Raising students' awareness of cross-cultural contrastive rhetoric in English writing via an e-learning course

Xing, Minjie; Wang, Jinghui; Spencer, Ken

Abstract

This study investigated the potential impact of e-learning on raising overseas students' cultural awareness and explored the possibility of creating an interactive learning environment for them to improve their English academic writing. The study was based on a comparison of Chinese and English rhetoric in academic writing, including a comparison of Chinese students' writings in Chinese with native English speakers' writings in English and Chinese students' writings in English with the help of an e-course and Chinese students' writings in English without the help of an e-course. Five features of contrastive rhetoric were used as criteria for the comparison. The experimental results show that the group using the e-course was successful in learning about defined aspects of English rhetoric in academic writing, reaching a level of performance that equalled that of native English speakers. Data analysis also revealed that e-learning resources helped students to compare rhetorical styles across cultures and that the interactive learning environment was effective in improving overseas students' English academic writing.

Citation

Xing, M., Wang, J., & Spencer, K. (2008). Raising students' awareness of cross-cultural contrastive rhetoric in English writing via an e-learning course. Language Learning and Technology, 12(2), 71-93

• Publication Date: 2008-06
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Journal: Language Learning & Technology
• Print ISSN: 1094-3501
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 71-93
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/460158
• Publisher URL: http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num2/xingetal.pdf