Copying and summarizing: Possible tools to develop English reading and writing for university students of different proficiency levels in Korea

In English as a second language teaching, reading and writing were considered independent skills and taught separately in class. Currently, they are now thought of as flip sides of the same coin (Tompkins, 1997), and the importance of teaching them in integrated manner is emphasized. As a way to develop reading and writing skills in English, ‘copying’ and ‘summarizing’ are commonly used strategies in Korea. Although ‘copying’ alludes to plagiarism in the West, the researcher wanted to ascertain if it has certain linguistic benefits when used only as a tool for language learning. Since ‘copying’ has usually been assigned for low proficiency level students, and ‘summarizing’ for higher levels, the researcher wanted to ascertain possible advantages of ‘copying’ and ‘summarizing’ for various proficiency levels. By employing a metacognitive perspective of the reading-writing relationships as a theoretical framework, this study investigated ‘copying’ and ‘summarizing’ processes of different proficiency level students, their awareness of their own learning and strategy use, and effective ways to improve their reading and writing ability through ‘copying’ and ‘summarizing.’ Sixty Korean university students with English or other foreign language related majors were engaged in either a ‘copying’ or ‘summarizing’ task with high-interest texts. Thereafter, eight students participated in think-aloud interviews. Although the degrees of improvement in different areas of reading and writing (e.g. ‘making inferences from texts,’ ‘organizing content and ideas,’ ‘using correct grammar,’ ‘applying new vocabulary appropriately in writing,’ etc.) varied depending on the task and proficiency level, all students showed statistically significant improvement with higher proficiency students demonstrating more effective use of strategies linked to heightened metacognitive awareness. This study revealed that ‘copying’ and ‘summarizing’ significantly contributed to both higher and lower level students in improving specific areas of reading and writing by raising their metacognitive consciousness. It was, therefore, concluded that ‘copying’ and ‘summarizing’ could be used effectively for language learning and teaching, at least for Korean university students. Limitations of the study, teaching implications, and further research suggestions were presented