contrastive rhetoric
in linguistics, the theory that different languages have different rhetorical characteristics, as seen, for example, in the different ways they structure and present an argument. The idea of contrastive rhetoric has been much discussed in the field of second-language teaching, especially at the more advanced levels. It is said to explain, for example, why native speakers will often feel that there is something odd or “wrong” about essays, business letters, and so on produced by nonnative speakers, even when the grammar and vocabulary are flawless. Contrastive rhetoric has sometimes been linked to the wider hypothesis that languages embody culture-bound thought patterns (see linguistic determinism). [introduced in 1966 by U.S. applied linguist Robert B. Kaplan]