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Textual Borrowing Practice in English Academic Writing: From the Perspective of Content Analysis

Author(s)

YuZhu Yuan, Wei Wang*

Affiliation(s)

Xi'an Polytechnic University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China *Corresponding Author.

Abstract

Academic writing, as a research focus in the field of second language writing, has always received widespread attention. In order to explore the practice of textual borrowing by second language writers, we conducted a content analysis on the literature review part of 15 master’s theses of a foreign language and literature major in a university. The contents of texts were examined from the four function dimensions of data, claim, counterargument and rebuttal, and the four stance dimensions of distance, acknowledgement, contest and endorse. The research shows that L2 writers tend to use a single form, lack sufficient dialogue with the source texts and lack of evaluative content when borrowing the texts, and are short of relevant knowledge and abilities with great differences in textual borrowing practice. This study provides valuable insights for further research on textual borrowing in academic writing.

Keywords

Textual Borrowing; Academic Writing; Stance; Content Analysis; Individual Difference

References

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