Achieving coherence in persuasive discourse: a study of chinese esl undergraduates in the united states

Achieving coherence in persuasive discourse: a study of chinese esl undergraduates in the united states. (2013). Achieving coherence in persuasive discourse: a study of chinese esl undergraduates in the united states.

Download PDF

Metadata

MODS Metadata


Title	Achieving coherence in persuasive discourse: a study of chinese esl undergraduates in the united states
Abstract	This study examines how Chinese philosophical values and rhetorical traditions that contribute to coherence differ from those prevalent in English. It attempts to discover how six Chinese ESL undergraduate participants demonstrate coherence in their persuasive writing, and how their practice of, and views toward coherence in writing change over a semester during which they are exposed to an American college writing classroom. Three types of essays were collected for qualitative analysis in this study: a diagnostic departmental pre-test essay at the beginning of the semester, a final essay given as a post-test, and two drafts of a CATW (CUNY Assessment Test in Writing) practice essay that were written for the advanced writing course. In addition, data were also collected from a background questionnaire, a classroom observation, and two rounds of interviews during the course of a semester. The study explored the features of coherence at both local (sentence) and global (discourse) levels. The knowledge of cohesion and coherence was employed to investigate how the Chinese learners of English achieved coherence within and beyond the paragraph level. The study discussed how the participants struggled to learn the appropriate use of explicit transitions and patterns of development to create a logical flow of ideas, how their writing generally cohered around one controlling idea throughout the essay, and how they changed their perceptions of coherence in an American university setting. The findings suggest that the Chinese ESL learners' writing quality could be improved in the Western context through coherence-related classroom instruction, revision practice, and teacher-student writing conferences, all aimed at helping them to understand Western notions of coherence while continuing to value their own cultural traditions. The study's goal is to help both writing instructors and students; it is hoped that the findings of the study will help instructors to design appropriate writing instruction for such students, as well as helping the students to become familiar with coherence, in the process allowing them to get the most out of their college education and their efforts to improve at writing.
Date	2013

Details

Title: Achieving coherence in persuasive discourse: a study of chinese esl undergraduates in the united states
Personal Name(s): Ye, Weier
Savova, Lilia P.
Corporate Name(s): Indiana University of Pennsylvania
English.
Note: Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
Advisors: Savova, Lilia P. Committee members: Sharon Deckert; Jeannine Fontaine; Marlene San Miguel Groner; Gian Pagnucci.
Topical Subject(s): English as a Second Language
Rhetoric