英作文教育

Abstract

One block to writing expository English for English as a Second Language (ESL) students is that the rhorical patterns of their own languages and cultures might be different from the rhetorical pattern of English. This paper takes up this problem, touching on how it relates to Japanese, and proposes the use of one excersise to alleviate this block. The excersise is based on a universal journalistic form commonly called the "reversed pyramid." This form, which can be found in the reportage of virtually every newspaper in the world, closely resembles the essestially linear form of English rhetoric. The exercise also employes the use projected photographic slides. While being only one exercise, though it is not a cure-all, it might be a useful base for ESL students beginning a course in English compostion.