Know Thy Writer (Wk 5: Written Discourse)

We learnt five ways in which paragraphs can develop in written discourse today, according to a study performed by Kaplan (1972).

It was truly eye-opening to learn of the existence of these patterns that dominate the written discourse of other cultures. This ought to greatly change the way we evaluate the writing of our peers who may be of another culture, or who were educated to develop his or her writing in ways that are different.

Having been educated according to a largely Western model of education, it is likely that we native Singaporeans are well-accustomed to English linearity, to the extent that it leads us to be critical of any form of writing that diverges from the prototypical 'English' structure. Often it is easy to dismiss the writing of other non-native speakers of English very quickly, classifying their writing as 'bad', just because they do not develop their ideas the same way as we do. An awareness of the types of thinking and writing that can vary across cultures would help reduce any unwarranted discrimination on our part towards members of other countries and societies.

As we learn to appreciate the idiosyncracies of each other's writings, we gain better access to each other's thoughts and ideas. Hence, it is important to gain a sound understanding each other's style of writing as it would greatly aid in the communication and exchange of valuable knowledge and philosophies between cultures.