Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
By Lan Zhong
University of Windsor
Cultural Root 2
Abstract
In this paper I examine the three major factors that influence Chinese international
students in academic writing: culture, education, and language. The aim of the paper is an
I conclude with educational implications that students should be aware of challenge based on
positively modify their approach of attending classes, learning strategies, and to learn ways of
developing arguments and presenting ideas in order to adjust their study in a new country
without losing their own cultural values. The conclusion also implies the significance for
professors both in China and North America to develop the strategies and practice to finding
Introduction
universities abroad, who are required to do academic writing in English (Dudley-Evans, 1999;
Dong, 1998). Academic writing is not easy for most native speakers. It is more difficult for
backgrounds, and linguistic backgrounds than other students, such as Europeans (Casanova &
Hubbard, 1992; Crow & Peterson, 1995). In other words, Chinese international students have
to struggle with resolving difficulties both on an academic level and on conflicts due to
cultural, educational and linguistic differences, as they attempt to meet academic writing
Failure of the successful academic writing may lead students to emotional stress,
many Chinese international students as I do, and how this challenge impacts Chinese
There has been considerable research on ESL composition processes by college ESL
students (e.g., Brools, 1985; Hayward, 1994; Zamel, 1995), but until recently, little has been
written about ESL graduate level students’ academic writing (Casanova, 1995; Connor &
Kramer, 1995). Researchers (e.g., Ballard & Clanchy, 1991; Blunt & Li, 1998, Gadman, 1997)
state that the native culture and the target culture (Kaplan, 1996; Silva 1993; Zhu, 1992),
educational experience in the home country, the differences between the first language and
the target language, and students’ previous knowledge of grammar and writing skills,
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influence the graduate second language students’ academic writing. However, few in-depth
studies have examined the factors which influence Chinese international students’ academic
writing. In this paper, I explore some of the factors that challenge Chinese international
students in academic writing. This aim of this paper (together with follow-up papers) is to
Academic writing in this paper refers to the course assignment writing and the
research proposal for a thesis or dissertation (Hu, 2001). The most common written genres for
course assignments, according to Hale et al. (1996), in physical and mathematical science and
social sciences and humanities, expositive and argument essays are frequently required.
Moore and Morton (1999) studied the written genre and text at undergraduate and
postgraduate levels in Australian universities. They found that the common written genres
include literature reviews, research proposals, summaries, and short answers which require
reproduction.
Culture
Kaplan (1966) is the first author to state that people from different linguistic and
cultural backgrounds organize discourse differently, in ways that reflect their own language
and culture. Kaplan (1996) illustrates graphically typical various modes of discourse
The above graphics demonstrate that the “Oriental” pattern including Chinese is an
inward turning spiral (Kaplan, 1966). That is viewed as inductive, indirect, and circular
approaches to the topic; while the Anglo pattern is linearity, which shows direct. Although
this work has been viewed as generally too simplistic, they do open up what has become a
fruitful discussion about the nature of different writing patterns in different cultures.
Since then researchers (McLoughlin, 1995; Mohan & Lo, 1985; Wang, 1994; Yu,
1996, Wierzbicka, 1990) have explained the influence of cultural thinking patterns on the
worldviews, values, behaviors, and language use of ESL/EFL learners. McLoughlin (1995)
holds that traditional writing in Chinese discussed the subject from different angles but in
indirect way; while writing in English prefer to present the main point at the beginning.
Wierzbicka (1990) states the relationship of language and culture: “Differences in the ways
of speaking prevailing in different societies and different communities are profound and
Confucianism sought to teach the proper way for all people to behave in society. Confucius is
the representative of Confucianism (Chan, 1988). Confucius claims social harmony and the
building of ethical virtues. That is, everyone restrains his or her ego and absorbed the
supreme order of ritual. He claimed the proper patterns to be obedience and loyalty of
-involved a set of obligations, which would lead to a just and harmonious society.
