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Article Analysis

The document discusses how a student's culture can influence their writing and learning processes. It explains the concept of contrastive rhetoric and how students from different cultures like English, Vietnamese, Arabian, Mexican, and Chinese may organize writing differently based on cultural norms. The document also discusses how culture can influence how students learn, using the example of desegregation to show Roadville, Trackton, and Townspeople students learned differently. Educators must understand these cultural influences to best support students' writing and learning.

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51 views4 pages

Article Analysis

The document discusses how a student's culture can influence their writing and learning processes. It explains the concept of contrastive rhetoric and how students from different cultures like English, Vietnamese, Arabian, Mexican, and Chinese may organize writing differently based on cultural norms. The document also discusses how culture can influence how students learn, using the example of desegregation to show Roadville, Trackton, and Townspeople students learned differently. Educators must understand these cultural influences to best support students' writing and learning.

Uploaded by

jessica14molles
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Running Head: ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND REACTION

Article Analysis and Reaction

Jessica L. Villacorta-Molles

University of California Los Angeles


ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND REACTION 2

Article Analysis and Reaction

One of the best teaching strategies that an educator can provide to any student is

getting to know them and their background. In the excerpt titled “With Different Eyes,”

one learns how much of an impact a culture has on a person and their learning. In the

reading, one learns about how English, Vietnamese, Arabian, Mexican, and Chinese

students as well as different families during the time of desegregation differ in their

writing and thought processes. While some cultures are similar in their processing of

information and writing structures, some cultures are very different from one another. It

is for this reason that it is important that educators know this and work to help

differentiate learning to aide all students towards academic success.

In order to do this, an educator must first understand contrastive rhetoric.

Contrastive rhetoric is the process of a student writing in the their second language

(Gadda & Peitzman, 1994). For example, a student who speaks Spanish as their first

language is asked by their teacher to write a paper in their second language, which in this

case would be English. However, one’s culture will influence the way one writes their

paper. For example, students who are English speakers are known for writing in a linear

progression compared to that of a Vietnamese student who will write more about the

relationships of the characters, or an Arabian students who will write more about the

setting of the story (Gadda & Peitzman, 1994). The reason they do this is because they

feel as though they need to entertain or inform using a specific aspect of the story that

most aligns with their culture. For instance, an American writer might use more casual

language to help relate to the audience versus a Thai writer who will use formal speech to

tell a story because that is the cultural norm in their reading (Gadda & Peitzman, 1994).
ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND REACTION 3

Because this will happen in different student’s writing, it is important to provide a

background knowledge and an exemplar of what is to be produced in their writing.

While one’s culture influences the way one writes, it also influences the way one

learns. This is due to the fact that each culture learns differently. An example of this was

during the time of desegregation amongst the Townspeople, Roadville families, and

Trackston families. During this time period, it was an eye opening experience to

educators about the different ways these students learn and write. Roadville students

learned through conversating with adults compared to that of the Trackton families that

learned from the adults’ actions (Gadda & Peitzman, 1994). Townspeople, on the other

hand, learned from the adults modeling and conversating with the children (Gadda &

Peitzman, 1994). A similar scenario occurs now amongst the Hispanic culture and the

Chinese culture. In the Hispanic culture, one learns from watching the adults compared to

that of the Chinese culture that learns from the adults asking the children questions about

what they are doing to ensure the children understand what is being done (Gadda &

Peitzman, 1994). Having known this information, it was discovered that the best way to

teach writing to students from various cultures is to slowly give them background

knowledge of the culture of the school (Gadda & Peitzman, 1994). Once this is known,

the teacher can begin teaching the writing expectations in the student’s writing. It is

important that this is done, so that the students have a foundation to draw from, but are

still able to write using the information they have from both cultures to gradually make it

their own. Educators want to help teach them how to write, the ELD standards ensure

they can do this while still being able to make their writing their own.
ARTICLE ANALYSIS AND REACTION 4

References

Peitzman, Faye; Gadda, George (1994). With Different Eyes, Addison Wesley Publishing

Company, Boston, MA, ISBN-10: 0801312825, “Chapter 3: Writing and

Language Socialization across Cultures,” pp. 43-53

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