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Journal of Second Language Writing 17 (2008) 183207

Tracing the culture behind writing: Rhetorical patterns and bidirectional transfer in L1 and L2 essays of Turkish writers in relation to educational context
Hacer Hande Uysal *
Gazi University, College of Education, Department of Foreign Languages Education, Egitim Fakultesi, Yabanci Diller Egitimi Bolumu C Blok Teknikokullar, 06500 Ankara, Turkey

Abstract The study examines whether writers from shared cultural backgrounds display common writing patterns in their texts and whether these patterns differ while writing in L1 versus L2. The study explored the presence and bidirectional transfer of rhetorical patterns in eighteen Turkish participants writing in relation to previous writing instructional context dened as small culture. Participants were rst given a survey about their writing instruction history. Then, each participant wrote two argumentative essays in Turkish and English. These texts were analyzed and stimulated recall interviews were given to discover the reasoning behind certain rhetorical patterns and their transfer. The results revealed some rhetorical preferences and their bidirectional transfer. However, although most rhetorical patterns could be traced to the educational context, various other inuences, such as L2 level, topic, and audience were also found to account for these patterns and their transfer. # 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Contrastive Rhetoric; L1 writing; L2 writing; Transfer; Writing instruction; Culture; Cultural writing patterns; Turkish writing

Culture behind writing Berlin (1984, p.1) states that rhetoric is a cultural social event and a social invention which arises out of a time and place, and a peculiar social context. As writing is a consciously learned skill through schooling that is often done according to each societys needs, expectations, and desires for future generations, it is inextricably interrelated with education and in accord with larger cultural contexts. For that reason, it is very likely that unique writing conventions exist in
* Tel.: +90 312 202 8488; fax: +90 538 7603935. E-mail address: uysalhande@yahoo.com. 1060-3743/$ see front matter # 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2007.11.003

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each society; once a person learns a certain way of writing in one culture, this schema inuences writing in a second language (Hirose, 2003; Kadar-Fulop, 1988; Kaplan, 1966; Purves, 1988). However, the relationship between culture and writing, and whether cultural rhetorical conventions might transfer from L1 to L2 writing, has not been investigated sufciently in second language writing research. Although Contrastive Rhetoric studies have provided evidence for the inuence of linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds on the structures of ESL texts, they have also revealed that these are not the only factors, they are not mutually exclusive from each other, and which type of factor is the most important factor is still not known (Matsuda, 1997). Over the last thirty years, Contrastive Rhetoric has received constant criticisms, mainly resulting from simplistic approaches in research and underestimation of such a challenging and extremely complex research area that combines at least three large and complicated areas: writing; learning and using second languages; and culture (Atkinson, 2004, p. 278). Therefore, the present study aimed to further explore the relationship between culture and writing in L1 and L2. The study examined whether any cultural writing patterns exist in the argumentative essays of Turkish writers and whether these possible patterns were similar in L1 and L2 writing, using within-subject comparisons to obtain direct evidence. In order to understand the possible links between rhetorical patterns and culture or the transfer of these patterns, not only the written texts, but also the processes underlying the products were examined through stimulated recall interviews. The presence of any Turkish rhetorical preferences or patterns and the nature of any possible transfer was explained in relation to the context of previous writing instruction in L1 and L2, which will serve as the cultural context. Previous research Contrastive Rhetoric (CR) research started with Kaplans 1966 pioneering study, which found that speakers of different language backgrounds organized their paragraphs in a unique way related to their L1 background. Kaplan maintained that rhetoric was language and culture specic, and that L2 rhetorical organization was the result of the transfer of L1 rhetorical organization, which later became the basis for the traditional denition of Contrastive Rhetoric. Contrastive Rhetoric research has provided evidence that rhetorical conventions and patterns are somewhat related to the cultural backgrounds of the writers. CR research pointed out the presence of some culture-specic rhetoric patterns such as paragraph organization (Kaplan, 1966); reader-versus-writer responsibility (Hinds, 1987); linear organization structure (Connor, 1987); coordinating conjunctions (Soter, 1988); indirectness devices (Hinkel, 1997, 2002); rhetorical appeals and reasoning strategies (Kamimura & Oi, 1998); and the use of metatext (Mauranen, 1993; Valero-Garces, 1996). However, CR research has been the target of harsh criticisms for being too simplistic in its research methodology and conceptualization of the CR notion (Martin, 1992; Matsuda, 1997); for overgeneralizing and stereotyping about rhetorical conventions (Leki, 1991, 1997); for ignoring L2 developmental variables or the difculties of writing in a second language (Mohan & Lo, 1985); and for considering transfer from L1 as a negative inuence (Kubota, 1998a). In most cases, research comparing only ESL essays or ESL texts and L1 writing could not provide direct evidence for any transfer from L1 to L2, but just inferred existence of transfer. Only a few studies compared the L1 and L2 essays of the same individuals to explore cultural patterns while providing direct evidence for the transfer from L1; however, these studies also had design problems and controversial results. Indrasuta (1988) found some differences between American and Thai students narratives in terms of discourse microstructures. While Thai

