plagiarism issues
Recently, the increasing number of international students involved in plagiarism and the punishment related have been widely discussed in the universities and colleges. It is controversial if the international students be treated in the same way as the domestic students since they come from different countries and have different cultural background, which may be totally differ from those in USA. The punishment of plagiarism includes all kind of penalties of academic misconduct. For example, in “cheating across culture”, the author reports that in Duke University, 9 students of business school were expelled from the university due to plagiarism and what expressive is that all of them come from Asian counties. Brandshaw and Baluja, in “Why Many International students get a falling grade in academic integrity”, report that one in 82 international students was accused of academic misconduct while the proportion of domestic students is one in 300 based on a 2008-2009 report from Academic Integrity Officer Danielle Istl.
There is an increasing concern about whether the punishment for plagiarism is too strict for students especially for international students since they are new to this country and may know little about the academic conduct code. Greenblatt, as cited by Redden in “Cheating Across Culture”, points out that “many Asian students come from educational system in which the norm is to repeat back a textbook or a professor without citation as a sign of respect to the source of knowledge.” Some of the people may believe that it shows fairness to treat students no matter where they come from or what language they speak. However, the unique characteristic of plagiarism decides that treating all students in the same way without regarding the difference between students in educational system background and cultural concepts itself is improper and unfair. Elliott, as cited in ”Cheating Across Culture”, says “(the faculties)They need to understand that they may be learning from ground zero, that sanctions can be delivered and are delivered whether the violation is international or not”. Unfortunately most of the colleges and universities do not have policies concerning this issues and still many international students have to face very strict punishment just because their ignorance.” there is always the possibility that a student might be dismissed from his or her institution, as plagiarism is one of the most serious infractions a student can be accused of”, said Permalink in “Don’t Be Accused Of Copying”. In addition, the punishment may greatly influence the lives of the students who may have pay all his and his family’s effort to study here. The high education system is famous for the high qualities as well as the high costs. Many students’ parents have to spend a great proportion of their income and deposit to send their children abroad. “Then there’s the weight of expectations carried by many students who have crossed the continents and oceans to study, paying high international fees.”, as stated by Bradshaw and Baluja in “Why Many international students get a falling grade in academic integrity”.
While how to give penalties to international students has give the faculties a headache, more professors and stuff want to figure out why more international are involved in plagiarism and what reason drive them in this pain affairs. With the increasing number of international students from all the other continents, this problem become more and more widespread. As cited by Gillespie in “Guide to Advising International Students about Academic Integrity”, 2011 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange shows that “the number of international students in the United State increased 4.68 percent over the previous year for a total of 723,277 students”. This increasing number not only is obvious in the total amount but also appears in the growing proportion of the students involved in plagiarism and academic misconduct. As is talked above, international students come to study here, paying high international fees, thus they have to carry a lot of pressure including family expectation, future career and culture adjustment. Culture, as one of the most important factor contributing to international plagiarism, is somewhat hard to give a clear definition. Gillespie points out that “It is important to remember that plagiarism is a Western ideal.” In addition, he also gives out other important factors, “that international students have left their homes and travelled many miles to pursue their academic dreams, they often feel enormous pressure to be very successful. This pressure combined with differing cultural assumptions of plagiarism and students’ lack of knowledge about plagiarism policies can potentially lead to scholastic disaster.”
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