A Corpus-Based Study on the Use of Direct Quotation in L2 Writing

Tuğba Çıtlak; Hasan Sağlamel

Article Details

A Corpus-Based Study on the Use of Direct Quotation in L2 Writing

Authors:

Tuğba Çıtlak | Hasan Sağlamel

Publisher:

Bartin University

Main Topics:

Applied Linguistics and Educational Linguistics | Linguistics (Other) | Comparative and Cross-Cultural Education | Other Fields of Education (Other) | Specialist Studies in Education (Other)

Journal:

Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education Vol.14 Issue 2, pp.341-353

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

4/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001345115

pISSN:

1308-7177

Keywords:

Abstract:

 Novice writers can use direct quotations excessively, ineffectively, or unconsciously for several reasons, including inadequate knowledge of how and when to use them in academic writing. Since the use of direct quotations in academic writing has not received due attention in previous studies, this corpus-based study sought to fill this gap in the literature by investigating the use of direct quotations and the frequency of reporting verbs introducing direct quotations. To this end, a corpus-based study was employed to observe the total number of directly quoted words and the frequency of reporting verbs used in direct quotations. The corpora consisted of 60 MA and PhD theses completed in Türkiye retrieved from Ulusal Tez Merkezi and 60 in the USA retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations  Theses Global between 2015 and 2020 in English major departments for the analysis of recent theses. The quotations and reporting verbs introducing those quotations were manually identified for each thesis. The number of directly quoted words was normalized per 1000 words, and a log-likelihood test was applied to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the two corpora in terms of direct quotation use. The results showed that there is not a statistically significant difference between the two corpora regarding the frequency of direct quotations. For the reporting verbs, in the USA corpus, it was revealed that there are more frequent and various reporting verbs introducing direct quotations than in the Turkish corpus, although the most frequent reporting verbs were found to be similar. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.

 Novice writers can use direct quotations excessively, ineffectively, or unconsciously for several reasons, including inadequate knowledge of how and when to use them in academic writing. Since the use of direct quotations in academic writing has not received due attention in previous studies, this corpus-based study sought to fill this gap in the literature by investigating the use of direct quotations and the frequency of reporting verbs introducing direct quotations. To this end, a corpus-based study was employed to observe the total number of directly quoted words and the frequency of reporting verbs used in direct quotations. The corpora consisted of 60 MA and PhD theses completed in Türkiye retrieved from Ulusal Tez Merkezi and 60 in the USA retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations  Theses Global between 2015 and 2020 in English major departments for the analysis of recent theses. The quotations and reporting verbs introducing those quotations were manually identified for each thesis. The number of directly quoted words was normalized per 1000 words, and a log-likelihood test was applied to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the two corpora in terms of direct quotation use. The results showed that there is not a statistically significant difference between the two corpora regarding the frequency of direct quotations. For the reporting verbs, in the USA corpus, it was revealed that there are more frequent and various reporting verbs introducing direct quotations than in the Turkish corpus, although the most frequent reporting verbs were found to be similar. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.

 Novice writers can use direct quotations excessively, ineffectively, or unconsciously for several reasons, including inadequate knowledge of how and when to use them in academic writing. Since the use of direct quotations in academic writing has not received due attention in previous studies, this corpus-based study sought to fill this gap in the literature by investigating the use of direct quotations and the frequency of reporting verbs introducing direct quotations. To this end, a corpus-based study was employed to observe the total number of directly quoted words and the frequency of reporting verbs used in direct quotations. The corpora consisted of 60 MA and PhD theses completed in Türkiye retrieved from Ulusal Tez Merkezi and 60 in the USA retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations  Theses Global between 2015 and 2020 in English major departments for the analysis of recent theses. The quotations and reporting verbs introducing those quotations were manually identified for each thesis. The number of directly quoted words was normalized per 1000 words, and a log-likelihood test was applied to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the two corpora in terms of direct quotation use. The results showed that there is not a statistically significant difference between the two corpora regarding the frequency of direct quotations. For the reporting verbs, in the USA corpus, it was revealed that there are more frequent and various reporting verbs introducing direct quotations than in the Turkish corpus, although the most frequent reporting verbs were found to be similar. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.

 Deneyimsiz yazarlar, akademik yazılarda doğrudan alıntıların nasıl ve ne zaman kullanılacağına dair yetersiz bilgi dahil olmak üzere çeşitli nedenlerle doğrudan alıntıları aşırı, etkisiz veya bilinçsizce kullanabilirler. Akademik yazımda doğrudan alıntıların kullanılması önceki çalışmalarda gereken ilgiyi görmediğinden, bu derlem temelli çalışma, doğrudan alıntıların kullanımını ve doğrudan alıntıları başlatan bildirme fiillerinin sıklığını araştırarak literatürdeki boşluğu doldurmayı amaçlamıştır. Bu amaçla, doğrudan alıntılanan kelimelerin toplam sayısını ve doğrudan alıntılarda kullanılan bildirme fiillerinin sıklığını gözlemlemek için derlem temelli bir çalışma yapılmıştır. Derlem, 2015-2020 yılları arasında İngilizce ana dallarında yazılmış ve Türkiyeden Ulusal Tez Merkezinden alınan 60 ve ABDden ProQuest Dissertations  Theses Global dan alınan 60 tezden oluşmaktadır. Her tez için alıntılar ve bu alıntıları başlatan bildirme fiilleri manuel olarak belirlenmiştir. Doğrudan alıntılanan kelime sayısı 1000 kelime başına normalize edilmiş ve doğrudan alıntı kullanımı açısından iki derlem arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir fark olup olmadığını belirlemek için log-olabilirlik testi uygulanmıştır. Sonuçlar, doğrudan alıntıların frekansları açısından iki derlem arasında istatistiksel bir fark olmadığını göstermiştir. Bildirme fiilleri için ise en sık kullanılan bildirme fiillerinin benzer bulunmasına rağmen, ABD derleminde, Türkiye derlemine göre daha sık ve çeşitli doğrudan alıntıları başlatan bildirme fiillerinin kullanıldığı ortaya çıkmıştır. Pedagojik öneriler ayrıca tartışılmıştır.

Article Details

A Corpus-Based Study on the Use of Direct Quotation in L2 Writing

Authors:

Tuğba Çıtlak | Hasan Sağlamel

Publisher:

Bartin University

Main Topics:

Applied Linguistics and Educational Linguistics | Linguistics (Other) | Comparative and Cross-Cultural Education | Other Fields of Education (Other) | Specialist Studies in Education (Other)

Journal:

Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education Vol.14 Issue 2, pp.341-353

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

4/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001345115

pISSN:

1308-7177

Academic writing

direct quotation

corpus-based analysis

English for Academic PurposesAkademik yazı

doğrudan alıntı

derlem tabanlı analiz

akademik amaçlı İngilizce

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Tuğba Çıtlak | Hasan Sağlamel

Publisher: Bartin University

Main Topics: Applied Linguistics and Educational Linguistics | Linguistics (Other) | Comparative and Cross-Cultural Education | Other Fields of Education (Other) | Specialist Studies in Education (Other)

Journal: Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education Vol.14 Issue 2, pp.341-353

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 4/2025

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001345115

pISSN: 1308-7177

Issues

Authors:

Tuğba Çıtlak | Hasan Sağlamel

Publisher:

Bartin University

Main Topics:

Applied Linguistics and Educational Linguistics | Linguistics (Other) | Comparative and Cross-Cultural Education | Other Fields of Education (Other) | Specialist Studies in Education (Other)

Journal:

Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education Vol.14 Issue 2, pp.341-353

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

4/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001345115

pISSN:

1308-7177