Title: An investigation of L1–L2 transfer in writing among Japanese university students: Implications for contrastive rhetoric
Abstract: Many studies of contrastive rhetoric have confirmed that Japanese writers prefer an inductive style which is negatively transferred to ESL writing, whereas one study found similarities in rhetorical patterns used by good Japanese and English L1 writers. This study investigated whether individual Japanese students use the same discourse pattern in L1 and ESL writing and how each individual's use of similar/dissimilar patterns affects the quality of ESL essays. University students in Japan wrote one essay in Japanese and another in English. A total of 22 students wrote on an expository topic, and 24 students wrote on a persuasive topic. Each participant was interviewed later about their writing and views on rhetorical styles. Both Japanese and ESL essays were evaluated in terms of organization and ESL essays were also rated in terms of language use. The location of the main idea and the macro-level rhetorical pattern were coded for each essay. Results showed that about half of the writers used similar patterns in L1 and L2. Results also revealed a positive correlation between Japanese and ESL organization scores, but no negative transfer of culturally unique rhetorical patterns. The data suggest that L1 writing ability, English proficiency and composing experience in English affect the quality of ESL essays.
Publication Year: 1998
Publication Date: 1998-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 220
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