L 1 and L 2 Writing Similarities Differences

L 1 and L 2 Writing: Similarities, Differences, and Suggestions James B. Wilson, Cosumnes River College, Sacramento, CA PSU ORTESOL 10/12/13

CRC • Home Sweet Home!

Background

2011 CASSL Mini-Grant • Writing Project Day 1 - Your teacher is doing a project to give other college teachers ideas about ESL student writing and the challenges that face ESL student writers in college classes. Your participation is appreciated. • Name ___________________________ • Country of origin ______________________ • First language ________________________ • * Read the sample sentence. • * Translate this sentence into your first language. • * Translate that sentence back into English, but use the sentence structure of your first language. This may be very different from the sample sentence.

Student Writing Samples

Thought Process of Early Childhood While browsing through the web I came across a website that talked about the important and crucial a child’s thought process, their functions and how they adapts to their surroundings at an early elementary stage is. Young children’s natural energy, their imagination and their curiosity is the made reason behinds their action and interaction within their surround environment. Their natural curiosity allows them to focus and narrow down on a specific stimulus in their environment. In more simple words, a child’s life interest can be determined at a very young. The route of interest they choose to take, the books they choose to read (if they ultimately decides to take interest in reading), the people that surround them, the activities they decide to participate in, whether it be good or bad, are all determined in the younger stage of early childhood. Hence, the quality of the environment that one’s child is exposed to during the early ages of childhood will take part in determining his or her future outcome. Therefore, such topic of should be the attention of all parents with children in elementary school.

Will nutrition succeed to feed my greed? How well will a career in nutrition feed a wallet? Part 1 I am a dreamer, and as such, I like to visualize myself in different circumstances and places. I’ve imagined myself as a mechanic, as an engineer, as a doctor and even as an actor; but I was not able fit myself completely in those characters. As I was looking for something where my passion and talent were needed, I came across nutrition. Nutrition seemed like my perfect career fit. A nutritionist has the chance to help people, something I really enjoy doing, and has to keep himself healthy to give a good impression, and keeping myself healthy is a priority to me as well. Nutrition, as I have learned, is the science designed to help us make better decisions when it comes to eating. It teaches people how to avoid diseases just by eating according to their necessities. The people that follow the career of nutrition are called nutritionist or…

vain. Because Mme. Loisel's vanity is only shown in her abstract desire, the cost of her vanity can only be shown in an invisible way. For instance, her desire, here vanity, makes her unhappy and never satisfied with the life that her husband provides her. The vanity costs her all the happiness in her life and in her marriage. She's never enjoyed her husband's love for her. Even when her husband tries to please her showing her the invitation to the part of the Minister of Public Instruction, she complains, ". . . I have no dress and therefore I can't go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I". Abstractly, we see the cost of vanity is Mme. Loisel's happing in her marriage. The cost is shown in a very invisible way. By using the symbol of the necklace, Maupassant is able to directly exemplifies Mme. Loisel"s vanity through her behavior with the borrow necklace. Falling all over herself to show off how pretty both she and

It’s All Fun and Serious Business Part 1 Voice-acting: It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do ever since I was a little kid. That and being a meteorologist, but that’s another I-search paper in the future. I have experience of doing a bit of voice-acting in my radio classes and performing in theatre at Cosumnes River College. In the business of voice acting, there different mediums that voice actors could do performances for. Anime (Japanese Animation), Video Games, Cartoons, Narration, Commercials/Promo, Radio plays, and Instructional books are the main mediums for voice actors. The main medium I will be focus on in this I-Search essay is Anime. As a student studying in theatre, I’ve found out that I’m reaching closer to achieving my goal.

Part I. I spend hours taking photos and I started to wonder whether I could turn a hobby into a lifelong career. I think it would be exciting to travel the world and take pictures of all the beautiful surroundings I encounter. I love taking pictures of anything from people, to landscapes or even just abstract images. People often make fun of me because my Facebook is filled with pictures, so many that it would take hours to view them all! I don’t know much about a career in photography. I do know that there are many different types of photographers. Some do ads or layouts for magazines, some specialize in weddings or landscape photography, or there’s even the photographer who works at Wal-Mart doing portraits in a studio. To be able to travel and enjoy the time while taking pictures to share those experiences with others seems like the greatest job ever.

