Teaching English Language

Teaching English Language

A Qualitative Study of TEFL Graduate Students’ Source Text Use: Learning, Problems, and Strategies

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Yasouj University/Shiraz University
Abstract
An intriguing discussion in the second language (L2) writing scholarship has addressed writing from source texts (STs) susceptible to accidental or intentional plagiarism. While the literature mainly focuses on L2 writers, the problem is also intractable for many native English writers. This paper reports a qualitative case study investigating how graduate students in an EFL context attain awareness and understanding of source text use (STU), their specific problems, and their strategies in citing STs. A cohort of sixteen Iranian second-semester MA students of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) participated in this study. They were interviewed in-depth about STs and their STU. Thematic analysis revealed that writing software packages, writing courses and instructors, and self-studies variously contributed to their learning of using and citing the STs. The results also suggested that the participants used various strategies, including using STs to learn, using direct quotations, and using STs without citation to cope with the STs and STU problems. “Paraphrasing” and “direct quotation” were also found as the two preferences with different justifications in citing an ST. The paper discusses the findings and the implications for second language academic literacy development and source-based writing instruction.
Keywords

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Volume 18, Issue 2
July 2024
Pages 93-126

  • Receive Date 16 April 2024
  • Accept Date 06 August 2024