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students wrote only about real events to teach about life and used more descriptions of mental states and highly gurative language, American students invented stories to captivate readers interest and used more verbs of action. As for the within-analysis results, the Thai groups L1 and L2 narratives were similar in terms of language use and rhetorical style. In terms of Turkish rhetorical patterns, Enginarlars (1990) study revealed that situation + problem + solution + evaluation was the most common pattern used by the Turkish high school student subjects in both their L1 and L2 expository essays. However, the bilingual subjects (students who attended an English immersion school) wrote more linearly in both languages, and their essay introductions were shorter and more direct than those of the monolingual subjects essays, which contained high occurrences of indirectness, digression, embellishment, and poetic endings. These results pointed out a possibility of transfer from L2 to L1 writing. A similar study was conducted by Oktar (1991), who found a tendency of Turkish university students to use coordination at the levels of modication in the logical organization in L1 writing. However, the English major subjects used more subordination and fewer occurrences of coordination than the non-English majors, indicating a possibility of transfer from L2 to L1. Two important studies were conducted with Japanese writers. Kubota (1998a) found that half of the Japanese subjects used similar patterns in terms of organization and the location of main ideas in their L1 and L2, and they also received lower scores on their ESL essays compared to their L1 essays than the dissimilar group. However, according to Kubota, this nding was not caused by a negative transfer of the L1 writing pattern. Overall, she concluded that L1 writing skills, L2 writing experience, and L2 prociency level affected the quality of ESL organization. Hirose (2003), on the other hand, found that English major Japanese students organized both their L1 and L2 essays the same way, using a deductive pattern. Hirose attributed this result to the nonexistence of culture-specic writing patterns for Japanese that are different from those of English. Overall, these CR studies found some evidence for the presence of possible L1 specic rhetorical preferences, which were also observed in L2 writing. However, these studies also had serious limitations. First, they were mainly text-based. Methods such as think-aloud or stimulated recall interviews were not used; thus, important information about the processes writers go through while making use of their L1 or L2 knowledge and the reasons for their specic rhetorical behaviors is missing. Matsuda (1997) states that, the examination of text alone without asking the writer about his intentions can reveal neither the thought patterns of the writers nor the rhetorical patterns of L1 written discourse (p. 50). Connor also suggests that CR studies include qualitative research methods that will investigate both L1 and L2 writing, observe and interview L1 and L2 writers, and study inuences on L1 writing developments to understand contrastive writing (Connor, 1996, p. 162). Therefore, the present study aimed to provide a richer and deeper prole about the presence and transfer of particular writing behaviors through qualitative data collection methods. Second, most of these studies used a homogeneous group of subjects in terms of L2 level and L2 writing knowledge, and they had subjects write on the same topics in their L1 and L2 essays, which makes the claims about any L1-related writing patterns questionable. For example, subjects that were all highly procient in L2 and familiar with L2 writing conventions as in Hiroses study (2003) might have written similarly in L1 and L2 due to the transfer of L2 writing knowledge to L1 writing. In this case, any conclusions about non-existence or existence of L1 specic cultural patterns or their transfer to L2 writing would be questionable. Hirose (2003) suggests that, while investigating language-specic patterns, the writer-related factors (L2 prociency, L2 writing experience and instruction) and task related factors (topic, time) should be considered to better understand the effect of these factors in any transfer. Therefore, the

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present study recruited a heterogeneous group of subjects in terms of their L2 writing instruction history and L2 level and used different topics in L1 and L2 essays. Third, the possibility of bidirectional transfer, a very important yet neglected area, was brought into investigation by only two studiesEnginarlar (1990) and Oktar (1991). The results of these two studies indicated a possibility of transfer from L2 to L1 even greater than the transfer from L1 to L2. The bidirectionality of the transfer observed in these studies seemed to be parallel to Hirose and Sasakis (1994) ndings in relation to the existence of composing competence regardless of the language used. Akyel and Kamisli (1997) and Atakent (1999), who examined student essays before and after they received writing instruction in English, also suggested that students could transfer L2 rhetorical knowledge to L1. Therefore, this study also aimed to investigate the existence and nature of bidirectional transfer in more detail. Finally, most CR studies examined the texts in isolation, not in relation to the cultural context that may have played a role in their production. Connor (2002, 2004) suggests that CR research should become more context sensitive, exploring how writing is tied to social structures of a given culture and considering new denitions of culture. Therefore, this study aimed to explain the ndings in relation to the Turkish cultural context. However, while contextualizing the ndings, unlike previous studies which viewed cultures as national entities (big culture) causing overgeneralizations (Atkinson, 2004), a small cultural context Turkish schooling in terms of writing instruction was chosen to provide a more detailed and accurate cultural picture (Holliday, 1994, 1999). The reason for choosing Turkish schooling as small culture was that writing, writing instruction, and the larger cultural context are reported to be strongly related to one another (Kadar-Fulop, 1988; Li, 1996; Liebman, 1992; Liu, 2005; Purves, 1988; Severino, 1993). Moreover, any descriptions that would hold true for the entire Turkish society would be very difcult due to the heterogeneity of the Turkish population resulting from the countrys unique geographic location and historical background (Akarsu, 1999; Kinzer, 2001). Research questions Considering the aforementioned limitations of previous studies and new directions in CR research, the research questions explored were: Are there any common writing preferences or patterns in the argumentative essays of Turkish writers that might be associated with previous writing education? What commonalities and differences exist in rhetorical patterns within participants in their Turkish and English argumentative essays? Methodology Participants Eighteen Turkish native speaker adults (ten female, eight male) who currently live in the U.S. were selected from among the research volunteers. To ensure that the participants had acceptable knowledge and skills in L1 writing, only participants who hold at least a B.A. degree from Turkish universities were chosen. These participants constituted a heterogeneous group in terms of their knowledge and experience in English and in English writing. Among these, eleven participants had formal writing instruction in both Turkish and English, and seven participants had received writing instruction only in Turkish. Thirteen participants were currently in a

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graduate program or in a post-doctoral research position in an American university, and the others were housewives who had only attended short-term ESL programs or were planning to apply to a graduate program. Therefore, the participants English language skills varied from low to high. (For more information about the participants, see Appendix A.) Data collection Multiple data collection methods were used to provide in-depth information and to increase the validity of the ndings by realizing a form of data triangulation (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992; Denzin, 1978). The data were collected from three data sources: (I1) A Background Questionnaire about previous L1 and L2 writing instruction; (I2) argumentative essays generated by the participants in Turkish and English; and (I3) audiotaped stimulated recall interviews. 1. Background Questionnaire: A questionnaire was given to the participants mainly to obtain information about Turkish and English writing instruction and to establish a context for the explanation of ndings. In the questionnaire, there were also questions related to the participants English prociency level. The questionnaire was prepared by adjusting and combining the questionnaires used in the Martin (1992) and Liebman (1992) studies. (Please see Appendix B for the Background Questionnaire.) The questionnaire was translated into Turkish to enable all participants to better understand the questions. To overcome the semantic and conceptual problems that may stem from the translation of the questionnaire instrument, the translation/back-translation method, which was rated high in informativeness, source language transparency and security was employed (Behling & Law, 2000, p. 19). 2. Essays: A total of 36 argumentative essays were produced by the participants to answer the rst and second research questions. Each participant wrote one essay in Turkish and another essay in English in different order to counterbalance the effect of writing order on writing performance. Unlike other studies, participants in this study wrote on two different topics. The rationale for using different topics was that, if they had written on the same topic, they might have translated from L1 or they might have written in the same way in both compositions, and this would have potentially compromised claims about transfer. The topics were selected among the essay prompts of the TOEFL TWE test as Lee, Breland, and Muraki (2004) and Breland, Lee, Najarian, and Muraki (2004) found evidence that overall, TWE topics have an acceptable level of comparability. The Turkish essay topic was: When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success. Do you agree or disagree with the statement above? Argue your position to convince a Turkish reader by using the strategies that you think are appropriate. The English topic was: When people move to another country, they should adopt the customs and the lifestyles of the new country to succeed. Do you agree or disagree with the statement above? Argue your position to convince an American reader by using strategies that you think are appropriate. The statement at the end of the TWE topics such as use specic and clear reasons and examples to explain your position was not used in order not to impose any ways of writing on the participants. Participants were given 45 minutes to write each essay, they were allowed to use a dictionary, and they were given a choice of writing by hand or writing on a computer. 3. Audiotaped stimulated recall interviews: The stimulated recall interview method (retrospective protocol) was chosen to collect data about the reasons for participants certain choices in their writing. Gass and Mackey (2000) suggest that stimulated recall can be used to uncover the cognitive processes in L2 research (p. 19) as a participant may be enabled to

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relive an original situation with vividness and accuracy if presented with a large number of cues or stimuli which occurred during the original situation (Bloom, 1954, p. 161; also cited in Smagorinsky, 1994). Stimulated recall interviews have also been found to be effective and less disruptive to make retrospective reports of thinking and they reveal not only what happened, but also why it happened (Greene & Higgins, 1994; Sasaki, 2002; Shavelson, Webb, & Burstein, 1986). Therefore, they provide a richer understanding of the relationship among texts, situational factors, and writers constructive processes and help identify patterns in writing (Greene & Higgins, 1994, pp. 117118). Bloom (1954) found that if the stimulated recalls were prompted up to 48 hour after the event, recall was 95% accurate. Therefore, in the present study, stimulated recall interviews were administered within two days after the writing activity to answer the rst research question. Data elicitation procedure The data were collected in three sessions with each participant one by one. First, the Background Questionnaire was administered. Second, within the following week, each participant was asked to write two argumentative essays in Turkish and English. Finally, two days after the completion of tasks, face-to-face semi-structured stimulated interviews were administered, using textual cues that were found and selected from each participants essays as a result of a preliminary textual analysis. (For sample interview questions, see Appendix C.) Data analysis The present study, aiming for a comprehensive approach to text analysis, included some aspects of traditional methods related to cohesion and coherence, as well as more global structures of text and more cultural aspects of writing. No strict codication schemes were preestablished; however, the features that previous literature had linked to culture were selected according to the research interests to form a potential framework for the analysis. The texts were analyzed qualitatively and by using frequency counts of certain patterns. The elements of writing that were considered in the analysis were as follows: 1. In terms of overall organization of texts, the presence, order, and functions of the introduction, body, and the conclusion in the essays were examined. 2. Macro-level rhetorical structure was investigated because it was claimed that connecting ideas in a deductive and linear way or vice versa (Burtoff, 1983; Oi, 1984; Ostler, 1987, 1990, as cited in Kubota, 1998b) might be a culture-specic pattern. A mixture of Kubotas (1998a) and Carrels (1984) categories based on Meyers basic logical relationships model were used as a framework with slight changes. The seven categories used were: b Collection is a pattern that enumerates or lists concepts and ideas by association. b Explanation has a statement of the theme or main idea which is followed by a supporting reason. b Specication has a statement of the theme, a main idea or a point of view for the subsequent argument, which is then explained in more detail by reasons and supporting evidence. b Induction presents the main idea toward the end based on the preceding argument which constitutes a premise (original emphasis, Kubota, 1998a, p. 79). b Causation presents ideas both chronologically and causally related, like the if-then statements of logic or cause/effect statements like antecedent/consequence.

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b Comparison shows a pattern that contains two elements arranged in a compare/contrast, adversative or alternative relation. The ideas are organized on the basis not of time or causality, but on the basis of opposing viewpoints. b Problem-solution has all the features of cause/effect with the additional feature of overlapping content between propositions in the problem and solution. One or more propositional elements of the solution can neutralize a causal antecedent of the problem (Carrel, 1984, p. 442). 3. Because it is suggested that writers from different cultures might show different degrees of tolerance for digressions (Kaplan, 1966; Clyne, 1981), coherence at both essay and paragraph levels was investigated. In terms of coherence, Gioras (1983) more meaning-driven thematic approach to text coherence that suggests looking at segments in terms of their aboutness and relevance to a discourse topic was used as a framework. Text segments with different Discourse Topics should meet the relevance requirement, they must be related to an underlying DT in terms of aboutness, and they must be interpretable as being about a topic which the text as a whole is in fact about (p. 27). 4. It was also stated that writers from different cultural backgrounds might differ in terms of providing versus not providing explicit transition signaling, which leaves the responsibility for making the connections between ideas to the reader (Hinds, 1983, 1987). Therefore, the use of transition signaling was explored through counting the occurrences of conjunctive adverbs, such as also, besides, furthermore, moreover, however, instead, nevertheless, otherwise, similarly, likewise, accordingly, consequently, therefore, thus, rst, meanwhile, next, then, nally, indeed, certainly or any other explicit expressions between paragraphs (Fulwiler & Hayakawa, 1997, p. 392). 5. To provide information for topic development and specic organization of ideas, presence and location of thesis statement was also examined. Previous research claimed that introducing the thesis statement immediately at the beginning or in different locations was a possible culture-specic feature (Kobayashi, 1984; Oi, 1984; Ostler, 1987, 1990, as cited in Kubota, 1998b). Kubotas (1998a) categories for the location of main ideas in persuasive essays were used as a guide. According to Kubota, initial means the thesis statement is in the introduction paragraph, middle means the thesis statement is in the body of the essay, nal means the thesis statement is in the conclusion, collection refers to essays in which the writers opinion is expressed in more than one location, and when two different main ideas were found, both of them were considered as main ideas, and the two locations were noted (p. 79). First, a preliminary text analysis for each essay was done by the researcher to see whether an individual participant had any apparent writing preferences or patterns in his/her essays and whether these preferences showed any similarities or differences across his/her Turkish and English essays. Finally, after all the data were collected, all essays were compared to each other to see if the individual preferences or patterns found were shared by participants. In order to conrm the results and to reduce the subjectivity of the study, the texts were analyzed not only by the researcher, but also by two other coders. The other coders were two native English speaking doctoral candidates who had been teaching rhetoric classes and tutoring in the writing center in an American university for several years. After the text analysis, the reasons behind common patterns were analyzed by transcribing, grouping and describing the articulated reasons in the stimulated recall interviews to see which factors had inuenced participants writing choices. The Background Questionnaire about the

