A Study On The Influence Of Western And Chinese Thought Patterns On English Writing

Writing is a way to use language to express thinking activities and it reflects a kind of specific thoughtpattern of a certain culture. Influenced by geography, history, culture and traditional philosophy, theChinese and the Westerners have developed different cultural characteristics and different kinds of thoughtpatterns. Different thought patterns can be embodied in writings as different discourse organizations.Influenced by Chinese thought pattern and traditional culture, it is not easier for some Chinese senior highschool students to write fluent English compositions. Their English writings are often with some "Chinesecharacteristics" such as unclear thesis statement and lack of cohesion and coherence. However, in Englishwriting classes, some Chinese ESL teachers in senior high schools emphasize the accuracy for vocabulary,sentence correctness, and pay less attention to the rhetorical aspects of English writing. Therefore, based onthe discrepancies of Chinese and Western modes of thinking, this thesis tries to compare the similaritiesand dissimilarities of English and Chinese writing styles in order to explore effective teaching methods forimproving students’ English thinking abilities in ESL writing.This thesis describes the research background and the significance of the study at first; and thenpresents a historical overview of the studies both at home and abroad; then states the theoretical basis:Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, contrastive rhetoric theory; discusses the relationship between thought pattern anddiscourse. It also elaborates five different thought patterns between the Chinese and Americans and theirrealization in discourse. And then the empirical study process is designed. The written products conductedby senior high school students of Wuwei No.7Middle School of Gansu Province and American studentsare compared and analyzed by means of qualitative and quantitative research studies. The scope of researchcovers the placement of the thesis statement, paragraph organization, concluding paragraph, the frequencyof the use of conjunctions and the frequency of the use of passive voice sentences. In addition, an interviewis given to teachers and each student once she or he has finished writing task. And a questionnaire is alsodesigned to collect students’ views about thought patterns, discourse knowledge and English writing.The thesis ends with a summarization of the study and concludes that Chinese rhetorical styles have agreat influence on the English writings of students of Wowed No.7Middle School. The thesis statementoften appears at the end of ESL writing or implies in the essay. The development of the paragraph isturning in a widening gyre. Paragraphs are organized in a more arbitrary way and sometimes one paragraphcontains several units of thought or one unit of thought is expressed in several paragraphs. Some English writings are presented with neither opinion nor summary. Conjunctions are seldom presented in their ESLwritings and the whole English writing lacks cohesion. Less passive voice sentences are used. On thecontrary, American students are inclined to use linear writing pattern. The thesis statement often appears atthe beginning of his or her English writing. The paragraph usually begins with a general statement of itscontents and is never digressive. The flow of ideas develops in a straight line from the first sentence to thelast sentence. Thesis statement is often restated in the final part of the essay. Conjunctions are morefrequently used so as to form logical relationships among sentences. Passive voice sentences are alsofrequently used.Therefore, based on the relevant linguistic theories and the findings of the present study, sometentative measures for improvement of ESL writing are put forward as follows: First, the structuralcharacteristics of English discourse should be taught and enhanced in the English writing course, especiallythe linear pattern of claim-justification-conclusion. Second, contrastive discourse analysis between Englishand Chinese should be conducted so that the students can be aware of the influence of the differences ofthought patterns between Chinese and English on different discourse organizations of Chinese and Englishwritings. And finally, ESL students should be encouraged to read plenty of authentic English writings, tosee English original movies and to recite and imitate English model essays so that they can perform betterin maximizing the English readers’ comprehension of their writing.