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Plagiarism
简体
Plagiarism
抄袭

Learn the Passive Voice

Date: Apr 02 2012

Themes: School

Grammar: Passive Voice

Intro

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You have a five-page paper due tomorrow, and you haven’t even started it yet. What should you do? It would be so easy to look online for an essay related to your topic. You could buy somebody else’s paper, or just copy down some information from Wikipedia. But you’d better think twice before you cut corners like this. Plagiarism can get you into some serious trouble.

Plagiarism is copying someone else’s words or ideas without giving them proper credit in your essay. In most schools in the US, if you get caught plagiarizing, you’ll automatically get an F on the paper and might fail the course as well. Some students have even gotten kicked out of school for plagiarizing. Hear two teachers, Marni and Amy, talk about plagiarism.

你明天就要提交一份五页的论文,但你甚至还没有开始写。你该怎么做?你可以非常容易地上网找一份与主题相关的文章。你可以出钱买别人的论文,或者只是从维基百科 (Wikipedia) 上复制一些信息。但是,在像这样走捷径之前,你最好三思而行。抄袭会让你陷入严重的麻烦。
抄袭是照抄别人的语言或思想,却没有在你的文章中妥善注明。在美国的很多学校里,如果发现你抄袭,你的论文将被自动评为 F,还有可能会挂科。一些学生甚至会因为抄袭而被学校开除。请听玛尼和艾米两位老师谈论抄袭。

Dialog

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Amy

Amy

Marni

Marni

Amy:  You’re a teacher, Marni, have you ever had to deal with plagiarism from one of your students?

Marni:  Yeah, somewhat. I think the hardest thing is, or what I struggle with, is letting kids know how serious it is. It’s like, you know, with the onset of the internet and how readily available all this information is, that idea of, you know, you need to put your thoughts into your own words versus copying what you get off the internet, I think it’s harder and harder for them.

Amy:  Definitely. And it almost seems to them like not cheating, or not plagiarizing, if they’re doing it off the internet. Like I think a book is somehow more sacred than something you just find on some random website. But it’s definitely a big problem among my students. And I think it is really serious, but I also think it’s particularly taken really seriously here, in this country.

Marni:  Just in the United States?

Amy:  I think a little more so here. We have such strict rules about how you have to quote things, and you have to cite them, and you have to use a very particular citation style and format. But what do you think is an appropriate punishment for plagiarizing? Should a student be kicked out of school, or should they just fail the assignment or fail the class?

Marni:  You know, failing the assignment seems to me like an appropriate reaction. Also, if that’s a recurring problem, then we need to figure out a way to teach kids to take information, and then how are they going to put it in their own words.

Amy:  It’s definitely a lot more work not to plagiarize.

Marni:  It’s true, it really is.

 

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Discussion

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Marni and Amy are both teachers. Amy asks Marni if she’s ever had a problem with one of her students plagiarizing. Students of Marni’s have plagiarized before. Marni thinks it’s important to teach kids why they shouldn’t plagiarize and help them understand how to avoid it.

Marni says that it can be difficult not to plagiarize, when so much information is so readily available to us on the internet. Some students don’t realize it when they’re using someone else’s ideas, or don’t know how to put someone else’s ideas in their own words.

Is plagiarism taken very seriously in your country? How can students avoid plagiarizing?

 

Comments

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AppleRome

AppleRome

Antarctica

You just asked to young researcher & ex top-notch student, buddy ^^

06:14 PM Apr 14 2012 |

CatcheR

CatcheR

Iceland

Talking honestly in school, did you plagiarize Apple lol

05:32 AM Apr 13 2012 |

AppleRome

AppleRome

Antarctica

Hmm, I want to give another perspective of plagiarism (not saying I disagree about plagiarism prohibition; I just want to add some ground, so we could have clear full framework about the idea in our opinion).


I’ve been working in law (please do not imagine it is lawyering only! XD) & art-media (film-making) at this time.. it can be so interesting thing in the world to see & solve for how negative relation can come between law and creativity (both are together from human’s brain though! lol) .. but sometimes it is making such “you dont know which ground you should stand” feeling.


Especially in plagiarism issue related to art; not like in economy product.


As long as I have worked in media, I admit my inspiration is coming from anywhere. From movies, mostly.


As I experience with of course other artists, the art world admittedly is a world full of “plagiarism”. But “plagiarism” term itself does not exist in art world. If we use plagiarism “term”, all the artists could be prosecuted, and art itself would be vanished because there would be no progress.


Here are the examples:


- If only Dali and his friends in journal “Literrature” Paris had to claim surrealism painting movement as their own long time ago, there would be no surrealism basis for Dorothea Tanning, Louise Bourgeois, and other artists to make their great surrealism arts. Dorothea Tanning & friends had full copy of Dali + their style.


