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.