Supporting Chinese Students in the Writing Center

Our students backgrounds

Cultural differences
Cultural influences on writing Grammatical differences Practice

Undergraduate Transfer Students

Strategic Partnerships with Chinese Universities

Students study for dual degree

Partners include: Hunan university

East China Normal University

Northwest University for Agriculture and Forestry China Agricultural University Beijing Normal University

Possible Writing Backgrounds

TOEFL Prep classes

General English classes

Limited research writing experience

Lifestyle (Yang Liu, East Meets West. 2007)

Elderly in Day-to-day life

Liu, East Meets West. 2007

The Boss

Liu, East Meets West. 2007

Problem-Solving Approach

Liu, East Meets West. 2007

Size of an Individuals Ego

Liu, East Meets West. 2007

Connections and Contacts

Liu, East Meets West. 2007

Anger

Liu, East Meets West. 2007

Cultural Differences in Writing

Inductive Thesis and reasoning

Start-Sustain-Turn-Sum vs Introduction-Body-Conclusion Chinese writing places the emphasis more on the whole: it is more synthetic, more changeable (74)
Topic changes within paragraphs Metaphors and Proverbs Fewer discourse markers (transitions)
(Xing, Wang and Spencer, Raising Students Awareness of CrossCultural Contrastive Rhetoric in English Writing via an E-Learning Course. Language Learning and Technology, 12 .2 (2008):71-93. )

Grammatical Differences in Writing

Sentence Structure
No difference between question and statement word order Subject not always necessary

Adjective phrase before noun

Conjunctions in pairs (although but) Nouns No plurals He/she/it have same sound

Noun can have same form as adjective

(Raimes, Ann. ESL Tip Sheets: Chinese)

Grammatical Differences in Writing Ctd.

Verbs
Verbs do not change for singular, plural, tense or form Little difference between base form, past participle or ing form

Form of be often not used with adjective

Articles There are no articles in Chinese
(Raimes, Ann. ESL Tip Sheets: Chinese)

Grammar Hierarchy of Treatable Concerns

Subject-Verb Agreement

Verb Tense
Verb Form Singular/Plural Word form Focus on these!

Non-treatable: Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, Articles, Prepositions

Lets Practice:
The sample on the handout is taken from an introduction to a CO150 research project. Discuss the following questions in your groups: 1. Considering the hierarchy of rhetorical concerns and what you know about how Chinese culture may affect writing, what general suggestions might you give for revision? 2. Considering grammar specifically, what are two areas you might focus on in a session? 3. How would you explain/talk about the grammar improvements this student could work on?