Analyzing English L1 and L2 Paraphrasing Strategies Through Concurrent Verbal Report and Stimulated Recall Protocols
Lara McInnis · TSpace (University of Toronto) · 2009
Paraphrasing is taught to postsecondary students to help them avoid plagiarism in their academic essays, but it can be challenging for native speakers (L1) as well as nonnative speakers (L2) of English. To examine these challenges I analyzed 35 paraphrases written by 4 English-Canadian students and 5 Japanese international students at an English-medium community college in Ontario. I evaluated paraphrase quality through a modified replication of Keck’s (2006) analytic method, and I analyzed paraphrase appropriateness through a set of criteria I developed and verified with a second rater. I then analyzed 6 concurrent and post-task reports of 3 L1 and 3 L2 students, who used a variety of paraphrasing strategies. All participants wrote relatively inappropriate paraphrases which did not always correspond with perceived appropriateness. L1 students tended to copy directly from the original text excerpts more often than the L2 students did. Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.