The Individual: An Identity Problem
Recently I wrote a history paper for my European Civilizations class. The professor’s comments on my rough draft were disheartening at best, and the one I could not comprehend was the following: “In a society built on groups, everyone was subordinate to someone else, and all were subordinate to the group. You simply must get away from your presentist obsession with the individual.” At the time, I was completely baffled as to how this critique related to my paper. A “presentist obsession with the individual”?
In “The Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as a Key to Learning English Composition”, Fan Shen discusses how he had to create an alternate identity, separate from his Chinese self, in order to navigate the conventions of English writing. Shen describes how he had to gain an understanding of “I” as an individual rather than “I” as a subordinate member to the collective whole. It was only after reading Shen’s article that I began to understand my history professor’s comment. I had interpreted the texts through an individualized lens, a perspective so deeply engrained in me by the society in which I live. Like Shen, I had to assume a new perspective, that of the individual as subordinate to the collective whole, in order to communicate my thoughts accurately and clearly in my history paper.
Fan Shen’s experience as an ESL writer and my experience taking on a different identity perspective in historical writing raise some difficult questions. As writing center tutors, when is it appropriate to help the writer create a new identity? And how are we to do this? I do not think there are concrete answers to these questions. However, the more aware we become of differences in styles of writing and their cultural, linguistic, or ideological origins, the better equipped we can become as writing tutors to help fellow writers express themselves within the conventions of English writing with clarity and strength.
I think the ideal model in working with ESL students is that of the accomodationist. In “Reading an ESL Writer’s Text”, Paul Kei Matsuda and Michelle Cox explain that the “accomodationist reader’s goal is to help the writer learn new discourse patterns without completely losing the old, so that the writer can maintain their…linguistic and cultural identities” (Matsuda, 42). The original identity is not erased or faded; rather, new identities are formed to fit different writing environments. Furthermore, new identities can act as gateways to new understandings of the world. In this context, both identities are acknowledged as vital parts of the whole person. Fan Shen exemplifies the benefits of developing a new identity: "I welcome the change, for it has added a new dimension to me and to my view of the world" (Shen, 465). Yet, his original identity is maintained with the understanding that each self has its appropriate context and strengths.
Matsuda’s accommodationist approach sounds promising in theory, but how is it utilized in practice? In the writing center, I had one session that truly embodied the conflict to which the accomodationist attempts to respond. Maria’s paper had many dangling adjectives, contextualized as if they were nouns. For example, she referred to people as “the brave” and “the timid”. Right away, I paused and asked if she was a native Spanish speaker. Having studied Spanish since the second grade, I recognized this structure right away. An English speaker might consider these phrasings to be complete misunderstandings of syntactic structures, an inappropriate use of grammar. I, however, could understand the underlying cultural identity that was represented in what could be seen as a quick grammatical fix. In Spanish, as in al languages I am sure, the syntactic arrangement of words functions not only on a grammatical level; it has so many cultural implications. In Spanish, “the timid”, or “el tímido” does not just mean “a timid person”. Rather, it suggests that the person’s identity is intrinsically inseparable from that trait. That person is defined by that trait.
My ability to understand Maria’s cultural identity was a unique experience as a writing center tutor. I am often blind to any cultural distinctions that might be embedded in the papers of my peers. Because I was aware of and even shared in Maria’s dual identity as a speaker of both Spanish and English, I could take on the role of the accomodationist. I explained the distinction between the languages, laying out the grammatical structure and connotation appropriate for each linguistic environment. Like Graff’s accomodationist, I attempted to bring awareness to Maria’s dual identity, contextualizing each in its own appropriate space. Just as Shen was able to alternate between his two identities with an understanding of how each affected his writing, hopefully Maria too will be able to embrace her dual identity as both an English and Spanish speaker.
In “The Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as a Key to Learning English Composition”, Fan Shen discusses how he had to create an alternate identity, separate from his Chinese self, in order to navigate the conventions of English writing. Shen describes how he had to gain an understanding of “I” as an individual rather than “I” as a subordinate member to the collective whole. It was only after reading Shen’s article that I began to understand my history professor’s comment. I had interpreted the texts through an individualized lens, a perspective so deeply engrained in me by the society in which I live. Like Shen, I had to assume a new perspective, that of the individual as subordinate to the collective whole, in order to communicate my thoughts accurately and clearly in my history paper.
Fan Shen’s experience as an ESL writer and my experience taking on a different identity perspective in historical writing raise some difficult questions. As writing center tutors, when is it appropriate to help the writer create a new identity? And how are we to do this? I do not think there are concrete answers to these questions. However, the more aware we become of differences in styles of writing and their cultural, linguistic, or ideological origins, the better equipped we can become as writing tutors to help fellow writers express themselves within the conventions of English writing with clarity and strength.
I think the ideal model in working with ESL students is that of the accomodationist. In “Reading an ESL Writer’s Text”, Paul Kei Matsuda and Michelle Cox explain that the “accomodationist reader’s goal is to help the writer learn new discourse patterns without completely losing the old, so that the writer can maintain their…linguistic and cultural identities” (Matsuda, 42). The original identity is not erased or faded; rather, new identities are formed to fit different writing environments. Furthermore, new identities can act as gateways to new understandings of the world. In this context, both identities are acknowledged as vital parts of the whole person. Fan Shen exemplifies the benefits of developing a new identity: "I welcome the change, for it has added a new dimension to me and to my view of the world" (Shen, 465). Yet, his original identity is maintained with the understanding that each self has its appropriate context and strengths.
Matsuda’s accommodationist approach sounds promising in theory, but how is it utilized in practice? In the writing center, I had one session that truly embodied the conflict to which the accomodationist attempts to respond. Maria’s paper had many dangling adjectives, contextualized as if they were nouns. For example, she referred to people as “the brave” and “the timid”. Right away, I paused and asked if she was a native Spanish speaker. Having studied Spanish since the second grade, I recognized this structure right away. An English speaker might consider these phrasings to be complete misunderstandings of syntactic structures, an inappropriate use of grammar. I, however, could understand the underlying cultural identity that was represented in what could be seen as a quick grammatical fix. In Spanish, as in al languages I am sure, the syntactic arrangement of words functions not only on a grammatical level; it has so many cultural implications. In Spanish, “the timid”, or “el tímido” does not just mean “a timid person”. Rather, it suggests that the person’s identity is intrinsically inseparable from that trait. That person is defined by that trait.
My ability to understand Maria’s cultural identity was a unique experience as a writing center tutor. I am often blind to any cultural distinctions that might be embedded in the papers of my peers. Because I was aware of and even shared in Maria’s dual identity as a speaker of both Spanish and English, I could take on the role of the accomodationist. I explained the distinction between the languages, laying out the grammatical structure and connotation appropriate for each linguistic environment. Like Graff’s accomodationist, I attempted to bring awareness to Maria’s dual identity, contextualizing each in its own appropriate space. Just as Shen was able to alternate between his two identities with an understanding of how each affected his writing, hopefully Maria too will be able to embrace her dual identity as both an English and Spanish speaker.