Opposition and Accommodation

Opposition and Accommodation: "An Examination of Turkish Teachers' Attitudes toward
Western Approaches to the Teaching of Writing"

Author(s): Arlene Clachar
Source: Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Aug., 2000), pp. 66-100
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40171507
Accessed: 17-07-2018 08:14 UTC
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms
National Council of Teachers of English is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve

and extend access to Research in the Teaching of English
This content downloaded from 193.140.60.129 on Tue, 17 Jul 2018 08:14:25 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Opposition and Accommodation:
An Examination of Turkish Teachers9 Attitudes
toward Western Approaches to the Teaching of Writing
Arlene Clachar
University of Miami, Florida
This paper focuses on cross-cultural tensions in Western writing pedagogy as r

Turkish teachers' oppositional and accommodative attitudes and how those attitud
in classroom interactions. Oppositional attitudes toward Western approaches to th
of writing seem to rest on the perceived disjunction between Western writing pedago
prescribes students' ability to criticize, analyze, question, and evaluate theories, d
tions, etc., in their essays, and Turkish literary practices, which value appreciation
cism, description over analysis, reproduction over questioning, and justification fo
interpretations over evaluation of them. Teachers' accommodative attitudes appear to
in Turkey's geopolitics '.Turkey is a secular state and more than 70 years of republ
has endorsed a secular constitution demonstrating that Turkey's official policy is
some reservation) in favor of Western European connections. Given this state of af
teachers underscore the importance of exposing students to the rigors of Western sc
Oppositional attitudes are reflected in teachers' control over the organization, dis
and evolution of knowledge in writing conferences, a stance at odds with the proc
and rhetorical approaches to the teaching of writing that the Turkish teacher
encouraged to use. Accommodative attitudes are reflected in jointly-produced i
more consistent with the philosophical and instructional tenets of Western writin
Introduction university cafeteria. The conversation

Background started out as a discussion about the
various
The starting point for this study was a practices that should be used
perceived controversial problem. Atwhen
the grading students' essays. It esca-
lated, however, into a heated debate in
beginning of the academic year 1993-
1994 while on a Fulbright Fellowship
which some expressed a belief that the
in Turkey, I overheard a conversation
use ofWestern approaches to the teach-
ing of EFL writing had deleterious
among five Turkish teachers of English
as a Foreign Language (EFL)1 in a
effects on the Turkish educational sys-
66 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000
tern, while others spoke in favor of ethnographic interviews as well as sys-
exposing Turkish students to the rigors tematic, intensive, and detailed observa-
ofWestern scholarship. tion of their behavior in the classroom.
During the debate these teachers In this paper I examine the way in
displayed a complex range of attitudes which different stances toward Western
toward Western writing pedagogy and values resulted in both accommodative
exhibited both oppositional and ac- and oppositional attitudes towardWest-
commodative tendencies. It became ern writing pedagogy.
obvious to me that Turkish teachers
Related Research
who teach EFL writing do, in fact, have
Berlin's (1984) discussion of rhetoric
vastly divergent attitudes toward West-
ern approaches to the teaching of
helps establish the extent to which
writing and that these attitudes may be differing approaches to the teaching of
reflected in Turkish teachers' classroom writing may be grounded in differing
behavior. The discussion I overheard cultural norms. Rhetoric has tradition-
revealed that there is no such notion as ally been defined as the interaction of
culturally-neutral language pedagogy. four elements: reality, writer, audience,
EFL writing approaches involve cul- and language. Thus, rhetoric is at the
tural biases and do impart attitudes core of a culture's communication sys-
related to Western culture and indi- tem. Rhetorical schemes differ with
rectly to the EFL learner's native cul-respect to the manner in which each
element is characterized as well as to
ture.The aim of this study is to examine
Turkish teachers' attitudes toward EFL the relationship of the elements to one
writing approaches and how these another. The underlying premise of a
attitudes played out in their interactions particular rhetoric determines how the
with Turkish students in the classroom. composing process is conceptualized
The concept of attitudes is central and imparted in the classroom.
to this study. According to Gardner If rhetorics are culture-bound, they
(1985), attitude has cognitive, affective, cannot be unproblematically imported
and conative components (i.e., it in- into new cultural contexts. That is why
volves beliefs, emotional reactions, and scholars have increasingly begun to
behavioral tendencies related to the examine the cultural assumptions of
writing pedagogies and have estab-
object of the attitude) and constitutes
lished the imperative to look also at
an underlying psychological predispo-
sition to behave and evaluate behavior competing assumptions that might ex-
in a certain way. Attitude is thus related ist in classrooms. Canagarajah (1993),
to a person's values and beliefs and for example, takes a critical look at the
fosters or discourages decisions made ininstructional materials used to teach
all realms of activity (McGroarty, 1996). English in a Sri Lankan setting. He
The challenge of studying teachers' notes that the English language in
attitudes, therefore, involves an analysistextbooks echoes behaviorism and "the
of their beliefs and values through fundamentals of English are considered
Opposition and Accommodation 67
autonomous, value-free grammatical Turkey's political and ideological ambi-
structures, ignoring the culture and guities concerning its place and role in
ideologies that inform the language or the Middle East vis-a-vis its relations
the textbook" (p. 608). Canagarajah with the West, it is there I begin.
argues that students themselves are
alienated from their sociocultural envi- Turkey: Between the Ambiguities of
ronment and there is no attention given the Middle East and Western Europe
to the manner in which their own The root of Turkey's geopolitical and
ideological ambiguities seems to lie in
linguistic and cultural backgrounds can
inhibit or foster their learning. the
He term Middle East which many
asserts that there is an assumption
political science scholars consider a
behind English-language pedagogy that
Eurocentric term making little or no
it is non-political in spite of its
sense from an economic, political, ideo-
Eurocentric basis. This assumption ig-
logical, or geographical point of view.
nores the fact that the classroom is a The Middle East is not a geographical
setting made up of divergent discoursesunit like Western Europe where coun-
and cultures. Classrooms assumed to be tries share similar geographical charac-
non-political enhance the perspectives teristics and where they are situated
stipulated by the Western academy, close to one another. In the Middle East
likely igniting various oppositional ten- countries like Iran and Algeria have
dencies. Attention to the political na- very little in common as far as geogra-
ture of pedagogy suggests the phy is concerned (Sander, 1990). The
importance of examining the day-to- Middle East is made up of countries
day functioning of the classroom as well belonging to the North African, the
as the lived culture of teachers and Eastern Mediterranean, and the Gulf
students in order to understand how sub-regions. The Middle East is neither
Western values and culture are inter- a politically coherent nor a tightly-knit
preted by non- Westerners who useunit like Western Europe, where coun-
these pedagogies. Such an examination tries share certain political characteris-
may reveal a complex range of attitudestics such as systems of government,
toward the pedagogy with a mixture ofculture, and modernization. In the
Middle East there are republics with
both oppositional and accommodative
tendencies. democratic and totalitarian govern-
The principal objective of this ments as well as liberal and conservative
paper is to explore both the opposi- monarchies. There are also countries
tional and accommodative attitudes with different political allegiances: those
that Turkish teachers exhibit toward allied to the West, those to the East, and
those trying to adopt a non-aligned
writing pedagogies imported from the
West. Because the teachers' opposi-stance. From an economic point of
tional and accommodative attitudes view, the Middle East is not a coherent
region either. Petroleum-wealthy and
towardWestern approaches to the teach-
ing of writing may be groundedpetroleum-poor
in countries exist side by
side. Culturally and ethnically, however, in Lebanon, successive changes of gov-
Islam and an Arab identity are shared by ernments (most of which resulted from
most countries. These two characteris- extra-parliamentarian interventions af-
tics, however, are not shared by Turkey, ter violence), the Iranian revolution,
Israel, and Iran. the Iran-Iraq war, and the Gulf war.
According to Sander (1990) all of These events have caused Turkey great
these factors give rise to ambiguities for concern over its national security. The
Turkey regarding its place and role in relative stability of Western Europe
the Middle East. The Turks are not since World War II has served as a
magnet for Turkey to assign its foreign

Arabs, andTurkey is not an Islamic state;
it is a secular country. Therefore,policy
as priorities and to find itself a
secure place within the multinational
Barkey (1992) points out,Turkey shares
neither of the predominant ties that
integration endeavors that have been in
place in the West for decades. As
might have served to link it to the
Middle East. There is thus an ambiguity
relations between Turkey and the West
gathered momentum in the 1940s,
created by the absence of basic unifying
1950s, and early 1960s,Turkey's separa-
factors that has led to Turkey's periodic
tion from the Middle East gradually
estrangement from the Middle East.
More than 70 years of Republican
became apparent.
rule under a secular constitution indi- In the late 1 960s Turkey s constitu-
cates that Turkey's official policy is more tion became more liberal. Turkey em-
in favor ofWestern European connec- barked upon an ideology of pluralism
tions. Turkey has entered into manythat enabled more and more people to
alliances with the West and has become
participate in the political process.
a member of European organizations, Within the lower-middle class, both in
both in the political and economic the cities and rural provinces, enterpris-
spheres. For example,Turkey is a mem- ing peasants and laborers became in-
ber of the North Atlantic Treaty Orga- creasingly vocal in political and
nization, the Council of Europe, and economic matters. Consequently, pub-
the Organization for Economic Coop- lic opinion began to exert pressure on
eration and Development and is an the policies of the government. For
associate member of the European these new forces in Turkish politics,
Communities in which it wants to be a Islam took on greater importance than
full member. In such fields as sports and it had had for the Republican secular
artistic competitions, Turkey has always establishment. In a sense the new influ-
linked itself to Western groupings. ential forces in Turkish politics were
The instability in the Middle East more Middle Eastern and more inter-
as a whole since World War II has ested in the role Turkey could play in
the Middle East. These developments
motivated Turkey's alliance to Western
organizations. Conflicts occurring
within a liberal and active political
within the security zone of Turkey
climate encouraged the Turkish gov-
include four Arab-Israeli wars, the ernment
war to revise its foreign policies,
placing more emphasis on Middle East Research Questions
connections. In 1969 Turkey started to My investigation centered on four
participate in Islamic conferences. Pre- questions concerning the EFL teachers'
viously such an act would have been attitudes toward Western pedagogy:
considered contrary to the secular con-
stitution. This move demonstrated the 1. What were the teachers' percep-
newly acquired power of the emerging tions concerning the effects of
lower-middle class and peasants, the Western rhetorical styles on
weakening of the hold of the Republi- Turkish students' thinking and
can secular elite, and the strengthening identity?
of ties with the Middle East. (For a full2 What were the teachers' assump-
discussion, see Sander, 1990.) tions regarding the philosophical
Economic factors were also instru- and instructional objectives of the
mental in motivating the dynamism in Western approaches to the teach-
Turkish- Arab relations. The increase in ing of EFL writing?
oil prices created for the Turkish 3. What were the teachers' views on
economy the problem of finding hard what counts as good writing?

