Similarities

As China has modernized, Chinese students have increasingly been exposed to Western culture.

Every essay should have a thesis; every paragraph should have a main idea; and more generally, an essay should have unity and coherence. In addition, the patterns of paragraph development…are very similar to those identified in English.

— Mohan and Lo.

Research also heavily debates the exact extent of how different the writing papers are. Yang and Cahill point out that “as a matter of fact, no Chinese writing manuals tell students to approach their topics or organize their essays in an indirect way,” (127).

Research done by Yang and Cahill on large classes of English as a foreign language (EFL) students show that although they are much less direct in their ideas, they are much more direct in their text and paragraph organization, almost a compromise between the two commonly held views. They also found that rhetorical patterns between Chinese and English writers are becomingly increasingly similar.

Developmental factors also support the idea of increasing similarities between Chinese and English writers.

1. Increased adoption of Western culture.
   

   China is Apple’s third biggest market in the world behind the US and Europe (source — WSJ– http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/10/21/apples-sales-in-greater-china-slows/).

2. Mandated learning of English as a second language.
   1. Unlike the United States, where students are offered a ton of different languages to study, China has only one — English — owing to its relevance and importance around the world. The importance of knowing English cannot be understated, especially in today’s increasingly connected society.
3. The growing trend for Western professors to be offered to work in China. Culture influence can spread simply by contact, causing Chinese students to understand and internalize Western customs more and more.