This article written by Cotterall and Cohen focuses on the writing process that has to be explained to Asian students who want to write academic texts in English. The authors reveal that Foreign Language Learners (FLL) from Asia who were registered in a writing programme in New Zealand "appeared keen to incorporate the language modelled during the group conversation stage into their own texts (p.164)." The examples reproduced in the article illustrate that two learners converted a model developed on the whiteboard and reused it in their essay. "The model was converted into a parallel transition". In this case, the authors argue that the students weren't copying, they were using formulaic signals of the writers discourse. Plagiarism was nevertheless raised as a concern by faculty members. Since an writing academic essay is a highly challenging task, especially in a foreign language, one might be more tempted to plagiarize. Moreover, in some cultures, plagiarism is not viewed as improper, as a violation of intellectual property. The other article written by I-Chia Chou(2010) is quite instructive. It explains that the concept of plagiarism is a Western concept. This author highlights the fact that foreign students who attend Western universities are not fully aware of the Western writing conventions. They may copy on models as a learning strategy and have no intention to deceive.
I-Chia Chou (2010). Is Plagiarism a Culture Product: The Voice of a Chinese-Speaking ELLStudent. The International Journal - Language Society and Culture.37.
http://www.educ.utas.edu.au/users/tle/JOURNAL/issues/2010/31-5.pdf
Cotterall, C., Cohen, R.(2003). Scaffolding for Second Language Writers: Producing an Academic Essay. ELT Journal, 57 (2).158-66.
STRATEGY: Make connections with another text (Course notes guidelines).
No comments:
Post a Comment