A visual argument for the humor disconnect between ESL students and their American peers.
My process:
1. I thought about arguments to be made about the ESL experience at Pitt. Below is my list of brainstormed arguments:
– Students at Pitt don’t understand the struggles faced by ESL students
– Humor is one of the hardest things for an ESL student to pull off
– ESL students have trouble making friends outside of their language because many American students do take the time to accommodate their language style
2. Next, I considered my audience. In its current form, my audience are my blog readers (fellow classmates, the occasional friend). In its finished form, I would like my Welcome to English website to be viewed by an audience of ESL students and Pitt students alike.
3. To make an argument, visual or linguistic, I needed to establish supports for my claim.
Claim: Humor is one of the hardest things for an ESL student to pull off
Supports:
– Cultural disconnect and culturally varied sense of humor
– Lack of finesse with English language (example, reduced awareness of puns, word play, etc.)
– Inability to make subtle distinctions in intonation that signal joking and humor
– Hostile or confused recipients (the listeners do not understand or think the joking ESL student is serious)
4. How can this argument be conveyed visually?
I thought the best way to show this argument was by comparing the experience of an ESL student telling a joke to that of an American student.
Finally: Did my argument work? Did you understand my argument from the images presented? What do you think, dear reader?
Useless Buzzing Noises 