and to the point, cultures like the Portuguese or French decided to keep their writing more illustrative and flowery due to their cultures’ expressive nature, most evident in their speech.
ReplyDeleteIn the American English writing style, we are told to get to the point of the subject and to provide evidence for our point in a fashion that conforms to presenting a fact and then supporting that fact or vice-versa. We are supposed to write in a way which summarizes the information neatly. This way of writing is reinforced through years of being taught how to write simply for evaluation in which the author is usually writing in order to get across that they can formulate ideas and support for these ideas, and do not really focus on the craft of writing, or how to create your own voice when writing. This is in contrast to the way that the Portuguese culture and generally all other cultures which use a Romance language tend to construct their writing. The Portuguese tend to organize their work in an indirect fashion with use of contextual information which involves the reader gathering this context and coming up with the point before the writer even mentions the main point. They include contextual information by way of digression, by which they stray from the original thought in order to add information which may not directly support the central idea but supports ideas which support the central idea. Each idea presented by the writer is used to support and is being supported by other ideas, these ideas aren’t simply standalone thoughts, but one cohesive unit.
Differing and at the same time involving elements of these two writing styles is the Chinese writing style. The main difference is the flexibility of the Chinese writing style as evidenced by the fact that there is no one specific style of writing promoted in Chinese education. For example, although the Chinese might use deductive or inductive reasoning, like the American English writing style usually conforms to, less importance is placed on the thesis, in which the support for that thesis is mostly the concern, or conversely, many different theses, or topics, can be brought up in one section. This style of writing also doesn’t limit how you present ideas, how many ideas you present, and how those ideas pertain to the main idea. Most of difference between American English and Chinese writing styles are due to the differences in grammatical structures. For example, shifting points of view from first to third person in the middle of a thought, whether in sentence or paragraph form, is looked down on in American English writing, whereas in Chinese writing the use of pronouns which dictate points of view can be interchanged within a single thought.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, these styles of writing are only academic representations which do not present the fluidity of human thought and expression. These constructs should be seen as just that; constructions compiled from human analysis which aim to dictate the best way to convey information. These do not take into account the creative processes humans use to showcase information. Viewing these constructs as being made of reinforced concrete instead of aluminum foil, only serves to limit how you can express ideas, and can hinder you from thinking outside of the box.
Works cited
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3587031?seq=6
http://books.google.com/books?id=NmU8n5VLokEC&pg=PA22&dq=kaplan+1972&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JKDlUcnELMen4APY6oCIBA&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=kaplan%201972&f=false
http://www.ldldproject.net/languages/portuguese/written/composition.html
http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~djohnson/6750/kaplan.pdf
Culture plays an extremely large role in your everyday life. Even though you may not realize it, the way that you think and act are influenced from your cultural background. From the day you are born you are constantly learning and observing the way that other people act and go about their life. Through these observations you learn what is right and what is wrong. You begin to understand what is expected or what is the norm. These opinions and way of thinking are shaped by the cultural background you come from. How an American acts and what they think is ok is going to differ in many aspects as to the thoughts and views of people in a different country, with a different cultural background. Everyday things such as the way that you greet people and talk to people are affected by this. Different cultures also vary in their schooling and the way they teach. The way you learn is not the same as people from other cultures. There are many different constructs that make up the way we read and write. These constructs are like rules that give structure to our literary system.
ReplyDeleteBrazil is a country very rich in culture. Many of the things they do differ from American culture. In Brazil there are many parties and festivals held with dancers, music, and floats. These along with soccer games bring the residents together and develop a sense of unity within their culture. In Brazil a man is created with a handshake and a woman is greeted with a kiss on each cheek. In America if you kissed a woman on the cheek there is a high chance of you getting smacked. In Brazil direct eye contact is made during a conversation unlike a large number of Americans. Also in Brazil men wear speedos to the beach and women wear thong bathing suites. Here, in America, men wearing speedos are looked at very strangely and even ridiculed. These are just a few differences in culture between Brazil and America.
