Textual Borrowing in Second-Language Writing

TLDR

The study investigates how first language and writing task type influence undergraduates’ borrowing of words from source texts in English writing. Participants included 39 native English‑speaking first‑year students and 48 Chinese second‑language learners; they completed either a summary or an opinion task using two source texts, and drafts were compared to the sources to detect verbatim or near‑verbatim word retention with or without citation. A two‑way ANOVA showed that both task type and first language affected the amount of borrowed words; summary‑task students borrowed more, and Chinese students largely used source words without citing references.

Abstract

This study examines how first language and the type of writing task affect undergraduates’ word usage from source readings in their English writing. Of 87 participating university undergraduates, 39 were native English speakers from a 1st-year writing course in a North American university, whereas 48 were 3rd-year Chinese students learning English as a second language in a university in China. Using two preselected source texts, half of the students in each group completed a summary task; the other half completed an opinion task. Students’ drafts and the source texts were compared to identify exact or near verbatim retention of strings of words from sources with or without acknowledgement. A two-way ANOVA indicated that both task and first language had an effect on the amount of words borrowed. The study found that students who did the summary task borrowed more words than those who wrote the opinion essays, and Chinese students used source texts mostly without citing references for either task.