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cultural context was analyzed by calculating frequency of markings in closed-ended questions and mentioned points in open-ended questions, such as differences between writing instruction in Turkish and English. Then, the ndings of the survey were correlated with shared preferences and with the results of the stimulated recall interview in order to see whether previous writing education had any relationship with common patterns. Results Due to the broad scope of the study, only the important ndings of the text analysis for each rhetorical pattern are presented along with the related survey and stimulated recall interview results in order to contextualize textual ndings and to understand the reasons behind them. Research Question #1 Are there any common writing preferences or patterns in the argumentative essays of Turkish writers that might be associated with previous writing education? 1. Overall organization: In terms of overall organization, all participants had an introduction, body, and conclusion in both their Turkish and English essays except for one participants English essay, which did not have an introduction. Interview and survey results revealed that all participants had learned organizing essays around an introduction, body, and conclusion in both Turkish and English composition classes. 2. Macro-level rhetorical pattern: Specication was the most commonly used macro-level rhetorical pattern in especially Turkish (67% of the essays), but also in English essays (33%), regardless of the writing instructional history of participants. However, in English essays, induction (28%) and problemsolution patterns (22%) were also common. Because analysis of macro-level rhetorical patterns could not be done prior to the interviews, no specic questions related to this category were posed to the participants. However, one participant (Berk) said in the interview that, especially in English writing classes, he learned strategies regarding how to pose a problem and solve it. Similarly, he used the problemsolution pattern in his English essay, but not in his Turkish essay. Survey results indicated that the preference for the specication pattern in Turkish essays might be related to the types of writing and the topics the participants were given in writing classes. In Turkish writing classes, as reported by the respondents, the most common writing tasks were short answers in exams (94%), summaries (78%), and petitions and essays (72%); and the most common topics were explaining a proverb, a saying, or a maxim of Ataturk (78%), writing about historical or national topics such as Ataturks principles or national holidays (72%), and only then argumentative topics (39%). These common writing tasks and topics would denitely not require a rhetorical pattern more complicated than explanation or specication. In English writing instruction, however, argumentation (100%), research papers (82%), and argumentative topics (91%) were very common. As argumentative writing activities would require more complicated macro-rhetorical developments, this might be a reason for the problem-solution pattern occurring twice as much in English than in Turkish essays, and the use of it more by participants who received English writing instruction than participants who did not. Induction was another commonly used pattern in English. For possible reasons for that, see the section on thesis statements, p. 14.

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3. Coherence: At essay level, all essays, and at paragraph level, 94% of the paragraphs, were coherent; thus, no preference for digression was found. In the interview, all participants said they had learned about coherence as a rule in both Turkish and English writing classes. Similarly, in the survey, paragraph-level coherence was marked as an emphasized feature in Turkish classes by twelve participants (67%), and in English writing classes by seven out of eleven participants (64%) who had received English writing instruction. 4. Transition signaling: Participants used transition signaling frequently in their essays. Among 103 body and conclusion paragraphs, 69 (67%) had some transition signaling (37 in Turkish, and 32 in English). Transition signaling was used more extensively by the participants who were exposed to English writing education, and the transitions were shorter, formulaic, and more explicit in English than they were in the Turkish essays (e.g. . . . this story brings to my mind an example in Turkish versus for example in English). Interview results indicated that the use of transition signaling was mainly related to previous English writing education and/or familiarity with English texts. The ten participants (91%) who received writing instruction in English stated that they learned about transition signaling in English writing classes. In addition, the participants who did not receive any formal English writing instruction, but who were in a graduate program, said they often recognize this feature in scientic articles in English and use it in their writing. Two participants also said they knew it from TOEFL books or ESL classes. Fifty-ve percent of the participants who received English writing instruction also mentioned connectives as one of the requirements for effective organization in English in the survey. 5. Placement of the main ideas: All essays had a thesis statement either in an explicit direct way in one sentence or in a less direct way in one or more sentences. Regardless of their writing instructional history, participants preferred an initial use of thesis statement resulting in deductive and straightforward topic development in Turkish (72%) essays. However, in English essays, participants tended to have inductive developments (39%) or collections (33%) rather than initial thesis statements (28%) (see Table 1, p. 24). Education seemed to have a role in the presence and positioning of thesis statements only to a certain extent. In the survey, ten participants (56%) said they learned to put a thesis statement in their compositions in Turkish classes. Six of them remembered the place as initial and three participants as nal. These participants placed the thesis in their Turkish essays according to how they stated they had learned the location in Turkish classes. However, in some cases, participants who said they did not learn this rule in Turkish also had a thesis statement in their Turkish essays, and except for two of them, they all positioned their thesis statements initially.
Table 1 Between subject analysis for placement of thesis statements Turkish Participants Location of thesis statement Initial Middle Final Collection Two or more different theses Obscure 13 0 4 1 0 0 Percentage 72 0 22 6 0 0 English Participants 5 0 7 6 0 0 Percentage 28 0 39 33 0 0

