Intercultural rhetoric through a learner lens: American students’ perceptions of evidence use in Chinese yìlùnwén writing

Abstract

To add to the currently limited intercultural rhetoric (IR) research that incorporates learner perspectives, this study examines how a group of American undergraduate students understood evidence use as they took part in an intensive study abroad program to learn Chinese yìlùnwén writing. Participants in the study included nine Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) students from five American universities and the course instructor. A variety of data collection methods were used, including classroom observations, field notes, document gathering, and text-based interviews. Findings of our study show that the CFL students’ interpretations of evidence use in Chinese yìlùnwén writing differed greatly from the guidelines and expectations presented in class by the Chinese instructor, and that learners’ L1 rhetorical knowledge had a direct impact on their perceptions of Chinese argument construction. Wrestling with two different sets of rhetorical preferences, the learners largely resisted in their yìlùnwén compositions to what the instructor had taught in class about evidence use. This study highlights the importance of an emic perspective and an expanded methodological repertoire in allowing IR research to shift its focus from text products to text producers in context.