Writing Around the World: A Guide To Writing Across Cultures

158 Pages·2009·0.61 MB·English

by  Matthew McCool

Writing Around
the World
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Writing Around
the World
A Guide To Writing
Across Cultures
By
Matthew McCool
Continuum International Publishing Group
The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane
11 York Road Suite 704, New York
London SE1 7NX NY 10038
© Matthew McCool 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or
retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-8264-4072-3 (Hardback)
978-0-8264-8982-1 (Paperback)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Publisher has applied for CIP data.
Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books, Cornwall
For Nadya
Я всегда буду тебя любить
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments x
Foreword xiii
Preface xv
1
Basic Principles of Intercultural Writing 1
1.1 Defining culture 5
1.2 Developing arguments 6
1.3 Sources and citation 8
1.4 Global coherence 10
1.5 Sentence cohesion 11
1.6 Matters of style 13
1.7 Culture and writing 15
2
Deepest Dimensions of Culture 16
2.1 Uncertainty 17
2.2 Social relationships 22
2.3 Communication 29
2.4 Rules 34
2.5 Time 39
3
Language and Culture 42
3.1 Language and thought 43
3.2 Attitude toward language 45
3.3 Digital and analog 47
3.4 Clarity and ambiguity 48
3.5 Formality and informality 51
3.6 Emotion and writing 54
3.7 Negative statements 55
viii
Contents
4
Writing Around the World 58
4.1 Anatomy of a paper 60
4.2 Basic principles 80
4.3 Matters of form 88
4.4 Considering style 92
5
Ethics of Intercultural Writing 100
5.1 Responsible writing 101
5.2 Culture and illogical thinking 106
6
Intercultural Toolbox 122
6.1 Five tips for sentence cohesion 124
6.2 Five tips for global coherence 124
6.3 Correctness and authority 125
6.4 Rules of writing 126
6.5 Misused words 127
6.6 Preparing for intercultural writing 129
Glossary 131
Recommended Reading 134
Index 135
List of Illustrations
Figure
Figure 1.1 A standard reader responsible resume. 4
Tables
Table 1.1 High altitude differences between writer responsibility and reader 2
responsibility
Table 1.2 Three major strategies for developing global coherence 10
Table 1.3 Relationship between writer responsibility, reader responsibility, 15
and culture
Table 2.1 Primary differences between low and high uncertainty avoidance 18
Table 2.2 Primary differences between individualism and collectivism 23
Table 2.3 Primary differences between low context and high context communication 30
Table 2.4 Differences between universalism and particularism 34
Table 2.5 Primary differences between monochronic and polychronic orientation 39
Table 4.1 Relationship between writer responsibility, reader responsibility, and culture 60
Table 4.2 Relationship between anatomy of a paper, writer responsibility, and reader 61
responsibility
Table 4.3 Primary differences in the way culture affects the development of 71
a paper’s introduction
Table 4.4 Primary differences in the way culture affects development of a paper’s body 74
Table 4.5 Primary differences in the way culture affects development of a paper’s 78
conclusion
Table 4.6 Relationship between global coherence, writer responsibility, and reader 82
responsibility
Table 4.7 Relationship between sentence cohesion, writer responsibility, and reader 84
responsibility
Table 4.8 Relationship between sources and citation, writer responsibility, and 91
reader responsibility
Table 5.1 Primary differences between writer responsibility and reader responsibility 102
Table 6.1 Relationship between writer responsibility, reader responsibility, and culture 123
Table 6.2 Five tips for linking sentence cohesion, writer responsibility, and 124
reader responsibility
Table 6.3 Five tips for linking global coherence, writer responsibility, and 125
reader responsibility