From Idea to Article: Writing for Across Cultures
This channel is particularly appropriate for international-school students because they may draw on multilingual, multicultural, and transnational experiences.
| Sub-genre | Workshop title | Suggested structure |
| Cultural explainer | How to Write a Cultural Explainer | Practice → context → examples → meaning and change |
| Cultural comparison | How to Write a Cultural Comparison Article | Shared focus → similarities → differences → interpretation |
| Multilingual identity reflection | How to Write about Language and Identity | Experience → linguistic context → challenge or insight → reflection |
| Third-culture experience | How to Write about a Third-Culture Experience | Setting → cultural encounter → negotiation → new understanding |
| Food, festival, or place feature | How to Write a Cultural Feature | Sensory lead → background → observation or interview → significance |
How to Write a Cultural Explainer
- Choose one focused cultural practice, expression, event, or object.
- Begin with a question or vivid observation.
- Explain what happens, when, where, and among whom.
- Provide historical or social context.
- Include a first-hand observation or interview where possible.
- Recognise differences within the culture.
- Explain how the practice is changing.
- Conclude with its meaning for contemporary readers.
Writers should avoid statements such as “All Koreans …” or “Western people always …” and use appropriately qualified language:
- Many people …
- In some families …
- Traditionally, …
- Practices may differ across regions and generations.
- My experience may not represent everyone’s experience.
How to Write a Cultural Comparison Article
- Select one clear point of comparison.
- Compare the cultures according to the same criteria.
- Present both similarities and differences.
- Use specific experiences, observations, or sources.
- Avoid ranking one culture as simply better than another.
- Explain possible reasons for the differences.
- Reflect on what the comparison helped you understand.
Possible topics include school lunches, forms of politeness, classroom participation, birthday traditions, attitudes towards time, school festivals, or multilingual communication.
APALCE Youth Writing Lab Programmes