Source articles as scaffolds in reading to write

The case of a Chinese student writing in English

Wei Zhu | University of South Florida, USA

This article discusses a case study examining a Chinese graduate student’s experience with reading-to-write tasks in business, particularly the student’s use of source articles in performing the tasks. Data on six library research papers were collected from several sources in three semesters, including (1) course syllabi, (2) the source articles and the student’s reading notes, (3) the student’s outlines, drafts, and final versions of the six papers, and (4) interviews with the student. Analysis of the data indicated that the source articles scaffolded the student’s representations of the tasks and that the student’s task representation was influenced by several factors such as the student’s goals, the perceived purpose of the assignments, and the student’s beliefs and experience. Implications of the study for second language writing instruction and research are discussed.

Published online: 30 June 2005
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.15.1.09zhu

Cited by

Cited by 4 other publications

Cumming, Alister, Conttia Lai & Hyeyoon Cho

2016. Students' writing from sources for academic purposes: A synthesis of recent research. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 23 ► pp. 47 ff.

Nguyen, Quynh & Louisa Buckingham

2019. Source-use expectations in assignments: The perceptions and practices of Vietnamese Master's students. English for Specific Purposes 53 ► pp. 90 ff.

Shi, Ling & Yanning Dong

2018. Chinese graduate students paraphrasing in English and Chinese contexts. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 34 ► pp. 46 ff.

Zhang, Cui

2013. Effect of instruction on ESL students’ synthesis writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 22:1 ► pp. 51 ff.

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