Academic plagiarism awareness and practice among post graduates at faculty of english linguistics literature university of social sciences and humanities hcm

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE ACADEMIC PLAGIARISM: AWARENESS AND PRACTICE AMONG POST-GRADUATES AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE - UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES, HCMC A these submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By NGUYỄN ĐẶNG PHƯƠNG THẢO Instructed by NGUYỄN THỊ KIỀU THU, PhD HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 31st 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to those people who provided me with valuable advice and enthusiastic supports during the time I worked on this thesis I would like to express my genuine appreciation and grateful thanks to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, who gave me practical guidance Under her supervision, I became more independent, raised my sense of initiative, and developed my thinking to a certain extent in the research project To my way of thinking, fortune smiled on me when I was supervised by Dr Kieu Thu, embracing her words of wisdom with a wealth of experience I would like to express my sincere thanks towards the alumni in the master program, my classmates who enthusiastically participated in my study Their true reflection on the past experience was valuable data for my study To those who took part in the data collection procedure, I owe them a great debt of gratitude i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “ACADEMIC PLAGIARISM: AWARENESS AND PRACTICE AMONG POST-GRADUATES AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE - UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES, HCMC” is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, July 31st , 2018 Nguyễn Đặng Phương Thảo ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Nguyễn Đặng Phương Thảo, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use ofMaster’s Thesis deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the theses Ho Chi Minh City, July 31st, 2018 Nguyễn Đặng Phương Thảo iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i DECLARATION ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Research aims 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Nature of plagiarism 2.1.1 Definition 2.1.2 Types of plagiarism 2.2 Factors relating to plagiarism in academic writing 10 2.2.1 Students’ perception 11 2.2.2 Cultural aspect 12 2.2.3 University policies 14 2.2.4 Attitudes towards learning 15 2.2.5 Personal traits causing plagiarism in academic writing 15 2.2.5.1 Problems with language proficiency and academic writing conventions 15 iv 2.2.5.2 Poor time management and pressure to get high grades 16 2.2.6 Plagiarism in academic writing shown in plagiarist tactics 18 2.3 Conceptual framework 19 2.4 Summary 19 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 20 3.1 Research questions 20 3.2 Research design 20 3.3 Research context 20 3.4 Participants 21 3.5 Research instruments 21 3.5.1 Questionnaire on students’ awareness about plagiarism 21 3.5.2 Questionnaire on students’ use of cheating writing tactics 22 3.6 Data collection procedure 23 3.7 Data analysis procedure 23 3.7.1 Piloting the questionnaire 23 3.7.2 Administering the questionnaire 23 3.8 Summary 23 CHAPTER RESULTS 24 4.1 Data analysis 24 4.1.1 Students’ awareness of plagiarism in academic writing 26 4.1.2 Students’ adaptation of plagiarism forms 32 4.2 Discussion of the results 42 4.2.1 Students’ awareness of plagiarism in academic writing 42 4.2.2 Students’ use of forms of plagiarism and the reasons why 48 4.3 Summary 51 v CHAPTER CONCLUSION 51 5.1 Conclusion 51 5.2 Limitations of the study 54 5.3 Pedagogical implications 54 5.4 Recommendation for further study 55 REFERENCES 56 APPENDICES 62 APPENDIX A Questionnaire on students’ awareness about plagiarism 62 APPENDIX B Questionnaire on students’ use of cheating writing tactics 67 vi LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES List of Tables Table 4.1a: Reliability Statistic 25 Table 4.1.1a Students’ understanding of plagiarism 27 Table 4.1.1b Students’ experience in writing academic paper 27 Table 4.1.1c Students’ awareness about policies towards plagiarism and course requirements 28 Table 4.1.1d The pressure on students’ learning process 30 Table 4.1.1d Students’ opinion on definition and causes of academic plagiarism 31 Table 4.1.1e Students’ self-discipline and their attitude towards academic integrity 32 Table 4.1.1d Students’ opinion on definition and causes of academic plagiarism 33 List of Figures Figure 2.3a Factors leading to academic plagiarism 19 Figure 2.3b Plagiarist behaviors 34 Figure 4.1.2a Submitting the same paper for more than one course 34 Figure 4.1.2b Changing dates of old research to make them look more up-to-date 34 Figure 4.1.2c Paraphrasing other people’s work without acknowledging the original author 35 Figure 4.1.2d Inventing references or bibliography 35 Figure 4.1.2e Copying the authors’ idea rather than reflecting on existing theory from previous research 36 Figure 4.1.2f Submitting someone else’s work with their permission 36 Figure 4.1.2g Putting a researcher’s name next to their own ideas 36 Figure 4.1.2h Copying without acknowledging the source 36 Figure 4.1.2i Submitting the same paper for more than one course 37 Figure 4.1.2i Paraphrasing without acknowledging the original author 37 Figure 4.1.2k Inventing data 38 Figure 4.1.2l Submitting written assignments from a source on the Internet 38 vii Figure 4.1.2m Chosing an unpopular essay topic 39 Figure 4.1.2n Avoiding writing anything controversial 39 Figure 4.1.2o Putting words from other articles into one’s own paper without citing the source 40 Figure 4.1.2n Avoiding writing anything controversial 40 viii ABSTRACT This study aimed to have a deep insight into the awareness of students taking part in Master’s Program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities about plagiarism in academic writing as well as how they employed plagiarist forms in their real practice of learning process The study was developed basing on the synthesis and analysis of previous theory presented in studies done by researches from a diversity of fields of study and countries Data were collected through a questionnaire completed by 57 