Russell and Foster have given some useful insights on the transition from secondary school writing to university writing. They have given a comparison on the aspects of writing in the United states and other nations like France a and England.

According to Russell and Foster , students in many countries (such as France and England ) specialize as early as age sixteen or seventeen , in the second two0 years of secondary school while U.S students aren’t expected to choose to choose a profession until late in their higher education or even until graduate school or entering workforce (Introduction).

As a result, Russell and Foster believe that late specialization provides a longer period of general education and a curricula space for general composition courses that can reach a wider variety of genres than those of one specialty. In addition, late specialization is more expensive, because more students are kept in higher education for longer period of time compared to other nations(Introduction).

On the other hand, Russell and Foster discuss about the benefits of specialization. Both believe that early specialization by contrast allows for greater focus on the genres of one or a few disciplines , which brings students more quickly into a deeper engagement with the discourse of a field (Introduction).

Another aspect which was of interest was on traditions and ideologies which play a vital role in writing. This reflects back to our reading for Chinese Rhetoric on “The Literary mind and the carving of Dragons” excerpt by Liu Xie ,where culture plays a vital role in writing.

Russell and Foster discuss about ideologies and traditions. “ In Kenya and South Africa , where many languages are spoken (nine official languages in South Africa alone) and where most people speak at least two languages , language policy poses major challenges to writing development in secondary schools and at university. In Kenya says Muchiri, “code switching …is a way of life”(258 : (Introduction).

“Code switching she concludes , “ may affect writing at both lexical and grammatical levels”, making it difficult at times for students and teachers to understand each other’ meaningsP.259) – Russell and David : Introduction).

Thus, cultural implications, traditions and ideologies, all affect writing and debates still continue on the differences in educational and cultural implications which affect writing.