Exploring Variables for Rhetorical Organizational Preference : A Quantitative Study

Abstract

The present study explores multiple variables that may influence the Japanese rhetorical organization preference assumed to interfere into L2 writing. This two-part quantitative study compares contrasting groups of subjects, such as Japanese and American university students, in order to investigate variables such as text genre, gender, sub-culture, and writing instruction as factors that influence the rhetorical preference. The study revealed that (1) The prominence of the narrative text genre in Japan promoted by educational practices may be a variable that determine rhetorical preference (2) As regards the expository text genre that is not culturalhy prominent, the preferenre is determined by an individual preference; one which may be shared among the members of a sub-culture (3) Gender is not a particular variable that determined the rhetorical preference (4) Explicit writing instruction is a strong variable that determines the preference of the rhetorical organization. Japanese subjects without explicit writing instruction prefer the same inductive rhetorical organization pattern in L1 and L2. Subjects with writing instruction learn to select the rhetorical pattern that meets audience expectation in that culture.