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When asked whether they learned that they should have a thesis statement in their English writing classes, all participants who had an English writing education said they learned that they should have a thesis statement at the beginning of their compositions. Surprisingly, only three of them put their thesis in an initial position in their English essays. For some reason, participants did not use their knowledge regarding the initial use of thesis statements in their English essays, but used it in their Turkish essays. 6. Separate example paragraph pattern: An interesting pattern writing topic sentences and examples in separate paragraphs or starting the paragraph with an example was found in 17 essays and 26 (16 Turkish, 10 English) paragraphs. This paragraph division by twelve participants resulted in obscure topics (no topic sentences) in the following paragraphs. Although it was revealed by the interview that this structure was not explicitly taught in either Turkish or English writing classes, eight participants seemed to have formed a belief that presenting an example in a new paragraph would make it more effective, appealing, original, or practical, and because the example speaks for itself, it is unnecessary to use a topic sentence along with the example. In the survey, it was also found that having a topic sentence in a paragraph was not an emphasized feature in Turkish writing classes (marked by only 28% of participants). Thus, this lack of emphasis on topic sentences in Turkish might be a reason for the nding that 23 paragraphs had obscure topic sentences especially in Turkish, but also in English essays. Other reasons were found to be related to the essay topic and previous reading experiences. Research Question #2 What commonalities and differences exist in rhetorical patterns within participants in their Turkish and English argumentative essays? L1 and L2 essays of participants demonstrated both similarities and differences according to different categories. Similarities were observed especially in terms of overall organization, coherence, and transition signaling. For example, almost all participants wrote coherent essays in both L1 and L2 around an introduction, body, and conclusion. Fifteen participants who had transition signaling in Turkish often had transition signaling in English essays, but with equal or less frequency. However, for other categories, similarities between L1 and L2 essays were observed in fewer participants essays. In terms of macro-level rhetorical patterns, for example, seven participants (39%) had similar macro-level rhetorical patterns in both their essays as the main or secondary pattern. The separate example pattern was also observed in six participants Turkish and English essays although it was used more in Turkish essays (16 essays) than in English essays (10) (see Table 2, p. 24). Differences between L1 and L2 essays particularly came into play in the location of the thesis statements. For example, although all participants had thesis statements in both their essays, only ve participants positioned their thesis statements in the same location in the Turkish and English essays. When participants were asked in the interview why they used different locations for their thesis statements in their Turkish and English essays, it was found that L2 level, writertopic interaction, emotional state, and audience played a role in the positioning of thesis statements. For example, one participant (Sinem) said she knew the rule of initial thesis statement from her English classes; however, although it was easy for her to use that knowledge in Turkish, she completely forgot about this rule while writing in English as she was busy with grammar concerns. It was also found that when the participants thought the topic was abstract, subjective,

H.H. Uysal / Journal of Second Language Writing 17 (2008) 183207 Table 2 Within-subject analysis for separate example paragraph pattern in L1 and L2 essays Turkish Ayse Sebnem Ali Sinem Merve Esen Berk Irem Ufuk Zafer Derya Leyla II. example paragraph II. starts with an example III. starts with a counter example III. example paragraph IV. example paragraph II. example paragraph II. starts with an example IV. example paragraph III, IV, V are all separate example paragraphs III. example paragraph III. example paragraph II. example paragraph II. example paragraph III. example paragraph with multiple examples Total: 16 paragraphs II. example paragraph with two examples III. example paragraph II, IV both start with an example II. example paragraph Total: 10 paragraphs II. starts with example III. counter example paragraph English

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III, IV, V are all separate example paragraphs

Roman numerals stand for the sequence of the paragraph; e.g. II. is the second paragraph.

and relative, and was not able to decide what side to take in the argument they delayed the thesis statements. The more they were hesitant about the topic, the more inductive their essays became (Ali, Esen, and Banu). Also, participants who went deeper in their thinking, included philosophical and emotional elements, and considered all dimensions of the topic could not put the thesis at the beginning (Sebnem, Ali, Sedat, and Berk). Two participants (Ali and Taner) also said that because they were writing to an American audience in the English essay, they felt the need to include more explanations before they stated their thesis, fearing that the American audience would not understand their point. Coders reached full agreement for the analysis of overall organization, coherence, and transition signaling. The intercoder reliability was 83% for analyzing macro-level rhetorical pattern, and 92% and 95% for analyzing thesis statements and topic sentences, respectively. Discussion and conclusion Despite the fact that the participants constituted a heterogeneous group in terms of their English level and their history of L2 writing education, they still demonstrated some common rhetorical patterns in their essays as well as individual differences. The patterns were often linked to educational context, but other factors were also found to play roles in the shape of the texts. In terms of similarities in L1 and L2 essays of the participants, the patterns showed similarities for some categories more than others, and various factors were found to be inuential in the use of similar versus different patterns in essays of each individual. The commonalities or preferences in rhetorical patterns were observed particularly in terms of a number of factors: participants organizing essays around an introduction, body, and

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conclusion; using specication as the macro-level rhetorical pattern in the Turkish essays; writing coherently; using transition devices between paragraphs; having initial thesis statements in Turkish, and nal thesis statements and collections of thesis statements in English essays; having initial, obscure, or collection of topic sentences in their paragraphs; and starting their paragraphs with examples. The common preferences of participants regarding overall organization, macro-level rhetorical pattern and coherence, and the use of transition devices were similar to the stereotyped English ways of writing reported by previous research. For example, Turkish participants essays followed the linear order of introduction, body, and conclusion with similar functions to English: an introduction presenting the main idea and conclusion ending the discussion with a suggestion, restatement, or summary of the argument. In addition, the participants tended to organize especially their Turkish essays using specicationa popular Western pattern as it is front loaded, introducing the thesis statement and then providing explanation and evidence for the argument (Kubota, 1998b). Again, the participants essays and paragraphs were coherent with use of frequent transition devices similar to traditional English writing. However, a tendency to use obscure topic sentences and collections of topic sentences, which was not consistent with the stereotyped English writing, were also observed in the present study. The common use of obscure topic sentences or presenting only examples without a topic sentence in the present study might be a sign of reader responsibility, as participants stated that they did not feel the need to include a topic sentence along with examples because their examples were effective enough to speak for themselves. Therefore, Turkish participants might have assumed and expected that readers would make the connections between the example and the argument by themselves, similar to Japanese and Chinese writers (Hinds, 1983; Matalane, 1985). Kimura and Kondo (2004) also found that obscure and multiple different topic sentences were used by Japanese writers, possibly inuenced by the danraku style, which allows multiple topic sentences in a paragraph, and by Japanese writing instruction that is not detailed and specic in terms of paragraph-level organization (Kimura & Kondo, 2004), similar to Turkish writing education. In short, participants demonstrated some rhetorical preferences similar to both stereotyped English and Asian writing preferences surprisingly parallel to Turkeys geographical location right in the middle of West and East. However, it is also important to note that, besides these common patterns, many exceptions and individual preferences were also found. For example, participants not only used specication, but also other macro-level rhetorical patterns in their essays such as problemsolution, comparison, and induction. Five participants demonstrated digression at paragraph level; one participant did not have transition signaling in any of the essays; and a few participants had middle positioning of topic sentences in their paragraphs. In terms of the relationship between the common preferences and the educational context, strong and direct connections were found for some categories, but for others, the connections were not that salient, as various other factors were inuential in writing as well. For example, use of overall organization and coherence in both essays was directly linked to writing education in both L1 and L2 writing classes. The use of frequent transition signaling in the essays was also found to be related to previous writing instruction, particularly in English, as it was explicitly and strongly encouraged by English writing teachers. Nevertheless, because almost all participants who were both familiar and not familiar with English writing used this feature, it cannot be claimed that transitions were non-existent in Turkish writing, but that they were probably not emphasized as much. The common use of specication, especially in Turkish essays, on the other hand, might have roots in Turkish writing instruction in which the writing topics and writing

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types practiced such as writing about national holidays were consistent with use of that macrolevel pattern. Turkish writing education, which was described as very general and ambiguous, might have been related to high instances of obscure topic sentences and separate example paragraphs in both essays similar to the ndings of Kimura and Kondos study (2004) that suggested a link between ambiguous Japanese writing education at paragraph level and obscure topic sentences in Japanese essays. In terms of the use of thesis statements, on the other hand, the situation was more complicated. More than half the participants said they learned to write thesis statements in Turkish classes, and all participants who received English writing instruction said they learned about this rule in English writing classes; however, initial thesis statements could be observed only in the Turkish essays. Other factors such as L2 level, essay topic, and audience were found to play role in the locations of thesis statements rather than previous writing instruction as a result of the stimulated recall interviews. These ndings provided support for the claims of CR regarding the relationship between culture and writing. However, it was also found that cultural context is not the only factor that determines the way participants write, as in some categories cultural connections seemed to not be straightforward and simple, but complicated. In terms of similarities in Turkish and English essays of participants, participants used similar patterns for some categories, but not for the others due to various factors. The similarities found in some patterns or preferences in Turkish and English essays of the same individuals essays point out the possibility of transfer across languages. The interview and survey results provided further evidence for the possibility of transfer as they revealed whether the pattern had its roots in L1, L2, or both, as mentioned earlier. For example, knowledge and skills related to overall organizational patterns and coherence were probably transferred in both directions. On the other hand, the separate example paragraph patterns and having obscure and collections of topic sentences were probably transferred from Turkish to English. Frequent use of transition signaling in essays was likely to be transferred from English to Turkish. These results are consistent with Enginarlar (1990), Oktar (1991), and Atakent (1999), who found evidence for transfer of L2 knowledge to Turkish, in addition to a L1 to L2 transfer. However, it was also found that, while participants could easily transfer information from English to Turkish in some categories, they did not use their L2 knowledge in other categories in either essay. All participants, regardless of their L2 level, L1 and L2 writing skills, and their previous L2 writing history, could easily make use of their knowledge about overall organization structure, coherence, and transition signaling into both their essays. However, transfer in the use of macro-level rhetorical patterns and location of main ideas at essay and paragraph levels was interrupted. Participants especially did not apply their knowledge about the initial positioning of thesis statement while writing in L2. These ndings contrast with Hiroses (2003) study in which Japanese students used a deductive organizational pattern in both their L1 and L2 essays. However, writing on the same topic and having similar L2 levels and L2 writing instruction histories might have caused the parallelism in L1 and L2 essays of Hiroses subjects. L2 prociency was found to be an important reason for participants not being able to use their writing knowledge in L1 and L2. However, it was also found that even the participants who were procient in L2 as they currently study in doctoral programs in the U.S. had problems using certain features, such as initial thesis statements in their L2 writing. Other features such as transitions, on the other hand, were used effortlessly in both essays, even by participants who had very low L2 language levels. These results might indicate that, if there is a threshold necessary for