former graduate students of the MA program in the period 2014-2016 The definition of plagiarism was understood by almost all of the students in Postgraduate As a result, they had a strong anti-attitude towards plagiarism in learning environment Having taken part in research activities also helped them practice the required skills in order to avoid plagiarism During their learning, the students had to face external and internal pressure as these were among the factors that could lead to the act of committing plagiarism With the excuse of not having enough knowledge in language structure and they did not have enough time to strictly follow academic writing conventions, the students admitted to sometimes commit some of the plagiarist behaviors in order to fulfill their study Key words: plagiarism, academic writing, cheating behaviors ix courses’ requirement and their ability to fulfill such requirements, the possibility of committing plagiarism among the participants was lowered as they have good attitude towards learning Concerning the practice of avoiding plagiarism in academic writing manifested in the students’ use of cheating habits in writing, most of the students rarely employed the plagiarism forms into their assignments It could be explained that the students have had the awareness that plagiarism is strictly banned by their Faculty and instructor so the chances of them committing intentional plagiarism is lowered Besides, the students were also aware that plagiarism is wrong because it disturbed their own pride in doing research as well as violated their sense of academic integrity and intellectual ownership As a consequence, minor forms of plagiarism such as "Copying material for course-work from a book or other publication without acknowledging the source", "Paraphrasing material from another source without acknowledging the original author", or "Copying another student's course-work with their knowledge" were reported by the students as not usually be employed during their learning Most of Post-graduate students being surveyed had known the serious matter of plagiarism commitment (about 83%) They had also been warned about the plagiarism commitment Moreover, limitation of academic vocabulary and knowledge on certain topics of learning, time pressure could be factors that lead to plagiarism Thanks to following a strict schedule when doing writing assignments, time pressure was not a serious problem students had to face in the time allowed for them to fulfill the course requirements However, some of the students still turned in the same paper for more than one course as they were attracted by the convenience of saving time by editing some parts of the paper so that it could fit in the requirements for various courses It is acceptable to reuse the papers in case there are such topics that overlap and the students are interested in a particular topic that they want to have a deep analysis of that topic under various perspectives from different courses, but submitting the same papers without revising is a form of academic dishonesty The reason that led to this act was that the students wanted to save time by choosing popular topics that could be used in any courses during their learning However, they tend not to reuse papers if the instructor clearly stated in the course induction that such acts would lead to severe punishment As a result, it is vital for the students to be informed of the rules they had to follow in order to keep academic integrity All in all, the students being surveyed in the current study had known about academic plagiarism and tend to seriously follow the rules of academic integrity The awareness of the participants about plagiarism in academic writing came from their willingness to keep academic 53 integrity as they were well-informed of policies towards cases that violate commit plagiarism Besides, the students had a tendency to respect intellectual ownership by citing the source carefully However, sometimes the students had difficulty in referring back to the materials they had read because there were too many authors having been mentioned in their papers 5.2 Limitation of the study As to time limited, this research has not analyzed the situation of plagiarism in other universities in Vietnam The author has mentioned plagiarism in the Faculty of English and Literature, in University of Social sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh; but has not described the situation in other universities In other words, for time permission, it would be better if the author could discuss how the actual situation of using plagiarism It is also a limitation that the author did not provide a deeper insight into Vietnamese students’ attitudes towards plagiarism now and before Besides, in Literature review, the author only mentioned the problem of plagiarism in some Eastern countries such as Vietnam and China and in Western countries such as UK and Australia, which could not provide the readers with a broad picture of how plagiarism is happening in different countries around the world 5.3 Pedagogical implications Gaining insights into students awareness of plagiarism and their practice in keeping academic integrity, graduate students enrolling in the program should notice probable difficulties they may run into Besides, with reference to some external factors that may arise during the time they conduct academic papers such as time pressure, the difficulties in reading materials, students need to employ some specific skills to deal with potential difficulties they encounter Most importantly, it is advisable that students gain and sharpen the generic skills prior to the time the project comes up since these skills could help them get the work done on schedule regardless of difficulties arising whenever in the thesis project (Biggam, 2011) It is also expected that the research findings could enrich supervisors’ understanding of their student’s perceptions about the matter The recommendation to be made is that supervisors come up with explicit instructions and requirements right at the beginning of the course In other words, supervisors should articulate their guidance, advice, evaluation and demand so that graduate students’ ambiguity of the requirements could be eliminated A mutual understanding built up this way would make the thesis project