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

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

Research Studies in Second Language Writing and in Contrastive Rhetoric

The major aim of this article is to review studies of second language writing. The first part deals mainly with the process of writing in the second and first languages. The second part concerns contrastive rhetoric. In this second part, the findings of research studies on the relationship of first and second language rhetoric will be presented. Included in the discussion are research studies on contrastive rhetoric in the Indonesian context. The last section of this article concludes the discussion and proposes the implementation of more research on the relationship between Indonesian rhetoric and English rhetoric in essays written by Indonesian learners of English

Measuring and Fostering Non-Cognitive Skills in Adolescence: Evidence from Chicago Public Schools and the OneGoal Program

Recent evidence has established that non-cognitive skills (e.g., persistence and selfcontrol) are valuable in the labor market and are malleable throughout adolescence. Some recent high school interventions have been developed to foster these skills, but there is little evidence on whether they are effective. Using administrative data, we apply two methods to evaluate an intervention called OneGoal, which attempts to help disadvantaged students attend and complete college in part by teaching non-cognitive skills. First, we compare the outcomes of participants and non-participants with similar pre-program cognitive and non-cognitive skills. In doing so, we develop and validate a measure of non-cognitive skill that is based on readily available data and rivals standard measures of cognitive skill in predicting educational attainment. Second, we use an instrumental variable difference-in-difference approach that exploits the fact that OneGoal was introduced into different schools at different times. We estimate that OneGoal improves academic indicators, increases college enrollment by 10–20 percentage points, and reduces arrest rates by 5 percentage points for males. We demonstrate that improvements in non-cognitive skill account for 15–30 percent of the treatment effects

RESEARCH STUDIES IN SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING AND IN CONTRASTIVE RHETORIC

The major aim of this article is to review studies of second language writing. The first part deals mainly with the process of writing in the second and first languages. The second part concerns contrastive rhetoric. In this second part, the findings of research studies on the relationship of first and second language rhetoric will be presented. Included in the discussion are research studies on contrastive rhetoric in the Indonesian context. The last section of this article concludes the discussion and proposes the implementation of more research on the relationship between Indonesian rhetoric and English rhetoric in essays written by Indonesian learners of English

“Honest as the Devil:” English Rhetoric and Representations of Catholicism in Ireland during the Reformation

This essay focuses on the changes in English rhetoric concerning Irish Catholicism from 1578-1610. Authors used specific rhetoric and terminology meant to imply the Catholicism and otherness of the Irish native population. This rhetoric fell into three different stages, the first two of which overlapped chronologically. These stages included acknowledging Irish Catholicism as a somewhat legitimate belief system, denial of any Irish religious tendencies, and a compromise between the two in which authors described the Irish as practicing popery, sin and superstition, but they still had religious beliefs. These changes show the relationship between the Tudor church and state during the end of Elizabeth’s reign. This essay should serve as a launch pad for further research

Explicit ESL/EFL Reading-writing Connection: An Issue to Explore in ESL/EFL Settings

This paper tries to explore the explicit relationship between reading and writing from ESL/EFL perspectives. The reading-writing connection has long been established in language literacy. Yet, this paper specifically focuses on the usefulness and effectiveness as well as the need for the explicit connection between the two language skills in ESL/EFL settings. It compares between Arabic rhetoric and English rhetoric as two opposite language systems. This paper tries to relate some issues in natural settings in Saudi Arabia in relation to the status of reading and writing in real classrooms and writing teachers’ strategies. Finally, the paper explores the composition teachers’ role and knowledge in making this explicit connection significant to ESL learners of writing. This paper cites some examples that the author experienced in reading and writing courses when he was an EFL student enrolled in English department

Probing Rhetorical Structures Of Advanced Learners\u27 Expository Prose: A Data-based Approach

Logic, as the basis of rhetoric, always affects the way ideas, words, and evidence are assembled into one coherent structure. As rhetoric varies from culture to culture, it frequently brings about awkwardness, inappropriateness as well as immaturity of an expository prose if it does not meet the convention of organizational patterns and signals as expected by the readers having that rhetoric. A number of scholars have highlighted the importance and insights of contrastive rhetoric for the teaching of academic writing. This paper describes various rhetorical problems encountered by dozens of advanced Indonesian learners of English taking an academic writing class at AMINEF (American Indonesian Exchange Foundation) who plan to study in the USA. This paper concludes with the caveat that difficulties in adopting English rhetoric is not simply a linguistic problem but includes cultural understanding and awareness of its style. This paper offers insightful writing instructions to cope with the existing problems

Levelling Up: Designing and Testing a Contextual, Web-based Dreamweaver 8 Tutorial for Students with Technological Aptitude Differences

This thesis examines the user-centered design methods and methodology inherent to designing and testing a web-based Dreamweaver 8 tutorial for undergraduate and graduate students who enroll in certain English rhetoric and composition courses at Georgia State University. The tutorial’s three interfaces were rhetorically designed to support three corresponding types of user—novices, intermediates, and experts— whose familiarity with Dreamweaver and student web space determined their starting point of interaction with the artifact. Three usability tests examined each interface based on four usability attributes. Findings revealed the novice and expert interfaces to be usable, while the intermediate interface was more problematic. The analysis of findings indicated the advanced documentation theory to be sound; however, the practical implementation of the theory to this artifact was comparatively ineffective. More research is suggested for determining whether a multimodal tutorial design is the most useful and usable for the target audience(s)

PROBING RHETORICAL STRUCTURES OF ADVANCED LEARNERS’ EXPOSITORY PROSE: A DATA-BASED APPROACH

Logic, as the basis of rhetoric, always affects the way ideas, words, and evidence are assembled into one coherent structure. As rhetoric varies from culture to culture, it frequently brings about awkwardness, inappropriateness as well as immaturity of an expository prose if it does not meet the convention of organizational patterns  and signals as expected by the readers having that rhetoric. A number of scholars have highlighted the importance and insights of contrastive rhetoric for the teaching of academic writing. This paper describes various rhetorical problems encountered by dozens of advanced Indonesian learners of English taking an academic writing class at AMINEF (American Indonesian Exchange Foundation) who plan to study in the USA. This paper concludes with the caveat that difficulties in adopting English rhetoric is not simply  a linguistic problem but includes cultural understanding and awareness of its style. This paper offers insightful writing instructions to cope with the existing problems. Keywords: rhetoric, expository prose, contrastive rhetoric, rhetoricalproblems, AMINEF

A rhetorical analysis of Winston Churchill’s speech:we shall fight on the beaches

Abstract. The aim of this paper is to provide a thorough analysis of Winston Churchill’s speech, We shall fight on the beaches, which he gave to the British House of Commons on June 4th, 1940, during the turmoil of the Second World War, as he was being pressured to surrender his nation to the enemy Germany’s demands. Britain at that time was surrounded by an aura of imminent defeat. This paper shall consider the elements which made the speech so effective, influential and memorable that Churchill was able to channel his steadfastness to the British people, inspire his country to combat the Nazi threat and shift the course of the war in the Allies’ favour. The analysis is conducted on the original version of the speech provided by the Chartwell Trust to the International Churchill Society’s website, and shall be carried out through the close examination of various rhetorical devices discussed by Farnsworth in Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric and Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals described by Baker in Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion