Culture in the Second-Language Writing Classroom

1. Culture in the Second-Language Writing Classroom Tania Pattison, Trent University TESL Ontario, Nov. 13, 2008

2. 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)

3. Outline • Culture in L2 writing discourse • Culture in anthropological thought • Culture: “a dangerous concept” • New approaches to culture

4. Culture in L2 Writing • Kaplan, 1966: rhetoric “varies from culture to culture”

5. 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?

6. 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)

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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”

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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)

14. 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

15. 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)

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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)

26. 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.

27. Thank you! Tania tpattison@trentu.ca