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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 463 557 CS 510 985 AUTHOR Foster, David, Ed.; Russell, David R., Ed. TITLE Writing and Learning in Cross-National Perspective: Transitions from Secondary to Higher Education. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL. SPONS AGENCY British Council, London (England). REPORT NO ISBN-0-8058-4485-6 ISBN ISBN-0-8141-5919-2 PUB DATE 2002-00-00 NOTE 363p.; Also published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Also supported by Drake University Research Fund, Drake University Center for the Humanities, Dean of Drake University College of Arts and Sciences, German American Fulbright Commission, British Institute, John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines at Cornell University, and Iowa State University Science, Technology, and Society Program. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 59192-1659: $36.95 members, $49.95 nonmembers). Tel: 800-369-6283 (Toll Free); Web site: http://www.ncte.org. PUB TYPE Books (010) Reports Evaluative (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC15 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Academic Discourse; Comparative Analysis; Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural Context; Foreign Countries; Postsecondary Education; Secondary Education; *Writing (Composition); Writing Research IDENTIFIERS China; England; France; Germany; Kenya; South Africa ABSTRACT Noting that composition studies in the United States has devoted little attention to cross-national perspectives on student writing and its roles in wider cultural contexts, this book presents research studies from six nations (China, England, France, Germany, Kenya, and South Africa) on academic writing development in the dominant language of schooling. In discussions that bookend these studies of different educational structures, the editors compare United States postsecondary writing practices and pedagogies with those in other national systems, and suggest new perspectives for cross-national studies. After an Introduction: "Rearticulating Articulation" (David R. Russell and David Foster), essays in the book are: (1) "'Track (Dis)Connecting': Chinese High School and University Writing in a Time of Change" (Xiao-ming Li); (2) "Cracking the Codes Anew: Writing about Literature in England" (Mary Scott); (3) "The Lycee-to-University Progressing in French Students' Development as Writers" (Christiane Donahue);(4) "Making the Transition to University: Student Writers in Germany" (David Foster); (5) "An Academic Writer in Kenya: The Transition from Secondary School to the University" (Mary Nyambura Muchiri); and (6)"Roles under Construction: The Intersection of Writer Agency and Task Design in South Africa" (Suellen Shay and Rob Moore with Antoinette Cloete). The book concludes with an essay by the editors. (RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY r (S TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 ID U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research end Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) O This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it O Minor changes have been made to 00 improve reproduction quality CD Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy BEST COPY AVAILABLE WRITING AND LEARNING IN CROSS-NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE NCTE EDITORIAL BOARD: Willie Mae Crews, Colleen Fairbanks, Cora Lee Five, Andrea Lunsford, Jaime Armin Mejia, Kyoko Sato, Jackie Swensson, Gail Wood, Zarina M. Hock, Chair, ex officio, Kent Williamson, ex officio, Kurt Austin, ex officio Writing and Learning in Cross-National Perspective Transitions from Secondary to Higher Education Edited by DAVID FOSTER Drake University DAVID R. RUSSELL Iowa State University MMENational Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. m 10 Industrial Avenue, Mahwah, New Jersey 07430 5 The seven figures depicting structures of the educational systems discussed in this book have been reprinted from T. Neville Postlethwaite, editor, Interna- tional Encyclopedia of National Systems of Education, Copyright 1995, pp. 207, 333, 347, 498, 893, 1026, 1035, with permission from Elsevier Science. Staff Editor: Bonny Graham Interior Design: Jenny Jensen Greenleaf Cover Design: Pat Mayer NCTE Stock Number: 59192-3050 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. ISBN 0-8058-4485-6 ©2002 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho- tocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the copyright holder. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teach- ing of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Writing and learning in cross-national perspective : transitions from secondary to higher education / edited by David Foster, David R. Russell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8141-5919-2 (pbk.) 1. Rhetoric. I. Foster, David, 1938 Aug. 17 II. Russell, David R., 1951 P301 .W737 2002 808 .042dc21 2002001023 6 To Suzy and Joyce and to the memories of Gene Russell and Irving and Dorothy Foster 7 411 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX INTRODUCTION: REARTICULATING ARTICULATION David R. Russell and David Foster 1 1 "Track (Dis)Connecting": Chinese High School and University Writing in a Time of Change Xiao-ming Li 49 2 Cracking the Codes Anew: Writing about Literature in England Mary Scott 88 3 The Lycée-to-University Progression in French Students' Development as Writers Christiane Donahue 134 4 Making the Transition to University: Student Writers in Germany David Foster 192 5 An Academic Writer in Kenya: The Transition from Secondary School to the University Mary Nyambura Muchiri 242 6 Roles under Construction: The Intersection of Writer Agency and Task Design in South Africa Suellen Shay and Rob Moore with Antoinette Cloete 272 Conclusion David Foster and David R. Russell 319 INDEX 341 EDITORS 351 CONTRIBUTORS 353 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Work on this book was supported by grants from the British Council, the Drake University Research Fund, the Drake University Center for the Humanities, the dean of the Drake University College of Arts and Sciences, the German-American Fulbright Commission, the British Institute, the John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines at Cornell University, and the Iowa State University Science, Technology, and Society Pro- gram. We want to thank Michael Greer, formerly with the National Council of Teachers of English, for his support of the project in its early stages, Zarina Hock for her support in its later stage, the panel of anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, and Kurt Austin and Bonny Graham for their expertise, patience,and good spirits in seeing the project through to completion. We received support and encouragement for this project from many people in the United Statesand other countries. It is im- possible to name them all, but we would especially like to thank Gerhard Bach, Deborah Brandt, Batong Gu, Bruce Homer, Otto Kruse, Lienhard Legenhausen, Joseph Lenz, Min-Zhan Lu, Winfried Marotzki, Gary Olson, the late Alan Purves, Julius Redding, Goodman Shezi, and the Group for Research in Ap- plied English Studies, Iowa State University. We are also grateful to the faculty and students of Drake University and Iowa State University for stimulation and encour- agement as this project developed. INTRODUCTION Rearticulating Articulation DAVID R. RUSSELL AND DAVID FOSTER In most national education systems,students' writing develop- ment plays an importantthough oftenunacknowledged role in the crucial transition from secondary school to university. There is a great deal at stake, for both individual students and the societies involved, in how and how well students write. In most nations, whether students can enterand remain in higher educationand thus move into positions of greater responsibil- ity and status in societydepends in large part on whetherand how they have developed their writing. Thus, writing develop- ment is bound up with questions of equityin access to higher education and to powerful roles in society. And in a larger sense, written communication is essential to the successful continua- tion and future development of important institutionsprofes- sional, governmental, industrial, commercial, and nonprofitthat increasingly depend on specialized written communication in a global environment. Writing and Learning in Cross-National Perspective presents research studies from six nations on academic writing develop- ment in the "mother tongue," or,rather, in the dominant lan- guage of schooling (each of these nationshas significant numbers of studentsa majority in South Africa and Kenyawho do not speak the dominant language of schooling as their mother tongue). The chapters focus on: China. Xiao-ming Li analyzes the writing of secondary students