currency for oil imports. This acute 4. To what extent did differences in
problem forced Turkey to enter the the teachers' perceptions, assump-
Middle East market and increase its tions, and views play out in their
exports to the region. Therefore, withinteractions with students?
the pressure to acknowledge Islamic
Context of the Study
roots and the pressing need to establish
new markets in the Middle East, Turk-The research took place over an 11-
ish foreign policy attitudes began month
to period corresponding to the
show a clear tilt toward the Middle Eastacademic year. I was a Fulbright Fellow
beginning in the early 1970s (Barkey,

who taught courses in sociolinguistics
1992). and research methodology at a univer-
At present Turkey's political, eco- sity in Ankara, Turkey, and was invited
nomic, and ideological position seems several times to give workshops to
to be caught in a web of ambiguities teachers in the EFL writing program at
stemming from its relations with West- the university where the research was
ern Europe (technology and political carried out. As a result I was able to
stability) on one hand, and with the develop a strong rapport with the
Middle East (renewed allegiance to teachers. The program was staffed by a
Islam and Arab petro-dollars) on the director (British), 2 associate directors
other. I examine Turkish teachers' atti- (British and American), and 27 teach-
tudes toward Western approaches to the ers. All had at least B.A. degrees in such
teaching of EFL writing within this areas as English literature, German
climate of foreign-policy complexities. language and literature, linguistics, phi-
losophy, history, and TEFL. Of the classes I observed the process-centered ap-
Turkish teachers interviewed and ob- proach and the rhetorical approach to aca-
served in this study (selected because demic writing were used to teach begin-
their teaching schedules did not con- ning and low-intermediate writing.
flict with mine), four had M.A. degrees
in TEFL and the other three had B. A. The Process-Centered Approach
degrees in English literature. All seven The orientation/training workshops
had attended private schools and learned were attended by British and Turkish
English in Turkey. All students in the teachers who were new in the writing
writing program were undergraduates program. The British workshop leader,
in such fields as computer science, a course coordinator for four years,
business administration, hotel manage- addressed three major aspects of the
ment, psychology, biology, chemistry, process-centered approach: a) the in-
physics, engineering, French, and Ger- structional philosophy; b) the instruc-
man literature. tional objectives; and c) pedagogical
Because the majority of the teach- techniques. The role of the teacher and
ers in the program did not have training students, the nature of student-teacher
in EFL writing pedagogy, the program interaction, the nature of student-stu-
mounted three-week intensive orien- dent interaction, the writing skills that
tation/training workshops for new should be emphasized, and how teach-
teachers at the beginning of each se- ers should respond to students' written
mester and provided ongoing teacher assignments all followed from this foun-
development sessions over the course dation.
of the semester. These orientation/ The teachers were informed that
training workshops and teacher devel- the essential element of the process-
opment sessions provided an insight centered approach was feedback, de-
into the socialization process of West- fined as comments, questions, and
ern approaches to the teaching ofsuggestions from a reader (teacher or
writing: (he instructional philosophy another student) with the aim of pro-
and objectives, pedagogical techniques, viding information to the student writer
and teacher commentary and correc- for revision. Through feedback, teach-
tional strategies. The program offered ers were told, the student learns where
writing courses at three different levelshe or she has misled or confused the
of proficiency - beginning, intermedi- reader because of insufficient informa-
ate (low and high), and advanced. tion, illogical organization, lack of de-
Students were assigned to levels accord- velopment of ideas, or inappropriate
ing to their scores on a placement examchoice of words or tense. Feedback was
and were required to complete the also presented as having three different
high-intermediate writing course if forms: a) peer feedback; b) conferences
they entered at the beginning level and with the teacher and groups of two to
the advanced course if they entered at three students; and c) teachers' com-
the high-intermediate level. In the ments and corrections.
The students at the beginning level thoughts about different subjects they
were expected to complete the six are studying. Teachers were told that
writing assignments over the course of academic writing should sound as
the semester, each assignment taking though the student writer knows what
approximately three weeks. The feed- he or she is talking about, that is, the
back implementation was represented student's writing should speak with
as a continuum of four stages: a) input; authority. It should follow logically
b) peer reading and conferences; c) from one point to the next and be
comments and corrections from the coherent. It should follow the standard
conventions of English grammar usage
teacher; d) rewrite. Input, the starting
point, was defined as anything (e.g., aand punctuation. Finally, the end prod-
source text) that helped students get
uct should represent careful planning,
ideas for writing. Teachers were told
writing, and revising.Teachers were also
informed that academic writing takes
that students were responsible for dem-
forms that include explanations, com-
onstrating an understanding of the text
and were expected to produce prose
parison and contrast, cause and effect,
based not only on content but also on definition, and argumentation.
linguistic and rhetorical forms acquired The rhetorical styles of argumen-
primarily from the text. The source
tation, comparison/contrast, and cause/
text, therefore, served as a prompt or effect
a attracted a great deal of attention
and required the most discussion time
general model stimulating thinking and
supplying vocabulary, sentence struc-because they were deemed the most
tures, rhetorical styles, organizationaldifficult for Turkish students to master.
patterns, ideas, and information. PeerThe students' difficulties, according to
reading was defined as feedback fromthe workshop leader, stemmed from the
Turks' culturally divergent attitude to-
students' peers taking the form of peer
evaluation and peer editing. ward how knowledge is structured and
presented in Western written discourse:
The Rhetorical Approach The Turkish educational system, espe-
to Academic Writing cially the secondary schools and even
As with the process-centered approach,some tertiary institutions, absolutely
the orientation/training workshopsdiscourage critical questioning of text
information (Turkkollu, 1994). In con-
were designed to familiarize teachers
with the rhetorical approach to aca-trast, the rhetorical styles advocated by
demic writing. The workshops wereWestern institutions through the text-
books, teachers' manuals, and students'
attended by American, British, and
Turkish teachers who were new in the workbooks assume that students should
writing program. The American work- develop as independent writers, with

shop leader, a course coordinator for the ability to analyze, question, criticize,
four years, described academic writing and evaluate. From my examination of
as "very serious business" assigned to the sample of essays given to the
help students collect and organize their teachers, I inferred that the workshop
leaders believed that a teacher's role the means by which validity and reli-
ability could be established in the
should be to urge Turkish students to
adopt a critical stance not merely grading
to process.
issues, points of view, and evidence These rubrics were used to grade
each essay at both the beginning and
raised in the literature that they read in
order to use different rhetorical styles,
low-intermediate levels during the first
and second semesters. However, ac-
but also to theories, data, and conclu-
sions offered by acclaimed scholars. cording to the teachers, rubric criteria
were applied more rigidly as students
Thus, the writing program (at least
with respect to the teaching ofWestern
progressed through the two levels.Thus,
the low-intermediate-level students
rhetorical approaches to academic writ-
were held more accountable for meet-
ing) had to deal with two major issues.
First was the manner in which Turkish ing the rubric criteria. In order to
students had been taught to structure establish interrater reliability, each time
and present ideas during their second- that assignments were submitted and
graded by the respective teachers, a
ary schooling.The second issue was the
disjunction between attitudes toward randomly-selected 30% of the assign-
knowledge held by Turkish students ments were rated independently by
and Western institutions. This disjunc- three teachers in the writing program.
tion was reflected in classroom writing The process-centered and rhetorical
activities, the student textbooks, and writing approaches are widely used in
workbooks. the teaching of composition in EFL
contexts and do encode some of the
Evaluation of Students 'Writing Progress major tenets ofWestern writing peda-

There was no systematic evaluation gogy (Ballard & Clanchy, 1993; Keh,
conducted by the writing program to 1990). The discussion of the data that
find out whether the process-centered follows focuses on the teachers' atti-
approach was more effective than the tudes toward these approaches and the
rhetorical approach in teaching stu- factors that have contributed those
dents to write. These approaches were attitudes. In addition the data are ana-
the only ones used at the beginning and lyzed in order to find out whether
low-intermediate levels. By the end of oppositional and accommodative stances
the semester, students were expected to are reflected in the teachers' feedback to
show improvement in critical thinking, students.
style, complexity, and organizational
clarity. Excerpts from the grading ru- Method
brics used in the program are reported Participants
in Appendix A.The rubrics embody the All seven Turkish teachers (five females
main requirements of the writing pro- and two males) were from middle-class
gram as represented in the tenets of the backgrounds and were young (between
writing approaches. These rubrics were the ages of 32 and 41), secular, and
taken quite seriously in the program as bilingual. The females were Nese,
Meltem,Tuge, Ayse, and Nuri, and the Ethnographic Interviews
males were Mustafa and Ibrahim (all I conducted ethnographic interviews
pseudonyms). with the seven Turkish teachers who
participated in the study and who had

Data Collection and Analysis been teaching in the writing program
Data included questionnaires, observa- for at least three years. Each interview
tions and recordings of orientation/ lasted approximately 90 minutes. The
training workshops, ethnographic in- ethnographic interviews were dialogues
terviews, and transcripts of teacher- with teachers designed to elicit a holis-
student interactions. tic, context-rich, and emic (Duff, 1995)
account of how imported culture was
Questionnaire perceived and constructed in the class-
Before conducting the interviews, I room.The purpose of the ethnographic
administered a questionnaire (adapted interviews was to reveal Turkish teach-
from Zughoul &Taminian, 1984) con- ers' attitudes toward Western writing
sisting of a Likert-type rating scale (see pedagogy and how those attitudes af-
Appendix B).The 18-item rating scale fected their interactions with students.
focused on attitudes toward the utility That is, the interviews were designed to
of English compared to Turkish, En- elicit information as well as interpreta-
glish as a status marker in Turkey, the tions of the information from the
English-language media in Turkey, the participants' perspectives. I examined
use of English in certain domains in the teachers' responses to three ques-
Turkey (business, science and technology, tions in order to identify oppositional
tourism, popular culture), and the effect and accommodative attitudes toward
of English on Turkish cultural identity. Western approaches to the teaching of
These data provided background infor- writing.
mation to help with the interpretation
of the interview data and transcripts of Teacher-Student Interactions
teacher-student interactions. I audiotaped the teachers' interactions
with students (58 hours) with the aim
Orientation/Training of focusing on correlational tendencies
Workshop Data between the teachers' attitudes toward
I observed, participated in, and audiotaped Western approaches to the teaching of

