A contrastive rhetorical study of Chinese and Mexican perceptions of their native writing instruction and its implications for ESL teaching and learning

Early studies of contrastive rhetoric viewed rhetoric in a limited way, focusing mostly on the organization of finished expository texts. However, past and current theories of rhetoric include a much broader view. One of these views that have been largely ignored in previous studies of contrastive rhetoric deals with the rhetorical instruction received by ESL students in their native languages (L1) and in their native countries. This study surveys Chinese and Mexican ESL students studying at a large community college in Arizona to find out more about their perceptions concerning the rhetorical instruction they received in their native countries. The areas of analysis in the study include the kinds of classes where writing took place and the amount of writing done, the kinds of writing tasks assigned by native teachers, the role of audience in their L1 writing, the techniques used by their native teachers to teach writing, the aspects of writing they were encouraged to develop, and their view concerning the role writing plays in their education. The results of this study suggest that the native writing instruction received by these ESL students play an important role in forming the perceptions that they hold towards the purposes of writing and various writing tasks long before they enter ESL classrooms. This study is important on several levels. First, it contributes original data to an area that contrastive rhetoric scholars have called for further exploration. It also provides an understanding of some of the perceptions of writing that Chinese and Mexican ESL students may bring with them into the ESL classroom. Finally, this research has direct implications to teaching L2 writing by preparing ESL teachers to better design assignments and implement strategies that will best serve the strengths and weaknesses of these two writing cultures.