Tracing changes in the citing practices of a master’s student: a longitudinal case study

This longitudinal case study aimed to trace changes in the citing practices of a master’s student during a one-year course of study at a UK university. Multiple sources of data (samples of the participant’s writing, markers’ reports and lecturers’ feedback, repeated interviews with the participant, university documentation) were used in multiple data collection waves during three distinct periods within the academic year: a 5-week pre-sessional academic English course, the taught part of the master’s program, and the supervised dissertation. The study documented changes in the participant’s citing patterns and her understanding of citing. The overall picture is of a non-linear, uneven development, marked by simultaneous acquisition of more complex citing practices and fluctuation in the already adopted ones. The findings reveal the complex nature of citing, whose mastery requires effective coordination of multiple domains: discursive (e.g., use of reporting verbs), conceptual (e.g., awareness of the rhetorical purposes of citations) and technical (e.g., accurate use of citation styles). This implies that teaching citation should target both students’ discursive practices and their awareness of citing.