II teacher orientation/training work- EFL writing (exemplified in the inter-
shops designed to socialize new teach- views) and the commentary/correc-
ers in the writing program to the tional routines that they used in
philosophy and instructional objectives responding to students' essays.The study
of the two writing approaches. These focused on the middle part of each
data provided background information teacher's interaction with his/her stu-
to help with the interpretation of the dent which involved a sequence of

interview data and transcripts of teacher- exchanges to signal to and elicit from
student interactions. the student the appropriate response.
Once the teacher identified a "correct- differences in family lifestyles.
able," he/she oriented the student to Next, you discuss the kinds of jobs
the precise location and initiated the that people do in these areas."
participation of the student by using b) announcing thesis statement or
mostly six types of commentary/ cor- topic sentences, as in, "Your thesis
rectional routines: pointing, announc- statement is. . . ."
ing, questioning, advising, collaborating, c) announcing missing elements, as in,

and eliciting (see Stanley, 1992). "This paragraph needs a topic
sentence."
Pointing. Pointing occurred when the d) announcing a rule, as in, "A thesis
teacher verbally pointed to particular statement should come very early
words, phrases, and sentences from the in your essay, such as in the
text and responded to them. Examples introduction."
include the following:

Questioning. Questioning was a"mild
a) pointing to specific phrases and sort of challenge put to the writer"
sentences, as in, "Here you indicate (Stanley, 1992, p. 224). Stanley identi-
that 'rent in these buildings is fied two types of questioning responses:
higher but there are fewer facili-
ties'; what do you mean?" a) questioning elements of the essay,
b) pointing to particular word as in, "What is the topic sentence
choices, as in, "At this point you of this paragraph, anyway?"
use the word 'marches,' but I am b) questioning the logic of an
not sure if you want to use it as a argument, as in, "If you don't say
positive or a negative word." why you think this is the best
c) pointing to cohesive gaps, as in, decision, how can you convince
"You say, 'Thus, it is necessary to people that it is?"
save money for old age.' How does
this sentence relate to that one?" Advising. Advising outlined modifi-
cations that the teacher thought the
Announcing. Announcing occurred student should make. The advice could
when the teacher went through the be specific or general. An example of
essay in a systematic fashion (Stanley, specific advice was "You have to give an
1992). According to Stanley, there are example to explain what you mean by
four announcing categories: 'our values.'" General advising took
two forms:
a) announcing text sections, as in,

"Let's see now, the first paragraph a) a blanket statement, as in, "You
talks about how schools in the need to give the readers more
rural areas are different from examples so that they will have a
schools in the urban areas. The better understanding of this
second paragraph talks about phrase."
b) a representation of the readership, ward the two Western approaches to
as in, "Be careful here; remember the teaching of writing: opposition to
that you are writing this for people Western domination in EFL writing
who are not familiar with these pedagogy on one hand (Nese, Meltem,
terms, so you have to explain them Tiige, and Ibrahim) and an accommo-
and give examples." dative ambivalence on the other
(Mustafa, Ayse, and Nuri) . This ambiva-
Collaborating. Collaborating went be- lence revealed an awareness of the
yond advising. When the teacher col- cultural alienation caused by these West-
laborated, he or she paraphrased the ern writing approaches but a sense of
student s sentences or helped the stu- the power and status that glorified the
dent to compose sentences, or English language and the prestige that
coproduced with the student creating accompanied English-writing profi-
the clues that guided the student to the ciency using Western rhetorical styles.
correct responses. In the discussion that follows, I allow
the Turkish teachers to speak for them-
Eliciting. Eliciting was the term usedselves.
to describe situations in which the
Question 1. What Are the Teachers'
teacher attempted to engage the stu-
Perceptions Concerning the Effects
dent and encourage his/her participa-
of Western Rhetorical Styles on
tion, e. g.,"Mehmet, I understand your
initial idea here, but what exactlyTurkish
do Students' Thinking and
you want to say about the intrusionIdentity?
of
American popular culture in Turkey? Oppositional Attitudes. Of the seven
teachers interviewed, Nese, Meltem,
Tell me, what aspects of popular culture
Tiige,
are you talking about? This may be a and Ibrahim believed that the
objective of the process-centered ap-
good place to start, what aspects of pop-
proach to move a students writing
ular culture?" A second type of eliciting
from a writer-based to a reader-based
occurred when the teacher called on the
other students in the group to submit prose was out of synch with the manner
their ideas or opinions, e. g., "Serai, what in which Turkish students are taught to
do you think about her thesis statement? think and write. In the Turkish tradition
Does it express an opinion?" and other Eastern cultures, knowledge

The transcriptions were coded by is to be preserved. Knowledge is passed
two independent raters with interrater on to the receiver (the reader) and he/
reliability of 91%. she is expected to understand it. In
other words, the writer transmits knowl-
Results edge and wisdom, and it is the respon-
Analysis and Interpretation of sibility of the receiver (the reader) to
Ethnographic-Interview Data understand the transmitted informa-
With respect to the three issues, the

tion (cf. Canagarajah, 1993). This liter-
interviews revealed dual attitudes to- ary tradition is therefore in stark contrast
to the reader-based objective of the course and to allow them to preserve
process-centered approach in which cultural integrity. The teachers also
the student writers have to learn where emphasized the perception that the
they have misled or confused the reader organization and development of ideas
due to insufficient information or lack
in non- Western styles do not mark
of development of ideas, etc., as ex- individuals as illiterate, but inappropri-
pressed by Tiige: "Training Turkish ate grammar, spelling, and punctuation
students to write with a reader in mind do. Nese saw the situation in this way:
is not easy. . . . Remember that it is the
We are Turks, the students are Turks, Turks
writer who passes on knowledge. It is
do not have to think and organize ideas,
the responsibility of the reader or concepts, opinions, and world views in the
listener to understand." same way as the Americans and British. . . .
These four teachers also took issue However, poor grammar and poor spelling
in students' essays look very bad ... In the
with another major tenet of the pro-
same way that we have come to accept
cess-centered approach: that high-or- nativized forms of English related to differ-
der concerns such as organization and ent countries that use English as a foreign
development of ideas should be given language, we can also accept nativized rhe-
priority over low-order concerns such torical styles.
as spelling, punctuation, and grammar. On the same issue, Ibrahim made the
They felt that by focusing on content
following observation:
first, Turkish students were from the
outset "bullied into" and "plunged The things that do not change very much
into" a form of thinking and writing in English as we move from country to
country are grammar and spelling. If you
that is inconsistent with the way Turk-
don't know English grammar and you can't
ish students in secondary schools and spell then you will not get hired in inter-
even in tertiary institutions were tradi- national organizations and local businesses
tionally taught to think and write. (This in Turkey. Also, too many grammar errors
interfere with the meaning of the students'
will be explained in more detail later.)
essays.
Instead, these teachers concurred, stu-
dents should be gradually introduced to With respect to the rhetorical ap-
Western literary culture by focusing on proach to academic writing, these four
less strenuous matters such as grammar teachers submitted that the imposition
first and then be gently led to the more ofWestern rhetorical styles of writing
difficult, esoteric, and culturally incon- undermined and overshadowed the
gruent aspects of rhetorical styles typi- writing styles that Turkish students
cal ofWestern scholarship. Two teachers, brought with them to the university
Nese and Ibrahim, even admitted that and prevented them from focusing on
they do pay a great deal of attention to their own cultural forms of writing.
grammar, spelling, and punctuation in There was a consensus among the
their writing classes because it is one teachers that the ideas in the source
way to help students detach themselves texts (to which students were required
from the imposition ofWestern dis- to respond in their essays) were so
cogently and skillfully presented that the ability to write English according to
students found the task of paraphrasing Western literacy criteria mean control
these texts and developing alternative of power through control of communi-
points of view somewhat intimidating. cation. One preoccupation based on
Therefore, instead of interacting with these teachers' assertion was that igno-
the ideas - analyzing, questioning, criti- rance ofWestern literary styles might
cizing, and evaluating them - students, imply cognitive deficiency since lack of
feeling overwhelmed, tended to repro- familiarity with such styles might be
duce in their writing large chunks of interpreted by the very students them-
texts in which Western knowledge is selves as the inability to organize, inter-
structured and presented. This per- pret, and evaluate knowledge of the
petual process of reproducing the tradi- world.
tions ofWestern scholarship, the teachers

