Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Contrastive rhetoric

Good Essays
437 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Contrastive rhetoric
Contrastive rhetoric

Contrastive rhetoric examines the influence of differences and similarities across cultures on students L2 writing. It is mainly concerned with the influence of the ESL learners’ culture and L1 language on their writing in target language.
The concept of contrastive rhetoric was first investigated by Robert Kaplan (1966). In his article entitled “Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education”, Kaplan argues that the humans are influenced by the diversity of their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. It affects their perceptions and thoughts about the world, or what Kaplan refers to as “logic”, which is the basis of rhetoric. This logic is believed to be a dynamic and cultural specific phenomenon varying from one culture to another and from time to time within a given culture. Consequently, the variations in linguistic and culture will lead ESL students to unconsciously compose rhetoric and patterns that violate the expectation of the native readers. In this spirit, Kaplan (1966) analyzed the paragraph organization for nearly 600 ESL students representing three basic language groups. He identifies five types of paragraph orders (Anglo-European, Sematic, Oriental, Romans and Russian languages) each reflecting a distinct rhetorical style from English.

These distinct patterns writing are believed to have an influence on the paragraph organization in ESL students essay writing. ESL students may negatively transfer their native language patterns of rhetorical organization to the target language i.e. English language composition though the original patterns of writing may not commensurate with the new writing style. Kaplan, hence, proposed contrastive rhetoric as a possible pedagogical answer to overcome the cultural and the linguistic barrier in L2 writing stating that “ These patterns need to be discovered or uncovered and compared with the patterns of English in order to arrive at a particular means for teaching of such structure to non-native users of the language” (p.16).
Implementing contrastive rhetoric will help ESL students meet the expectation of the academic readers of the target language as Kaplan explained “ it may help the foreign students to form standards of judgment consistent with the demands made upon him by the educational system of which he has become a part” (p.15). In addition, contrastive rhetoric may extend the students’ comprehension beyond the sentences level to the comprehension of the whole context. The fact that many advance ESL students who have mastered the syntax of the English still write a bad paragraph is due to the lack of knowledge about the writing patterns that exist the target language. Thus, Kaplan argues that, “ The understanding of the paragraph patterns can allow the student to relate syntactic elements within a paragraph and perhaps even relate paragraphs within total context” (p.15).

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Rhetoric is the study of effective thinking, writing, and speaking strategies and is an essential part of writing. To be valuable, a text must be developed and written with a clear perspective and purpose in mind. For most writers they first have to find the function their writing will serve in its particular context. Writers then need to express this purpose and choose specific rhetorical strategies which will achieve it. Writers use many different strategies such as symbolism, style, tone and voice. In Mark Twains “Advice to Youth” his style and tone really allow for him to capture his audience. Twains humor allows for the young audience to relate to what he is saying. This humor also helps them to connect with the speaker by allowing them to feel more comfortable. Twain also uses repetition in a unique way that allows for his speech to have a specific structure, that further enhances his writing.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    unit 2 assignment 1

    • 522 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A writer can use the rhetorical situation when planning phase of writing a paper to help think critically and make decisions about the writing. Focusing on what is the motivation and who needs to read the argument will help pick the influences and ways to persuade the reader. Deciding how to illustrate the attitudes, beliefs, or afflictions is important to keep the reader’s attention.…

    • 522 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hsc300 Unit 1

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages

    For unit 1 we started off with a rhetorical situation class activity. The class collaborated on writing a text, tweet and email, based on the cultural considerations of the audience. Considerations included language and tone. Cultural adaptation is important because…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    English Composition I (ENGL 1101) focuses on skills necessary for effective writing in various rhetorical contexts with emphasis on exposition, analysis, and argumentation. Additionally, this course introduces the use of an array of research skills.…

    • 2037 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    There are two articles about different stances on arguing. One writer, Tannen, writes in her article that arguing is getting out of hand in the media. Everywhere we look arguments have to be taken to the extreme to excite the audience and ultimately leads to humans being disconnected from one another. The other article, written by Heinrichs, writes about how he teaches his kids to argue and argue correctly. He uses these methods to increase harmony within the family. Although both articles are very well written, the article written by Heinrichs’ has more merit. Teaching his little ones to argue correctly and valid logical reasoning to back it up. Using this type of method his kids are able to behave themselves enabling Heinrich to interact with them in a way dumbfounds other parents.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Academic writing is an art of expressing and transforming thoughts and ideas into physical form to deliver information logically and scientifically. This skill needs to be refined and practiced constantly regularly. After three months of taking ESL 273, I have accumulated various experiences in writing advanced sentences and organizing academic essays which are really necessary for me to perform well in the next English course, ESL 5, as well as other classes. As a result, I think I am well-prepared and ready for the next coming course ESL 5. During the ESL 273 course, one of my strengths which is the ability of using various examples as well as explanations to reinforce my main ideas and make them more persuasive is gradually improved. For example, in my writing assignment titled “Littlemindedness- Little Limit to Go Over”, I used my personal experiences such as the diminution of discriminative thoughts and the opportunities I felt when I went from high school to college. Moreover, I also used the reality happening to the curriculum in my home country, Vietnam, in order to strengthen my attitude that coming to De Anza College can generate a significant chance to my life. In addition, I realized how important and essential transitional words are in writing an academic essay and gluing my ideas, sentences, and paragraphs together. Thus, I always keep trying to use a variety of transitional words and phrases in my essay to make it become more coherent and cohesive and avoid making discrete information. In the article “The Advantageous Policy on Immigrants”, I used some transitional words like consequently, in addition, moreover, as a result, after all, and nevertheless to create smoothness for my essay. As a result, the quality of my essays will be improved, and I will be successful in expressing and illustrating the flow of my thoughts. However, after completing 4 in-class essays, I realize that…

