The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern Writers
108
Kristina Kunz
Fall 2008
Way back in the 1960s, Kaplan wrote that people from different linguistic and cultural
backgrounds write differently, in ways that reflect their own language and culture. Writers use different
methods, styles, and structures depending on their native language, native culture, and educational
background. (Zhong 3) Culture seems to play the largest role in writing style variations, so I would like to
give Sac State tutors a little background on three culture groups that are likely to be seeking help in the
writing center but are probably unfamiliar to most tutors.
I have spent the last three years living and teaching English in China, India, Egypt, and Oman.
Of course, the culture of each of these countries is not exactly the same as that of the surrounding
countries, but the similarities are enough to present some key features that will hopefully help tutors. I
will discuss Asian students – meaning Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Laotian, Thai, etc - based
on research and my experience with Chinese students. Some of these countries have related languages,
and all are similar in culture and education in the areas related to writing center work. Likewise, the
Indian, or South Asian, culture and education is similar enough to those of neighboring Nepal, Bengal,
Pakistan, and others. Most Middle Eastern countries share language, culture, and education methods to a
strong degree. These students are those from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
and others. Turkish and Israeli students will have cultural similarities. Afghani and Iranian writers will
have some language but mostly cultural and educational similarities. All of these populations are present,
and growing, in the Sacramento area and at Sac State.
To be successful in an English language university, students need to be able to write in a fairly
formal voice, with a concise and linear organization putting the main ideas first and following with
details. Students need to be able to present their own ideas and opinions while staying strictly on topic
and completely answering a prompt. This style of composition is generally taught throughout school,
starting in elementary school and continuing in high school.
All three of these groups – Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern – share, amazingly, a few cultural
and educational writing similarities generally opposed to the Academic American English standards.
Writers from these backgrounds often place important ideas at the end of sentences or paragraphs. This
way of presenting ideas and organizing writing reflects the cultural values of self-discipline, modesty, and
harmony (Zhong 4) important to all Asian and Middle Eastern groups. To avoid what seems like
aggressiveness, writers may put the less important information first, and then gradually express the main
ideas in a way that promotes easy agreement. Asians have a more circular writing style that goes around
the main ideas, covering the all of the details, before making a strong point. South Asian writers may also
use a circular style, or likely a meandering progression towards the main point. Details and similar ideas
will be presented before the strongest main idea. In the Middle East, writing is done with a zigzag
approach to the main idea; writers will move generally towards the main idea but will provide details and
side points along the way. (Zhong 3)
Education is also similar in the Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern countries. (It is
important to note that the amount and style of a student’s education is specific to the resources of their
family as well as the country of origin.) In most traditional education environments, students from these
countries are used to authoritative teachers and disciplined learning techniques. Students tend to maintain
formal and distant relationships with teachers, have great respect for teachers, and expect teachers to
impart all knowledge required in a class. Students are taught through memorization and rote learning and
are expected to reproduce information in writing or examination. Critical thinking, or analyzing
something a teacher has taught is not common. A Chinese proverb explains ‘if one can recite three
hundred poems from the Tang Dynasty, one can then compose one poem’ (Zhong 5). Memorization and
rote learning are used all over the world, and have their merits, however, students educated almost
entirely in these strategies tend toward academic writing that is more ‘reproductive’ than critical or