ENG/LIN 591 Cross-Cultural Discourse Studies:
                            Contrastive Rhetoric and Pragmatic
Spring 2003


Professor Karen Adams
Professor Maureen Daly Goggin

In a multicultural (interethnic, intercultural, or transcultural) classroom and world, it no longer makes sense to separate as much as we have the study of first language (L1) and second-language (L2) writing. Exploring relations with rhetoric, the common ancestor, is a way to bring the two communities into dialogue.
                                                                                                                        --Severino, Guerra, and Butler (197)

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591 Syllabus


Course Description:
Central to much of the scholarship in both linguistics and rhetoric is the study of text/literacy and talk/orality, and the interdynamic relations of discourse practices to culture. In neither field of inquiry, however, are either paired terms stable. What counts as text or talk, literacy or orality, and the distinctions between the paired terms, varies widely across scholars as do the methods they bring to study these phenomena. Similarly, culture itself is a contested construct. Moreover, scholars in both disciplines have largely overlooked the potentially powerful intersections between linguistic and rhetorical approaches for studying cross-cultural discourse. This course will provide a unique opportunity for students to examine the relationships and variations among language practices and rhetorical strategies as they emerge, are acquired and are sustained within particular socio-cultural contexts, and to explore the variety of ways in which scholars in linguistics and rhetoric have addressed discourse practices in cross-cultural settings. Whether one intends to study or teach cross-cultural discourse, an understanding of the multiple ways in which people communicate with one another is critical. Under the umbrella of contrastive rhetoric and pragmatics, students will explore interdisciplinary intersections among theoretical frames and methodologies in linguistics and rhetoric with the goal of locating new kinds of questions and problems not typically considered within traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Required Textbooks:
Connor, Ulla. Contrastive Rhetoric: Cross-Cultural Aspects of Second-Language Writing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1996.

Johnstone, Barbara. Discourse Analysis. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.

Scollon, Ron, and Suzanne Wong Scollon. Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.

Blum-Kulka, Shoshana. Dinner Talk: Cultural Pattern of Sociability and Socialization in Family Discourse. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997.

Supplemental Readings (SR)

Requirements:
 
Detailed descriptions of the following required assignments will be distributed:

•  A final seminar project consisting of:

  Proposal      5%
 Annotated Bibliography  15%
 Oral Presentation   10%
 Seminar Paper    30%
•  Mini-discourse study
 Oral report      5%
 Written report    15%
•  Attendance and Participation*  20%
*Attendance and Participation:  Because so much of what is to be learned in this course occurs in class, regular attendance is expected.  The course is so constructed that even a few absences will create serious problems.  Be prepared each class to offer comments and pose questions on the day’s assigned readings. In addition, you will be expected to bring in one question for discussion per assigned reading (i.e., each article and chapter).

Assignments: Papers not turned in on the due date will be marked down a letter grade for each week the paper is late.

Incompletes:  Please do not assume that an incomplete will be given upon request.  University and departmental policy on the handling of incompletes will be followed; only in the case of verified emergencies and illnesses will an incomplete be given.

Withdrawal Deadlines:

  Unrestricted Withdrawal Deadline          February 4
  Restricted Course Withdrawal Deadline       April 4**
  Restricted Complete Withdrawal Deadline April 30

**The restricted course withdrawal requires an instructor signature indicating that the student is passing the course.


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