Intercultural Rhetoric in IELTS-Style Argumentative Essays: Analyzing Moves and Cultural Influences Among English and Non-English Majors in a Chinese University

Abstract

This research is on intercultural rhetoric of IELTS style argumentation essays between English major and non-English major students in a China’s university. The study uses a combination of genre and thematic approaches to examine essay organization in order to gain insights into the effect of cultural and education on writing style. Comparing genres across the two student groups shows how they use moves in their essays and the order of these moves. Additional enlightenment is provided by thematic analysis towards high school education, Chinese language and English teachers and a small effect of university major on essays writing. The results suggest that English major’s writing is greatly conditioned by the pedagogical approaches, as well as the academic culture of Chinese education system, whereas non-English major’s writing is more affected by the balanced positioning from their high school. This study has implications for ESL/EFL pedagogy where culturally sensitive teaching strategies are necessitated to handle diversity of educational backgrounds of students. There is room for further studies in intercultural rhetoric in ESL/EFL settings, in relation to pedagogy and students’ performance in writing.