|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
|
 Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject: Koreans and rhetorical structures in storytelling |
 |
|
The emphasis in mainstream English stories is on getting the sequence of events correct and clear.
I found this line very interesting in the text below, mainly because I teach a speech class where my Korean students seem to have virtually no clue about proper structure in giving a speech. The same could be said about a previous writing class I taught, where students seemed to lack the ability to construct a paragraph with a proper topic sentence, body, and conclusion.
This made me wonder what Korean students emphasize? Those of you who have more experience with Korean language and story telling -- what do you think?
Link and quote: http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0006fillmore.html
| Quote: |
8. Why do students have trouble with narrative and expository writing?
All students need to learn the rhetorical structures associated with story telling and the various kinds of expository writing in English. However, many students bring to this task culturally based text structures that contrast with those expected at school. The emphasis in mainstream English stories is on getting the sequence of events correct and clear. This can seem so obviously correct to the monolingual speaker of English that the narrative of the Latino child, who emphasizes personal relationships more than plot, or that of the Japanese child, who may provide very terse stories, can be dismissed as incomprehensible (McCabe, 1995). Similarly with expository writing, argument structure varies across cultures. The topic sentences, paragraphs, and essays that are staples of English prose may be more difficult for students whose language experience includes other ways of expression. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
cruisemonkey
Joined: 04 Jul 2005
Location: Hopefully, the same place as my luggage.
|
| Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 12:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
I try not to think about it. How's this for a rhetorical question -
Does language structure thought, or does thought structure language?
As for expository writing, I can only dream about a world where my students don't constantly split a word on two lines (and between syllables) with out a hyphen.
On another 'note', one of my co-teachers revealed to me last week she thought 'Latinos' spoke Latin. Welcome to 'planet Korea'... we'll work on subject-verb agreement next year.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
