As the only one international student in our group I cannot help giving a comment on discussion of cultural diversity. Shen’s article is very interesting. I am sure it took many years to shape these notions into words because such things are very elusive. I myself often have feeling that something is “different” yet I am not able to name it with exact words.
The question of changing identity is difficult. I find it quite normal that the author had to adjust to Western values in order to right in English. I mean I have never thought about it in the sense of identity. I have seen Western-style writing as merely further learning of the language, probably on the most advanced level. There is kind of putting on a mask even in speaking. I guess it happens when one studies any foreign language. We discussed it in my ESL class last summer. Our American instructor told us that we did not have to pursue sounding exactly like native speakers because our accents were parts of our identities.
Rhetoric classes and discourses of particular disciplines do not connect directly or do they? For example, I am able to write a paper in the field of literature, and many principles we use here are familiar to me from my past experience of studying literature in Russia. At least, the professors have not classified my works as “strange” yet. But I don’t feel very comfortable when writing a short essay in English 1000 style. Why is it so? English 1000 is supposed to be the basic level and Grad school writing is advanced.
Another thing about this article is that it was written nearly 20 years ago. The situation is changing quickly now. It had to be much more difficult to adjust to foreign environment and values in the past.
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I have a sort of reverse example- I spoke to a student last semester who was American, but had lived in France and gone through the French educational system. He felt totally lost writing papers in English, and wondered if the rules were different. Based on the writing I saw, he seemed at the very least to be better organized than most other freshmen, though less imaginative in thesis and conclusions. Just thought it was odd that a native speaker would have a similar disconnect in the composition course, solely because he hadn't received instruction in the language.
That is a very interesting example. Did he study in French? There are academic constructions in every language. A native speaker may or may not know them. A native speaker is always naturally OK with oral speech, but our written language always differs from its oral variant. As far as I know writing skills are always result of conscious learning.
On a line similar to this, there is a woman in my College Teaching course who is a sign language instructor/interpreter. After class tonight, one of the other students in the class asked her about sign language writing. She said that people who are born deaf often have trouble with composition because they aren't taught at an early age to correlate the word on the page to the sign for the word. I should have demanded to know more about it, as I think it's really fascinating.
It seems like, regardless of the native language, there are bound to be obstacles to overcome in tackling writing in the new language. I wish it were simpler!
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