Sy. Wu et Dl. Rubin, Evaluating the Impact of collectivism and individualism on argumentative writing by Chinese and North American college Students, RES TEACH E, 35(2), 2000, pp. 148-178
This study analyzed writing features conceptually linked to collectivist or
individualist orientations among students from Taiwan and the U.S. These f
eatures were indirectness, personal disclosure (first person singular prono
uns and personal anecdotes), use of proverbs and other canonical expression
s, collective self (first personal plural pronouns and statements of humane
ness and collective virtues), and assertiveness. Comparisons were made acro
ss languages and nationalities (Taiwanese and U.S. students) and also acros
s language alone (Taiwanese writing in Chinese and in English). Association
s with each writer's degree of collectivism as a personality trait were als
o tested. U.S. students writing in English, compared to Taiwanese students
writing in Chinese, were found to be more direct and to reveal more persona
l anecdotes. Taiwanese students, in contrast, tended to use more proverbs a
nd to express humaneness and collective virtues with greater frequency. Tai
wanese students' English writing showed influences of their L1 (first langu
age) writing conventions in terms of indirectness, humaneness, collective v
irtues, and limited use of personal anecdotes. Taiwanese students writing i
n English, as compared with their L1, were more likely to use first person
pronouns, were less likely to use proverbs and were also less assertive. Us
e of writing features was associated with nationality and language but not
with writer's individual levels of collectivism. These associations imply t
hat certain writing features may be more a matter of socialized discourse c
onventions than directly attributable to differences in collectivist or ind
ividualist ideation. Moreover, other findings of variability, especially am
ong Taiwanese writers, belie any simplistic cultural essentialism.