Bravo, Russ! I loved your article entitled "Three Cheers for
Plagiarism" You have brought out the issues and tried to de-mystify the
morality of plagiarism. Your article tempted me to comment a little on
the complex problems you raise, so please bear with me!
I too believe that students need to practice proper citations for all
the good reasons that real scholars do so, and which you list so
succinctly in your article. I like to bring to their attention Bereiter
and Scardamalia's distinctioin between "knowledge-telling" and
"knowledge-creation". When we use research simply as a vehicle for
knowledge-telling, we collapse what we have read into what we believe.
In other words, we become only as knowledgeable as the last book we have
read. There is no distinction between "this is a fact" and "I agree
with Johnson when he says this". When we use research for knowledge
creation, then we incorporate that knowledge into all the other
knowledge we have accumulated. In order to do that, however, we have to
have some awareness of where the different ideas we hold in our minds
come from, and how they relate to each other. That is true academic
scholarship.
The problem is that we can't expect first year students to be able to
make these distinctions and move from knowledge-telling to knowledge
creation immediately, simply because they have signed a "code of honour"
at the university. I gave a paper at the 2003 CCCC's conference
entitled: "Plagiarism: the good, the bad and the ungainly" in which I
try to show that good research reporting practice (i.e. avoiding
plagiarism), at least for ESL students, is a process which students
learn in stages. I have identified, through an examination of student
essays, at least three stages in that process whereby students move from
knowledge-telling to knowledge creation in their essays. Indeed, my
doctoral research extends that idea to see if the same stages can be
identified in first-language writing as well. Bakhtin talks about at
least two kinds of reported speech: linear, direct reporting which
draws clear distinctions between the words of the reporter and the words
being reported, and pictorial reporting in which the ideas of reporter
and reported are intertwined to create new knowledge. In Western
Academic practice direct reporting is the preferred choice, but as you
say, there are many times when pictorial reporting actually occurs. The
question you raise is very pertinent: Can we expect our students to
adhere to direct reporting practices when we ourselves are guilty of
transgressions from the ideal? I would ask a further question, based
on Randall's book: In the post-modern world where the internet puts
most knowledge in the public domain, are such strict boundaries between
what we read and what we think practical or necessary? Thanks again for
your article. I really enjoyed it! Theresa.
Jane Milton wrote:
>
> The latest issue of the Inkshed Newsletter is now available at
>
> http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/dec03.htm
>
> Please note the "Renew Your Membership" page for those who have not paid
> this year's dues!
>
> Many thanks to Russ Hunt for the technological magic.
>
> Happy Holidays to All,
> Jane Milton.
>
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>
> For the list archives and information about the organization,
> its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
> http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
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To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
[log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
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