Brazilians speak Portuguese which is said to be a romantic language and is very similar to Spanish. The way words are pronounced and delivered affects the way it is taken by others much more than the English language. America is much more individualistic than Brazil where group interaction is valued. The way Brazilian talk to each other is very dynamic and noisy, this reflects in their writing styles. When Brazilian's talk it tends to be chatty and sometimes the main point is not directly hit from the start. In America you start of with telling the person what you are going to be saying then tell them. In Brazil many details are included and they set the stage for the main point before actually delivering it. Also many excess details are usually given that Americans might not see the need for. The social aspects of Brazil greatly affect the way they write. It is much more personalized and includes many smaller points and details than just being based around the main idea. All of these things are reflected in the literacy of Brazil. It is a prime example of how a countries culture can affect the way that they write.
If we want to fully develop as individual readers and writers the walls created by constructs should be destroyed. There is no set way that a person should have to organize and display his/her ideas. Who's to say that just because your essay did not have an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion it is not any good? Good writing is good writing no matter how it is set up or formed. Writing constructs should not be seen as a restriction, you do not have to change just to fit the mold that has been created.
http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Brazil.html
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/portuguese.htm
Students from around the world are often encouraged to come to the United States in order to receive a better education as well as learn the English language. They take the bold move to travel hours and hours expecting to excel, just as they had in their own country. Students who had received extremely high scores in their country come to the United States, distraught by their low scores on their work. This is becoming an issue and is unfair to these students. The United States is known to have its own specific writing style that many international students have to adopt. We need to be more open to other cultures instead of rejecting their views. The American culture and educational system should be embracing the different styles of writing that comes with the diversity of cultures. Being multi-cultural can only benefit us, broadening our views and horizons.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan, they create very personal relationships with one another. They mainly rely on facial expression and the tone of voice and posture to tell them what someone feels. Depending on the way you say it and use your facial expressions it can end up meaning one of many things. The context in which something is said affects the meaning of the words. That is why people are so expressive and concerned with what they are talking about in a conversation so that they know what exactly is going on. Since their form of communication is mainly through the expression of facial features their writing can sometimes be indirect or lost in translation from paper to what the author meant. What may be a bit strange for us Americans is that in Japanese writing styles it really depends on the reader; it’s up to the reader to understand what the author was trying to convey. But once they come to the U.S. it causes confusion for them due to the different forms of reading and writing.
Japanese culture places a huge emphasis on Confucianism which stresses the importance of harmony. Since many people try to incorporate this form of religion in their lives they tend to be more indirect and follow a circular pattern in their writing. Since they do not directly state their argument and only give supporting details and information around their main point they are known to rely on reader responsibility rather than writer responsibility. While In the United States we tend to focus on our audience, making sure that our writing translated well from our thoughts onto paper. Japanese culture does not worry about the reader understanding their writing, they focus on the getting their thoughts on paper.
These students who travel to the United States are looking to receive a better education, so why are they being penalized for writing the way that they have been taught since birth? Rose makes an argument that students in America have trouble adjusting to a more heuristic approach to writing constructs rather than a algorithmic approach. If students that have grown up with these rules are having difficulty, how are students new to this style of writing supposed to perform well? Teachers need to be lenient in their grading approach instead of rejecting it completely. These students have been taught a different way and need time to mesh with the culture that we have grown up with. Their thoughts should not be rejected. This can be looked at as a way of rejecting change in culture.
By having many international students come and learn the American writing style it can pose as a detriment to the diversity of cultures in the world. It can ultimately steer students away from embracing and maintaining their own culture in their lives and embrace a completely new one that is unfamiliar to them.
By: Brittany Gang, Leeza Negrillo, Ashley Chavez, Esther Flicker
Americans have many more rules to follow than most other cultures in the world. In the blog posts on July 11th most people clearly stated that other cultures have less rules and are more free in their writing styles than we are. We have been told to use a five paragraph essay format with a thesis, three body paragraphs, a conclusion, a strong introduction, etc. Listing all of the rules we are told to follow as students would take forever. Other cultures, especially the German culture which was made evident in the blog, have many less rules to follow. Our country claims to provide more freedom than other countries, but when you look at the research done by our class it is clearly evident that when it comes to writing other countries are the ones with freedom.
