A Contrastive Analysis Of Persuasive Strategies In Personal Statement Written By Chinese And Native English Speakers

Personal statement is one of the most important documents in the application for studying abroad.A well-written PS is essential to prove the ability of the applicants.This thesis adopts the rhetorical analysis method and the Connor and Lauer’s model to study the persuasive strategies in PSs written by Chinese applicants and native English speakers.Through quantitative analysis,the distribution and frequency of the three appeals in the two groups are compared,and then the similarities and differences are explained in detail through qualitative analysis.From comparative analysis of the persuasive appeals in the two groups,we can conclude that Chinese applicants rely more on pathos to arouse the emotions of admissions staff.On the contrary,native English speakers turn to the logos to provide concrete evidence to establish their relative advantages and applicability to the program.The possible reasons for the similarities and differences between the two groups are cultural differences.This thesis explains from three cultural aspects:Confucianism and Aristotelian thought,collectivism and individualism,low-context and high-context.Based on the analysis of the style of PSs in the two groups,it is concluded that English-speaking students are more inclined to use short sentences,while Chinese applicants use long sentences.The difference between them also lies in the choice of vocabulary.Applying the politeness principles of Brown and Levinson to analyze the PSs,it can be seen that native English speakers use more negative politeness strategies,while Chinese students use more positive politeness strategies.