The central idea of Taoism is to promote the inner peace of individuals and harmony
with nature (Berling, 1982). Taoism believes that everything we know is encompassed in
nature. The universe and all things in it, run according to the “Tao.” “Tao” in the Chinese
discipline, obedience and loyal to the superiors. People should be modest and be oriented
towards the collective. Taoism believes that everything in the world is wholeness and
Chinese traditional culture not only influences people’s behaviors, ways of thinking
patterns, the views of the world, but also the writing system. Chinese writing system, which
can date back five thousand years ago, is mainly featured as following:
(1). Using long sentence; (2) put the important word and idea to the end. Wang (1991) states
that Chinese rhetoric patterns tend to produce longer orientation to the theme of a sentence or
discussion than English native writers. Conzalez et al.(2001) state that “the syntactic
explained that the sequence of modifier-modified in Chinese language is not only present in
word pairs, sentences with complex clauses, but also as a principle of discourse organization
As McLoughlin (1995) states that paragraph organization and overall coherence also
reflect cultural variation in thinking and logic. Chinese logical structure, both in spoken and
written language, often places the key words or important ideas towards the end of the
sentence or paragraph (Wang, 1991).Chinese writers often start the main idea by first stating
the purpose, condition, location or reason before they go to the main ideas.
This way of presenting an idea and organizing discourse reflects Chinese traditional
culture value in self-discipline, modesty, and harmony characteristics (Chan, 1998) when
people express their ideas. To avoid expressing what they want to say overtly and openly, and
avoid being too aggressive and offensive, Chinese writers tend to put the less important first,
and gradually express the main ideas to invite easy and harmonious agreement (Leki, 1991).
This Chinese cultural based rhetoric pattern and idea presentation makes sense as Chinese
Cultural Root 7
writing is inductive, indirect, and circularly approaches (McLoughlin, 1995) to the topic, as it
showed in Kaplan’s graphic as “Oriental pattern” -- an inward turning spiral (Kaplan, 1996).
Goode (2000) states that western thinking has existed at least since ancient times, a
tradition of adversarial debated, formal logical argument and analytic deduction flowering in
Greece The North American cultural pattern expected thought sequence in linear in its
development, and speak more frankly. Unless the intention is to connect with the previous
sentence, this writing pattern often places the primary emphasis or key idea at the front of the
academic writing expects short, simple sentences, and convincing reasons (McLoughlin,
1995). Helen Fox (1994) confirms this assessment with her own observations of what most
The Chinese writing system was established almost five thousand years ago. When
Chinese students are required to writing academically in Northern America universities, they
use to transfer the writing patterns that they have been familiar with in China. And many of
them find it is difficult to present academic writing in an acceptable form (e.g., Casanova &
Education
which require critical thinking and analyzing because the students’ previous education almost
never not require such thinking (Grierson, Westwood, and Westwood, 2000).
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Teachers are viewed as authority figures in China who embody knowledge (Jiang,
2001). Teachers are expected to impart knowledge to students almost completely and clearly.
The students’ duty is to acquire knowledge from teachers and obtain wisdom. Teachers talk
more in the class than in Canadian classrooms. Students sit in the class, listening and taking
notes. The desks and chairs are usually fixed and can seldom be moved because teachers
dominate the class. Most of the times teachers stand in front of the classroom when they
deliver classes. Cortazzi and Jin (1997) argue that Chinese students are more likely to view a
teacher as a model, an authority, and a “parent;” students are also more likely to see their own
roles as result-focused, learning by listening and reflection (Cortazzi and Jin, 1996).
distribution, rule-governed family and society and collective. To question and debate the
disrespect to teachers (Ballard and Clanchy, 1991, 1997; Young, 1994). If a student does not
understand what the teaching is talking about, he or she usually does not stop the teacher
immediately. Instead, he or she usually will wait until the class is over. The collectivist
culture makes this student not want to bother the teacher’s talking and interrupt other
students’ listening to the teacher in this way. Studies (e.g., Jiang, 2001) show that Asian
students tend to show respect to the teacher, but tend to maintain formal and distant
relationships with teachers. In addition, they may see the western students’ frequently
interrupting teachers by asking questions in class as rude and not good manners; they are
critical of too much informality in the classroom and lack of respect for professors.
In contrast, the North American students view the teacher as a facilitator, organizer
and friendly critic (Jiang, 2001; Hu, 2001). The individualist cultures are more likely to want
to show up in class, to ask questions, give answers, and engage in debate. They are often
Cultural Root 9
independence, engage in dialogue and develop critical thinking (Young, 1994; Toomey,
1985).
Classroom Activities
As described above, since teachers dominate the class in China, generally, students
Reading comprehension and grammar exercises, such as multiple choice and fill in the blank,
are the activities most used by English teachers (Cheng and Wang, 2004). Mainly, students
are required to complete their work on their own. Students usually reread the text books and
notes they took in the class from the teacher’s talking if they have problems in doing their
homework.