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the transfer of L1 writing skills to L2, then that threshold might be higher for transferring certain patterns than others. Another explanation for this might be related to the fact that the degree of the participants L1 and L2 writing knowledge and experiences differed from one category to another. For example, for the category related to initial topic sentences, participants might have had lower L1 knowledge due to supercial and vague instruction in L1, as well as having inadequate opportunities to practice this feature in English. Therefore, L2 prociency was not the only reason that hampered the use of L1 or L2 knowledge of writing in the essays, but as Kubota (1998a) also suggested, L1 writing knowledge and a lack of writing experience in L2 might have inuenced participants writing. In the present study, besides L2 related problems, inadequate L1 writing education, inexperience in L2 writing with the use of certain patterns, as well as other factors, such as topic, audience concerns, and individual or emotional factors articulated by participants, were sources for not being able to use L1 or L2 writing knowledge in L2 writing. No signicant difference was found in the patterns and their transfer among participants according to gender, previous history of ESL versus EFL writing instruction, writing order, writing on computer versus by hand, or subjects graduate programs of study. Limitations of the study Due to the small sample size, the patterns found cannot be claimed to be the cultural representations of Turkish writing. Secondly, as the essays were written in argumentative mode for a specic purpose, the results cannot be generalized to other types of writing. Another limitation was the subjectivity inherent in the analysis of texts, although this subjectivity was attempted to be reduced by correlating three readers coding. Moreover, the essays were produced in a limited time; thus, they were only rst drafts. Therefore, the results should be approached cautiously. Implications and suggestions for further research Most Contrastive Rhetoric studies have received criticism, mainly due to research designs that analyzed texts merely based on researchers impressions or made claims about L1 to L2 transfer by just looking at L2 essays. Possibly because of these criticisms regarding problems with objectivity in CR research, the current direction seems to be large corpus studies as suggested by Connor and Moreno (2005) based on structured linguistic analysis, but not process-oriented qualitative research. This study, on the other hand, revealed that process-oriented qualitative methodologies can contribute to understanding which observed patterns in texts stem from cultural inuences and which patterns stem from other factors such as L2 level, audience, topic, and so on. Therefore, it is hoped that future studies will take this suggestion into consideration. In order to explore language or culturally specic writing patterns, the best way is to look at the L1 texts of participants who have no prior knowledge about L2 writing. It would be very misleading to examine L2 essays of a language group, as developmental factors in L2 prociency and many other factors might play a role in the shape of L2 essays. For example, in the present study, if we had just examined L2 essays for the location of thesis statements, we could have falsely concluded that Turkish writers write inductively, despite the fact that the participants used deductive organization in their L1 essays. It is also misleading to examine the L1 essays of people with previous L2 writing knowledge, as transfer from L2 to L1 can cause contamination.

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While investigating transfer from L1 to L2 and vice versa, subjects should also be grouped according to their L2 prociency and L2 writing education history, and they should write on different topics to better understand how these various factors interact with each other during any possible transfer of cultural patterns across writing. Further research on Turkish cultural writing patterns should investigate each rhetorical category with more subjects to see if the patterns found hold true for a larger population with implications for a larger cultural context. Longitudinal case studies investigating Turkish writers learning processes of academic English writing conventions would also be helpful to reveal more details about the relationship between culture and writing and the reasoning behind certain writing behaviors this present study might have overlooked. Conclusions With the increasing popularity of social and genre theories of writing, the focus of attention has turned to social and cultural factors that play a role in writing (Atkinson, 2003a, 2003b), which has helped CR gain new momentum. The present study revealed that many different factors interact with each other and play a role in the nal shape of written texts, and cultural factors are only a part of the big picture. However, culturaleducational factors still were found to constitute an important part of second language writing processes and products. Therefore, it is hoped that the present study will contribute to the attempts to formulate a comprehensive theory of second language writing, while pointing out that CR is an indispensable area for second language writing research and has important potentials that should be utilized. Acknowledgments I would like to thank Carol Severino, Ilona Leki, and the reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this paper. I would also like to thank Carol Severino, Michael Everson, Leslie Schrier, Kathy Heilenman, and Anne DiPardo for their invaluable feedback that improved the study. References
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Appendix A. Information about participants Note: In general and vocational high schools in Turkey, English is taught only for 34 hours a week, but in English medium high schools it is taught for at least 8 hours a week, following a preparation class in which English is taught for 24 hour a week.
Name Ayse English level (length of stay in the US, length and quality of Formal writing English instruction in Turkey, self-evaluation, etc.) instruction in L2 None Education-vocation B.A. in Embroidery Teaching, currently a housewife. B.A. in English literature, M.A. in Cultural Studies from Britain, currently Ph.D. student Communication Studies in the US.

5 years of English instruction in a vocational high school in Turkey (3 hours a week), 3 months of ESL course in the US, has been in the US for 5 years, ranks her English 5 out of 10. Sebnem Went to an English medium high school in Turkey, stayed in Britain for 2 years, has been in the US for 2 years, ranks her English 9/10.

None (skipped the preparatory class where writing instruction was given)

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Appendix A (Continued )
Name Ali English level (length of stay in the US, length and quality of Formal writing English instruction in Turkey, self-evaluation, etc.) instruction in L2 Went to an English medium junior high school and then a science high school in Turkey, published several articles in English, ranks his English 8/10. Yes Education-vocation

Okan

Went to a general high school, but then an English medium university in Turkey, has been in the US for 4 years, and took ESL classes for 1 year. Went to a general high school, but then an English medium university, ranks his English level 9/10.

Sedat

Sinem

Went to a general high school, but then went to an English medium university, has been in the US for 1.5 years, ranks her English 7/10. Graduated from an English medium high school and university, has been in the US for 3 months, ranks her English 7/10.

Merve

Esen

Erdem

Went to an English medium high school and partly English medium university, has been in the US for a month, ranks her English 6/10. English medium high school and university, has been in the US for 1.5 years, ranks his English as 8/10.

B.A. in Physics, Ph.D. in Physics from an American University, currently a post-doc researcher. Yes (both in Turkey B.A. in Physics, and in the US) currently a Ph.D. student in Physics in the US. None (skipped the B.A. in Psychology preparatory class) and Biology, currently Ph.D. student in Psychology. Yes B.A. in Physics, currently Ph.D. student in Physics in the US. Yes B.A. in ElectricalElectronic Engineering, has just applied for MA in computer sciences. None B.A. in Physical Engineering. Yes B.A. in Economics and Mathematics, currently Ph.D. student in Economics in the US. B.A. in Economics, currently Ph.D. student in Economics in the US. B.A. in Economics, Ph.D. student in Economics in the US. B.A. in ElectricalElectronic Engineering, Ph.D. student in Physics in the US. B.A. and M.A. in English Language Education, Ph.D. student in Foreign Language Education in US. B.A. in Agricultural Engineering. Currently a housewife.