contended, leads to Western literary Accommodative Attitudes. In contrast
acculturation of Turkish students. One to the above-expressed views, teachers
teacher, Meltem, for example, was con- such as Mustafa, Ayse, and Nuri took an
cerned about how Western thinking accommodative but ambivalent atti-
and writing behavior interfere with tude toward the Western writing ap-
Turkish students' thought processes: proaches. The stance taken by these
teachers seemed to be grounded in
By teaching our students to interrogate and
criticize a text written by a scholar, when Turkey's ambiguous geopolitics. They
they are producing essays, especially if it is concurred that ever since Turkey be-
cause and effect or argumentative style, we came a republic, official declarations of
are, in fact, teaching students to follow the
theTurkish government, especially those
rules which are dictated by Western think-
ing and writing behavior. In the Turkish
on foreign policy, almost always assert
educational system, a text is to be studied that Turkey is not only a Middle East
with reverence and respect, not torn apart and Asian country but also a European
and criticized by students when they are one. The teachers also emphasized the
writing their essays. . . . But these are the
kinds of skills and attitudes that are being
fact that over the past 70 years of
encouraged by Western approaches to EFL Republican history, Turkey has entered
writing such as the process-centered ap- into more alliances with the West and
proach and the rhetorical approach to aca- has become a member of more Euro-
demic writing.
centered organizations both in the
These four teachers contended political and economic arenas. Given
this state of affairs, these three teachers
that the English language and Western
underscored the importance of expos-
approaches to the teaching of writing
could not be seen in a vacuum. They
ing students to Western rhetorical styles.
asserted that English is undoubtedly Nuri,
the for example, perceived the expo-
preeminent language of world com-
sure to the Western rigors of scholar-
ship as an advantage: "We even
munication, and as such it symbolizes
communciate with the Arab countries
general geopolitical power. Official rec-
ognition of control over English in
andEnglish . . . many of the Arab coun-
tries were colonized by Western coun- in their writing, is at psychological
tries and still have the legacy ofWestern variance with the Western pedagogical
educational systems." approaches to writing in which the
At the same time the teachers did dominant tendency is to encourage
not view the learning ofWestern rhe- students to question, criticize, and evalu-
torical styles as an imposition on Turk- ate. This psychological variance, the
ish students' culture and thus on their teachers claimed, is reflected in the
literary identity. Rather, they viewed it problems that students evince when
as a source of enrichment. A representa- learning to reshape their thoughts,
tive assertion of this opinion follows: especially when faced with Western
scholarly controversy. Mustafa summed
It's really like learning to think in different
ways. It's like learning French, English, Ger- up some of the problems in this way:
man or any other foreign language. Becom-
Their manner of reading which entails in-
ing literate in a foreign language means
tense, laborious, and careful attention to the
becoming acculturated into an additional
precise wording of the source material, the
literate society; you have to learn to read
frequent use of the dictionary and the
and write the culture of that language. It's
thesaurus, and the constant summarizing of
additional knowledge. (Ayse)
the source material, all indicate their sense
of uncertainty and apprehension with re-
Although these three teachers ap-
spect to Western writing styles
preciated the need for Turkish students
an established text is the authority, i
to become familiar with the ways in posed to be respected not criticized.
which ideas are structured and pre- responsibility of the student to fol
sented in Western written discourse of past authorities and to reproduce
dom and knowledge of well-kno
and the importance of acquiring such
acclaimed scholars. However, the p
literary skills, they did exhibit somecentered approach and the rhetor
apprehension and ambivalence toward proach to academic writing discour
the disjunction between the traditional kind of thinking and attitudes
knowledge.
attitudes toward knowledge held by
Turkish students and the assumptions The three teachers, although cog-
about the appropriateness of differentnizant of the disjunction betweenTurk-
attitudes toward knowledge held byish and Western attitudes toward
Western scholars reflected in Western knowledge in written discourse, as-
approaches to the teaching of writing.serted that these difficulties are no
According to these teachers the prob-different from the ones that any student
lem lies in the disjunction betweenof a foreign language goes through
Turkish and Western attitudes toward
when incorporating new grammatical
the structuring of knowledge in writ-structures and items of vocabulary into
ten discourse. The teachers observed
his or her interlanguage. These teachers
contend-ed that the induction ofTurk-
that Turkish students' reproductive ap-
proach to using source materials inish students into a foreign writing
their essays, favoring imitation and
culture (Western rhetorical styles) fol-
avoiding critical questioning of the text
lows similar stages of foreign language
development, namely initial recogni- workshops, textbooks, and students'
tion of new domains of knowledge, workbooks seem to isolate students
familiarization with these domains, hesi- from their social contexts and give no
tant command, and eventual mastery consideration to the manner in which
(cf. Ballard & Clanchy, 1988). The their linguistic and cultural backgrounds
teachers, therefore, seemed to interpret can jeopardize or enhance the develop-
the disjunction between Turkish and ment of their writing skills. Tiige also
Western scholarship as a reflection of took issue with the alien rhetorical style
the discrepancy students face between advocated by the instructional objec-
alien thought processes and cultural tives of the rhetorical approach to
alienation, and the imperative to learn academic writing:
different forms of structuring and pre-
Students are told to state their goals very
senting knowledge for international
early in the essay, that is, the introduction
communication and socioeconomic
and then the rest of their essay should stick
mobility. This two-pronged attitude
to that goal. . . .You know, there is a thesis
statement in the introduction and the rest
towardWestern approaches to the teach-
of the paper has to stick to it. But this is not
ing of EFL writing represents an ideo-
the natural way of writing for a lot ofTurks;
logical ambivalence that contains
we tend to value digression and indirection.
elements of both an accommodative
Teachers also noted the students'
stance as well as an oppositional one.
discomfort with the collaborative form
Question 2. What Are the Teachers' of giving feedback typical of the pro-
Assumptions Regarding Philosophi- cess-centered approach. Mustafa ex-
cal and Instructional Objectives ofpressed his observation of the students'
behavior:
the Writing Approaches?
Oppositional Attitudes. All seven teach-
Even though I arrange the chairs in groups
ers agreed that both the process-cen-of threes for the conference-writing sessions
tered approach and the rhetorical before the class begins, students would
gradually, little by little, rearrange the chairs
approach to academic writing, at least
in horizontal rows and work by themselves.
in terms of how they are represented in
This, I think, is their way of saying that they
the workshops, textbooks, teachers'
prefer the flow of interaction to be between
manuals, and students' workbooks, tend
teacher and student. They want to lessen the
interaction among themselves. It takes me
to present Western approaches to writ-
a long, long time to break them out of the
ing as the sole authority to regulate,
teacher-centered classroom habit.
discipline, and arbitrate Turkish stu-
dents' writing processes. The teachers Concerning the philosophical and
instructional objectives of the process-
found it contradictory that according
centered approach, teachers asserted
to the philosophical objectives of the
that students are generally uncomfort-
process-centered approach, for example,
able with their group roles - they are
the student is the expert on ideas and
not accustomed to taking the teacher's
meanings expressed in his/her writing,
role in providing feedback and guiding
yet these objectives conveyed by the
their peers from the first to the final tional objectives of the process-cen-
draft. According to these teachers, in tered approach) presuming that com-
Turkey the teacher is the authority and prehensibility or shortcomings lie with
therefore when students are thrust into them as readers rather than with the
the role of giving and eliciting feedback writers.
from their peers, they feel insecure and Regarding the rhetorical approach
are hesitant to ask for clarification.They to the teaching of academic writing,
also do not trust their peers' comments. teachers stated that Western rhetorical
Ayse offered her explanation for the rigors for such styles as argumentation,
students' ill-at-ease posture concerning cause and effect, and definition pose a
their roles in peer feedback: great deal of challenge for Turkish
students.These styles, the teachers con-
Students tend to offer unfocused responses tended, urge students to question and
to their peer-group partners because we are
search for new ways of looking at the
teaching them to take up responsibilities
and, thus, thinking practices which are not world around them - to analyze, ques-
natural to them. For example, what I have tion, criticize, and evaluate issues, points
observed over the years is that instead of of view, evidence, data, and conclusions
asking their peers for clarifications, they
drawn by scholars in the field (see
simply supply the meaning to the essays
they read to close coherence gaps that they Orientation and Training in previous
thought their peers had left open. It's very, section). On the contrary, the teachers
very time-consuming to get students to do claimed, in the Turkish educational
what they are supposed to do ... it's really
system, students are responsible for
a process of getting them to unlearn tradi-
tional value systems and relearn new ones. reproducing and acquiring this knowl-
edge (wisdom) as it is passed on by
Another teacher, Meltem, made an respected teachers, scholars, and au-
observation regarding students' appre- thorities (cf. Ballard & Clanchy, 1993).
hension about and hesitancy toward The teachers also submitted that the
their peer-group responsibility in pro- rhetorical approach to academic writ-

viding cogent feedback. She submitted ing focuses mostly on the structure and
that students, in evaluating their peers' development of argument, and this is
essays, commonly bring to the peer precisely where Western literary tradi-
evaluation process the skills that they tion differs profoundly from Turkish
normally bring to the task of reading written discourse and where the teach-
professionally authored materials. That ing of writing really presents a chal-

is, they read for global meaning and use lenge for teachers.
their schemata to fill in the cohesive
gaps and infer information even where Question 3: What Are the Teachers'
the student writer has failed to provide Views on What Counts as Good
the necessary background to authorize Writing?
such an inference. As a result, the The seven teachers conceded that one
students are not critical of their peers' of the principal tenets of Western
writing (as prescribed by the instruc- scholarship is that a student's approach
to a topic be direct and be expressed students responsibility to consider a
very early in the essay. That is, accord- wide range of positions and sources of
ing to their understanding of the in- evidence before developing their own
structional objectives of the two Western position on the issue (s) and to provide
approaches, the introductory paragraphs reasons for the favored position. Meltem
should set the main issues to be dis- and Ttige in particular asserted that
cussed, define key terms, delineate thethese rigors tend to create difficulties
limits of the proposed discussion, andfor Turkish EFL students who are
usually uncomfortable about deciding
indicate the position that the writer
which position is right and which is
intends to take on the issues in question.
However, Nese, Meltem, Tiige, andbest,Within the recognized tradition of
Ibrahim (who displayed the most op- writing pedagogy in the Turkish educa-
positional stance toward the Western tional system, they said, established texts
(the source materials used in the EFL
writing approaches) asserted that Turk-
ish students find this style to be toowriting classes) are considered authori-
direct and lacking in subtlety. In thetative, the products of acclaimed schol-
Turkish secondary and many post-ars and are to be treated with reverence
secondary institutions, the teachersand not questioned for its value.
claimed, students are taught to gradu- Other Western tenets of good writ-
ally introduce the issues at hand, aing identified by the teachers are accu-
process that may take several paragraphsracy of content, relevance to the topic,
proof of wide reading, and evidence of
or even pages. The role of the introduc-
a well-examined topic. All teachers
tory section is to give a broad back-
conceded
ground in which the specific issue at that these were more com-
patible with Turkish written discourse

hand can be situated and fully discussed
from the appropriate point of view. and were easier to teach than the two
These teachers' observations seemed to tenets described previously. Neverthe-
be supported by Ballard and Clanchy's less Ibrahim had reservations about
(1993) study in which they identified how the accuracy of content is pre-
divergent traditions of written dis- sented in Western scientific writing:
course between Western and Eastern
Even in the scientific material that we give
cultures. In Eastern cultures, they say,students in the writing classes there are
the student's task is "to collaborate in Western presuppositions about what is ap-
the gradual unfolding of the subject, propriate to include in a science report and
what is appropriate to exclude. You don't
not take it by the throat and interrogate
have to describe in detail all of the instances
it from the very outset. . . . [Western] where the instruments did not function
lecturers faced with such a circuitous properly, only those instances which pro-
introduction are likely to criticize it as duced important results in relation to the
hypothesis that is being tested. These are not
largely irrelevant" (pp. 30-31).
Turkish nor universal presuppositions, they
Another requirement of good writ-
are presuppositions based on the philo-
ing according to Western literary stan-sophical views of Western scientists as to
dards (as noted by the teachers) is the what counts as good scientific reporting.
Three of the seven teachers - lated to the object of the attitude) and
Mustafa, Ayse, and Nuri - had the most
consists, in broad terms, of an underly-
accommodative attitude toward the ing psychological predisposition to act
rigors of good writing in Western or evaluate behavior in a certain way.
scholarship. Although they agreed withAttitude is therefore linked to a teacher's
the other four teachers as to the re- values and beliefs and fosters or dis-
quirements of good writing, they did courages the decisions made in all
not perceive any of these requirementsrealms of pedagogical activities (Gardner,
as representing blatant contradictions 1985; McGroarty, 1996). The com-
with elements of Turkish cultural lit- ments and corrections that these teach-
eracy. Rather, these three teachers stated ers gave to their students provided
that the acquisition of distinctive values strategic sites for observing and under-
and styles of Western literacy serves to standing how the teachers' belief and
expand students' literary repertoire to value systems were embedded in their
meet the demands of the international messages (i.e., their attitudes toward
community. Western approaches to the teaching of
writing) and how institutional (pro-
Commentary and Correctional moting Western scholarship), cultural
Routines in Teacher Discourse and societal (Turkey's allegiance to
Question 4: To What Extent Did both the Middle East and Western
Differences in the Teachers' Europe) pressures were played out in
Perceptions, Assumptions, and the classroom.
Views Play Out in Their I selected a sample of 8 tape-