In contrast, in North America there are a variety of class activities that require
students either work on their own, in groups, or with the whole class: group work, problem-
solving, discussion (small group discussion, whole class discussion) work with others
gathering and using information from journal articles, books, and Internet, reflection writing,
report writing, essay writing, an critique evaluation of articles, oral presentations, and
Vygotsky (1962) asserts that each individual’s learning is facilitated by his /her social
interactions with others. Classroom activities not only increase students’ cooperative ability,
but also enable students to share ideas, shed new light on topics, view a topic in different
aspects, open students’ minds, and stimulate critical thinking. Students’ deeper understanding
can be achieved through dialogue and collaboration with their peers and their teachers (Biggs,
1999). Additionally, via using computer-based technology in and out of class, such as the
Internet, WebCT, and Videoconference, students obtain rich resources for academic writing.
Cultural Root 10
Learning strategies
Use of memorizing and rote learning is the Chinese students’ major learning approach
(e.g., Ballard and Clanchy, 1991; Harris, 1997). This learning strategy is commonly based on
Confucian heritage cultures. Initially, memorization and rote learning strategies stress
recitation of Confucian classics, which functioned to help students memorize the classics, and
confined people to old books without anti government ideas (Jinag, 2001). No critical
thinking is trained. Instead, students have to obey the teacher, and recite the famous poems
and articles in the textbooks. The benefit of the recitation learning strategies is reflected by an
old Chinese saying: recite three hundred poems from the Tang Dynasty [very famous classic
poems in Chinese literary history], one can compose one poem (Hu, 2001).
According to recent studies (Biggs, 1996; Kember & Gow, 1990), through repeated
memorizing leads students to understand materials gradually (Biggs, 1996; Kember & Gow,
1990). However, based on the memorizing and rote learning strategy, the students’ academic
writing is usually more reproductive (Watson, 2001). For instance, in academic writing, they
are used to repeating other authors’ opinions rather than giving their own opinions in
analyze, criticize, be rigorous in organization, and express the author’s own opinions (e.g.,
Ballard, 1989, 1996; Clanchy & Ballard, 1997). In addition, teachers encourage students’
questions, understanding concepts rather than knowing facts, analyzing rather than rote
students’ questioning, analyzing, evaluation, and criticizing, rather than remembering facts in
With such learning strategies used by Chinese students from elementary schools to
the expectations from professors in North America regarding academic writing, such as the
reflection paper, critique of articles, and thesis, which require strongly convincing argument
Language
Language proficiency is one of the conditions for writing well in any language
(Simpson, 1998; Zainuddin & Moore, 2003). Since Chinese and English languages belong to
vocabulary accurately, using vocabulary variously, and employing grammar correctly (Hu,
2001); exam-based education, the emphasizing one teaching approach only, and homogenous
Vocabulary
(Mayher and Brause, 1986). In other word, the breadth and depth of a student's vocabulary
will have a direct influence upon the descriptiveness, accuracy, and quality of this student’s
writing. Corona et al. (1998) share the similar idea: “at any level, written communication is
more effective when a depth of vocabulary and command of language is evident” (p.26).
Ediger (1999) asserts that “variety in selecting words to convey an accurate meaning is
necessary in speaking and writing, the outgrowth of the language arts” (p. 1).
Since Chinese and English languages belong to different school of linguistics, the
vocabulary and grammar are almost completely different. Chinese students frequently
struggle with choosing an accurate vocabulary to express exactly what they want to say, and
with using variation of words and sentence structures to express ideas (Hu, 2001).
Cultural Root 12
In terms of learning vocabulary, students need not only know the knowledge of the
word: pronunciation, spelling, meaning, the feature of word (e.g., noun, adjective, and verb),
and storing large numbers of words in mind, but also, as Ediger (1999) states, students should
be able to contextualize the vocabulary terms they have learned and use them in society.
Teachers should provide students a variety of activities to incorporate new vocabulary into
their oral and written opportunities to express ideas, such as small group and whole class
discussions, oral presentations, journal writings, book reports, and so on (Corona et al. 1998;
Zhong, 2005).
time in teaching knowledge of vocabulary; students spend lot of time reciting vocabularies.
Many students can memorize all the vocabularies in the vocabulary handbook preparing for
TOEFL and GRE tests, a few can even memorize the vocabularies in the Chinese-English
listening, speaking, and doing writing activities. Therefore, although students have the
knowledge of the spelling and pronunciation, the meaning, the feature of the word, and large
stores of words in mind, they write very few essays and research papers in English before
they come to North America (Hu, 2001). The vocabularies stored in students’ minds are like
sleeping volcanoes which is not been made activate by using them. In this case, students “will
memorize terms and concepts for testing purposes only or largely” (Ediger, 1999, p. 2).
