We No Speak Americano - Understanding International Students' Writing

We No Speak Americano

Created, Written, and Produced by Felix Wibergh
Directed, Edited, and Produced by Nicholas Hawthorne

We No Speak Americano documents international first-year students' experiences learning to write academically in English and in their native languages, as well as reveals the difficulties they face transitioning to university-level writing in America.

The five international first-year students interviewed in this documentary are the products of schools that do not employ the educational paradigm of the American curriculum. Although some international students at Duke University were educated in international, American, or otherwise American college-preparatory schools, others come from domestic schools with nationally oriented curricula. These students are, in a sense, the academically "most" foreign students at Duke.

Duke, as an institution of rigorous academic demands, admits few international undergraduates who exhibit the kinds of difficulties -- such as low grammar proficiency -- that are traditionally associated with English as a Second Language (ESL) students. What difficulties then do ESL students at Duke actually encounter? What techniques for writing in English, structuring papers, and developing arguments do they bring with them from their respective cultures? Do any of these techniques conflict with the American understanding of what writing should look like? Do any of them put the students at a distinct disadvantage to their American peers?

Finding the flow of American academic prose can be challenging for any first-year student, but many international students carry the added difficulty of being inexperienced writers of English. Some, to even worse effects, have developed an arduously fine-tuned ability to write in accordance with the rules and rhythm of their native language. It is easy to understand how international first-year students not only speak with an accent, but also write with one. Some are even inexperienced with expressing their thoughts in writing. As one of my Chinese interviewees lamented, "I have ideas, but I don't know how to present them logically." This student's case is extreme even in the context of international students as a whole, but among other Chinese students, Jing Lu's problem is not uncommon. Writing Studios are well-equipped to give these students the one-on-one, qualitative guidance they need and seek.

We No Speak Americano was inspired by Writing Across Borders, a 2005 documentary written and directed by Wayne Robertson of the Writing Center at Oregon State University. For copies of his excellent documentary, contact Wayne Robertson at wayne.robertson@oregonstate.edu.

Category:

Education

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• documentary
• international
• duke
• hawthorne
• writing
• english
• we
• no
• speak
• americano
• yolanda
• be
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