Native and non-native speakers of English in summarising expository texts

This study examines how native and non-native English speakers summarise expository texts. It investigates if there is any difference in quality between the summaries produced by two groups of students; namely native speakers of English, who acquire the language in early childhood and have their education (from kindergarten / grade 1 to high school) in English, and non-native speakers, who acquire the language in an ESL/EFL context. The sample consisted of seventy undergraduates from a private Malaysian university, comprising thirty-five native and thirty-five non-native speakers of English. Data for the study include summaries by students, response to teacher and student questionnaires as well as interviews with both teachers and students. The results of the study revealed that there was a significant difference in the quality of summaries of native and non-native English speakers in expository text