English 495: Writing Across Borders

4. To what extent do you think we should accept cultural preferences even though the students are writing for American classrooms?

This question, which has the potential to be rather controversial depending on the answer, is one that has been on my mind throughout the class discussions thus far this semester. As someone who has taught, I have struggled with this in my mind... truthfully leaning from one side to another and back again. A part of me understands that we all need to be aware of cultural preferences. We need to understand the backgrounds of our students and continue to nurtue that so that they don't lose their identity (or their L1 voice that they may have acquired). Still, another part of me wonders why great consideration should be taken in certain cases (for instance, when graduate students come to the United States to use our educational system then bring the resources that they have gained back to their home countries). I think in those particular cases, we should accept cultural preferences only so far.

Yet, for the vast majority of L2 learners, the cultural preferences should always at least be taken into consideration. In "Writing Across Borders," one student noted that Americans use short and concrete sentences, essentially getting right to the point. Her country, however, tended towards longer, more creative and flowing sentences. Who is to say what type of sentence is truly better if both eventually convey the message?

A professor in the vidoe questioned whether he should hold everyone to the same standards, likely eliminating the leeway for cultural preferences in the process. Another noted that people with an accent will likely also write with an accent (an interesting point to say the least); should we count things like wrong/lack of articles wrong if their L1 language lacked articles in the first place... especially if the meaning of the paper is still very apparent despite the absence of articles? I believe that this is another question that I will continue to ponder over for much longer.