Trends
Since 1966, when Kaplan’s original work on contrastive rhetoric appeared, and 1996, when Ulla Connor’s book on contrastive rhetoric was published, many new trends have appeared in research approaches and methods. The change has been affected by two major developments.
First, there has been an increase in the types of written texts that are considered the purview of second language writing around the world. English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classes teach other types of writing besides the student essay required in college classes. Other important genres are the academic research article, research report, and grant proposal. Writing for professional purposes, such as business, is also now considered a legitimate type of second language writing and worthy of research and teaching.
In addition to the expansion of the genre, the field has moved to emphasize the social situation of writing. Today, writing is increasingly regarded as being socially situated; each situation may entail special consideration to audience, purposes, level of perfection, and correspondingly may require varying amounts of revision, collaboration, and attention to detail. The expectations and norms of discourse communities or communities of practice (cultural and disciplinary), of course, may shape these situational expectations and practices. Social construction of meaning as dynamic, socio-cognitive activities is a phrase used to describe this approach to texts. Instead of analyzing what texts "mean," we want to understand how they "construct meaning." Bazerman and Prior (2004, p. 6) pose three questions to guide the analysis of writing:
- “What does the text talk about?”
- “How do texts influence audiences?”
- “How do texts come into being?”
Thus, two major factors—the acknowledgment of more genres with specific textual requirements and increased awareness of the social contexts of writing—have motivated scholars of contrastive rhetoric to adjust and supplement research approaches in their work.
Read more about this topic: Contrastive Rhetoric
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