Writing in Two Cultures: Chinese Professors Return from the West

Abstract

Little is known about nonnative English language teachers who, after having been awarded an MA or PhD in the West, return to their home countries and write academic papers mainly in their first language. This study, based on interview data, reports on the writing and teaching experiences of nine Western-trained Chinese TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) professionals in China. The findings show that the participants were all conscious of their biliterate/bicultural intellectual identity. Although some had different views about what counted as logic and digression in academic discourse, most of the participants were persistent in promoting a direct and linear English approach in their own writing as well as in their teaching of both English and Chinese writing. The study highlights the complexity of bilingual/bicultural intellectual identity and the contribution of Chinese TESOL scholars either toward or against an Anglo-centric globalization of rhetorical development.

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