ReplyDeleteThe blog page provides evidence that other cultures have less rules in their writing. For example, in Indonesia their writing gets straight to the point and does not need to provide a long essay to explain something that could be said in a paragraph or two. America boasts to its own people that we have more freedom and are superior to other countries. Teachers are told to teach us the standard five paragraph essay form because it usually results in a decent essay that looks longer and more detailed. Although, in actuality it could just be a bunch of extra fluff that over-exaggerates the main point. In American culture it seems to be the norm to go through school, make it into a college, get your degree, and get a job. This displays the structure in American culture that reflects in the writing.
Instead of having freedom we have more rules in our writing than other countries. We are told we are free, but what is really happening is we are being given rules to our writing in thoughts that this is the best and most effective way to deliver information. Their solution to this goal is guidlines that everyone is told to follow so that our essays produced and look the same way. Most of the blog posts were saying that the American culture is full of rules and regulations that we are told we have to follow in most classes. Other cultures are told that writing is like an art where are no strict rules that they have to follow, only basic ones that are similar to all foundations of writing across the world. Our freedom is not what we think. Other cultures are more free than we are taught they are and yet we fail to see past the rules imposed on us. We aren't better than every other county as our government wants us to believe and we definitely aren't the most free when it comes to writing.
Michael Riggs
Austin Grimm
D'Andrea Dunbar
Daniel Schultz
ReplyDeleteKevin Pierre-Louis
Jack Cassaro
Synthesis Task
Culture corresponds to writing. By comparing American and Chinese culture, it is apparent how each culture shapes each of their writing constructs. In Chinese writing constructs it is expected for sentences to be long and nonlinear, with the thesis of a paper in the conclusion. Oriental writing is depicted in Kaplan’s Cultural Thought Patterns in Inter-Cultural Education as a long winding curve that circles around a point multiple times before the point is reached. American writing, however, is depicted as a straight line with no digression; straight to the point. These writing constructs reflect very closely the cultural constructs of both countries. American culture, like its writing is straight to the point with little digression; Americans get to the point immediately in conversation, that is if it is necessary to converse. Chinese culture and conversation is full of etiquette and digression; people in China take their time with conversing as well as with their writing. By comparing the writing constructs and cultural constructs of America and China it is evident that the writing reflects the culture.
When it comes to texting, Americans feel they are entitled to their individuality. Per month 534 messages are sent per phone subscriber, this shows that Americans like to communicate and get their thoughts around or add to other people’s ideas to create new ones. While in other countries, there is effusive on meeting face to face. This is realized when you compare the way other counties construct their writings in compared to the United States. American get straight to the point when constructing an essay while other counties like to provides a story or background to how they got to the main point.
Americans are taught to write papers and argue points in a linear way. The traditional introduction, three supporting paragraphs, and a concluding statement is a staple learning process in our education system at almost any level. Even with these traditional and strict rules of writing, we are taught to think on our own and that any idea can be “right” with the proper support. It is evident Americans shorthand these methods through texting, and it demonstrates how we are taught to make a direct point. Chinese cultures may be taught to have the reader arrive at the general message on their own, or maybe they are taught to arrive at their point in an indirect way. American culture has shown in the recent years that we use a shorthand method through texting to deliver our thoughts and ideas. Texting expresses individuality and demonstrates the ways we are taught to argue points, but stray away from the strict rules of writing that we are taught in controlled environments, and expected to follow in places like work and school. Americans clearly have opinions to be expressed , or our text message count would not average to around 500 per month. It is interesting to see how texting has changed the way we express ourselves. From starting with formal written letters, then progressing to electronic mail, we can now effectively communicate with an extremely shorthand and loose form a writing through texting.
Writer’s Block On An International Scale
ReplyDeleteBy: Michael Sponheimer, Diego Hoganson, Bradley Rubin
Throughout the world, everyone experiences writer’s block, but some more than other. In America, children have been taught a specific format to write which can cause an increased rate of writer’s block compared to other countries around the world because it restricts our writing abilities. Based on a study conducted over a span of one hundred days and over 129,000 mentions of writer’s block throughout social media, Sheldon Levine has concluded that Americans suffer the highest rate of almost 55% of the total study. While China was at 18%, UK was at 8.5%, Canada was at 3.8%, and Australia was at 3.5%, according to what has been discovered in this study, America has significantly higher rates of writer’s block from the extremely strict format rules for writing.
