What is the voice? I do think it interconnects with the cultural values. What we think, what we say, and what we write are often influenced by the cultural context.
The terms of “voice”, “process writing”, “peer review”, “critical thinking”, and “plagiarism” originated from what we call the “western”. It is also the products of individualism. It would be difficult to convey the views which are rooting in the western culture to the ESL/EFL learners. In Japan, and Taiwan, people preserve the viewpoints--”interdependence” and “conformity”.
What I am impressed is the description in Ramanathan and Atkinson’s article. A Chinese EFL student pointed out that she has to “create a new self”, and to transfer her “old identity” to “new identity”. (p.56) That is because when she wrote the article, she must write it from the western perspective. “Old sage” or “Others’ sentences” in the writing is not perfect. The writing teachers expect their students would write the personal voice, instead of others. The diverse ways of writing are needed the ESL/EFL learners taking time to understand the differences.
However, I do not think it is a simple task for these students from the diverse cultural background other than western culture to accommodate the ways of writing. School education, and social custom, and thinking were cultivated since we were born.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I definitely agree with you Chien-Yu. Oftentimes, for EFL students they have to adjust to notions such as voice, critical thinking, etc. They have been socialized in a culture that promotes just different values. I would not say opposing values because they might use similar values but express them differently.
ReplyDeleteAs English and/or composition teachers, we have to be aware of these dynamics in order to be better positioned to help our students develop and master such concepts. On the other hand, we should not focus too much on them because we don't want to promote some sort of "linguicism". and