Writing Structures in Different Languages, Part II (Write Right 41) [Video]
Transcript
Howdy Ags; we’re glad you joined us again on Write Right, the student podcast for the Texas A&M University Writing Center. This episode is the 2nd part of a series on organizational differences between English and other languages. In the previous episode, Lara and I discussed the contrasts between different writing structures. Now, let’s look at some some general patterns of English writing.
Anisah: You know on papers, it’s more structured; you deal with it point by point, main point by main point. Marissa: I guess the emphasis is on clarity and being concise and crisp. Yonggi: One of the difficulties for me comes from paragraph structure. I was told that each paragraph had to have a separate idea. I used to thrust all my ideas into the same paragraphs. And then, I suddenly had to jump to another idea. That was kind of difficult for me- how to make connections.
Remember, English writing can be diagrammed as a straight line- direct, concise and clear. You’ll begin with a brief introduction that funnels down to your thesis. Think of your thesis as an umbrella for the rest of your paper. It needs to cover your main points, as well as the overall claim, or position, that you’re taking. In the rest of your paper, you’ll want to focus each paragraph on one of these points, so be sure that you stay on this point, instead of digressing. And remember, it’s your responsibility as the writer to make your arguments clear to the reader. Instead of leaving information out for readers to infer, or instead of elaborating excessively on the same point, go ahead and say everything simply and directly. One way to do this is to state a claim, provide evidence for that claim, and then give a brief analysis showing how your evidence relates to your claim. Between your paragraphs, include clear transitions, so your readers can see how one point relates to another. And always remember to cite your work, whether it’s directly quoted or paraphrased.
So if you’re in the process of learning English, what can you do to improve? A useful tip is to focus more on the writing process than the product. You can work on a paper for hours and still find a few errors. What is important is getting to the ideas. You might brainstorm by simply jotting down ideas, starting with the body paragraphs, and then forming an outline. Outlines can really help you to see the organization you are using. Also, when you’re writing, focus on the content. Don’t spend all your time worrying about every grammatical mistakes. If you come to the Writing Center, ask your consultant about different methods to help with writing. We love to talk about brainstorming!
Finally, read a ton and write a ton. You can look at newspapers and magazines. It is always helpful to see papers from students in your field so you can understand the structures they are using. Talk to your professors about the structures they are expecting. Ask them if you can see an example paper from previous classes. And don’t forget to write! I know your classes are time consuming and sometimes more writing can seem like the last thing you would want to do, but keeping a journal can be very helpful.
Anisah: You know you can study all the grammar rules in the world, but because English is such a language of exception, you can only pick the exception up by interaction and through the usage of the language. Using the language, speaking, listening, reading, writing. Maybe you have the points you want to make, but because the form is not what it’s supposed to be, the reader might be focused more on the form, rather than going to the meaning that you said. Marissa: The purpose of any writing is to communicate. And remember your audience. If your audience is going to speak in this language, you need to communicate to them in that language. So, modify your style according to your audience.
Cultural differences affect our communication patterns, which subsequently affect our writing styles. We understand that writing in different languages can be frustrating because you may not even know what cultural differences to look for. But we encourage you to keep working at it- keep writing. And at the Writing Center, we’re here to talk through these differences with you. Thanks for joining us on Write Right, and have a great day.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute The University Writing Center, Texas A&M University.
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