| 由中區英語教學資源中心提供 | |||||||||||||
| Edited and foreworded by Jungkuei Heinz Wei YuanPei Institute of Science and Technology HsinChu, Taiwan, R. O. C. | |||||||||||||
| Writing problems that English learners in Taiwan encounter seem to be multi-faceted and therefore tough to deal with. Since English writing is mainly aimed at communicating with English speakers, opinions and remarks that English-speaking professionals have toward Taiwanese English writing are critical and worth inquiring. Furthermore, native English teachers may approach the problems in a way that non-native English teachers might overlook. With the academic and comprehensive insights of three invited American professors, English writing problems are herewith examined from multiple latitudes. | |||||||||||||
| Article One | |||||||||||||
| Learning to read, write and reflect in a second or third language is a daunting task and certainly a higher order display of thinking and knowing. American graduate education in particular requires higher order displays of knowledge acquisition, reflection and synthesis. These requirements, along with culturally specific norms and expectations can make pursuing and succeeding in American graduate education especially challenging for international students and non-native English speakers. One area in particular where graduate students have struggled seems to be related to the boundaries that define what is and is not plagiarism. In brief, plagiarism is academic dishonesty and can be defined as representing another person’s words, ideas, data or work as one’s own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to: (a) the exact duplication of another’s work; and/or (b) the incorporation of a substantial or essential portion thereof, *without appropriate citation.* Avoiding plagiarism requires the ability to read, reflect, synthesize and then write; and is dependent upon a *strong vocabulary* and *command of English grammar*, the minimal language skills needed to synthesize, summarize and thereby use and apply another’s work to ground and build graduate level inquiry. | |||||||||||||
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| Article Two Common Writing Problems I Encounter | |||||||||||||
| One of the most common problems of all EFL writers I encounter is the lack of article usage. When I edit student essays and manuscripts of writers with advanced degrees, I am always inserting articles. Teaching the rules of article usage is often not sufficient since students find the rules complicated and difficult to learn. Practice is required. One simple exercise is to take a paragraph and remove all of the articles and replace them with an answer module (a, an, the, no article). Also place this module before other nouns in the paragraph that do not require articles. The students simply choose the correct answer. These exercises are also easy for students to create for each other for further practice. A more specific error I encounter is sentence fragments beginning with "because". Sentence fragments themselves are not much of a problem with the writers I encounter, but dependent clauses beginning with "because" seem to be a problem. These dependent clauses are usually associated with preceding independent clauses, and less often with independent clauses following the dependent clause. I am not sure of the root of the problem, but it may be that students are more familiar with the correct use of such clauses as answers to preceding "why" questions. Besides making corrections within the student’s text, I usually spend a few minutes to review the use of dependent clauses and their placement within sentences with my students each semester. | |||||||||||||
| C. M. Papa, PhD Assistant Professor Applied Foreign Languages Department Tajen University 08-762 4002 ext. 630 | |||||||||||||
| Article Three | |||||||||||||
| As one might suspect, the chief problem observed with the Asian doctoral students in the College of Education Educational Leadership Ed.D. program is grammar. The use of English verb tense is difficult for Chinese language students to understand. The other issue I have observed is gender. The English language has many nuances associated with its writing that other languages do not embrace. A more subtle issue appears to be the writing development. The American writing style is more structured and straightforward. It appears the Chinese writing style is more circular. This can be an added burden for the native-speaking Chinese student who is trying to adapt to American writing. When expected to also conform to American Psychological Association (APA) writing style, the problems of expression can be increased. Citation practices within text (the body of the document) are another area of potential confusion. The expectation of paraphrasing and direct quotation is illusive for some foreign language speakers. The use of quotation marks and page number referencing to denote copyright may be unfamiliar. The art of paraphrasing and linking is another difficult process. These writing practices are complicated for many students, even those whose native language is English. In the general area of research procedures, there is need for learning about participant consent for dissertation studies. In other countries, including Taiwan, the need for asking for participation may be unknown. Students have expressed the opinion that if a participant is enrolled in a course that will also be used for data gathering, there is implied consent. However, in the U.S. this is not true. The process of "Human Subject" consent requires that participants have the option of being in a proposed research investigation. In offering possible actions to remediate the issues outlined above, the following is recommended: | |||||||||||||
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| In conclusion, I want to applaud all Taiwanese students who make the commitment to study and complete degrees in foreign countries. Those who undertake degrees from U.S. colleges and universities are particularly noteworthy. To face a culture, language, and academics that may be completely unfamiliar is daunting. To succeed at the highest level and obtain a doctoral degree from an English-speaking program is remarkable. I am constantly amazed at the diligence, perseverance, and achievement our Taiwanese students exhibit. I have grown as a professional, because of my association with our current doctoral candidates and am proud to count our past graduates as my colleagues. | |||||||||||||
| Dr. Jane Strickland Associate Professor Instructional Methods & Technology Department College of Education Idaho State University | |||||||||||||
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