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How Writers Orient their Readers in Expositoy Essays: A Comparative Study of Native and Non‐Native English Writers
Author(s) -
SCARCELLA ROBIN C.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
tesol quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.737
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1545-7249
pISSN - 0039-8322
DOI - 10.2307/3586582
Subject(s) - linguistics , literature , psychology , sociology , history , art , philosophy
This article examines how writers orient their readers in expository essays. A total of 110 essays (30 native English and 80 non‐native English) were analyzed to explore the orienting skills of native and non‐native English speakers. Results indicate that native English writers employ a wide variety of linguistic devices to engage their readers' attention and help their readers identify the participants, objects, and events about which they write. By contrast, non‐native English writers are more limited in their ability to orient their readers. Despite the greater length of their orientations, their use of attention‐engaging and clarifying devices is comparatively restricted.