Interactions with Students? recorded sessions for each teacher rep-
Based on the issues and concerns that resenting typicality and variation in
surfaced in the interviews, I tried to data and made use of extensive field
observe whether the oppositional and notes. The discourse was examined to
accommodative attitudes exhibited by focus on a) teachers' responding strate-

the seven Turkish teachers were re- gies; b) their explanations, comments
flected in the way in which they
and corrections given to students; c)
handled comments and corrections in their attempts in helping students to
classroom discourse. Also, because this revise their essays and holding them
study focused on the attitudes ofTurkish accountable for the feedback that they
teachers toward Western approaches to received. In order to carry out this task,
the teaching of writing, it is necessary it was necessary to analyze the recur-
to reiterate the meaning of the conceptrent themes and the pragmatic intent of
attitude and its possible role in regulat- the comments and corrections made
ing the teachers' discoursal behavior in salient by the teachers. The goal was to
the classroom. Within the confines of see whether the teachers who were
this study, attitude has cognitive and more accommodative of Western ap-
conative components (i.e., it involvesproaches to the teaching of writing did
beliefs and behavioral tendencies re- exhibit different commentary and cor-
rectional styles from those teachers exhibited a more oppositional attitude
who took a more oppositional stance to toward the Western approaches to writ-
Western pedagogical writing ap- ing pedagogy in the interviews used
proaches. One caveat, however, is that pointing, announcing, and questioning rou-
although I analyzed approximately 58 tines much more frequently in their
hours of tape-recordings and docu- interactions with students whereas the
mented systematic, intensive, and de- teachers who had taken a more accom-
tailed observation of behavior in my modative stance showed higher inci-

field notes, I make no claim about dences of advising, collaborating, and
causal links between teachers' attitudi- eliciting routines in their discourse with
nal posture and their commentary and students (see Table 1).
correctional routines in their interac- The descriptions of the commen-
tions with students. This study was tary/correctional routines suggest that
exploratory and should be construed as advising, collaborating, and eliciting
an attempt to understand how institu- routines tended to motivate a higher
tional, societal, and cultural pressures level of student engagement by teach-
might affect teachers' attitudes and how ers (routines that appear to be more
in turn those attitudes were reflected in compatible with the Western approaches
the way the teachers provided correc- to the teaching of writing) than do
tional feedback to their students. routines such as pointing, announcing,
and questioning. Table 1 shows the
Teacher Interactions: Knowledge, Struc- frequency of commentary/correctional
ture, and Routines Generally, the routines used by each teacher. The fol-
teacher-student interactions for both the lowing section will illustrate pointing and
process-centered approach and the rhe- announcing routines (reflecting opposi-
torical approach to academic writing tional attitudes) that were in contrast
had a three-part structure: a beginning with those of advising and collaborating
with teacher and student orienting (reflecting accommodative attitudes).
themselves to the essay and jointly fo-
cusing on a problematic place in the text Oppositional Attitudes in Teacher
detected either by the student or Discourse
teacher; a middle (analyzed in detail Example 1, Nese. The following is an

below) characterized by considerable interaction in which the teacher, Nese,
variation from teacher to teacher but used the pointing routine, which was
involving six identifiable commentary/very typical of her commentary/ cor-
correctional routines; and an end ori- rectional strategy. (For a description of
ented to a teacher-assigned task that thethe discourse conventions used in the
student was to carry out on his/her own transcript, see Appendix C.)
(see also Ulichny & Watson-Gegeo, The student, in a beginning-level
1989). writing course, was being directed by
An analysis of the transcriptions Nese to "correctables" in her first draft.
revealed that the Turkish teachers who Two weeks before, the student had
Table 1
Frequency of Commentary/Correctional Routines Used by Teachers

Percentage of Total Number of Routines
OPPOSITIONAL ATTITUDES
NESE MELTEM TUGE IBRAHIM
n % n % n % n %
pointing 97 28 102 31 83 26 89 21
announcing 74 22 70 22 95 18 91 23
questioning 66 19 88 13 59 20 81 23
advising 46 14 57 16 48 11 69 10
collaborating 53 11 47 8 51 10 60 12
eliciting 41 6 58 10 63 13 73 11
ACCOMMODATIVE ATTITUDES
MUSTAFA AYSE NURI
n % n % n %
pointing 69 11 51 13 54 8
announcing 78 13 47 13 62 10
questioning 40 9 37 10 56 15
advising 84 19 79 21 93 32
collaborating 97 24 92 24 80 21
eliciting 92 23 78 19 75 14
been asked to S: [What

write I want toan
say . .essay (c
effect) in response N: [You have to state+to two r
selections (source material)
S: H-position [means . . t
cussed the role that some international N: [You have to say what led to the
organizations had played in shaping the Cyprus crisis / You need these
social, political, and economic destinies three paragraphs to give the back-
ofThird World countries. The dialogue ground of the problem//
is an excerpt that shows Nese s control S: But I already [said . .
over participation structures: form, con- N: [If you don't give the background
tent, and distribution of discourse. / then we will not be able to un-
derstand why the European Com-

N: . . . Here you say THE UNITED mon Market took this position//
STATES CHANGED ITS POSI- Try to make that clear / then you
TION TOWARDS TURKEY move to the explanation of the
AFTER THE CYPRUS CRISIS/ position//
S: You mean [li:ke . . ((slight rise,
and then you leave it like that//
What do you mean by ITS POSI-
questioning))
TION?// N: [And here you say THEREFORE/
but the two ideas are not con- Example 2, Tuge. Example 2 is an
excerpt demonstrating the teacher's
nected// Therefore shows a logical
connection// control over the organization, distribu-
S: Okay / so I have to show that the
tion, and evaluation of knowledge. The
Turkish government made the de-interactional exchange between the
cision on Cyprus [because . . teacher, Tuge, and the student deviates
N: [Yes / because of the Turks on the from the philosophical and instruc-
island of Cyprus (. . .) here again /tional tenets of the Western approaches
you use the word THEREFORE/to the teaching of EFL writing. Tuge
+
employed the announcing routine very
S: +Therefore means that I am trying frequently as a commentary/correc-
to show that the Turkish govern- tional strategy. The student was in an
ment reach decision/ + intermediate-level writing course and
was preparing to rewrite her second
One of the most obvious aspects of draft of an essay (comparison and
this interaction was Nese's constant contrast) in response to two reading
selections (source material) that dealt
interruptions (the frequent overlapping
and latched utterances). For example,
with consumer advocacy and rights in
the student was asked to clarify the
thebanking and insurance industries in
term "position" but was not given Turkey.
the
opportunity to do so. As soon as the
student tried to give an explanation, T:
she. . . BOTH ARTICLES CON-
was interrupted by Nese, who in-TAIN A PART WHERE EACH

structed her on what to do and then MAIN CHARACTER DE-
pointed to another correctable in the CIDES TO ESCAPE HIS PROB-
text. Nese's constant practice of point- LEM// Okay / I see// . . . The

ing to correctables and instructing the focus of this comparison is stated in
student on how to fix them (typical of your second paragraph// Now
her interactions with four other stu- what are you talkin' about here in
dents) suggested that Nese had assumed your third paragraph?// This para-
ownership of the student's text - the graph [should . .
antithesis of one of the basic tenets of S: [I was trying to say . . um / that /
the process-centered approach.Accord- each paragraph deal with a separate
ing to the philosophical objective of kind of comparison//
this approach, the student is expert on T: But it's too early to give so many
ideas and meanings expressed in his/ details here in your third para-
her writing (see Orientation and Train- graph// . . .You need more back-
ing workshops in earlier section) . How- ground information//
ever, the above interaction suggests the S: I am planning to put more infor-
teacher's domination and authority that mation as I compare (. . .) two per-
are more typical of the Turkish educa- sons / so I compare two persons on
tional system (Turkkollu, 1994). each of the problem//
T: Why do you want to do that?// then we move to this paragraph/ 1
You can reduce the amount of think this and the next one can be
details in your third and fourth combined as your conclusion// So

paragraphs / if you give more in- in the conclusion / as you know /
formation in the first and second tie all of the points of comparison
paragraphs// together//
S: But I don't understand// If I leave S: Okay//
all information (. . .) in the two T: Now let's go back and look at the
paragraphs / how I pick up the thesis statement to see if it repre-
point again to compare here in sents your main ideas?// Read
paragraphs third and four?// your thesis statement// ((student
T: Move this point starting right here reads thesis statement)) So how
/ THE BANK MANAGER ON does paragraph four relate to the
THE OTHER HAND DOES thesis statement?/ /You see / para-
SOMETHING VERY DIFFER- graph four talks about the custo-
mer's proof of payment / here you
ENT// Move all of this up to THE
BANK MANAGER IS AN- said that the customer showed his
NOYED// Put it at the end of the Your thesis statement is
receipts//
second paragraph// about how the bank manager and
the customer decided to escape
S: This change idea then in paragraph
two / [so I . . problems// But / do you see what
T: [No / not really / all you have to you said in paragraph four? / You
do is to talk about the customers said that the customer became
problem first// It is logical then / more confused about the problem

that if the customer has a problem and got deeper into the problem
/ his problem will affect the bank // .... How are you planning to
managers strategy of negotiation// deal with this contradiction?//
S: Oka:y / so I move this section to This topic sentence contradicts

paragraph two// Then I need some your thesis statement?
joining word or phrase to smooth S: Well I guess (...) I have to changed
the two ideas here?// . . . This is the thesis statement//
what I get confused on// T: To what?// No / go to paragraph