The reasoning behind the high rate of writer’s block in America directly correlates to the set of rules embedded into our minds from our educational systems from an early age. In Standard American writing format you are required to write, create, conduct, and illustrate three supporting ideas based upon the thesis and you are frowned upon if you deviate from the topic. As compared to the style of Eastern writing in Asia, they build up their supporting information to the ideas in the thesis statement. This enables them to be freer flowing in their writing that enables them to experience less of a writer’s block. By allowing the writer to build up their ideas throughout the process of composing the paper and concluding with the thesis statement like they do in Asian countries, writer’s have more leniency than they do in America.
In the United Kingdom, when writing an essay they experience writer’s block at a significantly lower extent than we do in America due to the way that they construct their essays. “Their idea of a good essay presents a balanced case and displays an awareness of all points of view, not just the ones that agree with your own (UKESSAYS.COM).” This causes a vast decrease in writer’s block due to the fact that this allows them to elaborate on more topics, thus enabling them to write more. In conclusion, all countries experience writer’s block to a point but none to the extent of the United States due to its strict “to the point” writing procedures whereas others countries have more leniency in their format of writing which enables them to be less susceptible to writers block.
WEBSITES:
http://blog.sysomos.com/2013/04/11/everyone-gets-writers-block/
http://www.ukessays.com/how-to-write-essay.php
Cultures Impact on Language
ReplyDeleteWith Different countries and cultures the language that is used is different and many times goes unnoticed. Point can be delivered in a variety of different ways as how we apply language. Cultures in many ways shape the language and teaching style of writing. Places can vary in how direct or indirect they are in their writing or the structure in which they write.
In Portuguese the way in which they format their writing varies from how the United States is taught how to write. In the US we are encouraged many times to be straight forward with our points and make points very clear cut to the reader. However in Portuguese Students are taught to write indirectly and make a point build up in a cohesive build up of ideas. They try to make an idea connect to the next idea to soon make an overall point to the reader. This difference of how writing is formatted shows that there are in changes from culture to culture and is a cue to how cultures are structured contrastingly.
In the United States we write a lot of argumentative pieces and are not afraid to show are opinions. In Japan people are very conscious about being respectful to others and the ideas they have. Japan focuses more on tone and facial expression when conversing with others than the US does Japan for this reason a lot of times they shy away from argumentative pieces, to make sure they do not offend anyone with there thoughts and arguments. The types of writing that countries go about doing are many times shaped by countries morals.
The way in which countries go about writing and the types of styles they practice are often times shaped by the culture of a certain area. In the US we differ from how many countries teach writing and how they format their papers. Culture has a huge impact on how writing is used.
Zachary medina
Lester Couch
Ryan Daigle
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKieran paulino
ReplyDeleteJalyn Henderson
Keyla Ortiz
Despite the notion people have that many different cultures can be easily generalized as being, direct, or very elaborate and “running around the bush” there are many instances that we see people of a certain “direct culture” communicating in a way that is more indirect, not straight forward, and vice versa. To better understand the way people are writing and communicating, we must first understand the rhetorical situation. Through the research posted in our blog we have found many inconsistencies with what people found about different cultures. One student wrote that people who interact with French people often believe they are being rude, however it is just that their culture is such that does not call for a lot of elaboration. This same student writes that French writers prefer to write in a three-paragraph form that allows them to identify the problem or topic and get straight to the point. However we found that another student wrote that French culture generally calls for a stage of building suspense and being elaborate.
Some students found in their research that Americans tend to be very straight-forward and direct, as reflected by the American culture. If this generalization is true, how is it that another student could find completely different information about the exact same culture? Another student found that American students are taught to focus on critical thinking and gathering information from outside sources. Hispanic culture is often generalized as being sociable and not direct in their writing, yet there are many instances where we find Hispanic writers being very straight-forward and direct in what they are trying to say.
These inconsistencies and contradictions can be used as proof that these hasty generalizations about cultures are not always true and in some cases are not true. If these generalizations were all correct, it would be impossible for certain people to feel differently about each culture. Presumably people of all cultures use all of the different forms of communication regardless of what culture they come from. To better understand how someone is communicating we must first understand the rhetorical situation and what the author is try to relay in there writing.