As opposed to plagiarizing out of laziness, ESL students plagiarize because of cultural and technical misunderstandings, as well as an inherent belief that their work will not meet the expectations of American professors. In many countries, copying another’s words is a sign of respect and even considered a compliment to the writer. Therefore, when non-native speakers come to the United States, they have no idea that this practice is known as “plagiarism” and can possibly get them expelled from university. Not only are ESL students unaware of the consequences of plagiarism in United States academia, but they also do not know the logistics of citing, paraphrasing, or formatting sources in a paper. Furthermore, ESL students are under the assumption that if they change a few words from a passage, it is no longer considered copying. VIU’s Culture Guides demonstrates a few of these reasons in their YouTube video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pCSaDcgEzU
Since professors across the country are constantly encountering plagiarized assignments in ESL classrooms, they have taken various approaches to handling the issue. When Makiko, originally from Asia, included sections of her professor’s novel in her paper to show him that she had read and admired his work, she was immediately reported to the school board and later expelled. Although she did not cite the source and did technically plagiarize, Makiko was not given the chance to explain herself and the cultural influences behind her actions.
Tiffany Martínez, a Latina student attending Suffolk University, was publicly accused of plagiarism by her professor because her writing “looked too academic” to be from an ESL student. As shown below, her professor circled the word “hence” and asserted that Martínez had stolen that word from elsewhere. It turns out that Martínez did not plagiarize any part of her paper. She was forced to endure public humiliation in front of her senior seminar because her professor jumped to conclusions and did not approach her suspicions in an appropriate and nondiscriminatory manner.
A professor at Southern Utah University decided to allow her ESL students to get away with plagiarism; she awarded them high grades for obvious cases of academic dishonesty and instilled the notion that this type of behavior was acceptable moving forward. While her passive approach saves ESL students from having wrongful accusations or automatic expulsions thrown at them, her method is not demonstrative of the values of the United States educational system. Therefore, the most successful way for professors to handle plagiarism is to confront suspected cases in a private setting that allows students to explain their reasoning or defend their work. With so many variables behind ESL plagiarism, it is ignorant and unfair to not hear the student’s side of the issue.
In order to combat ESL plagiarism, professors have implemented interactive classroom activities and discussions on plagiarism that educate students much more so than general handouts with citation rules. Universities, like Sacred Heart, have also launched special programs dedicated to helping ESL students smoothly transition into American academia, emphasizing the logistics and ramifications of plagiarism. Lastly, Excelsior College has taken a technological approach and created an OWL that has an “Avoiding Plagiarism Tutorial” with quizzes, videos, and other exercises. However, despite the varying methods, in-class group activities like discussing plagiarism concerns, differences in cultural expectations, and looking in-depth at correct and incorrect ways previous papers have been written and cited are the most effective ways to instill the skills necessary for ESL students to avoid plagiarism. Professor Thompson asserts that this “extended immersion in training” truly resonates with ESL students and will teach them to understand plagiarism as a “technical, ethical, and cultural issue.”
