CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN THE EFL WRITING CLASS

Abstract

Combining insights from cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis, intercultural rhetoric, and intercultural communication theory, this paper discusses issues in EFL writing classes that arise from cultural specificities. Namely, it discusses topic development, readers’ expectations, and rhetorical organization across cultures, as well as their importance to the production of a “communicative” text in English. The paper also offers a rationale for the teaching of culture in the writing class and advances possible activities that aim at the production of discourse that is close to the “communicative text” in English.