Writing: A third language for second language learners: A cross-cultural discourse analysis of the writing of school children in Australia (sociocultural) [microform]
- Bib ID:
- 3287572
- Format:
- Book and Microform
- Author:
- Soter, Anna Olga
- Description:
- 424 p.
- Summary:
-
The study is a cross-cultural discourse and stylistic analysis of the narrative writing of both native and nonnative English speakers at two grade levels--Grade 6 and Grade 11. The setting for the study is Sydney, Australia and the three cultural and language groups involved are Lebanese-Arabic speaking students, Vietnamese students and native English-speaking students. Specific objectives in analyzing the stories were to investigate possible culturally-influenced preferences in written stories through the analysis of plot development, stylistic features (e.g., structure, setting, language use), a lexical analysis and a semantic analysis of verbs. The purposes of such an investigation include the development of methods of analysis through which "departures" from English writing conventions in general and narrative conventions in particular, could be identified.
Two reasons why such methods may be useful for both theory and practice in the field of writing are: (a) The methods may aid teachers of students from nonnative English-speaking backgrounds in systematically discovering the conventional patterns of narrative (and by implication, other genres) in the written forms of their "adopted" culture and language. (b) The methods may also extend the study of contrastive rhetoric by offering a systematic methodology through which different narrative structures can be described and analysed.
The results of the study suggest that different patterns of story development are evident in the writing of the students in the sample. The patterns are related to differences in plot development, different emphases in the point of view of narrators, roles of characters, the use of dialogue and semantic preferences related to representation of action and goal-oriented narratives as distinct from representation of states of being and experience within the context of narratives. The interpretation of results, supported by qualitative data from a focal group of students also suggests, however, that before we make powerful claims concerning culturally-based preferences we also need to know more about L2 writers concerning their language and literacy backgrounds and need to know more about these writers within the context of their writing experiences more generally.
- Notes:
-
- (UnM)AAI8600319
- Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-11, Section: A, page: 3274.
- Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1985.
- Reproduction:
- Microfiche. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International.
- Subject:
- Education, Bilingual and Multicultural
- Other authors/contributors:
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
Contact us for information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1985
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.