Bibliography on L2 Writing

Contrastive Rhetoric

The notion of contrastive rhetoric--that writers tend to organize their texts in ways that reflect their linguistic, cultural or educational backgrounds--continues to fascinate teachers and researchers of second language writing. Yet, this topic needs to be approached carefully. On the one hand, this notion has too often been accepted uncritically because of its intuitive appeal; on the other hand, it has also been uncritically rejected because of the danger of stereotyping that comes with any attempt to describe second language writers in terms of their backgrounds.

In order to gain from the insights contrastive rhetoric research has provided while avoiding the pitfall of stereotyping and overgeneralization, anyone wishing to study contrastive rhetoric needs to understand the historical background and the complexity of issues surrounding this topic. To facilitate such an understanding, I have compiled the following bibliography of key sources on contrastive rhetoric. I hope this list facilitates a more informed discussion of contrastive rhetoric and its pedagogical implications.

Bibliography

Connor, U. (1996). Contrastive rhetoric: Cross-cultural aspects of second-language writing. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Connor, U. (2002). New directions in contrastive rhetoric. TESOL Quarterly, 36(4), 493-510.

Connor, U. (2003). Changing currents in contrastive rhetoric: Implications for teaching and research. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Exploring the dynamics of second language writing (pp. 218-241). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Connor, U. (2005). Comment by Ulla Connor. Journal of Second Language Writing, 14(2), 132-136.

Connor, U., Nagelhout, E., & Rozycki, W. (Eds.). (in press). Contrastive rhetoric: Reaching to intercultural rhetoric. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Grabe, W., & Kaplan, R. (1989). Writing in a second language: Contrastive rhetoric. In D. Johnson & D. Roen (Eds.), Richness in writing: Empowering ESL students (pp. 263-283). New York: Longman.

Hinds, J. (1983). Contrastive rhetoric: Japanese and English. Text, 3(2), 183-196.

Hinds, J. (1987). Reader versus writer responsibility: a new typology. In U. M. Connor & R. B. Kaplan (Eds.), Writing across languages (pp. 141-152). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. [Reprinted in Silva, T., & Matsuda, P. K. (Eds.). (2001). Landmark essays on ESL writing. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.]

Hinds, J. (1990). Inductive, deductive, quasi-inductive: Expository writing in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Thai. In U. M. Connor & A. Johns (Eds.), Coherence in writing: Research and pedagogical perspectives (pp. 87-109). Alexandria, VA: TESOL.

Kaplan, R. B. (1966). Cultural thought patterns in intercultural education. Language Learning, 16(1), 1-20. [Reprinted in Silva, T., & Matsuda, P. K. (Eds.). (2001). Landmark essays on ESL writing. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.]

Kaplan, R. B. (1987). Cultural thought patterns revisited. In U. Connor & R. B. Kaplan (Eds.), Writing across languages: Analysis of L2 text (pp. 9-21). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Kaplan, R. B. (1988). Contrastive rhetoric and second language learning: Notes towards a theory of contrastive rhetoric. In A. Purves (Ed.), Writing across languages and cultures: Issues in contrastive rhetoric (pp. 275-304). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Kubota, R. (1997). A reevaluation of the uniqueness of Japanese written discourse: Implications for contrastive rhetoric. Written Communication, 14(4), 460-480.

Kubota, R. (1998). An investigation of L1-L2 transfer in writing among Japanese university students: Implications for contrastive rhetoric. Journal of Second Language Writing, 7(1), 69-100.

Kubota, R., & Lehner, A. (2004). Toward critical contrastive rhetoric. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13(1), 7-27.

Kubota, R., & Lehner, A. (2005). Response to Ulla Connor's comments. Journal of Second Language Writing, 14(2), 137-143.

Land, R., & Whitley, C. (1989). Evaluating second language essays in regular composition classes: Toward a pluralistic U.S. rhetoric. In D. Johnson & D. Roen (Eds.), Richness in writing: Empowering ESL students (pp. 284-294). New York: Longman.

Leki, I. (1991). Twenty-five years of contrastive rhetoric. TESOL Quarterly, 25(1), 123-143.

Liebman, J. (1988). Contrastive rhetoric: Students as ethnographers. Journal of Basic Writing, 7(2), 6-27.

Liebman, J. (1992). Toward a new contrastive rhetoric: Differences between Arabic and Japanese rhetorical instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing, 1(2), 141-165.

Matsuda, P. K. (1997). Contrastive rhetoric in context: A dynamic model of L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 6(1), 45-60. [Reprinted in Silva, T., & Matsuda, P. K. (Eds.). (2001). Landmark essays on ESL writing. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.]

Matsuda, P. K. (2001). On the origin of contrastive rhetoric. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 257-260.

Mohan, B., & Lo, W. A-Y. (1985). Academic writing and Chinese students: Transfer and developmental factors. TESOL Quarterly, 19(3), 515-534.

Scollon, R. (1997). Contrastive rhetoric, contrastive poetics, or perhaps something else? TESOL Quarterly, 31(2), 352-358.