Student View • “I know how to say it in English as well, but I know a better way to say it in [my native language]. It’s more like a childish way if you see what I mean. I know how to say it in English in very basic way … sometimes I feel like I am five years backwards when I am writing in English … to me when I read it, it is like someone with less education than I have or would have written. ”

Student Issues • • Research skills which mean they are able to identify and read authoritative sources of evidence. • • Note-making skills which ensure they take the meaning from a source rather than simply copying the text. • • Self-management to pace the writing, allowing time for drafting and correction. This might include help from study skills tutors and/or English support services. • • Drafting and revision, including editing language.

Instructor Challenges • • empathy and knowledge about students’ transitions to US academic writing conventions • • patience while students develop their language capability • • assessment strategies which include models, formative feedback, and practice • • organization to ensure students know what is expected and deadlines for completion that are mindful that many will take significantly longer than home students.

Cultural or Rhetorical Difference? • a. "Answer the question directly. Assume I am already familiar with this historical background. " • b. "This paragraph contains three main ideas. Develop them one at a time in separate paragraphs. " • c. "You won't convince me of this assertion until you cite research findings that support it. " • d. "What is your purpose? Tell me in the introduction so that I know where you're going. "

What to do for corrections • a. Rewrite a few awkward phrases, idioms, or word choices, offering alternatives. • b. Edit one paragraph or a half page completely to indicate the extent of the language problems. • c. If you can identify a pattern of error, such as run-on sentences or subject-verb agreement problems, mention it in a marginal note. Instead of marking further instances of the problem, encourage the student to hunt for them and to edit for them in the future.

Contrasting Views Characteristics of Effective Writing in Academic English Contrasting Characteristics Writing is viewed as a tool to Writing is viewed as a way of accomplish a task (for example, engaging the emotions through to express a point or present an the use of beautiful language argument)

Writing contains a direct, explicit statement of main idea(s) There may be no direct statement of the main idea(s) with the expectation that readers infer the writer’s main point

Focus on clarity, Focus on the richness directness, and getting of the language or the to the point ability to repeat ideas in a variety of ways

The writer is responsible for including explicit signals, such as transitions, to show logical links between ideas Explicit signals are unnecessary; the writer shows respect for the reader’s intelligence to make inferences

Information is expected to be highly specific Information is expected to be highly philosophical

Specific evidence Traditional wisdom and (facts, statistics, authority are used to examples) are used to support arguments support the writer’s argument

Heavy use of deductive reasoning (movement from the general to the specific) Heavy use of inductive reasoning (movement from the specific to the general) “I think; therefore, I am. ”

Emphasis on the individuality and originality of the writer’s ideas Emphasis on traditional wisdom and shared cultural knowledge

So, what should we do? • The big picture: Native and non-native English speakers may have little experience with the kind of writing that is required in college courses.

ESL Writers • Vocabulary: Students may know words, but they may not use them in the right way or correct combination. Teaching collocations can help.

Editing • Use editing symbols and have students do corrections for final revisions.

Mistakes • Focus on errors that interfere with reader comprehension or distract the reader.

Peers • Group work and peer editing are beneficial to students although they may be hesitant at first.

One-on-One • Students benefit from ESL tutoring and one-on -one conferencing with the instructor.

Modeling • Since students may be unfamiliar with the standards of college writing, they may benefit by seeing models of acceptable work.

Logging • Students may record new words, collocations, and idioms in a vocabulary log format: Entry Type of Entry Part of Speech Meaning Use Attenuate Vocabulary Verb weaken Attenuate the power/ Attenuated voice

Handout • Please take a look at the workshop handout for similarities, differences, and suggestions and feel free to contact me at wilsonj@crc. losrios. edu if you have questions or comments.

Thank you, Portland!