#5 John


While I was reading “Contrastive and Intercultural Rhetoric,” I could not help but think about how much this subject matter applies to native speaking students. Some native speaking rhetoric students are unaware that writing is contextual or that academic writing tends to have an order of operations. Thus, in a classroom setting with both native and nonnative students it seems beneficial to discuss these aspects of writing with all students. Implementation of CR and IR insights and strategies can be seen as an opportunity to create an inclusive learning environment, instead of a troubling conundrum. Thus, I see CR and IR as being very useful within a classroom setting.

I am concerned about bringing up CR and IR matters in a one-on-one tutoring session, however. I think the problems that could arise from this engagement are compounded when the ESL student is a graduate student. I worry about offending a student who feels that he is well studied in all things that English writing requires. How do you avoid offending this type of student? What are some good strategies for discussing CR and IR matters with an ESL graduate student? What things should be avoided?

Comments

  1. IanFebruary 19, 2019 at 6:27 AM

    I fully agree that IR/CR considerations are just as pertinent to native speakers, and would go even further in arguing that thinking about culture as a purely an "international" phenomenon, or an "ESL" phenomenon, presents a much more worrisome source of potential friction in a classroom than simply using IR/CR concepts. All students, no matter their specific background, engage in some kind of code-switching on a daily basis. This naturally informs their writing as well. The more we can make our students aware of these unconscious shifts, the more comfortable they will be moving between different modes of discourse.

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