{"id":2505,"date":"2015-11-27T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2015-11-27T17:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=2505"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:44:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:44:41","slug":"english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"English Writing Structure, Compared to Other Languages"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In English language study, there\u2019s a popular set of diagrams that teachers like to use with their students. These diagrams are meant to show the difference between the structure of written English and the structure of other written languages. I love the general idea of\u00a0this diagram. I think it\u2019s very helpful to visually picture the \u201cflow\u201d of writing. Visualization like this can really help you refine your writing skills.<\/p>\n<p>Still, I find this diagram, popular as it is, to be kind of\u2026 wrong. Take a look at the image, and see if you can guess why I disagree with it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2506\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/magoosh-company-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/toefl\/files\/2015\/11\/20104825\/BKaplan-600x224.png\" alt=\"BKaplan\" width=\"600\" height=\"224\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(<a href=\"https:\/\/scottthornbury.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/kaplan-patterns-of-written-discourse.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">original image source<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You can probably see the problem. Non English writing structure is shown in spirals or uneven zig-zags, while English writing is portrayed as\u2026 a straight line. The creator of the diagram, a native English speaker, has failed to notice that written English is <em>not straightforward<\/em>. At least, not any moreso than any other language.<\/p>\n<p>This diagram probably overstates the complexity of non-English languages too. Is Semitic (Middle Eastern) writing really an abrupt series of drops and forward thrusts? Is Oriental (East Asian) writing a dizzying spiral? Are European and Russian writing styles structured like winding roads with abrupt sharp turns? Certainly native speakers of these languages wouldn\u2019t see their writing in these confusing terms.<\/p>\n<p>The diagram above sends unhelpful messages to a lot of ESL students. I was reminded of this recently while working with a native Japanese speaker in a tutoring center. She had just gotten a very low mark on an English language essay on the Eiken exam. (The Eiken is an English proficiency exam similar to the TOEFL.) As she talked to me about her failure, she was very hard on both herself, and her entire culture. Referencing B. Kaplan\u2019s famous diagram, she said that Japanese people do not write\u2014or think\u2014as <em>logically<\/em> as English speaking people. Not true!<\/p>\n<p>The truth is that <em>every<\/em> writing style in every language is logical\u2014and each one has its <em>own<\/em> logic. When you write in your own native language, you\u2019ll write most effectively if you can understand the logic of writing patterns in your language. And when writing in English, you also need to understand written English\u2019s logical pattern. The straight line above is too simple to reveal English\u2019s pattern. And the other\u00a0patterns are too complicated\u2014the twists and turns above make it hard to see that every language has a predictable writing style, with rules that can and should be followed.<\/p>\n<p>So how <em>should<\/em> a diagram of your native written language or a diagram of written English look? Well, everyone probably has a different picture in their heads. Creating your own picture can help you understand the structure of writing on a very deep level. So here\u2019s a thought exercise for you: draw a diagram of what you personally picture when you think about your own language\u2019s written patterns. You may need to read some essays in your own language to get a clear mental image. After you diagram your first language, make a own diagram of written English for comparison. (Try reading some <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/writing-a-five-paragraph-essay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">five paragraph essays<\/a> to develop a picture of written English in your head. You can find some good examples <a href=\"http:\/\/monroecollege.libguides.com\/content.php?pid=369744&amp;sid=3031245\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In English language study, there\u2019s a popular set of diagrams that teachers like to use with their students. These diagrams are meant to show the difference between the structure of written English and the structure of other written languages. I love the general idea of\u00a0this diagram. I think it\u2019s very helpful to visually picture the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13619],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-2505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>English Writing Structure, Compared to Other Languages - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"English Writing Structure, Compared to Other Languages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In English language study, there\u2019s a popular set of diagrams that teachers like to use with their students. These diagrams are meant to show the difference between the structure of written English and the structure of other written languages. I love the general idea of\u00a0this diagram. I think it\u2019s very helpful to visually picture the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-27T17:00:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:44:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/magoosh-company-site\/wp-content\/uploads\/toefl\/files\/2015\/11\/20104825\/BKaplan-600x224.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages\/\",\"name\":\"English Writing Structure, Compared to Other Languages - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-27T17:00:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-writing-structure-compared-to-other-languages\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"English Writing Structure, Compared to Other Languages\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\",\"name\":\"David Recine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/de262e64bb4e3e488753d8c58ff3cc70\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Recine\"},\"description\":\"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C50&amp;q=Recine+magoosh&amp;btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2505"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}