Page 142 - English - Teaching Academic Esl Writing

128 CHAPTER 6
verted person. Nevertheless, I discover that my personality has changing again and again after getting my teaching experience. (The student wrote two more para- graphs to complete the assignment.)
In this excerpt, the use of a personal example as supporting information does not seem appropriate because, for one thing, it does not demonstrate familiarity with course material and/or relevant literature. Furthermore, personal examples cannot be considered generalizable and are most often perceived as anecdotal. For the purposes of an academic course assignment, the writer needs to be directed to cite research, literature, or other types of formal academic evidence that can support her position that extroversion is a variable trait.
Third-Person Pronouns
In addition to first-person narratives, NNS students also employ third-per- son recounts and stories to support their positions. In many cases, due to the narrative-like character of NNS academic prose and insufficiency of their vo- cabulary, L2 writers include high rates of third-person pronouns in their text (Hinkel, 2002a). For example, in an essay on the economic benefits and pit- falls of credit cards, the student writer tells the story of his friend.
(This excerpt starts at the beginning of the third paragraph.) It is true that credit cards are really popular these days, but it has problems, like debt. For instance, one of my friends, who is Dan, had two gold credit cards. But he_didn 't concern the budget of his account, while he_was using the plastic money. So, he_had heavy debt on his account. It took about two and half years to pay offhis_ debt. After he_had big trouble with charge cards, he_cut his two gold credit cards with scissors. Now he_does not have any kinds of credit cards.
Moreover, according to the Social Security statistic, in 1996, only 30% of the credit card holders payfull pay amount and another 70% pay only minimum amount or less than a full amount. The statistic shows us how people are abusing the credit card, and the phenomenon gets worse and worse. (The essays includes three additional paragraphs.)
In this excerpt, the function of personal or third-party recounts is largely the same (i.e., to provide validation for the main points expressed in the es- say). Another point to make is that, despite the fact that in many cases, L2 writers are familiar with employing published sources (e.g., the Social Secu- rity statistic) as a means of rhetorical support, this technique might not be used consistently and appropriately. In the credit card example, the statistic cited by the student does not support the observation that users abuse credit cards or the claim that the phenomenon gets worse and worse. Thus, in- struction on the limited power of personal narratives to support essay points should coincide with the teaching of citing elaborated discussionsof
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