Paraphrasing Workshop: An ESL Instructors Perspective Lara McInnis February 15, 2011

Objectives To discuss the benefits and challenges of learning how to paraphrase appropriately To briefly discuss some findings from my research on paraphrasing for L1 and L2 students To overview an approach to paraphrasing evaluation in an ESL context

Objectives To discuss the benefits and challenges of learning how to paraphrase appropriately To briefly discuss some findings from my research on paraphrasing for L1 and L2 students To overview an approach to paraphrasing evaluation in an ESL context

Objectives To discuss the benefits and challenges of learning how to paraphrase appropriately To briefly discuss some findings from my research on paraphrasing for L1 and L2 students To overview an approach to paraphrasing evaluation in an ESL context

What do educators and researchers know about paraphrasing? a strategy to avoid plagiarism shows proof of comprehension students often confuse paraphrasing with patchwriting an essential academic skill (e.g., for idea synthesis in research essays) helps students understand, appreciate and value someones intellectual property

What is still not known about paraphrasing? Can ESL learners learn from the triadic model approach? (quote/paraphrase/summary steps) Can low-level ESL learners access enough background knowledge in order to paraphrase appropriately? Can ESL learners recognize plagiarized passages consistently?

Factors influencing how students paraphrase Cognitive, linguistic, cultural (Pennycook, 1996) Student and teacher attitudes towards plagiarism as an unethical practice Pragmatic factors (e.g., time spent on task)

My four claims about paraphrasing: It is a useful tool for students to build meta-language awareness. It can facilitate vocabulary development. It promotes mindful, meaningful, reflective thinking. It encourages adult learners to become invested in, and responsible for, their language learning.

My Research 9 participants (5 L2, 4 L1) 4 paraphrasing tasks Measured paraphrasing strategies, paraphrase quality and appropriateness 2 raters for paraphrase appropriateness

Findings L2 participants had difficulty finding the gist of the original excerpt L1 participants summarized instead of paraphrased L1 participants copied more often than L2 participants L2 participants took much longer to complete the task

Quality: Mean percentage of words in unique links per participant. (Mean % of words copied)

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected High inter-rater reliability

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Excluded from analysis Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected Low inter-rater reliability (even after training/norming session)

What criteria would you use to determine what an appropriate paraphrase is? Sample criteria from my research: Attributed source to original author Cited page reference of original author Appropriate/sufficient use of synonyms All key points of the original excerpt are retained Sufficient syntactical shift (word order, active to passive, etc.) It is not a summary Word form changed Participants opinion is not reflected

Attributed source to original author All key points of the original excerpt are retained It is not a summary 0% paraphrased appropriately. Q: What % of participants paraphrased appropriately (using 3 criteria)?

Ive adapted these criteria using language more familiar to my ESL students: Y/N Retained all key points from the original Y/N Provided authors name Y/N Used appropriate synonymsY/N Provided year of publication in parentheses (e.g., (1978)) Y/N Changed sentence structureY/N Used a reporting phrase in past tense Y/N Avoided giving own opinionY/N Clear grammar/mechanics Y/N Avoided direct copying (plagiarism)Y/N Correctly interpreted overall meaning of original passage *see handout for sample paraphrasing task and student checklist

Some points to consider: Our students receive mixed messages from academia, teachers, media, classmates, etc. Step-by-step instruction can work, but it must be highly contextualized and task-oriented, learners must be engaged feedback must be immediate, explicit and analytical What realistic time-frame should be given to ESL students in a paraphrasing task?

Any questions?

References Barks, D., & Watts, P. (2001). Textual borrowing strategies for graduate-level ESL writers. In D. Belcher, & A. Hirvela (Eds.), Linking literacies: Perspectives on L2 reading-writing connections (pp ). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Barry, E. (2006). Can paraphrasing help students define plagiarism? College Student Journal, 40(2), 377. Bauman, J. (2007). Vocabulary resources. John Bauman.com. Retrieved on November 3, 2007 from Britton, J., Burgess, T., Martin, N., McLeod, A., & Rosen, H. (1978). The development of writing abilities No Urbana, Il: National Council of Teachers of English. Campbell, C. (1987). Writing with others' words: Native and non-native university students' use of information from a background reading text in academic compositions No. CLEAR-TR4. Connor, U., & McCagg, P. (1983). Cross-cultural differences and perceived quality in written paraphrases of English expository prose. Applied Linguistics, 1983, 4, 3, autumn, 4(3), Coxhead, A. (2007) Academic Word List. Massey University School of Language Studies. Retrived November 3, 2007 from Cumming, A. (1990). Metalinguistic and ideational thinking in second language composing. Written Communication, 7(4),

Currie, P. (1998). Staying out of trouble: Apparent plagiarism and academic survival. Journal of Second Language Writing, 7, Kaplan, R. B. (1966). Cultural thought patterns in intercultural education. Language Learning, 16, Keck, C. (2006). The use of paraphrase in summary writing: A comparison of L1 and L2 writers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 15, Meyrowitz, J. (1982, August 30). Where have the children gone? Newsweek, 94 (13). Pennycook, A. (1996). Borrowing others' words: Text, ownership, memory, and plagiarism. TESOL Quarterly, 30(2), Plotnick, J. (2007). Paraphrase and summary. Retrieved Oct. 27, 2007, from Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2007). Quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from Risemberg, R. (1993). Self-regulated strategies of organizing and information-seeking when writing expository text from sources. Unpublished Dissertation, University of New York. Segev-Miller, R. (2004). Writing from sources: The effect of explicit instruction on college students' processes and products. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 4(1), Shi, L. (2006). Cultural backgrounds and textual appropriation. Language Awareness, 15(4), Shi, L. (2004). Textual borrowing in second-language writing. Written Communication, 21(2),