worthwhile and fruitful (Prior, 1994; Lillis, 2001) 54 In addition, to achieve the best outcome of coursework promoting students’ research competence, there are some issues necessary to focus Firstly, courses especially the ones related to research methodology and academic writing should be arranged appropriately in the curriculum as long as learners have time to read course books and reference documents, gaining more insights into the subjects Also, these courses should offer students opportunities to get exposed to studies, theses, research articles, and journals in related fields and to experience in doing research Another great need is lecturers’ explicit instructions and timely feedbacks to students’ practicing research work and academic writing in the 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Journal of Second Language Writing, 18(1), 17-29 75 Xin G (2011) Understanding Student Plagiarism: An Empirical Study in Accounting Education Accounting Educatio, 20(1), 17-37 61 Appendix A Questionnaire The following statements are about students’ awareness about plagiarism and their practice in avoiding plagiarism when completing research papers Please indicate YES or NO for the statements below before continuing responding to the questionnaire Have you been taught about referencing source materials? _ Have you been taught about other skills associated with preventing plagiarism? For each statement, please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree by ticking on a 5point scale from (1) “strongly agree” to (5) “strongly disagree” In each row tick (√) ONE cell only Example: If you “strongly disagree” with the statement 0, tick as follow: N Statements o I have A S trongly a gree known gree N o idea D Str ongly dis isagree agree about plagiarism before  Statements N Statements S trongly o gree I am sure I know what constitutes plagiarism Copying material and turning it in as my own work is acceptable because my classmate also the same 62 a A gree N o idea Di sagree S trongly d isagree without being caught I am clear about citing, rules of paraphrasing and reference I lose track of the different sources used throughout my paper to include in the reference list I have known about plagiarism in my undergraduate years I need to have more training on how to avoid plagiarism I am more memorizing familiar notes, with textbooks for exams than doing coursework paper Paraphrasing materials is difficult because my vocabulary and syntax knowledge is limited I fully understand the source texts used for my writing assignments Before entering post-graduate level, I have conducted academic research 1 I have joined programs that are designed to assist and support students in developing an understanding of plagiarism My faculty is effective at catching students who plagiarize My university has clear 63 academic integrity policies I think the course completion requirements are acceptable I am totally satisfied with my teachers’ assessment criteria Getting low score is my greatest fear when writing final paper 17 I allow myself enough time to carefully read materials relating to my project topic I am under pressure that my family and friends want me to have excellent grades on my courses 19 I have duties at work that can interfere with my time on conducting projects 20 I think short time allowed for deadline to summit assignments is a cause for plagiarism in writing 21 Plagiarism is more popular in Western countries than in Vietnam 22 Copying a limited amount of text without referencing the sources is tolerable 23 Copying ideas, words from the Internet is acceptable because the information is public 64 24 Copying from a book without crediting the source is plagiarism 25 Plagiarism violates author's rights and ownership 26 Plagiarism is wrong because it disturbs my own sense of personal integrity 27 Citing source is necessary because the reference list is extremely important 28 Sharing someone's writing with crediting the source is a way to show my appreciation to their work 29 I always have a strict schedule when conducting my project 30 When I have a more important task to do, I allow myself to copy from the source texts 31 I strictly follow citation rules when writing academic paper 32 Knowing that my submitted work would be run through an electronic plagiarism detection tool would deter me from plagiarizing Thank you! 65 Appendix B When working on an assignment, which of the following strategies have you used at any time while studying at Post-graduate session, English Department, University of Social Sciences and Humanities? Please tick on the most suitable column as A (Always), F (Frequently), S (Sometimes), N (Never): No Statements A Used up-to-date/interesting/contradictory evidence Changed dates of old research to make look more up-to-date Paraphrased work without acknowledging the original author Invented references or bibliography Copy the author’s idea rather than reflecting on the existing theory from previous research Submitted someone else’s work as your own with their permission Put a name (e.g Smith(2013) next to your own idea to make it sound more convincing Copied material for coursework from a book without 66 F S N acknowledging the source Paraphrased work without acknowledging the original author 10 Invented/altered data 12 Submitted coursework from a source on the Internet 13 Chose an unpopular essay title so your answer is distinctive 14 Avoided writing anything controversial 15 Wrote a paragraph by taking a few words from a few articles and put them together without citing the source Please choose the strategies that to your opinion are acceptable when doing writing assignments and explain why: _ _ _ _ 67 ... entitled ? ?ACADEMIC PLAGIARISM: AWARENESS AND PRACTICE AMONG POST- GRADUATES AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE - UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES, HCMC” is my own work This... post- graduate students about plagiarism in academic writing? How often Post- Graduate students at Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature, Hồ Chí Minh city University of Social Sciences and Humanities. .. academic writing? How often Post- Graduate students at Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature, Hồ Chí Minh city University of Social Sciences and Humanities use cheating strategies during their