Rhetorical Patterns in English and Japanese

Abstract

U A study was conducted to investigate differences in U.S. and Japanese students' use of rhetorical patterns in their first language writing and Japanese students' use of their first language patterns in English writing. A total of 676 writing samples was obtained from 226 students representing four groups: U.S. college students (AEA), Japanese advanced ESL students in the U.S. (JEA), and two groups of Japanese college students in Japan-English majors (JEJ) and non-English majors (JJJ). The two groups in the U.S. and the JEJ group wrote in English, while the JJJ group wrote in Japanese. Each student was asked to write three compositionstwo semi-controlled compositions based on pictures and one free composition on an assigned topic-involving narrative and expository modes. The writing samples were examined for two categories: placement of a general statement and type of general statement used. Each of the samples was first coded by native speakers of the two languages as exemplifying one of four rhetorical patterns: 1) General-to-Specific (GS), 2) Specific-toGeneral (SG), 3) General Statement in the Middle (MG), and 4) Omission of a General Statement (OM). The samples were then classified into three major categories of general statements which were established in the course of the analysis: 1) Topic Stating (writers simply restate the given topic), 2) Text Restating (writers summarize or generalize the content of the composition), and 3) Text Relating (writers reveal personal values, beliefs, feelings, and experience in relation to the content of the composition). The study found that the four groups differed from each other in their use of rhetorical patterns and general statement types. U.S. students (AEA) frequently chose the GS pattern; that is, they wrote a general statement first and followed it with specifics. Japanese students writing in Japanese (JJJ) frequently chose the SG pattern; they began with specifics that led to a general statement. The two Japanese groups writing in English showed clearly different tendencies; the JEA group fell between the two culturally

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