Plagiarism
READERS RESPOND
Plagiarism and overseas students: stereotypes again?
Phan Le Ha
This article is a response to Sowden’s (2005ab) and Liu’s (2005) articles on overseas students and plagiarism, published in ELT Journal 59/3.
I appreciate Sowden’s efforts in exploring plagiarism in relation to culture, and his arguing against stereotypical views of overseas students studying in English-speaking countries. Although I agree with Sowden that culture plays a significant role in students’ learning styles, and perhaps in the way plagiarism is interpreted cross-culturally, I would like to argue that culture is not the only influencing factor and should not be seen as solely responsible for plagiarism in students’ academic work.
To support my points, I will first provide examples on how plagiarism is viewed in Vietnam. Then, I will argue that there appear to be several reasons why Western academics may rush to accuse overseas students of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is not at all acceptable in
Vietnam
While Sowden seems to suggest that Asian culture contributes to the act of plagiarism, I would point out that plagiarism is never allowed or made legitimate by Vietnamese culture or education. For example, even at primary school level, if a pupil copies another pupil’s ideas to reproduce them in his/her very basic compositions (such as a description of one’s favourite pet), his/her teachers and classmates will criticize and help that pupil realize that it is unacceptable to copy others’ ideas for one’s assessment purposes. Also, it is not unusual for school teachers to require students found plagiarizing to write down 100 times the same promise
‘I will never steal others’ ideas/writing again’. These practices show that plagiarism is viewed as unethical. If the term plagiarism in English is
‘laden with negative and moral connotations’ (Chandrasoma et al. 2004:
172), the Vietnamese terms for plagiarism, dao van and an cap y/van, have the same or even
Plagiarism and overseas students: stereotypes again?
Phan Le Ha
This article is a response to Sowden’s (2005ab) and Liu’s (2005) articles on overseas students and plagiarism, published in ELT Journal 59/3.
I appreciate Sowden’s efforts in exploring plagiarism in relation to culture, and his arguing against stereotypical views of overseas students studying in English-speaking countries. Although I agree with Sowden that culture plays a significant role in students’ learning styles, and perhaps in the way plagiarism is interpreted cross-culturally, I would like to argue that culture is not the only influencing factor and should not be seen as solely responsible for plagiarism in students’ academic work.
To support my points, I will first provide examples on how plagiarism is viewed in Vietnam. Then, I will argue that there appear to be several reasons why Western academics may rush to accuse overseas students of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is not at all acceptable in
Vietnam
While Sowden seems to suggest that Asian culture contributes to the act of plagiarism, I would point out that plagiarism is never allowed or made legitimate by Vietnamese culture or education. For example, even at primary school level, if a pupil copies another pupil’s ideas to reproduce them in his/her very basic compositions (such as a description of one’s favourite pet), his/her teachers and classmates will criticize and help that pupil realize that it is unacceptable to copy others’ ideas for one’s assessment purposes. Also, it is not unusual for school teachers to require students found plagiarizing to write down 100 times the same promise
‘I will never steal others’ ideas/writing again’. These practices show that plagiarism is viewed as unethical. If the term plagiarism in English is
‘laden with negative and moral connotations’ (Chandrasoma et al. 2004:
172), the Vietnamese terms for plagiarism, dao van and an cap y/van, have the same or even
References: Farrell, L. 1997. ‘Making grades’. Australian Journal of Education 41/2: 134–49. Ivanic, R. 1997. Writing and Identity: The Discoursal Construction of Identity in Academic Writing. Kumaravadivelu, B. 2003. ‘Problematizing cultural stereotyping in T E S O L’ Liu, D. 2005. ‘Plagiarism in ESOL students: Is cultural conditioning truly the major culprit?’ Phan Le Ha. 1999. ‘Different voices: writers’ comparisons of Vietnamese and English academic Phan Le Ha. 2001. ‘How do culturally situated notions of ‘‘polite’’ form influence the way Phan Le Ha and R. Viete. 2002. ‘The growth of voice: negotiating representations of self in Sowden, C. 2005a. ‘Plagiarism and the culture of multilingual students in higher education Sowden, C. 2005b. ‘Reply to Dilin Liu’.