Is Chinese Thought Pattern Linear, Circular or Both? Export

@techreport{citeulike:5009240, abstract = {A study investigated patterns of paragraph structure and organization in 19 short essays in Chinese by Taiwan middle school students. The organization of the writing samples were analyzed and the paragraphs classified according to five types of internal structure: deductive, with the main idea presented at the beginning; inductive, with the main idea following supporting details; topic sentences presented in the middle; inferential; and topic sentence at the beginning and also restated at the paragraph's end. Introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs were categorized by structure, and the most representative paragraphs were translated into English without changing the location of the topic sentence. Results indicate that the students' thought patterns were not completely circular in developing a paragraph, but follow a thought pattern similar to that in English texts. Circular or digressive patterns are most commonly found in the introductory and concluding paragraphs. This implies an effect of Chinese instructional and cultural patterns. Areas for further research are identified, and implications for English writing instruction are noted. (MSE)}, author = {Tzung-Yu, Cheng}, citeulike-article-id = {5009240}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED364098}, day = {0}, keywords = {patterns, thought}, month = {}, posted-at = {2009-06-29 11:02:58}, priority = {2}, title = {Is Chinese Thought Pattern Linear, Circular or Both?}, url = {http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED364098}, year = {1993} }

TY - RPRT ID - citeulike:5009240 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5009240 N2 - A study investigated patterns of paragraph structure and organization in 19 short essays in Chinese by Taiwan middle school students. The organization of the writing samples were analyzed and the paragraphs classified according to five types of internal structure: deductive, with the main idea presented at the beginning; inductive, with the main idea following supporting details; topic sentences presented in the middle; inferential; and topic sentence at the beginning and also restated at the paragraph's end. Introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs were categorized by structure, and the most representative paragraphs were translated into English without changing the location of the topic sentence. Results indicate that the students' thought patterns were not completely circular in developing a paragraph, but follow a thought pattern similar to that in English texts. Circular or digressive patterns are most commonly found in the introductory and concluding paragraphs. This implies an effect of Chinese instructional and cultural patterns. Areas for further research are identified, and implications for English writing instruction are noted. (MSE) TI - Is Chinese Thought Pattern Linear, Circular or Both? KW - patterns KW - thought AU - Tzung-Yu, Cheng PY - 1993/0/0/ UR - http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED364098 ER -