Academic integrity week fl 2012

Defining and Avoiding Academic Dishonesty in Foreign Language Classes

Academic Integrity Week, CSU. October 16th, 2012

Dr. Maite CorreaForeign Languages and Literatures, Colorado State

University

Definitions

• Academic dishonesty (for more categories refer to Baker, 2008 or Gehring & Pavela, 1994)):

Plagiarism: deliberate use of “someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source” (CWPA, 2003).Falsification/fabrication: the false creation of data or documents.Unauthorized possession or disposition of materials: possessing or using materials that are unauthorized by the instructor (such as previous exams, answer books,…). Cheating: Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. Facilitation (of academic dishonesty): Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty.

Introduction

• Beasley (2004, p. 9) divides plagiarists in three broad categories: • accidental • opportunistic (intentional)• committed (intentional)

• Intentional and accidental plagiarism have to be addressed differently:

• Accidental cheaters should be aware of proper ways of quoting, paraphrasing and referencing

• Intentional/opportunistic cheaters should be aware of the implications that such acts have on themselves and others.

Cheating Accross Disciplines

• “Wandering eyes” or bringing unauthorized material to an exam

• Using someone else’s ideas (easier now thanks to technology):• cyber-plagiarism: submitting papers downloaded from the

internet, in whole or in part as an original work (Oliphant, 2002, p. 78);

• cut & paste plagiarism: copying a few sentences of material from the Internet without citing the source (Beasley, 2004, p. 2)

• patchwriting: paraphrasing from a source by altering some grammatical structures or using synonyms (Howard, 1999).

• Making up excuses (yeah, that is also academic dishonesty)

Foreign Languages

• How is a Foreign Language class different from others when it comes to cheating?

Foreign Languages (cont.)

• In foreign languages (FL), the mode of delivery (language) is a substantial part of most assignments: any unauthorized help that the student can get in order to put their thoughts into words can become an act of academic dishonesty.

• This means that, even if the source is cited or the ideas are original, the process from idea to language poses potential for cheating.

Foreign Languages (cont.)

• In the Foreign Language (FL) classroom unique and specific types of academic dishonesty occur that are not found in other disciplines:

• 1) help is provided by native/advanced speakers (anything from asking for a single word, an expression, or asking for a complete review, i.e. “going over the paper”).

• 2) assignments initially written in the native language (original or copied from a website) are translated into the target language with the help of online translators

The « roommate problem , i.e., « can you go over my paper? »

• Some students get help from native/advanced speakers of the target language – What happens when the person providing help is a paid tutor or another instructor

(from the same or another institution)?– Where is the line that separates “legal assistance” from “too much outside help”

when writing a paper or assignment (how much is acceptable)? – If peer-review is accepted within the classroom setting, is it automatically also

accepted outside of class? – What if it is a classmate who does it (outside of class)? – ACCIDENTAL OR INTENTIONAL?

• Is it illegal to have a tutor?

SOLUTION: Instead of asking anyone to go over your paper…

• You can ask specific questions about your paper to anyone:» Is this sentence grammatical? Why (not)?» How can I say «ante sus ojos» in English?» How do I conjugate this verb? » Do I need a preposition here?» Should I say X or Y in this context?» What is the difference between X and Y?» Can you read my paper and give me general suggestions? (example: there are many

agreement problems; you need to work on paragraph structure; review the subjunctive, …)

• The difference is that, in this case, YOU are fixing the paper, not your editor.

• To avoid being accused of cheating, you should ALWAYS include the original version you wrote, the comments your tutor gave you, and the final version you are submitting for a grade

Use of Online Translators

• What is the difference between Google Translate and WordReference?

• Are we allowed to use them? Why (not)?

Use of Online Translators

• What is the purpose of a foreign language class?– If I can use Google Translator…why would

I bother to learn a language?• The use of online translators is comparable

to purchasing papers online. • Moreover: humans are much better at

translation than machines (we know the difference between “fly” and “fly” or “like” and “like”):– Time flies like an arrow– Fruit flies like a banana

• “Captain Edward Smith, who, despite 34 years of professional experience as a manager of luxury hotels clumsier, as a sailor, took 25 minutes to start the first SOS. In addition, delayed the ship's departure thus hide most passengers do not realize the danger before it is too late.”

Example

SOLUTION: Online Dictionaries

• The use of sites as WordReference is encouraged. Why?

Like a dictionary, but better (forums are

very useful even for experienced writers)

Still YOU are fixing the paper while you learn

Conclusion

• The difference between cheating and getting outside help lies on the amount of work that is carried out by the «helper» and the «writer»

• Help is not automatically translated as «cheating»• There are many ways in which «outside help» can

become a learning tool, but we need to use this help wisely:– Online dictionaries, forums, thesauri, specific questions to

advanced speakers…that is all part of our learning process because, after all, we also do it in our native language.

• When in doubt: ask your instructor!!

References• Baker, R., Berry, P., & Thornton, B. (2008). Student attitudes on academic integrity

violations. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 5(1), 5–13. • Beasley, J. D. (2004). The impact of technology on plagiarism prevention and

detection: Research process automation, a new approach for prevention. Retrieved from http://ww w. powerreserche r. com/download/plagiarism_tech_impact. pdf [2 0 0 6, Feb. 16].

• Council of Writing Program Administrators, W. I. (2003). Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices. Retrieved from http://www.wca-online.org/OnlineStudentResources/WPA-Avoiding-Plagiarism.pdf

• Gehring, D. D. & Pavela, G. (1994). Issues and perspectives on academic integrity (2nd ed.). National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

• Howard, R. M. (1999). Standing in the shadow of giants: Plagiarists, authors, collaborators. Ablex Publishing Corporation.

• Oliphant, T. (2002). Cyber-plagiarism: Plagiarism in a digital world. Feliciter, 48(2), 78–80.