Indirectness in Chinese students’English writing

Shen+Yi

【Abstract】The deep-rooted Chinese thinking patterns and expression ways have a great influence on Chinese students English writing. Indirectness is the typical writing pattern adopted by many Chinese students. This article focuses on the cultural origin of the indirectness.

【Key words】indirectness； English writing； culture differences

Though many factors play roles in second language writing， a great deal of researches claim that thought patterns and writing habits are cultural specific. One salient rhetoric difference between Chinese and English writing convention is that indirectness is preferred in Chinese discourse， while English writing is more linear and direct. The indirectness can be explained in terms of organization and content.

1. Indirectness in Organization

Chinese writing convention prefers the inductive way， which approaches the topic gradually and concludes from the supportive materials presented previously， whereas English writers like developing their writing deductively by declaring the thesis statement at the beginning and then justifying it.

The cultural origins of the inductive organization in Chinese writing are two influential writing patterns， namely eight-legged essay and the qi-cheng-zhuan-he model. Eight-legged essay consists of the following eight parts， po ti， cheng ti， qi jiang， qi gu， xiao gu， zhong gu， hou gu， and da jie. Po ti is the opening-up， comprising only two sentences and revealing the writers knowledge related to the essay title. Ceng ti is the amplification that explains why the sage， such as Confucius， made the statement quoted in the title. Qi jiang is the preliminary exposition， requiring the writer to introduce the essay in his own words instead of quoting the sage. Qi gu is the first argument that provides the philosophical content of the essay， usually containing two paragraphs that parallel in rhetoric structure. Xiao gu is the second argument to present the prelude to the main theme. Zhong gu is the main argument containing the key points. Hou gu further elaborates the main idea emphasized in zhong gu. Da jie hints the thesis statement and concludes the whole essay. Obviously， the thesis statement is delayed in eight-legged essay.

In addition， the four-part model， qi-cheng-zhuan-he， a simplified version of eight-legged essay pattern， is also considered as the origin of the indirect organization pattern in Chinese writing. Some classic Chinese works， such as poems， adopt this writing pattern. For instance， a household known poem， At a Quiet Night， written by Li Bai， a famous poet in Tang Dynasty， is considered as a typical example. Here is the literal line-by-line translation of the poem，

At the front of my bed moonlight shines，

I think there is frost on the ground，

Raising my head， I look at the moon，

Lowering my head， I think of home.

The first sentence is qi， which opens up a topic， moonlights， but it is not the thesis statement of the poem. The second one is cheng， which continues to describe the moonlight by using frost as a metaphor. The following sentence is zhuan， the topic of which is switched to the authors actions， but his action， raising my head， is still related to the moonlight. The last sentence is he， which reveals the thesis statement that the quietness and the moonlight arouse the authors loneliness and homesickness， and this irresistible feeling lingers in his mind during the whole night. Apparently， the author conceals his real purpose of writing this poem until the last sentence.

2. Indirectness in Content

In addition to the indirect organization， the content of Chinese writing also appears indirect in terms of lacking personal voice and preferring reader-responsible style. Different ways of expressing points of view are triggered by the contrary cultural values between collectivism， a value permeating in the Chinese tradition， and individualism， an advocated cultural assumption in Western countries. Collectivism is deeply rooted in Confucians thinking， which calls for the harmony in one society by the citizens conforming to the common values， beliefs and behaviors that are appreciated by the whole society.

Chinese students avoiding self-expression is displayed in two ways. The first one is presented by the preferred first person plural pronoun we， not the singular one I. Some common expressions are “as we all know” or “we believe that”. The second evidence of hiding the individual voice is citing established knowledge， such as idioms， proverbs， quotations of famous peoples words. Chinese students are also favor of citing some common quotations to make their writing more impressive and convincing， such as “early bird gets the worm” or “no pains， no gains”. Meanwhile， they assume that these expressions are so commonly recognized that reference or bibliography is unnecessary. Actually， reference is not required in Chinese writing. However， citing without reference is considered as plagiarism in the western society. Having no knowledge about the importance of reference， many Chinese students encounter problems in English writing， especially in academic writing.

Besides， the reader-responsible style also indicates the indirectness in Chinese writing. In English writing the writer should convey straightforward feelings and opinions， whereas in Chinese writing readers are expected to figure out what the writer intends to address. Chinese writing demands readers decoding capacity， such as reading between lines to figure out the deep meaning. Some typical writing techniques are skipping explicit data analysis， using rhetoric questions， and eliminating conclusion.

3. Conclusion

Though culture is one determinant factor in writing， the criteria of good and effective writing is not based on whether the organization is inductive or deductive. What really counts is whether the writing fits the authors purposes， such as a private diary or an academic essay， and whether the writing is understood by the audiences， such as children or adults， native speakers or non-native speakers. The primary principle is understandability because writing is another way to communicate， just like speaking is. Language teachers need to make students become aware of different writing patterns in Chinese and English and also to train them to adopt writing skills flexibly according to different purposes and audiences.

Reference：

[1]Fox，H.（1994）.Listening to the world：Cultural issues in academic writing.Urbana，IL：National Council of Teachers of English.

[2]Wu，S.，Y& Rubin，D.，L.（2000）.Evaluating the Impact of Collectivism and Individualism on Argumentative Writing by Chinese and North American College Students.Research in the Teaching of English，35（2）.pp.148-178.