| dc.description.abstract | This study investigates the EFL paraphrasing competence of lower secondary school pupils in the Norwegian educational context. It aims to explore the paraphrasing competence of 10th-grade EFL learners aged 15 to 16 in Norway to contribute to understanding pupils' paraphrasing competence at the lower secondary level and to benefit writing instructors working at this level and writing instructors at the tertiary level looking to anticipate their pupils' writing abilities. In order to accomplish the study’s objectives, the study addresses three research questions: firstly, which paraphrase types do lower secondary pupils in the Norwegian context rely on when writing summary texts? Secondly, which themes from the source text do pupils draw on when writing summary texts? Finally, to what extent do the identified paraphrasing types correspond with the teachers' reported instructional practices?
This study uses quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. A sample of 34 summary texts was collected from grade 10 pupils to achieve this purpose. For these texts, pupils were asked to summarize a piece of writing taken from a 10th-grade English textbook. The pupils' texts were analyzed based on Keck's (2006) taxonomy, which categorizes paraphrase types. The texts were also analyzed using thematic analysis in order to identify which parts of the source text the pupils chose to summarize. The qualitative methods involves asking the teachers to fill out a questionnaire regarding their perceptions and practices regarding paraphrasing in the English subject.
The study's main findings show that lower secondary school pupils in Norway use the four paraphrase types; near copies, minimal revisions, moderate revisions, and substantial revisions while writing summaries. The paraphrase type, which most pupils use in their summaries, falls under the substantial revisions category. For this reason, a thematic analysis of the 34 summary texts was also conducted in order to investigate further which parts of the source text pupils chose to paraphrase.
As the study usefully contributes to the literature, its implications provide valuable insights for writing instructors and research communities. Because it is one of the pioneering studies investigating the EFL paraphrasing competence of pupils in Norwegian lower secondary schools, it contributes new insight to the pre-existing pool of paraphrasing studies. It also offers insight that may prove useful for improving the quality of English writing instruction in the Norwegian lower secondary school context. The findings reveal that while the pupils in Norwegian lower secondary schools are aware of the importance of paraphrasing, individual pupils demonstrate varying levels of paraphrasing competence, and there are certain aspects of paraphrasing that require closer attention. | |
