Some of you should dig out Russ Hunt's work on plagiarism. His questioning approach opened my eyes and gave me a lot to think about. I also just came back from CCCC where another session on plagiarism questioned the academic perspective (it is something bad, needing to be rooted out and the writer punished). They used a lot of digital text from the internet and showed how the "sharing" of material is common and accepted.
As an academic, I have always been strict on plagiarism. However, I also see that my students do it mainly for two reasons: they didn't leave enough time to write the report; they don't know how to use sources well--how to integrate them properly into a text. Both of those problems can, and should, be better addressed in the classroom. An as has been said here--plagiarism is particularly tough for ESL students, many of whom have been taught that copying is a form of respect and scholarship.
Professor Sandy Dorley
School of Liberal Studies
Conestoga College, Kitchener, ON
519-748-5220 x3819
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>>> [log in to unmask] 04/12/06 10:48 AM >>>
Two more points- 1. ESL/EAL students (as native-speakers) tend to
plagiarise if they are unaware of the concept that we "own our ideas if
they are in print" and they are backed into a wall and expected to
produce native-speaker like English. In addition, if they do not have
English language support throughout their education or if content is
less important than mechanics, incidence of copying or circulating
essays tends to increase.
A great book related to academic literacy is Diane Belcher and Alan
Hirvela (Eds.), Linking Literacies: Perspective on L2 REading-WRiting
Connections which has a whole section on "the challenge of textual
ownership" (along with other extremely useful articles)
2. Finally, can we all cut our wrists (okay, okay, make a pact) that
the word "Remedial" will be banished from our vocabulary? In actuality,
we in North America are perceived as remedial because we tend to speak
only one language (or for many in the West, about 5 phrases in French,
despite years of Elementary and Junior high French classes!) These
students are not remedial at all- they tend to be incredibly brave in
that they are learning and attempting to study in a second or third or
fourth language. This is my mantra as I mark ESL essays...How about ESL
support or simply English language support?
> Hi all,
>
> Saint Mary's is currently looking into resurrecting an "ESL 100" course,
> which seems like it will focus on how to write an academic essay in
> English (with particular emphasis on plagiarism). I don't have a TESL
> background, so I'm just wondering if any of you have any educated
> thoughts on whether this would be useful or not.
>
> As a bit of background, Saint Mary's does have a TESL centre, but it is
> geared towards students who will register in the university the
> following year (i.e. a prep school), not for students already attending
> the school. As well, all SMU students have to take one half-year English
> literature course (no composition is taught in it).
>
> Any thoughts that you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thank
> you!
>
> Sincerely,
> Julie-Ann
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------
> Julie-Ann Stodolny
> Director, The Writing Centre
> Saint Mary's University
> Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3C3
> (902) 491-6201
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
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>
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>
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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/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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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