v. The Cultural Aspect of a Sample of
Assignments
A Filipino high-school graduate, on completion of a ESL
Workplace writing course, commented that she had always thought that an essay
was just a whole page of sentences. In
fact, this is how some students are taught to write. We refer to the style as circular, as going around and around the
topic, as opposed to the linear arguments we favour. We tend to prefer to read arguments that are fully developed for
us, and we might ignore valuable information if it is not presented in this
format.
A typical assignment focuses on formatting skills
and on integrating sources from the internet.
Mainstream students will draw on a much broader range of sources simply
because of their familiarity with Canadian publications, libraries and organisations,
and, above all, real live people who can orient their research. There is also the factor of the slower
reading and writing speed of a second language learner.
Asking students
to analyse texts, particularly to paraphrase and criticise writing is sometimes
disconcerting. They may have done most
of their reading in religious texts and it would never occur to them that a
text could be manipulated or taken apart to study its mechanisms. The “master poet/writer” may be considered
beyond the analysis by anyone.
The first
problem will be the length of the texts.
ESL learners rarely have the speed needed to cover more than a few pages
of text and it is labour intensive.
They often need to re-read and get clarification continuously. It is harder to retain ideas in order to
relate them to the theme.