Roles of Reading-writing Practices in Paraphrasing

The present study explores the role of the reading-writing practices in paraphrasing by examining whether literacy practices can be a variable to explain learner differences in paraphrasing skills. From a perspective on reading-writing connection, the students in an EFL English classroom were divided into two groups: less integrative students engaging in reading in separation of writing and more integrative students engaging in reading in connection to writing. Then, the group differences in the use of paraphrasing types (i.e., Copy, Near Copy, Minimal Revision, and Substantial Revision) were analyzed, using the students’ summary writing as base-line data. The results showed the inseparable connection between reading-writing practices and paraphrasing skills. First, the group difference in using ‘Copy’ type was found to be significant in favor of less integrative group. For less integrative group, the ‘reading-few intermediate text-writing’ pattern was closely related to the dependency on ‘Copy’ type. Second, the group differences in ‘Near Copy’ and ‘Minimal Revision’ were not immediate. Third, regarding ‘Substantial Revision’ types, the students in more integrative group dominated those in the other group, indicating higher ability to incorporate a source text into their own summary. More specifically, the ‘reading-intermediate texts-writing’ pattern helped to explain their paraphrasing skills at a higher level. The present study argues that teaching appropriate paraphrasing skills should be coupled with relevant classroom activities effectively combining reading and writing practices. (223 words)