Thursday, March 11, 2010

Blog Post #1: Thoughts on Plagiarism

The article brings up valid points. Plagiarism is a very serious issue that requires reassessment. There are big differences between Eastern and Western cultures; one of them is the notion of plagiarism. In the West, plagiarism is a violation of academic code that is often punishable by expulsion, but in the East it is not a serious offense. According to the article, teachers can be overly sensitive to students feelings and do not let the students know that they are plagiarizing (Yamada, pp.247-248). In my opinion, there is no such thing as borrowing. The author of a piece of literature should always get credit for their work. There should be punishment for students/ researchers who intentionally plagiarize. Due to the complexity of writing students do not always know that they are plagiarizing. Teachers should let students know when they make mistakes regardless of feelings. This is the best way for students to learn how to do things right.
As Yamada (2003), points out it is difficult for many students to cite references in their work. I have found that not plagiarizing can be difficult in my work. The best way to deal with plagiarizing is as the Yamada suggests, defining plagiarism for students, teaching the most common forms of plagiarism, and showing them how to use information without plagiarizing it. A great way to teach students about plagiarism is in a writing class.

Yamada, K. (2003). What Prevents ESL/EFL Writers from Avoiding Plagiarism?: Analyses
of 10 North- American College Websites. In System 31, 247-258.

1 comment:

  1. yep, that is the ticket. I love this article in that it makes the weigukin in class think a little differently about their attitudes from hearing the POV of the Korean students.

    cheers,
    e

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