Patchwriting as ESL acquisition strategy: something old, something new, something borrowed, something glued

Abstract

Topics: 1) Defining patchwriting (considered plagiarism); 2) Legitimate and Illegitimate ways to use works of others in writing; 3) Patchwriting at the levels of the sentence, paragraph and papers; 4) Plea to view patchwriting as a transitional step used by English as a Second Language (ESL) learners in language acquisition to become a better writers and speakers – native speakers also do patchwriting in developing their language skills.