T: Well / let me make a note here for four / change the topic sentence to
you// one / this paragraph / two something like / at first the cus-
/ this section up to BANK tomer was confused because . . . /
MANAGER'S DECISION / but later he looked at the receipt
three / at this point / THEagain
CUS-and realized that the teller
TOMER SHOWED EVI- made a mistake// This begins (. . .)
DENCE AS PROOF / four . . . // a solution for the customer and
((writes numbers to indicate sec- gradually leads to his decision / his

tions of the text)) And follow these decision allowed him to escape the
steps to paragraph seven// . . . Now problem//
S: I have question about paragraph as long as you state why you think
four to eight// This is comparison the customer's decision was smarter
and contrast / so that all the sen- / that's fine// Here / in Turkey /
tences that I make about the smart that way of looking at the situation
ideas of the customer / I have to is fine//
give evidence// ((slight rise,

questioning)) I think that means Again, the teacher,Tiige, took con-
why I say he is smart// That istrol of the organization and distribution
what you call examination of asser-
of knowledge. There were also require-
ments for student participation and
tions / right?// The reading selec-
tion say bank manager smart / strong
I constraints on the negotiation of
believe customer even more smart
meaning. Tiige adopted ownership of
/ he knew his rights / This is my the student's essay and told her how to
view / but it is a contradiction "juggle" paragraphs so that the text
with what the author said in the read logically: "All you have to do is to
reading selection// I need to worktalk about the customer's problem first.
out contradiction / right?// I haveIt is logical then that if the customer has
to say that I disagree with the read- a problem, his problem will affect the
ing selection that bank manager isbank manager's strategy of negotia-
just as smart as customer / but Ition." The student was confused by
give reason / right?// I have toTiige s instructions about how to orga-
show evidence of my opinion / nize the text, but instead of inquiring
not just [say about the source of confusion, Tiige
T: [You compare / you show the dif- abandoned coproducing the correc-
ference in how the bank manager tions with the student in favor of telling
and customer deal with problems// her what to do: "Well, let me make a
S: ... But I justify (. . .) why customer note here for you, one, this paragraph,
is more smart// This means dis- two, this section up to 'bank manager's
agreeing with the author in read-decision,' three, at this point 'the cus-
ing selection . . . but I say why/+ tomer showed evidence as proof,' four,
T: +Yes / you can say why you dis-. . . and follow these steps to paragraph
agree/ + seven." The student seemed to be de-
S: +But what 'bout evaluation?// nied a voice in her own writing, a
T: You have to test / to evaluate the practice at odds with the philosophical
customer s decision / that is / ... objectives of the process-centered ap-
um / what other customers would proach.
do in the same situation// The Further along in the interactional
exchange,Tiige alerted the student to a
same thing for the bank manager/
problematic thesis statement: "Your
/ What would other bank manag-
ers do in the same situation// At thesis statement is about how the bank
least that is what the exercise in the manager and the customer decided to
American textbook suggests// Butescape problems. But ... in paragraph
four . . . you said that the customer styles. In addition Tiige made a direct
became more confused about the prob- contrast between American written
lem and got deeper into the problem discourse and the way of structuring
.... How are you planning to deal and presenting ideas in Turkish dis-
with this contradiction? . . . This topic course - "At least that is what the
sentence contradicts your thesis state- exercise in the American textbook
ment." Tiige then proceeded to tell the suggests. But as long as you state why
student exactly what to do to remedy the customer's decision was smarter,
the contradiction. By not allowing the that's fine. Here in Turkey, that way of
student to explain the mismatch when looking at the situation is fine." This
it became evident, Tiige allowed her point of view might suggest an opposi-
own interpretation and evaluation of tional attitude to the imposition of
ideas to count as knowledge, a practice Western scholarship on Turkish literary
also at variance with the process-cen- tradition, an issue that concerned Tiige
tered approach. in her interview: "Just as how we can
Tiige also directed the student to come to accept nativized forms of
identify differing interpretations of the English spoken by non-native speakers
comparison between the customer's of English around the world, we can
negotiating skills and those of the bank accept nativized organization of ideas
manager over a payment dispute: "You in discourse written by EFL students
compare, you show the difference in around the world."
how the bank manager and customer

deal with problems." However, Tiige Accommodative Attitudes in Teacher
made no attempt to encourage the Discourse
student to evaluate these differing in- Example 3, Mustafa. In the next two
terpretations: "You have to test, to examples the teachers commentary/
evaluate the customer s decision, that is correctional routines appeared to be
. . . um . . . /what other customers would much more consistent with the philo-
do in the same situation ... At least that sophical and instructional tenets of the
is what the exercise in the American two Western approaches to the teach-
textbook suggests. But as long as you ing of writing and seemed to be more
state why you think the customersaccommodating of the demands that
decision is smarter, that's fine. Here inconstitute good writing in Western
Turkey, that way of looking at thescholarship. Example 3 involved an
situation is fine." This remark indicates exchange in which the teacher, Mustafa,
that there is a willingness on Tiige 's part using primarily the advising routine,
to tolerate contradictions and contro- tried to engage his student (intermedi-
versies in the student's text - to allow ate level) in a dialogue so that the
them to sit side-by-side in tension student could be given the opportunity
without motivating the student to work to be in charge of his own writing
them out - a discourse practice at odds (advocated by the process-centered ap-
with the rigors of Western rhetorical proach) and could also be made aware
of some of the rigors of Western and in Eastern country// I also use
cultural literacy (the rhetorical ap- as point against Taylor / as you can
proach to academic writing). The see / ((points to the paragraphs))
interaction between Mustafa and the the savings from stock investment
student was jointly produced as the and retirement issue is not Islamic
student reworked the second draft of tradition// I think it is secular view
his essay (definition) based on three // Here in this paragraph I give four
source readings dealing with different anecdotes as examples// Are my
definitions of the advantages of the examples clear?// [I decide ..
stock market and stock investments. M: [Now remember you have to give
both sides// Show / compare and
M: You need to give at least two dif- evaluate Maynard's opinions and
ferent examples here// Give two your opinions// As you do that /
so that the idea will be very clear// consider how your readers Aydin
S: uh huh / so what you're saying is and Faruk ((peers in the group))
that I define stock market and are going to interpret your defini-
stock investment in a variety of tion//
ways// ((rising intonation)) S: What do you mean interpret and
M: You see / there are several ap- evaluation?//
M: You want to make your definition

proaches in developing your defi-
nition// dictionary definitions / convincing// So you want to or-
personal definitions / negative ganize your ideas so your ideas will
definitions / saying what it is not convince//
/ making comparisons / quota- S: So it's like presenting Maynard's
tions// So you have to include views// I show that the views
enough specific examples / or an don't represent Muslim tradition /
anecdote / or comparisons in the that the views represent secular
introductory paragraph// middle class// ((rising intonation))
S: Ye:ah / the term stock investment And give reasons that saying why
is very complicated// The essay has I think the stock investment advan-
to show wide and critical reading tages represent secular// ((rising

ofit/+ intonation))
M: +uh huh / for example / let's look M: Now give me an idea of how
at this section right here you're goin' to present Maynard's
// What do you think about definition / in contrast to your
Maynard's personal anecdote on definition//
stock investments?// S: Well / in this paragraph / I will
S: I don't agree with it// I don't think give Maynard's definition of the
that's how many persons feel 'bout stock market and stock invest-
it// I said that (. . .) in next para- ments// Then I give my defini-

graph / the (. . .) of retirement is a tion// Then I give Taylor / Eren
different concept here in Turkey and Kazamias definitions which
give strength to my definition// .... You also want to make your
M: You need to analyze and question position convincing."
Maynard's definition of the stock I cannot claim that the student's
market and stock investment first / active role in the writing process was
to show why you disagree// directly linked to Mustafa's more ac-
commodative approach to Western
Instead of controlling the organi- pedagogy of writing. However, Mustafa's
zation and interpretation of knowledge, interactional techniques did appear to
Mustafa encouraged the student to foster a greater level of student engage-
fully participate in the discourse: "What ment in the task of organization of
do you think about Maynard's personal ideas, more productive communication
anecdote on stock investment?" The about the writing process, clearer guide-
interaction between Mustafa and the lines for the revision of the second draft,
student was jointly constructed so thatand a more improved sense of audience.
the student was motivated to ask for These observations were also supported
clarifications - "So what you're saying by field notes that documented Mustafa's
is that I define stock market and stock interactions with four other students in
investment in a variety of ways?" as well the class.

as for specific advice - "Are my ex- Mustafa directed the student to
amples clear enough?" It seemed that analyze and question Maynard's defini-
the student was made to assume that his tion of the stock market and stock
duty was to become independent, to investments in order to evaluate the

