Advanceorganizer

1) Whatsatstake?

TeachingStudentsto
WritefromSources

possibleculturalelementconceptofcognitive
clarity
possiblelinguisticelementreading/writing
connection
possibleethicaldimensionwhatisactually
dishonest?

JohnSivell
Dept. ofAppliedLinguistics
TESLNiagaraConference:14Nov,2014

2) Policyimplications
alookatBrocksAcademicIntegrityPolicy

jsivell@brocku.ca

3) Discussion
J.Sivell

Possibleculturalelement

Whatare Westernconventions?

Hirvela &Du(2013,p.96):esp.EFLstudentsmaysee
paraphrasingasprincipallyalinguisticallyoriented
rearrangementtoolthatserve[s]nolargerpurpose
they[can]seeperceivesuperficialandfunctional,
notrhetoricalandconceptualpurpose,whichisto
helpstudentsavoidplagiarism,nottomakethem
betterwriters
BUT isthisreallyacultural oramorebroadlycognitive
issue? Esling andDowning(1986,p.58):cognitive
clarity stageofall learningOnecannotmake
progressinlearningaskillifonedoesnotunderstand
whyonemustperformitinaspecificmanner.

Minnock (1995,p.498):Frenchpostmoderntheorists
stressonimitation;weappropriatethelanguageof
otherstogrowanddefineourselvesinnewways
Donahue(2008,pp.98,100),theconceptofreprise
modification,thesimultaneousappropriationand
modificationthatevendirectandcreditedquoting
involves:analwaysdynamictakingupandmodifying
thus,leadsbothteachersandscholarstofocusonthe
natureofthemanagementandthediscursive
developmentofthenewmembersofadiscipline,rather
thanthemoralistic,legalistic,orotherwiseshamefilled
actweliketocallplagiarism.

J.Sivell

J.Sivell

Possiblelinguisticelement
Pedagogical View: CouncilofWritingProgram
Administrators.(2003,p.6)
antiplagiarisminstruction shouldfocusonreading
[because] successfulreadingisasimportanttothoughtful
researchessaysasissuccessfulwriting.Developreading
relatedheuristicsandactivitiesthatwillhelpstudentsto
readcarefullyandtothinkabouthoworwhethertouse
thatreadingintheirresearchprojects

Testing View: Paraphrasingcanbeatest initself:

Hirvela &Du(2013,p.88):paraphrasing,becauseofwhat
itasksstudentstodowiththeoriginalsourcematerial,
providesinsightintohowwellstudentsread (since
comprehensionisthefirststeptowardparaphrasing)as
wellaswrite.
J.Sivell
4

Possibleethicaldimension
ethicalissuescertainlydoexist,buthowtodefine
them?whatkindofsubtle ethicaljudgementdo
weneed?therearetotallyrespectablebutvery
different frameworksforjudging:
1) universalprinciplesofgoodandevil:i.e.plagiarismisjust
stealing(e.g.Kant,1785)
2) anythingthatharmsothersisevil;ifoutcome ofactionis
harmful,itisbad:poorundergraduatedocumentationof
sourceuseistrivial,sonotevil(Bentham,1789)
3) onlyfreeactions canbejudgedmorally:anystudentwho
simplydoesntknowhowtousesourcescorrectlyisnot
evil(Aquinas,136574)
J.Sivell

Policyimplications

Borrowing,stealing,remixing?
Stallybrass (2007):Shakespeareappropriated
forhisownusewhathereadorheard

1573RalphLever:tobeornottobe
1584DudleyFenner:tobeeornottobe"
1588AbrahamFraunce:tobe,ornottobe"
1596WilliamPerkins:tobeornottobe"
1601JohnDeacon:tobe,ornottobe"(46)
1603RobertRollock:tobeornottobe"
1604Henoch Clapham:tobe,ornottobe"
1604Shakespeare:tobe,ornottobe

1585ThomasBilson:Thatisthequestion
1604Shakespeare:Thatisthequestion(p.1581)
J.Sivell

BrocksAcademicIntegrityPolicy

Questions

6. Itisessentialthatallstudentshavean
understanding oftheimportanceof
academicintegrityandbeawareofthe
academicallydishonestbehavioursthat
underminethepursuitofscholarship.
(RefertoAppendix2foranoutlineof
academicallydishonestbehaviours)
whichincludeknowing andfollowing the
appropriatecitationmethodinregardsto
theuseofquotationmarksand
paraphrasing
leadingto,Allstudentsareresponsible
fortheirbehaviourandmayface
academicpenaltyunderthispolicyshould
theyengageinacademicallydishonest
behaviours.

Doesanyone havea
clearunderstanding
ofthis?
Isthereevenaclear
Western
convention?
Howdostudents
gain this
understandingby
readingapolicy?
Ifstudentsare
responsiblefor
knowing (and
knowinghow)is
Brockresponsiblefor
teaching them?

J.Sivell

Discussion

Unknown aspects of
plagiarismacceptedby
others butnotrealized/
acceptedbyyourself

Aquinas,St.Thomas.(126574,1947).TheSummaTheologica ofSt.Thomas
Aquinas (2nded.).(FathersoftheEnglishDominicanProvince,Trans.).
NewYork,NY:Benziger.
Bentham,J.(1789,1907).Anintroductiontotheprinciplesofmoralsand
legislation.Oxford,UK:ClarendonPress.Retrievedfrom
http://www.econlib.org/library/Bentham/bnthPML.html
BrockUniversity.(2013).Academicintegrity:Thinkaboutit.Retrievedfrom
http://www.brocku.ca/academicintegrity
CouncilofWritingProgramAdministrators.(2003).Definingandavoiding
plagiarism:TheWPAstatementonbestpractices.Retrievedfrom:
http://wpacouncil.org/positions/WPAplagiarism.pdf
Hirvela,A.,&Du,Q.(2013).WhyamIparaphrasing?:UndergraduateESL
writersengagementwithsourcebasedacademicwritingandreading.
JournalofEnglishfor AcademicPurposes12,8798.

Hidden aspectsof
plagiarismknown
yourself butnot
realized/acceptedby
others
Closed aspectsof
plagiarismmightbereal,
but aboutwhichnobody
isveryclear

J.Sivell

References

Adapted JohariWindowaspectofunrecognized
elementsthatwontcomeintoplayunlesswe
adjustthedimensionsofthewindowpanes
Open aspectsof
plagiarismknownto
everyone (really?)

https://www.brocku.ca/webfm_send/28409

J.Sivell

Donahue,C.(2008).Whencopyingisnotcopying:PlagiarismandFrench
compositionscholarship.InC.Eisner&M.Vicinus,(Eds.),Originality,
imitation,andplagiarism:Teachingcompositioninthedigitalage,pp.90
103.AnnArbor,MI:UniversityofMichiganPress.
Kant,I.(1785,2012).Groundworkofthemetaphysicsofmorals.Transanded.
byM.Gregor andJ.Timmermann.Cambridge.UK:CambridgeUniversity
Press.
Minnock,M.(1995).Towardapostmodernpedagogyofimitation.JAC:A
JournalofCompositionTheory,153),489510.
Stallybrass,p.(2007).Againstthinking.ModernLanguageJournal,122(5),
15801587.
Backgroundresource:RebeccaMooreHowardsWWWpageonplagiarism
andplagiarismprevention
http://www.rebeccamoorehoward.com/bibliographies/plagiarism
pedagogyandprevention

J.Sivell

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