Berk

Went to an English medium high school and a university in Turkey, has been in the US for 1.5 years, ranks his English as 9/10. Attended an English medium high school and University, has been in the US for 3 months, ranks her English as 5/10. Attended a general high school and a Turkish medium University, went to ESL classes for three semesters in the US, has been in the US for 3.5 years, ranks his English 8/10. Attended a general high school, English major in the university, has been in the US for 3.5 years, ranks his English as 10/10.

Yes

Irem

Yes

Ufuk

Yes

Zafer

Yes

Banu

Attended a general high school and Turkish medium university, has been in the US for 1 year. Attended several short-term ESL classes in churches, ranks her English as 5/10.

None

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Appendix A (Continued )
Name Taner English level (length of stay in the US, length and quality of Formal writing English instruction in Turkey, self-evaluation, etc.) instruction in L2 Attended a general high school and a Turkish medium university. Attended a TOEFL preparation course for a year in Turkey, has been in the US for 4.5 years, ranks his English as 6/10. Yes (as a part of TOEFL preparation program and has been going to Writing Center in the US) None Education-vocation B.A. in Science Education. Ph.D. student in Science Education in US.

Derya

Leyla

Attended a religious high school in Turkey, has been in the US for 2 years, attended ESL classes in churches for a few months, ranks her English as 5/10. Went to a general high school and a Turkish medium university, Attended a TOEFL preparation course for a year in Turkey, has been in the US for 4 years, ranks her English as 5/10. Went to a general high school and a Turkish medium university. Has been in the US for 1.5 years. Attended two ESL classes at college, ranks her English as 4/10.

B.A. in Theology, currently a housewife. B.A. in Biology Education, Ph.D. student in Science Education in US. B.A. in Agricultural Engineering, M.A. in Plant Protection and Entomology, currently a housewife.

Nevin

Yes (as part of TOEFL preparation program, has been going to Writing Center in the US) None

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Appendix B. Background Questionnaire

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Appendix C. Sample stimulated recall interview questions (Alis case) An outline of Alis Turkish and English essays.
Turkish essay Introduction: A short explanation/description about what luck and success mean + thesis statement: I think luck plays a big role in a persons success. Development: I. paragraph: Topic sentence (luck is not the only reason for success, hard work may also help) + reason (for how luck may inuence success). English essay Introduction: General information and description about the people who adapt vs. people who preserve their own culture. Development: I. paragraph: Example (a story about his experiences in the US to support keeping ones own customs). 1st topic sentence: the more you know about the American lifestyle, the easier it gets to communicate with them + reason (because otherwise as a foreigner you can offend people); 2nd topic sentence (complementary to the rst topic sentence): there is a positive correlation between being able to communicate with people and success. 3rd topic sentence: I still keep my traditions and lifestyle among Americans, which I do not think had a bad inuence on my career + reason (actually they appreciate differencesthis is cultural richness) II. paragraph: Example (imaginary story) + topic sentence Conclusion: Thesis statementTherefore, I do not think that there is a correlation between being successful and adopting the customs of a new country. However, understanding and respecting the differences between cultures might be helpful.

II. Example (a short story about two of his friends to support luck). III. A question to the reader.

IV. Answering the above question summarizing his view. Conclusion: Restating the claim. In conclusion, I think luck plays an important place in success . . ..

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Sample interview questions and answers: 1. In the survey you stated that starting an essay with a thesis statement was a feature you learned in English writing classes, but not in Turkish. However, your thesis statement is in the introduction part in your Turkish essay, but it comes at the end in your English composition. Why? - I think this is related to the language of the essay. While I am writing in English I feel a need to introduce and explain the topic rst. Maybe I am afraid that a foreigner would not understand me. I do not fear that the reader would not understand me while writing in Turkish at all, so in English I believe that I should explain the subject rst and then start writing my own ideas. Also, I had a strong opinion about the Turkish topic, but in English essay, I could not decide which side I will take, my ideas developed while I was writing. 2. In general, your paragraphs start with an example or your paragraphs are consisted of only examples. Why did you do that? - While we were writing in Turkish at school, the most common writing topic was explaining a proverb and the only way you can do was by giving examples. For example if they ask you to explain what keep the hay and its time will come means, you give examples from your life such as once I did not throw something and then I needed it later. 3. Was that something your Turkish or English writing teachers taught you? - I dont know. I do not remember teachers saying anything about that. 4. In your English essay, in the second paragraph, you have more than one main idea. Why did you organize this paragraph that way? - Oh, yes, I should have divided that paragraph into two. 5. What would your English writing instructor say if he saw that paragraph? - She would correct it. She would divide it. In fact, it is necessary to reverse that paragraph. The idea below should go to the beginning of the paragraph. There is problem with the focus of the paragraph. Or, I could have combined it with my conclusion paragraph and after comparing the two ideas I could have said that the key to success is not adapting, but respecting others. 6. How about your Turkish writing instructor? - I really dont know. In English, teachers were interested in such things, but I do not remember anything like that in Turkish. 7. What were these things your English teachers were interested in? Can you give me some examples for the writing rules your English writing instructor specically emphasized? - For example, writing a topic sentence at the beginning of a paragraph and then giving examples, introducing your topic in the rst paragraph, using connectives such as nevertheless and summarizing your idea in conclusion and talking about the same idea again . . .. I wrote most of my writings in English because you have to revise a piece of writing for fty times and then you learn better ways to write your ideas. In Turkish, we did not do that. I used to think that only people who have a special talent could write, but here (in the US) I understood that if you follow certain rules, you can write. In Turkey, I also learned most of my writing knowledge in English lessons, writing was more important in English. 8. Then why did not you apply your knowledge about the initial topic sentences in your essays? - I think I forgot that in the ow of writing. I do not know.

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Hacer Hande Uysal is currently a researcher and lecturer at Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. Currently, she is teaching classes on advanced writing, oral communication skills, and phonetics. She received her masters degree in English education and her PhD in foreign language/ESL education from the University of Iowa. She also taught English in public and private schools at primary and secondary levels in Turkey for six years. Her research interests are second language writing, language planning, and teacher education.