Abstract
The differences between the organizational patterns of various languages have been discussed widely since Kaplan’s 1966 article on contrastive rhetoric. In that pioneering work, Kaplan proposed that different thought patterns were evident in the English as a second language (ESL) writers’ essays he studied, and he suggested that these differing thought patterns stemmed from thought patterns in the authors’ various native languages. In an attempt to update and broaden the perspective of Kaplan’s ideas, Connor has in recent years suggested that this approach to text analysis should be called ‘intercultural rhetoric research’ (Connor, 2002, 2004a, 2004b) rather than contrastive rhetoric. As Connor indicates in the present volume, there has been criticism of contrastive rhetoric for its tendency to stereotype writers (e.g. Spack, 1997; Zamel, 1997) because the theory in essence argues that writers of the same cultures share the same pattern of writing in their second languages (p. 13). In an attempt to build a more culturally comprehensive culture-specific theory, Connor has proposed that intercultural rhetoricians should go beyond simply comparing texts, employing both quantitative and qualitative research methods, to further intercultural rhetoric research. In her latest work on intercultural rhetoric, Intercultural Rhetoric in the Writing Classroom, Connor builds upon her previous arguments by providing a broad summary of the intercultural rhetoric approach and useful examples of its applications.
Chapter 1 sets the scene for the volume by providing a brief background for readers. In particular, this chapter provides readers with information on previous studies and discussions on contrastive rhetoric, including Connor’s own interest in this line of research. Then in Chapter 2, readers are presented with an extensive overview of the historical roots of intercultural rhetoric and how it developed out of contrastive rhetoric. After this background information, Chapter 3 discusses various definitions of culture and what this complex concept entails in intercultural communication.
Applications of intercultural rhetoric are explained in the next three chapters. Chapter 4 provides readers with possible ways to conduct text analyses of written products across cultures. In this chapter, Connor provides information on the major approaches to text analysis: contextually situated text analysis, genre analysis, corpus analysis and ethnographic approaches to text and context analysis. Additionally, she presents readers with step-by-step guidance on principles of conducting research studies in intercultural rhetoric. The research implications presented in this chapter are nicely complemented with the teaching implications in Chapter 5, where Connor discusses several studies of writing and their applications in the teaching of writing in various contexts for different purposes: English as a second language contexts, English as a foreign language contexts, writing centres, English for specific purposes, English as a lingua franca and first language classrooms in the USA. The volume concludes with a case study example of intercultural rhetoric as applied to the area of health discourse.
Of particular interest to readers of Discourse Studies, Connor explores differences in the discourse styles which can be detected in the writings of people from different cultures. The volume could be used as a textbook for graduate-level courses on rhetoric and culture in various departments as well as teacher education courses on issues in second language writing. In addition, the volume could be of interest to language teachers who teach students coming from various cultural backgrounds. While this volume, as its title indicates, puts emphasis on applications of intercultural rhetoric to the teaching of second language writing, there is also a need for discussion of the application of intercultural rhetoric to the other domains of applied studies such as translation studies, cultural studies and communication more generally.
Overall, the volume is clearly organized and can be used either as a course book for an intercultural communication course, or as a self-study guide for those teachers of English who want to further their understanding of possible connections between their students’ culture and discourse style that can be navigated in the second language writing samples of their students. Thus, this volume is a welcome addition to the areas of intercultural rhetoric and the teaching of second-language writing. In order to help language learners explore rhetorical differences that may be present in their writings in their first and second languages, it is important to address some, if not all, of the issues that are discussed in Intercultural Rhetoric in the Writing Classroom. For this reason, this practical guide can serve as a reference book not only for teachers of language learners, but also for anyone who is interested in developing their awareness of rhetorical differences in different cultures.