Download Crosscultural Writing Style (2014)

Dept. of Agricultural Products Technology
Mulawarman University
Samarinda, East Kalimantan, INDONESIA
Cultural Variations in
Styles of Thinking
Anton Rahmadi
AusAID & DIKTI Alumni
You live in a multicultural place, respect is the key
Cultural variations in styles of thinking
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you
peoples and tribes that you may know one another… (QS 49:13)
https://www.dur.ac.uk/cultural.variation/
Clash of cultures
“AMERICAN”
“NON-AMERICAN”
Szpara. http://www.gse.upenn.edu/wpel/sites/gse.upenn.edu.wpel/files/archives/v10/v10n2_Szpara.pdf
Herrmann Whole Brain Model
Herrmann N., 1996 The Brain Business Bok p.21, McGraw-Hill
Explorative mind is a key to research
 Borneo as an island (Maier, 2014)
 Is the current “terms of an island” can be applied for Borneo?
 How Borneo came into being?
 What is best representing Borneo: the people, the language, the
nature?
 Does the inhabitants feel that they live on an island?
 Where is the central gravity of Borneo?
 What is the common interest of Borneo?
Cultural Attitudes to Learning
CULTURE A
CULTURE B
 Repetition and Exaggeration
 Linear and Plain
 Bi-polarity
 Compromise
 Unity in Belief
 Explorative thinking
 Group Orientation
 Individual Orientation
Abu Rass, 2011. http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/download/10792/7650%E2%80%8E
Why learning in English is more than a
skill?
 Learning new language means learning a new rhetoric
 Rhetoric is not universal, but varies from culture to
culture.
 Non-native speakers are expected to produce nativelike written products
Abu Rass, 2011. http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/download/10792/7650%E2%80%8E
Cultural Influences on Styles of Writing
 How writers' cultural backgrounds influence their
organisation of writing;
 What they choose to use as evidence in supporting their
main ideas;
 How they express their main ideas; and
 How they write in the foreign language
Xing et al. 2008. http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num2/xingetal/
Style of Writing
1. Presence and Placement of Thesis Statement
2. Number of Paragraphs
3. Topic Sentences and Topic Changes
4. Use of Metaphors and Proverbs
5. Marks of Coherence and Unity
Xing et al. 2008. http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num2/xingetal/
Contrastive Rhetoric in English Writing
Student’s perception
Lecturer’s perception
 vocabulary 62%
 Style 92%
 Style 53%
 Grammar 77%
 spelling 42%
 vocabulary 70%
 Grammar 38%
 handwriting 31%
 punctuation 18%
 punctuation 23%
 handwriting 12%
 spelling 23%
Xing et al. 2008. http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num2/xingetal/
Example of different styles in English
Writing
A Native Australian Professor
This project has surveyed the
presence of filamentous fungi on
dried cocoa beans from Indonesia,
Solomon Islands, and Queensland,
Australia. Fungi were isolated by
placing chlorine and non-chlorine
disinfected beans onto the surface of
plates of DG-18 agar, and also their
populations were determined by
spread plating onto DG-18 and DRBC
agar.
A Non-native Professor in Australia
Nitric oxide (NO) is an important
cell messenger that plays a major
role in cell signalling and has been
regarded as an important marker
for pro-inflammatory activity. The
murine neuroblastoma cell line
Neuro2A (N2A) is known to express
nNOS, but so far there is limited
evidence of NO production through
the inducible form of nitric oxide
synthase (iNOS).
Grammatical challenges









Articles - A, An, The
Comma, Semi-colons, Punctuation
Proofreading
Spelling Rules
Irregular Verbs
Subject / Verb Agreement
Run-ons
"If" Statements
Word Order
Tips to overcome grammatical errors
 Short sentences in simple S, V, O pattern
 Use mainly simple present, simple past, and simple future
 Variation in the writing:
 TO + Verb I at the beginning of a sentence
 Subject pronouns
 Passive voice
English Writing Style is in a Linear
Pattern
 From more to less important
 From specific to general
 Brief, Direct, and Clear
 Deductive
Jehle-Caitcheon, N. 2012. http://www.culturesintheclassroom.com/4_english_writing.shtml
Cultural influenced Style of Writing
 Inductive vs. Deductive
 Start-Sustain-Turn-Sum vs Introduction-Body-Conclusion
 Circular vs. Linear
 Metaphorical vs. Straightforward
 High vs low explicitness
Xing et al. 2008. http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num2/xingetal/
High Explicitness
 Addressing the reader
 Reference to the text
 The paper concludes ....
 Recall that ....
 In the following section, a
model is proposed ....
 Discourse labels
 To illustrate ....
 Before proceeding, let us return
....
Mauranen, A. 1993.
http://www.afinla.fi/sites/afinla.fi/files/1993Mauranen.pdf
Low Explicitness
 Internal connectors
 However ....
 Moreover ....
 Firstly ...
 ..., still ....
Mauranen, A. 1993.
http://www.afinla.fi/sites/afinla.fi/files/1993Mauranen.pdf
Small workshop
STEP 1:
Form a group of three, then think one topic/issue that is
closely related to you or your discipline
Find a topic requiring less work on ethical permission
Write down this on a piece of paper
Small workshop
STEP 2:
Now, link the issue with a product in your discipline that
may help to alleviate/ease/assist in solving the issue.
Small workshop
STEP 3:
Write the idea into a sentence.
Small workshop
STEP 4:
Use that sentence as the main idea in the paragraph.
Now, write three sentences closely related to the main
idea. If you stuck, use examples.
Small workshop
STEP 5:
Now write down 5 facts or information about the topic
Write down in a good priority or logical flow
Small workshop
STEP 6:
Develop each fact into a paragraph.
Small workshop
STEP 7:
At the end of the work, write down a conclusion.
At the beginning of your article, write one introductory
sentence, followed by summary of the main ideas from
each paragraph.