Chinese EFL Learners' Citation Practices In MA Thesis Writing

As one of the most distinct and important rhetorical features of academic writing,citation has attracted much attention in the field.Citation is a construct consisting of many components and citation choice is a complex process involving the consideration of a variety of factors.It is considered as a great challenge in academic writing to novice writers,especially L2 English learners.To use citation effectively requires a systematic understanding of citation,including why to cite,what to cite,where to cite,and how to cite.Existing literature on L2 learners' citation studies typically focus on the syntactic forms of citation,textual borrowing,and citation function,with less attention to reference use and citation content.A review of previous literature suggests that there is a need for more integrative analysis of citation,especially on more authentic tasks that involve self-selection of sources.Furthermore,while most studies on citation focus on the final text,there is a need for studying both the final text and the writing process with a combined approach of both textual analysis and interviews so as to reveal how learners build their citation knowledge and develop their citation competence.To fill in the gap,this research adopted citation theory,dialogue theory,identity construction theory,cognitive process theory of writing,and situated learning theory as the theoretical underpinnings to explore the citation practices of Chinese EFL learners in the process of MA thesis writing.A mixed method combining quantitative analysis,textual analysis,and interviews was employed.Ten MA students in English linguistics from a key university of China were chosen as the subjects of the study.Textual data consisted of the first drafts,revised drafts and final versions of the MA theses written by the ten participants,together with the comments made by their supervisors and the grades awarded by two expert examiners.Through adapting and integrating previous studies,this research proposed a multi-dimensional citation analytical framework for textual analysis,which consists of both reference selection and in-text citation features.Textual analysis for references included the number,effectiveness,language,documentary types of all references in the three versions.Textual analysis for in-text citations included citation distribution,documentary types,textual forms,semantic content,and interpersonal features.Semi-structured interviews were conducted in this study.The interviews aimed at exploring the factors affecting the students' citation choice and revision,as well as the difficulties and problems in their citation use.The first-round interview questions were designed based on the initial writing stage,with a focus on the choice of references and in-text citations,and the difficulties in citation use.The second-round interview questions were designed based on the process of thesis revision,with a focus on reference and citation revision,new perceptions of citation,and remaining problems in citation use.The interview questions with the students' supervisors were designed with a focus on their perception of the importance of citation,their ways of supervising students in citation use,as well as their perception of the problems in students' citation practices.Through the analysis of the citation features in the several drafts of the students' MA theses and the interviews with both the students and their supervisors,this study aims to examine Chinese EFL learners' citation features and development from the first draft to the final version,the differences in citation features between the high-rated and low-rated MA theses,and the main problems in Chinese EFL learners' citation practices.The comparison between different versions of MA theses reveals that the students made significant changes in reference numbers,documentary types of citations,citation distribution across sections,the semantic content of citations,citation functions,and citation stance.However,there was no significant difference in the language and documentary types of references,and the syntactic forms of citations.Although there was significant difference in the intertextual forms of citations,it was mainly reflected in the significant increase in close paraphrase.The results indicate that the students developed significantly in the semantic and interpersonal aspects of citations but did not display significant development in the textual level,which suggests that the development of citation competence in linguistic proficiency may take a longer time than the improvement in content and rhetorical function.The adjustment of citations by significantly decreasing the proportion of citations in the LR section,citations of concepts,citations of attribution,and significantly increasing the proportion of citations in the R?D section,citations of arguments,citations of complex functions reflects a tendency from descriptive attribution to analytical attribution.It suggests that the students demonstrated cognitive development from knowledge display to knowledge transformation.Their cognitive development in citation use was also reflected in the addition of more relevant sources and the deletion of less relevant sources.From the perspective of dialogue theory and polyphony,the students strengthened their interaction with other researchers by significantly increasing the citations of evaluation,statement of use,and comparison,and significantly decreasing the citations of acknowledge,which expresses a neutral stance.In the use of references,there was a significant increase in reference numbers,citations from journals,and significant decrease in ineffective citations,which creates a more knowledgeable and credible discoursal self.The increase in reference number was due to the supplement of more relevant sources on the one hand,and due to the mechanic increase simply to match the in-text citations on the other,which was also a reason for the decrease in ineffective citations.There was no significant change in the choice of the language and documentary types of references,which suggests that the students' ethno-linguistic identity and disciplinary identity remained relatively stable.Through interviews with the students and their supervisors,it was found that the students made revisions mainly through situated learning with the more competent members of the discourse community,especially through negotiation and interaction with their supervisors.Another reason for revision was due to the different sub-goals of the different writing stages and the cognitive development in the writing process.The comparison between the high-rated and low-rated theses suggests that the high-rated thesis writers used a significantly greater percentage of citations from key journals,citations for comparison and endorsement.The high-rated thesis writers also used a greater percentage of citations by nominal phrases,and a greater proportion of citations in the R?D section,whereas the low-rated thesis writers used a greater proportion of citations in the LR section.These differences suggest that the high-rated thesis writers demonstrated stronger awareness of their academic identity,knowledge transformation,and a stronger authorial voice.Interview analysis suggests that the high-rated thesis writers displayed higher metacognitive awareness in document selection and stronger awareness of using citations for persuasive purposes and for diversity.Despite the progress in their citation competence,Chinese EFL learners at master's level still have problems in their citation practices.The main problems include the mismatch between in-text citations and references,the use of low-quality sources,the use of close paraphrase or patchwriting,and the imbalanced proportion of citations between the LR section and R?D section.These problems can be attributed to the students' lack of systematic knowledge of the academic convention,insufficient linguistic competence and disciplinary knowledge,and more importantly to their novice identity and the lack of the authorial voice.The academic enculturation through situated learning is a long process.The development of citation competence requires not only a systematic understanding of citation norms and functions,but also the accumulation of disciplinary knowledge,the improvement of writing ability,and the increased awareness of the authorial identity.The findings have important theoretical and pedagogical implications.Theoretically,the multi-dimensional citation analytical model proposed in this study will deepen the understanding of the construct of citation.By taking a dynamic process approach combining textual analysis and interviews,this study will contribute to the understanding of EFL students' problems and difficulties in citation use,the factors affecting their citation choice and revision,as well as the ways in which EFL learners build their citation knowledge and construct their identities.Pedagogically,the study can provide EAP teachers with a more inclusive and systematic guideline for the teaching of citation and benefit novice writers in helping them adapt to the norms of academic conventions and use citations more effectively.Supervisors can also provide more needed guidance and support to students in citation use and thesis writing.