The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

) In case they believe to be excellent writers, point out that learning to write in a different mode
will enrich their gift and quality of thinking.
Introduction and Thesis Statement
Continental writers give poor previews of the exposition to come and are reluctant to reveal their thesis,
using a strategy of avoidance. Duszak (1994) provides the following example of a Polish style
introduction: “I am not dealing here with… Neither am I dealing here with … This attempt does not
aspire to … but only outlines a problem.” Writing center tutors should not press continental writers to
come up even with a tentative thesis and stick to it; usually, European writers perceive the idea of a thesis
as limiting their thinking and their process of interpretation. Instead:
a) Negotiate the need of some kind of hypothesis rather than thesis.
b) Talk about “evolving thesis” and recommend the thesis to be stated at a later stage of the writing
process.
c) Negotiate stating the thesis at the end of the paper if the writer seems to be capable of managing
the paper this way
Organization and Cohesiveness
Knowledge, not the structure, is idealized in the continental tradition. The way knowledge is conveyed in
continental academic texts presents a demanding task for the reader. European students are not trained to
write for an audience, nor do they care to make their text more “marketable” within the academic
discourse community. To negotiate more explicitness and better organization, try the following:
a) Do not to be irritated of European elitist approach to academic writing.
b) Involve them in an honest conversation about more democratic ways of presenting knowledge
Voice
Continental academic writers tend to appear wary of committing themselves fully, without hesitation and
reserve, to their statements, propositions, and suggestions. In other words, they formulate their
pronouncements in a far less assertive, direct, and matter-of-fact tone than English writers usually do.
This high degree of hedging also implies a certain modesty of understatement. Consider the tone and
voice in a following example provided by Duszak (1997) and written by a Czech academic writer:
I know only too well how much I expose myself to the danger of being accused to be again
humming the same, old tune. I do not want to deny that the research into the problems of written
language and into its particular status, as opposed to that of spoken language, has been one of the
subjects repeatedly attracting my attention. And each time I was fairly and honestly convinced I
would never take up the subject again.
I would not recommend avoiding pressing the issue of the assertive academic voice; instead, acknowledge
the difference between the two writing traditions and your understanding of the struggle of the continental
writers to adopt a more assertive tone.
My Best Tip: From the very first tutorial, writing center tutors should make the differences between the
Anglo-American and the continental writing traditions explicit. Although the rules of the Anglo-
American mode of writing have been explained to students in their writing classes, continental students
need to build an awareness of their own modes of writing in order to transition to American mode of
writing. Only this way they may see the academic writing in an American university not as oppressive
and limiting mode, but as a different and enriching experience.
103