Understanding Rhetorical Traditions, Rethinking Writing Pedagogies

This book targets the intersection of two areas:
comparative research on writing instruction and
argumentative/persuasive writing pedagogies in
secondary schools. By mapping the historical context
for written argumentation instruction as a school
genre at the secondary level in the U.S. and China,
with a focus on the 20th century and thereafter, the
author identifies the hybrid nature of the school
genre shaped by complex social, theoretical, and
curricular factors. Then she compares and contrasts
the key concepts and directives for written
argumentation instruction in the textbooks. Some
focal points such as purpose, the relationship
between philosophy and rhetoric, logic, the place of
emotion, and perceptions of the writer and the
audience are compared and contrasted.
Finally the author discusses the implications of the
findings for rethinking written argumentation
instruction in the 21st century, calling for
coupling of formal logic and dialectical logic and
reconsidering the place of emotion. This book
should be useful to scholars and professionals in
intercultural communication, rhetoric and
composition, and education.

Autorentext
Ph.D.: Assistant Professor at Peking University, China. Studied
Rhetoric & Composition at Purdue University, Sociology of
Culture at London School of Economics, and American Studies at
Beijing Foreign Studies University. Research Interests:
comparative rhetoric, second language writing, cross-cultural
communication.