adopt an analytical stance in the presen- drawbacks in the author's definition
tation of his ideas, and to ponder ideas and therefore provided the context to
in source readings - philosophical ob- introduce the strengths of the student's
jectives of the process-centered and opposing definition. He also seemed
rhetorical approaches to academic writ- willing to tolerate contradictions, to
ing.The dialogue also reflected Mustafa's allow them to sit side-by-side in ten-
attempt to encourage the student to sion in the student's essay. For instance,
produce reader-based instead of writer- Mustafa instructed the student to sim-
based prose: "As you do that consider ply juxtapose opposing definitions, that
how your readers ... are going to in- is, Maynard's definition alongside the
terpret your definition . . . ." This is opposing definitions of the students,
one of the instructional objectives of Taylor, Eren, and Kazamias:"You should
the process-centered approach. Like- present Taylor's, Eren's, Kazamias s, and
wise, it is noteworthy that Mustafa your definitions side-by-side with
prodded the student to focus on orga- Maynard's opposing definition. By do-
nization of ideas and the cogent presen- ing this you are restating your defini-
tation of ideas according to Western tion along with the three definitions
scholarship: "Now give me an idea of that best support your definition. "Thus
how you are going to present Maynard's Mustafa encouraged the student to
definition in contrast to your definition present different interpretations of the
definitions (evidence of wide, critical ing to conceptualize different forms of
reading typical ofWestern scholarship) structuring and presenting knowledge
but did not motivate him to test or for international communication and
socioeconomic mobility. The range of
evaluate these definitions (which is also
a requirement ofWestern scholarship).accommodative and oppositional ten-
In fact, Mustafa resisted strict adher-
dencies in Mustafa's commentary/ cor-
ence to instructions and exercises in therectional strategies observed in his
American and British textbooks and interaction with this may therefore be a
reflection of this ambivalence.
insisted on flexibility, that is, tolerance
for Turkish or Eastern rhetorical styles
Example 4, Ayse. The following ex-
that do not require evaluation of knowl-
edge, especially by a neophyte. cerpt seems to demonstrate Ayse s con-
What seemed to emerge in formity to the objectives of the two
Mustafa's commentary/correctional dis- writing approaches. The most notice-
course was a range of accommodative able aspect of her collaborating routine
and oppositional tendencies, a kind of was that she co-produced with a stu-
ambivalence toward Western rigors of dent who was in a beginning-level
literacy: Mustafa appeared to be trans- writing course in order to create clues
forming some aspects ofWestern schol- that guided him to the correct re-
arship into small bits of knowledge that sponses and therefore allowed him to
fit Turkish cultural literacy. Mustafa had take responsibility for the structure and
revealed ambivalence toward Western presentation of ideas in his cause-and
approaches to the teaching of writingeffect essay. Ayse also appeared to hold
in his interview when he pointed to thethe student accountable for certain
disjunction between Turkish and West-aspects ofWestern scholarship such as
ern ways of dealing with the structur-the form and content of the introduc-
ing and presentation of knowledge in tory paragraphs as well as the topic
written discourse. Mustafa was one of sentences throughout the essay. The
the teachers who observed that Turkish student was required to revise the third
students' reproductive approach to us-draft of his essay in response to a source

ing source readings in their essays,reading on ethnocentrism.
favoring imitation and avoiding critical
questioning of the text in their writing,A: . . .According to the instructions in
is at psychological variance with West- the exercise / the opening para-
ern pedagogical approaches to writing graphs should present a clear back-
in which the dominant tendency is to ground// . . . Remember we spoke
encourage students to question, criti- 'bout that / and also did some of
cize, and evaluate. However, Mustafa the exercises// You have to give
also did assert that the induction of sufficient background information
Turkish students into Western rhetori- because the rest of your essay is
cal styles is an imperative that involves going to depend on it//
learning to think in another way, learn- S: So in my introduction / I have to say
the things (. . .) to discuss later?// will be easy for reader to under-
A: And the key issues / . . . the key stand cause and effect of ethnocen-
terms that you will discuss later// trism//
S: Key issues / key terms / ((slight A: That's right / good// What else are
rise questioning)) What that you going to include in your intro-
mean?// ductory paragraphs?//
A: Okay /You are asked to write on S: Give examples/ +
the cause and effect of ethnocen- A: +Give examples of what?//
trism// Isn't that so?// S: Of ethnocentrism / . . um /(...)
S: Uh huh// societies where groups of people seg-
A: What would you put in the intro-regate themselves . . to extreme//
duction? A: Yeah /You have to set limits to the
S: I say what ethnocentrism is/+ essay in your introductory para-

A: +Good// Anything else?// graphs / [and this . .
S: So that's key term?// S: [What I wanted to say here / was . . .
A: Yeah /What else?// um . . . that the main causes of the
S: The cause [of it . . ethnocentrism problem is ethnic

A: [Not in the introduction / that's and religious segregation / much
too much for the introduction// . . of my essay talk 'bout that//
look at the reading selection again
A: Right// As you can see / the instruc-
/ tell me about the societies where tions in the workbook tell you
ethnocentrism is a problem// to state the position you . . . um . . .
S: . . um / . . um / There are societies intend to take on the issues quite early
with much different cultures// . . in your essay / that is / the causes and
So can I start saying something effects of ethnocentrism//
about . . um . . about multicultural S: So here / I decide . . um . . it was
education?// . .Why multicultural two different ideas / ethnic and . .
education is important . . . and / um religious / so I decide to sepa-

then /(...) talk 'bout the lack of rate to two paragraphs//
multicultural education give rise to A: Remember / as we said earlier / . .
ethnocentrism// . . um multicul- each paragraph that deals with a
tural education is key issue also?// separate idea / ... in this case . . um
Okay / I see . . I see now / multi- . . . the ethnic issue / must begin
cultural education is important in with a topic sentence// Do you
society with many different people remember the function of the
... if not / we get so involved in topic sentence?//

our own culture / our own culture
get so superior /(...) we think we In this interaction Ayse demon-

can't get along with person of strated an accommodative stance to-
other cultures// Next point will be ward some of the standards of good
effect / that would take me to the writing stipulated by Western rhetori-
key term ethnocentrism// Then it cal styles. She told the student that the
"opening paragraphs" should set out intended meaning. Reader-based prose,
the key issues to be discussed, define which assumes primacy in the process-
key terms, set limits to the intended centered approach, seems to have be-
discussion, and present the position that come a central concern in this student's
he intends to take on the proposed writing process.
issues. In accordance with the philo- Ayse's goal in allowing the student
sophical and instructional objectives of to organize, interpret, and evaluate his
the process-centered approach, Ayse intended meaning (evidenced in the
also gave the student the opportunity to early part of the excerpt) led him to
assume independence and responsibil- clarify unclear sections of the text by
ity for his own writing. He was allowed describing his own intentions. When
to develop a dialogue so that he could Ayse instructed him to set clear limits to
ask for clarifications that served as the essay in the introductory paragraphs,
feedback steering him through thehe was able to describe his intended
writing process. For example, when thefocus: "What I wanted to say here [in
student asked for the meaning of "key the introduction] was that the main
issues" (at the beginning of the ex-causes of the ethnocentrism problem
cerpt), Ayse collaborated with him in is ethnic and religious segregation. . . ."
creating a context to provide the clue,At this point, the student realized that
"You are asked to write on the cause the rest of the essay hinged on these
and effect of ethnocentrism. . . . Whatfactors. Ayse, in acting as a live audience
would you put in the introduction?" sowas able to ask for clarification, check
that the student was encouraged tothe comprehensibility of the student's
comments, help him sort through prob-
problem solve. Ayse then negotiated
lems, and assist him in decision-making
with the meaning with the student and
helped him clarify his own doubts as he(field notes), all of which enabled the
elaborated on the text. By asking the student to clarify meaning by describ-
student to focus on societies in which ing his own writing process: "So here, I
ethnocentrism is a problem, Ayse prod-decide it was two different ideas, ethnic
ded him to forge the link betweenand religious, so I decide to separate to
ethnocentrism and a probable cause.two paragraphs."
The student came up with the lack of Therefore, Ayse, who took a more
accommodative
multicultural education to promote stance toward the West-
tolerance for other ethnic groups andern approaches to the teaching of
writing (see interview and also her
their religions. The student immedi-
ately realized that multicultural educa-reference to instructions in the work-
book [British] in the excerpt), seemed
tion was a key issue in his discussion on
ethnocentrism. The student appeared to have adhered to some of the main
to have developed a sense of audience, aphilosophical and instructional objec-
tives of the process-centered approach
concern about providing sufficient in-
(see Orientation and Training work-
formation and logical organization of
ideas so that the reader could grasp hisshops). Her accommodative posture
was probably responsible for the man- to reproduce in their writing large
ner in which she helped to shape chunks of texts in which Western
knowledge and managed the distribu- knowledge was structured and pre-
tion of discourse, eventually motivating sented. This process of reproducing the
the student to assume independence traditions of Western scholarship leads
and responsibility for his own writ- to Western acculturation of Turkish
ing - clarifying by elaboration, clarify- students.
ing by describing intentions, and This concern was reflected in the
clarifying by describing his own writ- conference transcripts when the teach-
ing process. Again, I can not assign a ers, Nese andTuge, assumed control and
causal relationship between Ayse's ac- ownership of the students' texts - the
commodative attitude and her interac- antithesis of one of the tenets of the
tional routine. The study examined process-centered approach which ad-

how attitudinal posture toward Western vocates that the student is expert on
approaches to EFL writing pedagogy ideas and meanings expressed in his/
might be related to interactional rou- her writing. The indication of the
tines in the classroom. teachers' authority in these interactions
might be a way to limit what they
The Import of the Ethnographic consider to be elements of domination
Interviews and Commentary/ in Western writing pedagogy.

Correctional Routines Accommodative attitudes seemed
The Turkish teachers' quotes and con- to rest on the teachers' recognition of
ference transcripts displayed a complex the fact that Turkey's official policy is
range of attitudes toward Western cul- more in favor of Western European
ture, reflecting oppositional and ac- connections, hence their support for
commodative stances. At the core of the integration of the tenets ofWestern
oppositional attitudes was the conten- rhetorical styles in the writing curricu-
tion that Western rhetorical styles are lum. The teachers did not view expo-
culturally incongruent with the way in sure to Western scholarship as an
which Turks and individuals in Eastern imposition on students' culture and
cultures are taught to structure and thus on their literary identity but rather
present ideas. For example, the ideas in as a source of enrichment. Becoming
the source texts to which students are literate in a foreign language means
required to respond in their essays are so becoming acculturated into an addi-
cogently and skillfully presented that tional literate society - one has to learn
students found the task of paraphrasing to read and write the culture of that
these texts and developing alternative language.
points of view somewhat intimidating. The transcripts of two teachers'
Therefore, instead of interacting with (Ayse's and Mustafa's) interactions with
the ideas (analyzing, questioning, criti- students indicated an accommodative
cizing, and evaluating them - tenets of stance stemming from their recogni-
Western scholarship), students tended tion of the imperative facing Turkish
students to learn how to structure and strates that Turkish teachers have differ-
present knowledge according to the ent attitudes toward that socialization

