Transcript Culture in the Second-Language Writing Classroom

Culture in the SecondLanguage Writing
Classroom
Tania Pattison, Trent University
TESL Ontario, Nov. 13, 2008
Consider…
 “Except for language, learning, and teaching,
there is perhaps no more important concept
in the field of TESOL than culture” (Atkinson,
1999)
 “Culture is one of the two or three most
complicated words in the English language”
(Williams, 1976)
Outline
 Culture in L2 writing discourse
 Culture in anthropological thought
 Culture: “a dangerous concept”
 New approaches to culture
Culture in L2 Writing
 Kaplan, 1966: rhetoric “varies from culture to
culture”
Effects of Kaplan’s Work
 Focus of research moved beyond grammar;
from sentence level to discourse level
 New research agenda – Contrastive
Rhetoric – relates rhetorical structure to
thought patterns within specific cultures
 But... what is culture?
Culture and Writing Today
 Culture = catch-all term
 Insufficient theorization
 “Cultures” = homogeneous, unchanging
 Tends to focus on contrast – “them and us”
 Out of step with other disciplines; research
into L2 writing is “oddly insular” (Leki, 2003)
Culture in Anthropology :
Early Days
Kroeber & Kluckhorn: 150+ definitions
Pre-1920s: Evolutionary approach (Tylor)
 Some groups have more culture than others
 Imperialist, colonialist mentality
1920s: Cultural relativism (Boas)
 CultureS, not culture
 Groups seen as people in their own right
Culture in Anthropology:
Mid-to-late 20th Century
1940s: Configurationalism (Benedict, Mead)
 National character studies
 Individual as microcosm of larger culture
1970s: Symbolic anthropology (Geertz)
 Culture is in the mind
 Concerned with symbolic meaning of actions
 Many different interpretations
Culture in Anthropology:
Postmodernism
 Questions usefulness of culture concept
 Culture “has served its time” (Clifford, 1988)
 Should “be quietly laid to rest” (Kahn, 1989)
 Something anthropologists “would want to
work against” (Abu-Lughod, 1991)
 Ethnographies of “the particular”
Why the Discomfort?
1) Changing Realities
 Variation within areas and over time
 Mobility, migration, mass communication
 Cultural “purity” is elusive
2) Ideological Concerns
 Dichotomy: “self” and “other” = hierarchy
 Potential for discrimination, marginalization
Culture in L2 Writing:
Assumptions and Challenges
 Culture in L2 writing discourse = “a
dangerous concept” (Atkinson, 2003)
 ESL writers = members of separate,
identifiable cultural groups on the basis of
geography (arbitrary) or race (discredited).
Reduced to stereotypes
 Challenges: 1) Variation, and 2) Ideology
Variation within Writing (A)
Chinese vs. English Writing
Assumptions about Chinese Writing:
 “awkward” and “indirect” (Kaplan, 1966)
 No thesis statement
 Reluctance to express personal opinion
 Reader-responsible
 Formulaic expressions, clichés, proverbs
Variation within Writing (B)
Recent questioning of this:
Contemporary Chinese textbooks say...
 First, draw attention to main point and show
object / scope of discussion to come
 Repeat main point at beginning and end
 Use transitional devices to show links
between ideas
 Summarize main idea in conclusion
Kirkpatrick (1997)
Variation within Writing (C)
 Japanese vs. English Writing
Assumptions about Japanese Writing:
 Prefers “passivity, ambiguity, reserve,
indirection” (Tucker, 1995)
 Thought to be “indirect, implicit, inductive”
(Kubota, 1999)
 Reader-responsible
Variation within Writing (D)
Recent questioning of this:
Contemporary Japanese textbooks say…
 Choose a clear theme and state problem
 Show logical development of ideas
 Use topic sentences to begin paragraphs
 Show awareness of purpose and audience
 Don’t mix facts and opinions
Tucker (1995); Kubota (1997)
Variation within Writing (E)
Other Considerations
 Academia across national boundaries
 Generation 1.5 students
 Genre differences
 Individual idiosyncrasies
 Writing challenges might be developmental,
not cultural
Implications
 Stereotypes = “oversimplifications of complex
phenomena” (Rose, 1996)
Must consider
 Changes related to increased mobility
 Changes in education systems
 Genre, individual idiosyncrasies, etc.
 This echoes anthropological thought
Ideological Concerns (A)
The “Othering” of NNS
 NNS writing described according to its
differences from English
 English is the benchmark by which all other
varieties are measured
 Difference = deficit
 Students seen as deficient not only in their
ability to write in a certain way, but also to
formulate ideas in a certain way
Ideological Concerns (B)
Dangers of Reducing Students to their
Cultures...
1) Notion that students are interchangeable
 All “Asian” students = same writing issues
2) Underestimating students’ ability
 Judgments about what students can and
cannot do, based on their L1
Ideological Concerns (C)
3) Failure to consider other factors
 Writing issues may have nothing to do with
culture
4) Limited choice of methodology
 Writing class may be overly prescriptive
The Need for a New View of
Culture
“[L]et us play with the notion of culture a bit:
Let’s stretch it out, or shrink it down; let’s look at
culture across a variety of cross-cutting
domains, modalities, and sizes” (Atkinson,
2003)
New view of culture must be...
 Non-essentializing
 Non-marginalizing
 Flexible, dynamic, continuous
The Work of Marshall Singer
 All individuals are “culturally unique” (1998)
 Everyone is a member of a number of identity
groups (demographic, occupational, etc.)
 Groups share common values, perceptions
 No two people share same memberships, or
rank their importance in the same way
The Work of Adrian Holliday
 “Large” and “small” cultures (1994, 1999)
 “Large” culture = national culture; basis of
stereotype, “destructive ethnocentricity”
 “Small”culture = any cohesive group
(workplace, neighbourhood, class)
 Eliminates idea that culture = nation state
Implications for Writing
 Cultures are not necessarily geographical
 Cultures can be as small as individual
classrooms or as large as “academic culture”
 Writers are individuals, not products of some
stereotypical notion of what happens in their
culture
 Writers are members of different groups at
different times
 NNS writing characterized by hybridity,
variation, influences from various sources
Recommendations for the Writing
Teacher
We need to reconsider…
 “our tendency to formulate neat and coherent
pictures of who our students are, what they are
capable of, and what kinds of instruction are
appropriate for them” (Zamel, 1997)
And instead…
 “open ourselves to understanding the complexity,
unpredictability, and multiplicity inherent in our
students’ attempts to make sense through their
languages” (Zamel, 1997)
Specifically...
 Move beyond preconceived notions e.g.,
“Asian students write in circles”
 Don’t use these notions to prejudge what
students can and cannot do
 Recognize that students have individual
influences, strengths, weaknesses, etc.
Thank you!
Tania
[email protected]