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Cultural IinfluencesOn Styles of Writing and Presenting Ideas
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Talk
to someone who has had experience of studying abroad. Ask this
person about the problems he or she had in adjusting to different
styles of learning in a foreign university or college. (You
might start by asking this person to read the three student
comments on pp. 13 14 and then discuss them.)Find out about
the amount of written and practical work that
was required. What differences in approach
to study did this person notice? If possible, get him or her
to give you three Golden Rules for successful study abroad.
Discuss your findings with a fellow student, and compare each
set of Golden Rules.
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We have suggested in the last section of this chapter that there
are important differences between disciplines of study, not
only in content but also in the way that content is presented.
As a way of judging this for yourself, take two textbooks (or
journal articles) from different disciplines and examine the
way in which the material in them is presented.
What
differences can you notice in:
- The physical
organization of the texts? (Are they broken up into
sections? Do they use headings and sub-heading? Are there diagrams,
illustrations, etc.?)
- The intellectual
organization of the texts? (Are they mainly presenting
facts and information (describing) or are they mainly discussing
ideas (analysing)? Do they refer to other writers and researchers
as the sources of their information and views? Do they present
any conflicting or opposing views? Do they reach any conclusions?)
- The styles
of writing ? (Do different subjects have special ‘languages'
of their own?)
When
you have identified some differences between the texts, discuss
with your class possible reasons for these difference. Are they
simply a matter of format, or are they related to differences between
disciplines?
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