    • 953 Words
    • 28 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nt1310 Unit 3 Exercise 2

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    reestablishes the context for the document, why your topic is important to your readers, and offering a look to the future.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Discourse Communities

    • 1711 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Throughout our years of school academic discourse teaches us how to speak and write the proper way, which is important because it helps establish ourselves as good speakers and writers at an early age. After learning basic speaking and writing skills, things begin to get a bit more complicated because one must learn when and how to use their speaking and writing skills at a more complex level and in certain situations. At the college writing level, students begin to establish themselves as the writers that they are going to be. What separates the writings of different students are the different discourse communities they come from. Most students, if not all, speak differently at home than they do when in class and this sometimes shows in their writings. Whether the students speak a different language at home or just use a different style of grammar, when they come to the classroom the difference is usually shown because all students come from using different styles of personal English at home that…

    • 1711 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    REMEMBER: Compose a first draft, set it aside for a day or so, and then revise. If it is possible, have another reader act as your audience by reviewing your first draft and offering suggestions for revision.…

    • 986 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In high school, we were generally always taught to write persuasive essays and a few times, an informative essay; however, we really never were required to write a rhetorical essay, so when this topic came up, it really required a lesson on rhetorical analysis itself. As someone who generally does better in conversations, and in school, math and science, writing has always been something that hasn’t come as natural to me. I have really had to write many essay to get to where I can write like I can today.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    RWS 101 Handbook

    • 16537 Words
    • 62 Pages

    The material in this reader was prepared by Erin Flewelling, Chris Werry, Rose Burt, Alicia Upano, Melissa Watson and Jamie Madden, and draws from/remixes/takes inspiration from work done by many members of the RWS department.…

    • 16537 Words
    • 62 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rhetorical Appeals

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A pet is defined as a domestic or tamed animal or bird kept for companionship or pleasure and treated with care and affection. Some people believe that pets are the most loyal friends you will ever have. Anyone who owns or has previously owned a type of pet, whether it be a dog, cat, fish, rabbit, or anything else, understands what it is like to have something so innocent depend on you. When purchasing a pet, you are taking on the responsibility of nurturing and caring for someone other than yourself. I chose a commercial by the ASPCA that raises awareness about animal abuse. The goal of the ASPCA is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.” I chose this commercial because I am an avid animal lover and I have both a dog and a cat at home. They are a part of my family, and I would never let anything bad happen to them or mistreat them. The thought of poor animals being abused or neglected for no reason at all disturbs me beyond belief. Why would someone choose to purposely abuse an innocent creature who has no way to defend itself, and has done nothing wrong? I do not understand people who do this. Through this essay, I want to state the reasons why I was attracted to this commercial and how it swayed me to support the association. Additionally, my goal for this piece is to represent how rhetorical appeals can be used not only in writing, but also in media. Even though this commercial is most likely geared more towards animal lovers, it does an excellent job of grabbing the attention of viewers who may not have a strong connection with animals in their own lives.…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    New Nhs

    • 2199 Words
    • 9 Pages

    |(2) The art of persuasion. "Acting on another through words." |Tone (DIDLS + attitude + organization) (DIDLS = diction, |…

    • 2199 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through this assignments, I learned the key role of the rhetorical situation. Depends on the audience, the selects of the terms or the way to deliver the information has to be changed. Also, it influences the tone and voice of the sentence. In the formal essay, such as academic essay, the tone and voice should follow the academic formats. On the other hands, in the informal essay, we are required to write essay with own tone and voice. Moreover, from Yuyu’s essay,…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They Say / I Say shows that writing well means mastering some key rhetorical moves, the most important of which involves summarizing what others have said (they say) to set up one’s own argument (I say). In addition to explaining the basic moves, this book provides writing templates that show students explicitly how to make these moves in their own writing. Now available in two versions, with and without an anthology of 32 readings. .…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays