In higher education, students are often required to write argumentative essays as part of their academic coursework using relevant sources. During argumentative essay writing writers must adhere to strict requirements related to argumentative structure (Coirier, Andriessen, & Chanquoy, 1999) and distribute their attention effectively between what they want to say, how they want to say it, and how to apply their reasoning skills (Kellogg, 2008, p. 2; see also Albrechtsen, 2004; Ferretti & Fan, 2016; Van Wijk, 1999). In addition, selecting and integrating external information effectively in a text, through direct quotations or by paraphrasing, can be a cognitively demanding skill to master (Cumming, Lai, & Cho, 2016; Pecorari & Shaw, 2012; Strobl, 2015), because it requires both advanced reading and writing skills and effective interaction between them (Mateos & Solé, 2009). Thus argumentative writing is clearly “an intellectually challenging problem” (Ferretti & Fan, 2016) and as a result it is not surprising that young or inexperienced writers find writing argumentative texts more difficult than writing narrative ones (McCutchen, 2011). An added complicating factor, is that specific characteristics of genres such as argumentative writing, can differ between cultures and languages (cf. Graham & Rijlaarsdam, 2016), although this depends to some degree on the extent to which languages are related.
Inappropriate source use is a common problem in source based writing, which tends to occur more frequently in L2 than L1 writing (Keck, 2014). However, why students use information from sources inappropriately, i.e. without correct attribution to the original author, intentionally or unintentionally, is often unclear. Plagiarism occurs when students intentionally attempt to present the words of other authors as their own (Pecorari & Shaw, 2012). But what if students’ behavior is unintentional? Then they may be “patchwriting” rather than plagiarizing. Patchwriting occurs when student writers incorporate chunks of verbatim source text in their essays to support their writing, without rephrasing the content in their own words (Howard, 1995; Pecorari, 2003). Some consider this to be lazy or dishonest behavior, which should be considered plagiarism and penalized accordingly. But Howard (1995) proposed that novice writers might also use patchwriting unintentionally to cope with their lack of L2 proficiency or source use skill. If this is true, then teachers should support students through this developmental phase and help them to become better writers.
For argumentative source-based essays, it is clear that, in addition to general writing skills and sufficient language proficiency (particularly in L2), students must acquire two types of domain-specific practices: argumentation or reasoning practices and source use practices (see Ferretti & Fan, 2016; see also De La Paz, Ferretti, Wissinger, Yee, & MacArthur, 2012). Potential ways to help students master these practices include permitting students to translate texts from L1 to L2 (e.g. Wolfersberger, 2003), use their L1 during L2 writing (Van Weijen, Van den Bergh, Rijlaarsdam, & Sanders, 2009), and use patchwriting while learning about appropriate source use (Pecorari, 2003). However, another option worth investigating is whether it is possible to teach students argumentation and source use practices in one language (L1 or L2) in a way which might enable them to apply their new behaviour in other languages or school subjects as well. If so, this could save both students and teachers a lot of time and effort. Whether this option has potential will be investigated in this study, by testing whether Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis applies to writing as well.
Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis (LIH)
To be able to succeed in education and read and write at an advanced level, students must develop their Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP; Cummins, 1980). Cummins (1980) proposed that all language learners acquire Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) informally, while developing CALP requires determined effort and formalized schooling. A person’s BICS can be seen, according to Cummins, as the tip of the iceberg, while one’s CALP is the less visible submerged part. Subsequently, Cummins proposed that in multilingual learners, the L1 and L2 CALP areas overlap between languages to form a ‘Common Underlying Proficiency’ (CUP, Cummins, 1980). In later studies he named this idea the linguistic interdependence hypothesis (cf. Cummins, 2016), which “assumes that two languages are distinct but are supported by shared concepts and knowledge derived from learning, experience, and the cognitive and language abilities of learners” (Chuang, Joshi, & Dixon, 2012, p. 98). Nearly four decades after first proposing his hypothesis, Cummins concluded that “The common underlying proficiency makes possible transfer of concepts, skills, and learning strategies across languages” (Cummins, 2016, p. 940). However, most studies which investigated the LIH in relation to L1 and L2 literacy, focused on reading rather than on writing (see Dressler & Kamil, 2006, cited in Cummins, 2016; see also Chuang et al., 2012; Van Gelderen, Schoonen, Stoel, De Glopper, & Hulstijn, 2007), although the link between reading and writing (e.g. Fitzgerald & Shanahan, 2000) and the possibility of transfer between languages for writing have been studied to some extent as well. Cumming, Rebuffot, and Ledwell (1989), for example, investigated whether writing expertise might, in part, be a language-independent cognitive ability, and concluded that writers appear to use “fundamentally similar” thinking processes when performing a summarizing task in L1 and L2 (Cumming et al., 1989, pp. 213–214). Berman (1994) found signs of transfer from Icelandic (L1) to English (L2). Furthermore, Schoonen et al. (2003) found that L1 writing proficiency was highly correlated with L2 writing proficiency, while Van Weijen et al. (2009) concluded that L1 writing proficiency had an indirect influence on L2 text quality. Finally, Cumming et al. (2016), concluded that it was very difficult to make clear distinctions between L1 and L2 writing, i.e. they are similar in many ways. These findings offer some support for Cummins’ LIH hypothesis and thus for a degree of interdependence between L1 and L2 writing. If so, then it might be possible for writers to access and apply writing related (metacognitive) knowledge and practices learnt in one language in other languages as well.
