Blog Post #3 (Ian)

The part of  "Crossing Cultures with International ESL Writers" that resonated most with me was the sub-section "Crossing Rhetorics: Discussing Discourses and Styles." Though I think most writing center tutors are aware that cultural differences will invariably inform efforts to assist international students, I also know - at least in my case - that it still took me some time to realize the extent to which I was actually teaching the culture of "American academic writing" vs. some set of universally applicable "writing skills." The reading, for example, notes that some international students have the tendency to write "inductively because of cultural values... [placing] their main idea in the last rather than the first paragraph of the paper." While this is no doubt true, I think it's worth acknowledging that taking the opposite approach and writing deductively (The thesis! The thesis! Where is the thesis!?) is no less of a cultural construction. The 5-paragraph essay is not the product of some ancient, immortal wisdom. In this same vein, the conventions of American academic writing are no more legitimate than any other culture's. But because our writing center is housed in an American university - and because the caliber of our students' writing will be judged by the norms of American academic writing - I think it's essential that we frame our tutoring as basically a project in cross-cultural communication, both for international students as well as domestic ones.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 4, 2019 at 5:44 PM

    I wonder how we can communicate this to our students. Should we discuss, in class, how our way of writing is just one of many, or will that unnecessarily confuse students who were brought up in the American education system? And if we bring it up one-on-one with international students, how can we respectfully discuss the possible merits of their culture's writing practices if we aren't entirely informed on what they are? I think the best time to bring it up in class could be during the anti-5 paragraph essay lecture (which I assume everyone must have to give, to some extent). I know last semester when I was discussing why not to write a "5 paragraph essay" it was hard to convey that that particular format was taught to them to teach basic writing skills, not as a paragon of what writing should be.

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  2. UnknownFebruary 4, 2019 at 6:05 PM

    Hi Ian. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. As someone new to tutoring in the writing center my experience is limited, but I like the idea of approaching tutoring as an exercise in cross-cultural communication. It lends nuance to what is already a multi-dimensional process and makes it that much more compelling.

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