Rewriting
and
paraphrasing
source
texts
in
second
language
writing
Ling
Shi
*
University
of
British
Columbia,
Canada
Abstract
The
present
study
is
based
on
interviews
with
48
students
and
27
instructors
in
a
North
American
university
and
explores
whether
students
and
professors
across
faculties
share
the
same
views
on
the
use
of
paraphrased,
summarized,
and
translated
texts
in
four
examples
of
L2
student
writing.
Participants’
comments
centered
on
whether
the
paraphrases
contained
too
much
copying
and
could
be
further
paraphrased
to
incorporate
one’s
own
thinking,
whether
a
citation
was
necessary
for
background
information
summarized
in
an
introduction
of
the
paper,
and
whether
the
translated
text
should
be
acknowledged
to
indicate
either
paraphrasing
or
copying
of
others’
words.
The
relevant
comments
highlight
disciplinary
differences
rather
than
differences
between
students
and
instructors,
though
the
latter
were
more
able
to
demonstrate
further
paraphrasing
to
incorporate
one’s
own
thinking.
The
study
illustrates
that
students
have
difficulties
in
understanding
how
to
paraphrase
in
order
to
avoid
plagiarism
because
such
apparently
straightforward
academic
literacy
skills
as
paraphrasing
or
summarizing
are
in
fact
complex
and
depend
on
one’s
knowledge
of
the
content,
the
disciplinary
nature
of
citation
practices,
and
the
rhetorical
purposes
of
using
citations
in
a
specific
context
of
disciplinary
writing.
#
2012
Elsevier
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.
Keywords:
Use
of
source
texts;
University
writing;
Textual
appropriation;
Paraphrase;
Summary;
Translated
texts
Introduction
There
is
some
consensus
among
researchers
that
inappropriate
textual
borrowing
in
L2
student
writing
should
be
viewed
as
a
learning
or
developmental
issue
rather
than
an
ill-intentioned
illustration
of
plagiarism
because
of
their
limited
L2
language
proficiency
(e.g.,
Johns
&
Mayes,
1990;
Keck,
2006);
unfamiliarity
with
the
Western
concept
of
plagiarism
(e.g.,
Pennycook,
1994,
1996;
Shi,
2006);
and
uncertainty
about
the
expected
target
discourse
conventions
(e.g.,
Abasi
&
Graves,
2008;
Ange
´
lil-Carter,
2000;
Petric
´
,
2004).
The
underlying
assumption
is
that
there
are
standard
or
fixed
rules
about
how
to
use
source
texts.
To
explore
whether
or
how
students
and
professors
across
disciplines
understand
or
apply
certain
criteria
when
commenting
on
specific
examples
of
student
writing,
the
present
study
is
based
on
interview
comments
of
48
students
and
27
instructors
or
professors
on
four
examples
of
how
some
L2
undergraduates
paraphrased,
summarized,
or
translated
source
texts.
Literature
review
Corresponding
to
the
present
data
generated
from
examples
of
students’
paraphrased,
summarized,
and
translated
texts
from
source
materials
when
writing
for
different
disciplinary
courses,
the
following
literature
review
focuses
on
Available
online
at
www.sciencedirect.com
Journal
of
Second
Language
Writing
21
(2012)
134–148
*
Corresponding
author.
E-mail
address:
ling.shi@ubc.ca.
1060-3743/$
–
see
front
matter
#
2012
Elsevier
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2012.03.003