Our speech is filled with others' words: Understanding university student and instructor opinions towards paraphrasing through a Bakhtinian lens

Miki Mori

doi:10.1016/j.amper.2018.11.002

Abstract

At the center of academic writing sits the practice of paraphrasing. Writers are constantly paraphrasing the ideas, findings and language of others. Despite this commonplace presence, it continues to be a challenging activity for both students to engage in and for teachers to instruct. Bakhtinian theory on language use and learning could help address struggles regarding paraphrasing observed in academia. Through a Bakhtinian lens, this article presents the attitudes towards paraphrasing held by undergraduate students and writing instructors at a large US university. Using classroom ethnographic methods, the author relies on observations, interviews and textual analysis to discover how paraphrasing is understood by a specific group of individuals and how Bakhtinian theory can explain it, specifically the aspects of dialogism, response and language appropriation. Three related themes identified connect paraphrasing to work and critical thinking, maintenance of voice and textual ownership, and its value as a preferred form of source use despite its associations to plagiarism. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are also discussed.

Highlights

At the center of academic writing sits the practice of paraphrasing
It is perhaps with these ideas that a writing instructor, Denise, whom I interviewed on the topic of source use, expressed her opinion that paraphrasing remains one of the most difficult activities during source incorporation and that it proves to be“the biggest challenges and
Paraphrasing is useful because it serves as proof that intellectual work has been done; second, paraphrasing helps students to maintain ownership of their texts by ensuring the dominance of their own voice; and third, paraphrasing is a dangerous yet fundamental way to incorporate a text in academic writing

Summary

Introduction

At the center of academic writing sits the practice of paraphrasing. Writers are constantly paraphrasing the ideas, findings and language of others. While I was discussing source incorporation with an undergraduate student, Candace, she expressed concern regarding when to paraphrase, what a paraphrase is, and how to avoid plagiarizing She told me that she would often insert quotation marks around words when citing sources because she was afraid of accidentally plagiarizing, as she wasn't sure how to appropriately paraphrase a source. As we continued our discussion, she came to the conclusion that we are “always paraphrasing”at the university, such as while discussing course content and texts (Interview, 11/27/12) Her comment prompts a number of theoretical questions about citation, discussing information in your own words, and language learning. It is perhaps with these ideas that a writing instructor, Denise, whom I interviewed on the topic of source use, expressed her opinion that paraphrasing remains one of the most difficult activities during source incorporation and that it proves to be“the biggest challenges and

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Discussion

Conclusion