Mapping Master’s Students’ Use of External Sources in Source-Based Writing in L1 and L2

Leijten, Mariëlle; Waes, Luuk Van; Schrijver, Iris; Bernolet, Sarah; Vangehuchten, Lieve

doi:10.1017/s0272263119000251

Cited by 43 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…The research by Breetvelt et al (1994) showed that generating ideas and structuring content have a positive effect when occurring during the second phase of the process. The study by Leijten, Bernolet, Schrijver, & Van Waes (2019) confirms this. They found that switching between the sources, needed for generating and structuring the ideas, is negatively correlated to text quality in the first phase of the process, but has a positive effect in the second phase of the process.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…Surprisingly, the relative time spent in the sources during the first interval correlated negatively with text quality for argumentative synthesis texts. It seems doubtful that this result implies that reading the sources carefully before starting to write is a bad idea, as previous studies showed the importance of the initial reading time (Breetvelt et al, 1994;Escorcia et al, 2017;Leijten et al, 2019). It is more likely that students' writing performance was hindered by their low reading ability (Plakans, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Spending both little and very much time in the sources at the beginning of the process leads to a poor-quality text. This seems plausible, as on the one hand it is necessary to focus on the sources in the first phase of the writing process as it is crucial to read and understand the sources, so spending little time reading is not beneficial (Breetvelt et al, 1994;Escorcia et al, 2017;Leijten et al, 2019). On the other hand, spending too much time in the sources probably indicates problems with the understanding of the source texts (Plakans, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some other studies on source-based writing adopted a more specified view on the temporal distribution of activities in the process. Breetvelt et al (1994), Escorcia, Passerault, Ros, & Pylouster (2017), and Leijten, Bernolet, Schrijver, & Van Waes (2019), showed that a long initial reading time is positively correlated to text quality, though Escorcia et al (2017) remark that an intense focus on the sources in the first phase of the writing process leads to less attention to content elaboration, spelling and grammar. The research by Breetvelt et al (1994) showed that generating ideas and structuring content have a positive effect when occurring during the second phase of the process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

In search of an effective source use pattern for writing argumentative and informative synthesis texts

et al. 2019

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In order to design effective instruction and feedback for synthesis writing on both writing processes and products, a clear insight into synthesis writing processes underlying a high-quality synthesis text is crucial. That is why this study, as one of the first, examines the use of sources during synthesis writing processes, and its effect on text quality. The writing processes of 294 Dutch secondary students (grade 10-12) were logged using keystroke logging software Inputlog. Two different synthesis text genres were investigated of which three source-related process measures were analysed: the relative time spent in the sources, the transitions per minute between the sources, and the transitions per minute between the synthesis text and the sources. First, the study explored the effect of temporal distribution and genre (argumentative or informative synthesis) on the writing process, providing insights into the distribution of source-related writing activities over the process intervals and the possible influence of genre on this distribution. Secondly, the individual source-related process measures were linked to text quality. Thirdly, via polynomial regression analyses, the various source-related activities and their temporal distribution were taken into account in an integrated way to identify patterns of effective source use. These patterns vary across genre and explain a considerable amount of variance in the data (24.6% for argumentative synthesis texts, 16.2% for informative synthesis texts). Our findings can be used to develop process-oriented feedback, giving students an insight into their synthesis writing process.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In search of an effective source use pattern for writing argumentative and informative synthesis texts

et al. 2019

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“…Similarly, other studies have taken a more active look at the role of language in texts composed on a computer, and have moved into areas such as the frequencies with which parts of speech occur (Behrns et al, 2008(Behrns et al, , 2010Wengelin, 2007), pause lengths between language units as indicators of language impairment (Antonsson et al, 2018;Van Waes et al, 2017), and how writers consult and use sources (Leijten et al, 2019). However, there is little research into how language (or meaning) unfolds in written text (cf.…”

Section: The Role Of Revision In the Writing Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Revisions in Academic Text: Closing the Gap Between Process and Product Approaches in Digital Writing

Bowen

Waes

2020

Written Communication

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To date, research into dynamic descriptions of text has focused mainly on the spoken mode; and while writing process research has examined language structures, it has largely ignored the functionality (meaning) inherent in them. Therefore, drawing on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and keystroke logging software, this article takes a further step toward an interdisciplinary dialogue by outlining a new schematic for coding and analyzing revisions. More specifically, we show how revision activity can be tracked within functional components, across functional components, and across clauses in terms of forward and backward movements. By exploring three digitally constructed texts, which were produced and observed unobtrusively in a natural setting, we have attempted to illustrate how one writer’s revising process can be operationalized in terms of (a) chronological movement (sequence) and (b) spatial movement (location). Findings showed how activity was relatively consistent across datasets with regard to session management, revision frequency, and distribution of revision types. Moreover, results also showed how most revision activity occurred at, or ahead of, the point of inscription, particularly with regard to revising the end of clauses. However, findings also indicated that revising the start of clauses was equally important when considering the size of functional components.

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Source inclusion in synthesis writing: an NLP approach to understanding argumentation, sourcing, and essay quality

2021

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Synthesis writing is widely taught across domains and serves as an important means of assessing writing ability, text comprehension, and content learning. Synthesis writing differs from other types of writing in terms of both cognitive and task demands because it requires writers to integrate information across source materials. However, little is known about how integration of source material may influence overall writing quality for synthesis tasks. This study examined approximately 900 source-based essays written in response to four different synthesis prompts which instructed writers to use information from the sources to illustrate and support their arguments and clearly indicate from which sources they were drawing (i.e., citation use). The essays were then scored by expert raters for holistic quality, argumentation, and source use/inferencing. Hand-crafted natural language processing (NLP) features and pre-existing NLP tools were used to examine semantic and keyword overlap between the essays and the source texts, plagiarism from the source texts, and instances of source citation and quoting. These variables along with text length and prompt were then used to predict essays scores. Results reported strong models for predicting human ratings that explained between 47 and 52% of the variance in scores. The results indicate that text length was the strongest predictor of score but also that more successful writers include stronger, semantically-related information from the source, provide more citations and do so later in the text, and copy less from the text. This work introduces the use of NLP techniques to assess source integration, provides details on the types of source integration used by writers, and highlights the effects of source integration on writing quality.

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Mapping Master’s Students’ Use of External Sources in Source-Based Writing in L1 and L2

Cited by 43 publications

References 74 publications

In search of an effective source use pattern for writing argumentative and informative synthesis texts

In search of an effective source use pattern for writing argumentative and informative synthesis texts

Exploring Revisions in Academic Text: Closing the Gap Between Process and Product Approaches in Digital Writing

Source inclusion in synthesis writing: an NLP approach to understanding argumentation, sourcing, and essay quality

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