It is important to mention, however, that earlier studies also suggested that language proficiency might influence the potential transfer of writing related practices from L1 to L2 or vice versa. Some stressed that writers can only apply their L1 knowledge in L2 if their L2 proficiency has risen above a certain threshold (Berman, 1994; Schoonen et al., 2003; Wolfersberger, 2003; see also Breuer, 2014, p. 70; Tillema, 2012, p. 79), while Cummins (1979) proposed that L1 knowledge can only be applied in L2 if it is sufficiently developed in the first language. Therefore, it is important to take writers’ language proficiency levels into account as well.
Source use and argumentation in academic writing
Earlier research on source based writing in L1 and L2 often focused on L2 writing only (e.g. Plakans & Gebril, 2013; Weigle & Parker, 2012), or on comparing a group of L1 writers to a group of L2 writers (e.g. Keck, 2006, 2014; Shi, 2004), usually with single tasks per writer. However to determine whether source use and argumentation behavior are learner-specific practices, and thus transferrable between languages, requires a within-writer comparison of L1 and L2 writing across multiple tasks. In their recent synthesis on source based academic writing, Cumming et al. (2016) were surprised to find the number of studies based on within-writer comparisons of L1 and L2 source based writing was rather low, often included small student samples, and only one or two tasks at most (e.g. Kobayashi & Rinnert, 2008). They argued that within-writer cross-language comparisons are “… needed to disentangle the differential effects of language proficiency and the ability to write from sources” (Cumming et al., 2016, p. 53). This is necessary because research has shown that writing processes vary within writers, for example due to topic differences (cf. Van Weijen, 2009; Tillema, 2012), which means that to establish L1–L2 effects, multiple tasks must be collected per writer in each language.
Although earlier research has compared the way writers execute cognitive processes such as planning and formulating in L1 and L2 using multiple tasks per language (e.g. Van Weijen, 2009; Tillema, 2012), a comparison of source use and argumentation behavior in the same way has yet to be carried out. Such a comparison makes it possible to (a) compare variation in source use behavior and argumentation behavior not only between languages, but also within writers across multiple tasks, and (b) determine the effects of language proficiency and source use knowledge on source based argumentative writing in both languages. Weigle and Parker (2012), for example, found that “only a small percentage of students borrowed extensively from source texts” (p. 118), though “a few students borrowed substantially more than average, skewing these mean figures” (p. 124). Similar results were found by Keck (2014). Perhaps, as these studies suggest, some participants show unique source use patterns, different from the rest of the group, because their patterns are to some extent learner-specific. The same might also hold for text structure and argumentation (see Sanders & Schilperoord, 2006).
Aims and predictions
The aim of this study was to test whether Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis (LIH) might also apply to writing, by answering the following questions:
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1.
To what extent is the quality of writers’ L1 and L2 texts related?
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2.
To what extent are writers’ source use and argumentation behavior, as reflected in their texts, related in L1 and L2?
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3.
To what extent are writers’ source use and argumentation behavior effective, i.e. related to text quality, in L1 and L2?
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4.
To what extent is the effectiveness of writers’ source use and argumentation behavior influenced or moderated by their L2 proficiency?
First, in line with Cummins’ linguistic interdependence hypothesis, and earlier results for reading (Chuang et al., 2012; Van Gelderen et al., 2007) and writing (Schoonen et al., 2003), we predict that we will find significant positive correlations between writers’ text quality scores in L1 and L2. Writers who are better writers in L1 are likely to be relatively better writers (compared to others in the group) in L2 as well.
Second, we predict that writers’ source use and argumentation behavior will be language independent, i.e. to a large extent learner specific (question 2). For source use, this means for example that some writers may have a clear preference for using larger quotes from the sources, while others may prefer to paraphrase source content in their texts in both languages. Regarding argumentation, we also expect to find similarities rather than differences between writers’ argumentation choices (opinion for, against or nuanced, alternating between arguments for or against) and text characteristics (e.g. providing a clear conclusion) between tasks and languages. This means we expect to find significant positive correlations between writers’ behavior for these aspects across languages, and/or a lack of significant differences between them. Thus, if we find no significant differences in writers’ source use and argumentation behavior between languages and tasks, that would suggest that there might be a common underlying source of writing related knowledge or practices available for writers to use in multiple languages.
Third, we predict that the effectiveness of writers’ source use and argumentation behavior (question 3) will be language independent. This means, for example, that if a writer’s source use behavior is similar in L1 and L2 then the quality of his or her texts is likely to be similar across languages as well (relative to that of others in the group). However, in line with earlier findings (e.g. Berman, 1994; Cummins, 1979; Schoonen et al., 2003) we predict that the effectiveness of writers’ source use and argumentation behavior might be moderated by their language proficiency to some extent (question 4). In other words, if the effectiveness of writers’ source use and argumentation behavior is found to differ between languages, this might be due to a lack of L2 proficiency. For example, less proficient L2 writers might be able to integrate sources correctly in their L1 texts, by paraphrasing source content in their own words, while in their L2 texts they may resort to patchwriting, i.e. copying chunks from the source texts without attribution, due to their lack of L2 proficiency. Thus, if we find significant differences in writers’ behavior between languages, they might still have a common underlying source of knowledge and practices, but their potential to access to it might be moderated by their language proficiency.