requirements of Western scholarship. and as a consequence take on different
The acquisition of writing skills (which interactional styles with their students.
are reflective of Western literary cul- The analysis of how oppositional and
ture) is necessary for international com- accommodative attitudes toward for-
munication and social mobility. As eign discourses are formed and experi-
suggested by the feedback that they enced in the classroom makes it clear
gave to their students, these teachers' that language teaching is a political
accommodation to Western writing act - there is no such thing as a cultur-
pedagogy involves a sense of duty to ally neutral language pedagogy. West-
train students to develop the ability to ern writing approaches and materials
criticize, analyze, question, and evaluate carry cultural biases and implicitly im-
data, theories, and assertions. part attitudes related to the Euro-
American culture and indirectly to the
Conclusion learner's native culture.Teachers cannot
remove cultural biases from language
Becoming literate in Western culture
means becoming socialized into its
pedagogies. But teachers and research-
literary value system, a processers can critically examine cultural bi-
that
ases to
requires that students be taught both and can assess their impact. They
can engage students in those examina-
perform the skills and tasks stipulated
tions.
by Western scholarship and to adopt theDoing so is an important step in
developing
forms of reasoning and procedures for an understanding and ap-
preciation of rhetorical and pedagogi-
interpreting and reproducing Western
rhetorical styles. This study demon-
cal diversity.
Endnote
1. The acronym EFL is used for situations or countries where there is no history of prolonged
British or U. S. political occupation, where English has no special functional allocations in the
society, and where its communicative use has no high priority (Nayar, 1997).
Author Note
I would like to thank the teachers and students at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, for so
generously opening their classrooms and sharing their insights. I am also grateful to the anony-
mous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts of the article. The research was supported by a
Fulbright Fellowship. Please direct inquiries to Department ofTeaching and Learning, Univer-
sity of Miami, P.O. Box 248065, Coral Gables, Florida 33124; email aclachar@miami.edu.
References
Ballard, B., & ClanchyJ. (1989). Literacy in the university: An 'anthropological' approach.
In G.Taylor (Ed.), Literacy by degrees (pp. 7-23). Milton Keynes, UK: Open University
Press.
Ballard, B., & Clanchy, J. (1993). Assessment by misconception: Cultural influence and
intellectual traditions. In L. Hamp-Lyons (Ed.), Assessing second language writing in academic
contexts (pp. 19-35). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Barkey, H. (1992). Turkish- American relations in the post-war era. Orient, 33, 447-464.
Berlin, J. (1984). Writing instruction in nineteenth-century American colleges. Carbondale, IL:

Southern Illinois University Press.
Canagarajah, S. (1993). Critical ethnography of a Sri Lankan classroom: Ambiguities in

student opposition to reproduction through ESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 27, 601-626.
Duff, P. (1995). An ethnography of communication in immersion classrooms in Hungary.

TESOL Quarterly, 29, 505-536.
Fox, H. (1994). Listening to the world: Cultural issues in academic writing. Urbana, IL: National
Council of Teachers of English.
Gardner, R. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and
motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
Keh, C. (1990). Feedback in the writing of process: A model and methods for implementa-
tion. English Language Teaching Journal, 44, 294-304.
McGroarty, M. (1996). Language attitudes, motivation, and standards. In S. McKay &

N. Hornberger (Eds.), Sodolinguistics and language teaching (pp. 3-46). New York: Cam-
bridge University Press.
Nayar, B. (1997). ESL/EFL dichotomy today: Language politics or pragmatics? TESOL

Quarterly, 31,9-37.
Pennycook, A. (1989). The concept of method, interested knowledge, and the politics of
language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 23, 589-618.
Sander, O. (1990). Turkey and the Middle East. Turkish Review, 10, 47-62.
Stanley, J. (1992). Coaching student writers to be effective peer evaluators. Journal of Second
Language Writing, 1, 217-233.
Turkkollu, N. (1994). The error hierarchy of Turkish EFL teachers in their assessment of composi-
tions. Unpublished master's thesis, Bilkent University, Turkey.
Ulichny, P., & Watson-Gegeo, K. (1989). Interactions and authority: The dominant
interpretive framework in writing conferences. Discourse Processes, 12, 309-328.
Zamel,V. (1987). Recent research on writing pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 21, 697-715.
Zughoul, M. R., &Taminian, L. (1984). The linguistic attitudes of Arab university students:
Factorial structure and intervening variables. International Journal of the Sociology of
Language 50, 155-179.
Appendix A: Assessment Rubrics for
Grading Writing Assignments
Content
45-42 Excellent to Very Good: substantive and thorough development of thesis relevant t
assigned topic; focused limitation of topic
41-37 Good: limited development of thesis; somewhat pertinent to topic but lack
substantive details; some introduction of irrelevancies
36-32 Fair to Poor: insufficient knowledge of subject; inadequate development of thesis
inconsistency in point of view regarding topic; failure to provide a clear sense of
purpose; assumption of an argument's validity with no development of the argument
31-27 Poor: no knowledge of subject; non-substantive and irrelevant ideas
Organization
30-25 Excellent to Very Good: ideas cogently presented; logical sequencing of ideas; effectiv
use of paragraphing; good use of transitions
24-20 Good: loosely organized but main ideas are detectable; insufficient supporting informa
tion; logical but incomplete sequencing of ideas
19-15 Fair to Poor: disconnected ideas, limited transitions; ideas not logically sequenced and no
well-developed; main ideas/supporting ideas/generalizations/ not clearly identifiable
14/less Poor: does not communicate; poor organization
Vocabulary
25-20 Excellent to Very Good: effective word/idiom choice and usage; appropriate registe
19-15 Good: variety in word choice (appropriate use of synonyms) ; occasional errors of word
form, word choice and use but meaning can be detected
14-10 Fair to Poor: limited vocabulary; frequent errors of word form, word choice and use
so that meaning is unclear
9/less Poor: literal word-for-word translation; little knowledge of English vocabulary; n
mastery of word form
Language Use
25-20 Excellent to Very Good: few errors of tense, agreement, number, word order, voice,
awkward phrasing, sentence fragment, run-on sentences
19-15 Good: effective but simple constructions, few problems with complex syntactic
constructions; errors of tense, agreement, number, word order, voice, but meaning is
not blurred
14-10 Fair to Poor: major problem in simple/complex constructions, whole sentence/clause

aberrant, frequent errors of agreement, tense, number, word order, voice, sentence
fragment, run-on sentences so that meaning is considerably blurred
9/less Poor: no mastery of sentence-construction rules; too many grammatical errors; essay
is virtually unintelligible
Appendix B:
Language Attitude Questionnaire
L Attitudes toward the utility of English compared to Turkish

I. Compared to English, Turkish is better able to handle the sciences and business.
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree
2 For Turkish children, English is more important than Turkish because it will allow
to meet and converse with more and varied people.
3. Turkish is of less pragmatic value than English in most large business corporati
Turkey because Turkish limits upward mobility.
4. In industry, Turkish is more necessary than English in order to get high-paying job
5. Turkish is more useful than English for certain business careers.
6. At the university level, courses related to science and technology would serve st
more effectively if they were exclusively in English.
II. Attitudes toward English as a status marker in Turkey

7. The ability to speak English fluently is likely to make one feel superior to those who
speak it fluently.
8. One cannot become a truly respected authority in the fields of science, engineering
business unless one has a good knowledge of English.
9. You need to be fluent in English in order to be respected by Western Europeans.
III. Attitudes toward the English-language media

10. I prefer listening to British and American songs to listening to Turkish songs.
I 1 . I prefer watching British and American TV programs to watching Turkish TV prog
12. I prefer reading British and American novels and magazines to reading Turkish
and magazines.
13. Compared to English, Turkish is more expressive.
IV Attitudes toward the use of English in certain public domains in Turkey and its eff
Turkish cultural identity
14. The use of English in some life affairs (industry, government services) in Turke
threat to Turkish cultural identity.
15. The continued use of English in some life affairs (industry, government servi
Turkey is an indication of our cultural dependence.
16. The use of English in some life affairs (industry, government services) in Turkey is a con-
stant reminder ofWestern imperialism.
17. The use of English in the fields where it is in use now (business, industry, science,
technology) is a threat to Turkish.
18. The use of English as a medium of instruction in colleges and universities is a threat to
Turkish identity.
Appendix C: Transcription Conventions
/ = breath group;
// = utterance final;
[ = overlapping utterances;
+ = latched utterances (no break);
: = held or elongated
. . . = pauses of one beat per dot;
CAPS = reading from student's essay;
(...) = unclear utterance;
(( )) = commentary

Opposition and Accommodation

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Opposition and Accommodation

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Opposition and Accommodation: "An Examination of Turkish Teachers' Attitudes toward

Western Approaches to the Teaching of Writing"

National Council of Teachers of English is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve

This paper focuses on cross-cultural tensions in Western writing pedagogy as r

Introduction university cafeteria. The conversation

66 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

Opposition and Accommodation 67

68 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

magnet for Turkey to assign its foreign

Opposition and Accommodation 69

economy the problem of finding hard what counts as good writing?

beginning in the early 1970s (Barkey,

70 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

Opposition and Accommodation 71

writing program. The American work- develop as independent writers, with

72 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

Evaluation of Students 'Writing Progress major tenets ofWestern writing peda-

Opposition and Accommodation 73

participated in the study and who had

I observed, participated in, and audiotaped Western approaches to the teaching of

to help with the interpretation of the dent which involved a sequence of

74 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

ing, questioning, advising, collaborating, c) announcing missing elements, as in,

include the following:

a) announcing text sections, as in,

Opposition and Accommodation 75

Does it express an opinion?" and other Eastern cultures, knowledge

With respect to the three issues, the

76 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

Opposition and Accommodation 11

tions ofWestern scholarship, the teachers

78 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

Opposition and Accommodation 79

80 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

the role of giving and eliciting feedback writers.

their peer-group responsibility in pro- rhetorical approach to academic writ-

professionally authored materials. That ing of writing really presents a chal-

Opposition and Accommodation 81

patible with Turkish written discourse

82 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

Views Play Out in Their I selected a sample of 8 tape-

accommodative attitudes exhibited by focus on a) teachers' responding strate-

Opposition and Accommodation 83

tailed observation of behavior in my modative stance showed higher inci-

teacher; a middle (analyzed in detail Example 1, Nese. The following is an

84 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

Frequency of Commentary/Correctional Routines Used by Teachers

NESE MELTEM TUGE IBRAHIM

MUSTAFA AYSE NURI

been asked to S: [What

derstand why the European Com-

Opposition and Accommodation 85

was interrupted by Nese, who in-TAIN A PART WHERE EACH

pointed to another correctable in the CIDES TO ESCAPE HIS PROB-

text. Nese's constant practice of point- LEM// Okay / I see// . . . The

86 Research in the Teaching of English • Volume 35 • August 2000

details in your third and fourth combined as your conclusion// So

problem first// It is logical then / more confused about the problem

S: Oka:y / so I move this section to This topic sentence contradicts

what I get confused on// T: To what?// No / go to paragraph

((writes numbers to indicate sec- gradually leads to his decision / his

Opposition and Accommodation 87

give evidence// ((slight rise,

American textbook suggests// Butescape problems. But ... in paragraph