The Use of Direct Quotations in First Year Undergraduate Writing and Implications for the EAP Writing Classroom

1. The Use of Direct Quotations in First Year Undergraduate Writing and Implications for the EAP Writing Classroom Gena Bennett genabennett@yahoo.com http://genabennett.googlepages.com

2. The Data & Findings • Corpus of First Year Writing • 250 texts from 4 institutions • 325,000 words • 12 types of writing assignments • 8 assignments required the use of sources • 2 of these assignments were assigned in all institutions

3. The Data & Findings • Persuasive Essays • research and form opinions about an issue and clearly present your supporting arguments as well as points of refutation. The assignment should be ~2,000 words and use three to eight sources. • 40 texts • ~55,000 words

4. The Data & Findings • 14 texts did not use quotes (35%) • 10 texts used 1-3 quotes (25%) • 5 used 4-5 quotes (13%) • 5 used 6-10 quotes (13%) • 6 used 11-15 quotes (15%) • Overall, 60% of the texts used 3 quotes or less (72.5% used 5 or less; just over ¼ used 6-15 quotes).

5. The Data & Findings • Introductory Terms • use, be, say, according to, think, note, demonstrate, state, claim, announce, insist, tell, propose, point out, accuse, cry out, give, describe, inform, counter, point of view, define, put it, suggest, explain, believe, address, express, and nill.

6. The Data & Findings • Distribution of introductory terms: • nill—n=60 (38%) • say—n=18 (11%) • be—n=16 (10%) • according to—n=13 (8%) • state—n=12 (8%) • tell—n=7 (4%) • explain—n=4 (3%)

7. The Data & Findings • Purpose and distribution of quotes: • support an argument (n=122, 77%) • give background information on the topic (n=26, 16%) • define a term or issue related to the topic • describe a term or issue related to the topic • explain a term, issue, or argument of the topic • concede a point

8. The Data & Findings • Background quotes • no introductory term n=8 (31%) • be n=5 (19%) • tell n=3, explain n=2, say, though, state, announce, insist, cry out, give, describe n=1 • Supporting quotes • no introductory term n=51 (42%) • say n=15 (12%) • according to n=12 (10%) • state n=11 (9%)

9. Significance of Findings • Quotations are not a large part of the persuasive essay. • When direct quotes are used in persuasive essays, they’re done so for two main reasons. • When direct quotes are used for those specific purposes, they often use no introductory term or specific terms.

10. Classroom Applications • NOT • *“This is how it should be done” • Instead • “This is how some good writers do it.” • “This is how some writers who made good grades in their composition course did it.”

11. Classroom Applications • Data-driven learning • According to McCain, Obama lied “about his association with William Ayers, a bomb-setting, anti-war radical from the 1960s. In addition, McCain claimed the two “ran a radical ‘education’ foundation” in Chicago. On the contrary, the “supposedly ‘radical’ group was supported by a Republican governor and included on its board prominent local civic leaders.”

12. Classroom Applications support • Data-driven learning • According to McCain, Obama lied “about his association with William Ayers, a bomb-setting, anti-war radical from the 1960s. In addition, McCain claimed the two “ran a radical ‘education’ foundation” in Chicago. On the contrary, the Ø“supposedly ‘radical’ group was supported by a Republican governor and included on its board prominent local civic leaders.” support support

13. Classroom Applications • Gap-fill activities • Barbour _________ us that “_______________.” This is because children trust what they see and hear. ________ Barbour, “_________________.”

14. Classroom Applications support • Gap-fill activities • Barbour tells us that “media violence teachers teens to be aggressive.” This is because children trust what they see and hear. According to Barbour, “clearly teens who view the world as mean place are more likely to accept violence and engage in violence themselves.” support

15. Classroom Applications • Evaluation/Editing exercises • Identification of direct quotes • List of introductory terms • Intended purposes of quotes • Assessment of accomplishment of that purpose

16. The Use of Direct Quotations in First Year Undergraduate Writing and Implications for the EAP Writing Classroom Gena Bennett genabennett@yahoo.com http://genabennett.googlepages.com