Variations in Reasoning in Javanese and Bataknese Students’ Argumentative Writing: A Study on the Relation between Ethnicity and Reasoning

Berlin Sibarani,Betharia Pandia

doi:10.12973/eu-jer.9.1.385

Abstract

<p style="text-align:justify">This study was intended to describe the relation between students’ reasoning and their ethnicities. Comparison between the argumentative writings written by Javanese and Bataknese students - two of the ethnics found in Indonesia- was conducted to seek shared and variation of reasoning between the two ethnics. Interpretation on the results of such comparison was made in order to find out the relation between reasoning and ethnicity. To achieve the objective, a descriptive qualitative research design was applied. Twenty students consisting of 10 Javanese and 10 Bataknese were involved in the study. They were assigned to write 20 argumentative writing. Qualitative data analysis was applied to analyze the 20 argumentative writing. The result of the study showed that both Javanese and Bataknese students shared common patterns of arguments in terms of text structure, reasoning, and affective appeal. Meanwhile, difference in cultural value between Bataknese and Javanese students caused minor variation (differences) in text structure of argumentative writing in two aspects namely in developing thesis statement and drawing conclusion. Ethnicity’s relation to variation in argumentative writing is limited to the two aspects: to the writing of thesis statement and drawing conclusion.</p>

Highlights

Indonesia, geographically, is one of Asian countries
Comparison between the argumentative writings written by Javanese and Bataknese students - two of the ethnics found in Indonesia- was conducted to seek shared and variation of reasoning between the two ethnics
The common patterns shared by the two ethnics were in applying the text structure of the argument which include the development of introductory paragraph, writer’s position paragraph, and conclusion

Summary

Introduction

Indonesia is one of Asian countries. Asian culture is said to have different culture from Western’s. Asians’ values is collectivism who see themselves as parts of one or more groups (family, co-workers, tribes, nations) and emphasize their connectedness to members of these collectives (Connor, 2008). This difference is formed in their L1 and affects their L2 writing rhetoric pattern. Asian’s is typically humanistic aesthetic orientation and subjective in providing evidence. They tend to use indirect approach in their argumentation (Kaplan as cited in Uysal, 2012). It implicitly states that within Asian and Western culture, there are variations in their rhetoric patterns

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion