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Part of
Learner Corpora and Language Teaching
Edited by Sandra Götz and Joybrato Mukherjee
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 92] 2019
► pp. 129–154

Direct quotation in second language writing

A corpus-based study of intertextuality in academic learner English

| University of Bremen, Germany

Though the explicit reference to prior literature in the field is considered a characteristic feature of academic writing, there is a notable lack of corpus-linguistic research into the manifestations of intertextuality, especially in L2 academic writing (Keck 2015). This contribution explores L2 writers’ use of direct quotation in real-life disciplinary assignments. It presents a learner corpus-based study investigating the form, textual integration, and attribution of direct quotes in research papers written by advanced German learners of English. The study shows that at the advanced undergraduate level, L2 writers are familiar with formal aspects of direct quotation and conventions of intertextuality. However, insecurities with regard to length, syntactic integration, and purpose of direct quotes remain that need to be addressed in teaching.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Direct quotation in L2 academic writing
  • 3.The present study
    • 3.1Data
    • 3.2Annotation
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Type, length, and syntactic integration of direct quotes
    • 4.2Documentation, attribution, and reporting structures
    • 4.3Individual approaches to intertextuality
  • 5.Pedagogical implications
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 May 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.92.07wie
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