A Study Of Source Use In English Academic Writings By Chinese MA Students

Source use is an essential skill in academic writing. Generally speaking, previous studies on source use were mainly focused on plagiarism in writing rather than the. learning process of source use, on essay writings rather than research paper writings, on citation functions rather than citing practices. What remains unclear is how students tackle with their sources in academic writings and appropriate the source texts. This study, therefore, intends to explore source use by Chinese EFL students in English academic writings. More specifically, it aims at investigating the features of textual borrowing in students’ academic writing, the features of the citing practices in students’ academic writing, and the effect of academic enculturation on source use in students’ academic writings.The present study was conducted in a university of Shandong Province. A total of 26 postgraduate students in English linguistics participated in the study. Data were collected from students’ writing samples, the source texts they used, and semi-structured interviews. The writing samples were completed in a natural instructional context and collected together with the source texts that students referred to. The interviews were conducted on one-to-one basis to find out how and why students borrowed and cited the source texts. For data analysis, textual borrowing samples were first self-identified by the participants and then checked by the researcher. All the identified textual borrowing samples were coded with regard to textual incorporation and textual documentation in accordance with the coding scheme. Then, textual analysis was done for comparing the coded samples with the source texts along with follow-up, statistical treatment. Interview transcripts were finally analyzed to find out the motivating factors for textual borrowing and citing practices.Results of the study revealed that in terms of textual borrowing, the students were found heavily relied upon the source texts and had difficulty in incorporating the source texts. Globally, a large percentage of common words were found in textual borrowing samples with the source texts. The main borrowing types in textual borrowing were exact copy and paraphrase whereas the textual borrowing in summary and rewriting was the least, revealing the difficulty in appropriating the source texts. Specifically, it was found that the first-year students borrowed long groups of sentences in exact copy, and had a large percent of common words with the source texts in paraphrase and summary. In the writing samples by the second-year students, there were a large number of common words with the source texts. The main types of textual borrowing were exact copy, paraphrase, and direct quotation. In exact copy, the participants seldom borrowed the source texts in long stretch, but still had a large percentage of common words with the source texts in paraphrase and summary. A large percentage of words were found in direct quotations, suggesting an awareness to separate the source texts from one’s own. Interview and textual analysis revealed that the borrowing of generic structure, language and disciplinary contents were the main factors motivating for borrowing from the source texts in academic writings.In terms of citing practices, there was a low percentage of textual borrowing with reference overall, and it was found that more integral citations, especially verb-controlling citations, were employed, suggesting the tendency to enhance authority in writing through citations. For first-year participants, the citing extent of exact copy was significantly higher than the other types suggesting that the borrowing types affect the students’citing extent. The participants mainly used integral citations, but rarely used naming citations, indicating the lack of nominalization skill and sentence variation in academic writing. For second-year participants, the extent of citing in exact copy, paraphrase and direct quotation were much higher. Second-year students were found to use integral and non-integral citations in a more balanced way. Interview and textual analysis revealed that the motivating factors in textual borrowing were the authority of the source texts and students’perceptions of the citing conventions.In terms of academic enculturation, it was found that there was a significant difference in the overall extent of textual borrowing between groups. In borrowing types, there were significant group differences in the extent of textual borrowing in exact copy and paraphrase, but not in summary and rewriting, suggesting the reduced reliance upon the source texts. In citing practices, it was found that the two groups revealed a significant difference in the overall citing extent. Specifically, there was a significant difference in the citing extent in paraphrase and summary, suggesting an improved citing awareness. In citation form, first-year students mainly used the integral citations, and second-year students used the citation forms in a more balanced way. Interview and textual analysis revealed that the two groups differed in the motivations for borrowing of generic structure and the borrowing of disciplinary knowledge, and in citing practices the two groups showed differences in their citing awareness and citation knowledge.Based upon the major results and findings, the study discussed the primary features of sources use in Chinese EFL student’s academic writings. It seemed that the students are heavily reliant on the source texts in academic writing, and have difficulty in appropriating the source language in legitimate forms. But in academic enculturation, the learners gradually reduce the reliance on the source texts and improve citing awareness. The reduced extent of textual borrowing and improved citing awareness revealed that academic enculturation may reduce textual borrowing from "large chunks" to "small pieces". The different extents of textual borrowing and citing practices suggested that the students in source use develop from unconventional intertextuality, conventional intertextuality, to inferential intertextuality, leading to a tentative model of academic development in source use.For pedagogical implications, it is suggested to take caution with identifying plagiarism in student’s writings, and to foster student’s ability of source text appropriation in academic writing. Importance should be attached to disciplinary knowledge, generic features and citing conventions in genre-based academic writing instruction. This study concludes that academic writing by apprentice writers reveals a heavy reliance upon the sources texts and a lack of references. Source appropriation is a long, difficult developmental process, and due attention should be paid to genre-based approach in academic writing instruction. Limitations of the study and suggestions for the future studies are finally presented.