[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-589183-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-589183-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","examining-the-impact-of-subtle-cultural-differences-on-rhetorical-variation-in-efl-essays","Examining the Impact of Subtle Cultural Differences on Rhetorical Variation in EFL Essays","","Examining how subtle cultural differences affect rhetorical variation in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writing, the study challenges earlier rhetoric research that relied on binary group comparisons. Three corpora of persuasive essays by female learners with Arabic, Korean, and English L1s were compiled, and frequencies of rhetorical devices were compared using Friedman’s two-way analysis of variance. While average differences were not statistically significant, specific devices varied across corpora. The findings highlight power-distance-related effects, with implications for culturally responsive pedagogy and intercultural communication.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/examining-the-impact-of-subtle-cultural-differences-on-rhetorical-variation-in-efl-essays/589183/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/examining-the-impact-of-subtle-cultural-differences-on-rhetorical-variation-in-efl-essays/589183.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Đào","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How did the study evaluate rhetorical variation across EFL essays?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It compiled three corpora of persuasive essays written in English by female learners with Arabic, Korean, and English L1s, then tallied rhetorical device frequencies across three categories and compared them statistically using Friedman’s two-way analysis of variance.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Were there statistically significant differences in average rhetorical device frequencies?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"No. The results did not reveal statistically significant differences for average frequencies across the groups.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What differences were observed between Emirati (Arabic) and Korean learners?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Emirati learners tended to lessen authority of propositions and avoid direct connection with the reader, increasing power-distance effects. Korean learners used more direct and authoritative strategies while hedging with epistemic stances to maintain some power distance, supporting collectivist values tied to conflict reduction and group cohesion.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},589183,1792144767,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":109,"preview_page_count":4},1374402968488,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Examining the Impact of Subtle Cultural Differences on Rhetorical Variation  \nin EFL Essays  \nAndrew Schenck,1  \nState University of New York, Korea  \nDOI: 10.35974/acuity.v8i1.2888  \nAbstract  \nPast research of rhetoric has relied on simple binary comparisons between groups that either do, or do not, possess a cultural trait. While countries like Korea and the UAE may share cultural values such as an acceptance of unequal power relationships (power distance) and a preference for group action (collectivism), these traits vary in degrees of intensity. To understand how these similar cultural traits may manifest differently within rhetoric, three separate corpora of persuasive essays written in English were compiled from female learners with Arabic, Korean, and English L1s. Next, frequencies of rhetorical devices from three categories (pronoun deixis, modals, and epistemic stances) were tallied and statistically compared using Friedman’s Two-Way Analysis of Variance. Results did not reveal statistically significant differences for average frequencies, yet analysis of specific rhetorical devices within each category exposed some notable disparities between corpora. Emirati (Arabic) learners, who have a strong cultural preference for power distance, tend to lessen authority of propositions and avoid a direct connection with the reader, making an argument less personal (increasing power distance) . Korean learners tend to use more direct and authoritative rhetorical strategies (decreasing power distance), while simultaneously hedging with epistemic stances to maintain some degree of power distance. Hedging also appears to support Korean collectivist values that promote conflict reduction and group cohesion. Ultimately, more research of cultural influences on rhetoric is needed to develop culturally responsive pedagogy that promotes better intercultural communication.  \nKeywords: Deixis, Modals, Epistemic Stances, Arabic, Emirati, Korean, Rhetoric, Power Distance, Collectivism  \nINTRODUCTION  \nIn Kaplan’s early work (1966), rhetorical differences between students from different cultural backgrounds were described, along with a simplistic model of culturally related patterns for rhetoric. Via this research, standard American discourse was labeled as a linear construct, whereas Asian cultures were hypothesized to have more circular rhetorical patterns. Although insightful, subsequent research has pointed out that such notions are overly simplistic (Cahill, 2003; Huh & Lee, 2019; Severino, 1993) . Critics also highlight the fact that standardization of“normal” English discourse indirectly labels non-native rhetoric as invalid, thereby injecting bias into analysis. To address this concern, Kaplan (1966) argued that his theory was not designed “to offer any criticism” of other rhetoric types; instead, he suggested that “developments other than those normally regarded as desirable in English do exist”(p. 20) .  \nEven Kaplan recognized that English rhetorical patterns are far from standardized. They may diverge in a number of ways, which is revealed by the circular structure of Ezra Pound, as well asthe “wildly digressive” paragraphs of William Faulkner (Kaplan, 1996, p. 20) . Despite recognition of rhetorical variability, Kaplan also suggested that this divergence was primarily due to the artistic  \nCorresponding Author: Andrew Schenck, 119-2 Munhwa-ro, Department of Humanities, State University of New York, Incheon, Yeonsu-gu, 21985, [South Korea. email:](South Korea. email:) [andrew.schenck@stonybrook.edu](andrew.schenck@stonybrook.edu)  \nnature of literature. Other forms of writing were considered to be more stable in each cultural context, primarily because “requirements of communication can often be best solved by relatively close adhesion to established patterns”(Kaplan, 1996, p. 20) . Essentially, non-literary discourse was posited to be more standardized, which led to the widespread understanding that rhetoric in essays varied con","cbCaioV8ZhHnFugo","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioV8ZhHnFugo","pdf",316095,16,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction","[{\"question\":\"How did the study evaluate rhetorical variation across EFL essays?\",\"answer\":\"It compiled three corpora of persuasive essays written in English by female learners with Arabic, Korean, and English L1s, then tallied rhetorical device frequencies across three categories and compared them statistically using Friedman’s two-way analysis of variance.\"},{\"question\":\"Were there statistically significant differences in average rhetorical device frequencies?\",\"answer\":\"No. The results did not reveal statistically significant differences for average frequencies across the groups.\"},{\"question\":\"What differences were observed between Emirati (Arabic) and Korean learners?\",\"answer\":\"Emirati learners tended to lessen authority of propositions and avoid direct connection with the reader, increasing power-distance effects. Korean learners used more direct and authoritative strategies while hedging with epistemic stances to maintain some power distance, supporting collectivist values tied to conflict reduction and group cohesion.\"}]","Examining the Impact of Subtle Cultural Differences on Rhetorical Variation in EFL Essays | PDF",1792066709]