Mott-Smith, J., Tomas, Z., & Kostka, I. (2017). Teaching effective source use: Classroom approaches that work. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

“Oh, not another book about plagiarism,” was my first thought upon an initial glance through this book. A deeper investigation quickly revealed that it was not the dry, lecturing text I had anticipated. Instead, it is a persuasive and thoroughly useful collection of ideas and activities for creating a unique sort of writing class, one that actually puts life into teaching students proper source use. Teaching Effective Source Use: Classroom Approaches that Work is intended particularly for teachers of second language students, but would be an asset in any research-based writing instruction. The authors explain two main reasons for writing this book: to promote recent research and theory about source use and to persuade and assist teachers in going beyond teaching just mechanics (e.g., paraphrasing and summarizing). They advocate for more comprehensive skills instruction, including building meaning and constructing a framework of support for students’ own arguments.

Chapter 1, “Plagiarism Hysteria,” explains and provides support for an overarching theme of the book, to persuade educators of the need to overhaul inflexible views on academic plagiarism. It describes the historical context and current ethics-based views on the topic. The main argument is that the black-and-white, “it’s always wrong” (Turnitin, n.d.) notion of plagiarism is not effective for promoting student learning. The authors call for “removing the ethical frame” (Mott-Smith, Tomas, & Kostka, 2017, p. 3) around this issue and considering student intent before responding to instances of possible plagiarism. This chapter makes a valid point that developing mastery of source use is an extended process, and that “non-deceitful behavior” (p. 3) by students still negotiating this process should be responded to with pedagogical, not punitive, methods.

Following this introductory concept, Chapters 2–6 follow the same format of explaining one theme or “dimension” of source use, detailing six to seven lesson plans, and finishing with a summary of the main points. The goal of the concept dimension is to give teachers some tools for helping students to better understand plagiarism and the many forms it can take. The subject is broken down into six subconcepts that the authors believe are necessary for students to gain an understanding of proper source use:

• textual authority

• originality

• transformed knowledge

• ownership

• common knowledge

• plagiarism and copyright

Lessons following this chapter give ideas for students to practice and apply each of these areas to their own writing. For example, Lesson 5 in Chapter 2, entitled “Differing Attitudes toward Textual Reuse,” is an inviting, interactive activity that allows students to objectively examine different viewpoints toward plagiarism. Students read authentic statements from people with varying attitudes, and then choose two to three quotes to develop a fictional character. Their described character must then hold a student-created dialogue about plagiarism with another character of an opposing viewpoint. This lesson provides extended practice in allowing students to see multiple facets of the issue, and hopefully better understand the many reasons scholars use sources in their writing.

Following the concept dimension, the discourse dimension has three aims: to help students understand the rhetorical function of referencing, to teach them appropriate methods to indicate their own attitudes toward a source, and to give them tools as writers for recognizing the reader. The activities provided help students learn to use references to support their own ideas and establish themselves as informed and honest readers, and respectful users of previous work in the field. Next, in the sentence dimension, the authors discuss skills needed for accurate paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting. They offer suggestions and examples for dealing with student “patchwriting” (Howard, 1992) and delineate the many different methods for smooth incorporation of sources into student sentences.

The process dimension is an overview of the cognitive processes of writing and what affects those processes. The book highlights three subareas: planning (tips for helping students through tendencies to procrastinate); digesting sources (better text comprehension through active reading strategies); and Spivey’s (1990) three subprocesses of source integration: selection, organization, and connection. Chapter-end lesson plans offer practice with activities like think-alouds or graphic organizers; all needed materials are included in the appendix. The response dimension follows with advice on giving effective feedback. The authors suggest the need to provide support as students respond to feedback, such as modeling, doing in-class revisions, or using outside resources. Finally, Chapter 7, titled “Bringing It All Together” concludes with case-study examples using lessons taken from the five dimensions. This section is invaluable for inexperienced writing teachers who wish to provide better structure and meaningful support to their second language students by imitating the authors’ successful experiences.

This volume is poised to fill a much-needed niche in writing classrooms. Indeed, it is so well-written that it is extremely difficult to find anything to criticize. If there is any limitation to this work, it is the minor complaint of a somewhat narrow focus, since the book deals solely with plagiarism and writing from sources. However, if this is an aim of your class, then let’s be very clear: you need this book! Direct, concrete teaching points and 31 immediately-usable, engaging lesson plans will provide a quick return for any instructor to effectively teach source use.

Reference

Turnitin (n.d.). Aiming for integrity: How well do you know plagiarism? Retrieved from http://turnitin.com/assets/en_us/media/plagiarism-quiz

Lisa Weyand earned her MA in applied linguistics from Ohio University in May 2018. She started teaching ESL students in 1992 and still loves it.