Grammar
university, Hu (2001) explores the writing processes and challenges of these students. The
findings showed that students’ grammatical problems mainly include subject-verb agreement,
misuse of prepositions and conjunctions, overuse of the passive, run-on sentences, dangling
Cultural Root 13
modifiers, and non-parallel structures, although among the fifteen participants, some of
students had a good mark on the TOEFL test. Hu comes to conclusion that having knowledge
of grammar and a high mark on the TOEFL test does not mean one can use the language well.
For several decades prior to the early 1980s, traditional grammar-based teaching
the Situational Teaching Approach) dominated the English classroom (Richards & Rodger,
2001) in China. In the English teaching and learning classroom, Chinese English teachers
spent most of their time on explanation and analysis of grammar points and rules, and
required students to do exercises such as multiple-choice questions and fill in the blanks;
students memorized these grammar rules and did many grammar exercises which were
most students understood grammar forms well, and many might have received high marks in
examinations on grammar, but they had difficulty expressing what they wanted to fluently
In the mid 1980s, the Communicative Teaching Approach (Richards & (Rodgers,
2001) was introduced in China. This teaching approach moved attention from explicit
taught via the Communicative Teaching Approach were more likely to express themselves in
the classroom and could express themselves more fluently than the students who were taught
via the grammar- based approaches (Swain, 1998). However, in the Communicative
Teaching Approach without teaching grammar, students made more grammar mistakes both
Examination-Based Education
developed a well-organized examination system in the world. Being associated with the
examination, which stressed on literary skills, was given every year. The best students passed
the examination were to be offered appointment to lesser offices in the central and local
administrations.
Examination is still important to many Chinese today. Based on my over ten years
experience as a university teacher and student-teacher supervisor, the case is that the he
results of examinations are related to students, parents, teachers, and school administrators.
Good marks for student means obtaining the ticket to enter university, which implies a good
future; high rates of students who pass the university entrance examination is judged by the
public as meaning a quality school. Accordingly, parents would like to choose such a school
for their children. Thus, the school can gain more financial support both from government
and parents. Also, school teachers can get more bonuses and other benefits. Consequently,
teachers teach to fit the contents of the examination, and schools foster test-trainers. Take
English as an example. According to the Chinese Education Commission, anyone who wants
to be enrolled in a university has to take English exams. But present exam paper is mainly
knowledge focused (Liu, 1995).While writing ability is included in the English examination
for university entrance recently, it represents only a very small percent of the total score. (As
town. Some of my university classmates are working at schools. So I have this first-hand
information). Writing ability training and learning is paid little attention in daily classroom
teaching; when examination is coming, to satisfy the need of examination in writing, Chinese
English teachers provide writing models to simulate the format of the university entrance
Cultural Root 15
examination in English writing, and set phrases which are frequently used in the examination.
Students memorize the formats and set phrases, but seldom to express their own opinions, let
English language is a foreign language but not a second language. A student’s only
chances to practice English is in class. As a homogenous culture as China is, students have
little opportunity to practice English socially outside of English classroom. Neither Chinese
English teachers nor students’ have sufficient opportunity to experience North American
culture and to employ vocabulary and grammar in context. Furthermore, except English
textbooks, other subjects textbooks are written in Chinese; English journals are limited.
Consequently, most students have knowledge of vocabulary and understood grammar forms
well, and many might have received high marks in examinations on grammar, but they still
have difficulty in expressing what they want to fluently and appropriately in both
conversation and writing (Swain, 1998). Now, while communication is stressed in some
schools and universities recently, the grammar teaching usually is included little.
Conclusion
background are major aspects that influence Chinese international students’ academic writing,
among which culture is the root of the other two aspects, which impact on Chinese
and find out that many things are dramatically different from what they have been familiar
with since they grew up: the culture, educational system, the language; as well as food,
weather, and life styles. It is also a painful experience for each Chinese international student
Cultural Root 16
who has to rediscover their self-identity, learn completely new concepts (or ways of doing
things), and satisfy the academic expectations in North America, even though some of them
backgrounds modify their approaches to attending in class, learning strategies; and to learn
ways of developing arguments and presenting ideas in order to adjust study in North America
universities while do not lose their own culture values. Understanding the major factors that
impact on their academic writing can enable educators’ both in China and North America to
develop strategies and practice to help Chinese international students to learning successfully.
Therefore, further study in finding ways to help them have success with academic writing in
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