- If Picasso’s cubism were patented, then the form of modern art right now might not be there. Modern art had full copy of Picasso’s cubism in every edge.


- If the former cool jazz player patented their improvisation technique, then there is no lesson in jazz world.



In history itself, as I quoted: 


“The 18th century have been institutionalized new Morals and enforced prominently in the sectors of academia and journalism, where plagiarism is academic dishonesty and now considered a breach of Journalistic ethics, subject to sanctions like expulsion and other career severe damage. Not so in the arts, the which have resisted in their long-established tradition of copying as a fundamental practice of the creative process, with plagiarism being still tolerated by 21st century artists.”


That’s another side of plagiarism. 

11:15 PM Apr 12 2012 |

shookiba

Israel

i never copyed in a test(in the past)

02:35 PM Apr 08 2012 |

malek george

Egypt

HI I GUESS 


THER ARE TEACHER ?


09:04 PM Apr 06 2012 |

Behnazz

Behnazz

Iran, Islamic Republic Of


In my country Plagiarism is not taken as seriously as in the United States but still teachers are against it and try hard to persuade students to use their own opinions and point of views and the rest depends on the consciousness of students themselves. For example, I always write my own words in essays, even with the abundance of topics and writings now available online to help me cut corners,regardless of how ridicules my paper might turn out in the end.  In fact, I don’t want to be kicked out of school nor do I want to cheat myself.

10:22 AM Apr 04 2012 |

cheer manal

Morocco

Thanks JulitoSmile. i am with you we can sort of improve and upgrade gradually but not overnight .it´s a matter of  time and patience too..i have a passion for languages i speak some of french and spanish and i would like to improve them but it would be hard pressed to focus on them all

09:37 PM Apr 03 2012 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

Cheer up Manal. you are improving  a lot.  I also get tired sometimes , to learn a new language we have  to open a new ” pathway” in our mind , at the beginning the mind resist this  ,that part of the brain was idle and now  has to” work ”, that is because we get tired ,we must go  slowly and not  try to swallow all the english     at the same time.Wink

08:45 PM Apr 03 2012 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

Thanks Dear heather, your second paragraph  is at the core of the problem. i didn´t have to go into much details . You  said it all. 

08:17 PM Apr 03 2012 |

1 person likes this

Radhwan

Radhwan

United Arab Emirates

So sad

07:49 PM Apr 03 2012 |

tutorheatherSuper Member!

United States

Oh Julito..that is horrible, but unfortunately these situations have certainly happened – probably more than we even know about.


Several school systems in the US have been exposed for similar behavior. These school systems feel they need to raise their scores on federally sponsored tests so the can get more money fromt the government for their schools.


That is part of a larger problem, but I won’t go into politics here.


I am so sorry for your cousin!!! Isn’t that just so unfair? I have had a situation in one of the schools I taught in…back in the 1990s. I had two students who refused to work for the entire school year. They were lazy and disrespectful. I tried to work with them, keep them after school, etc., thinking they just needed more encouragement. Nope! They were just lazy and rude and most of all SPOILED by their parents!


So, I had called the parents several times over the year to warn them that their sons were failing my course (English). English is a requirement to graduate, so it’s serious to fail it since it can hold you back. In the end, both boys had an average grade of about a TWENTY – for the entire year. I had never experienced anything like it.


The principal had told me for months the kids would have to go to summer school and if they didn’t attend, they would have to repeat the entire grade. I was satisfied with that. However, at the end of the school year, the parents complained becase they wouldn’t be able to go on their planned summer vacations.


The principal MADE me pass them for the year with a D because of their family vacations!! It was horrible. I resigned from the job and moved on. I couldn’t bear to work for a principal I disrespected so completely.


So, I understand your cousin’s frustration. This is a big reason why I now work for myself!

07:22 PM Apr 03 2012 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

 tutorheather,  I directly know of a situation in which the teachers were involved  in cheating  on the exams.  As you have said, most of  their students came from others countries, adding to that    some of them   were living extreme difficult situations at home .The teachers to raise the score  of the class , let them in advance  to know the answers  to the test. My cousing  caught them red-handed  and confronted her colleagues but it was of no avail,they didn´t stop  from doing it , she took this serious  matter to the principal  who brushed it off  the accusation . Now ,among some of her colleagues she is a whistleblower  .She has gone through   all this  in pain and helplessness .  

06:48 PM Apr 03 2012 |

hicham

Morocco


  • actully if we want to learn language we shouldnt take someone else ideas Wink its a bad action  that make people

05:06 PM Apr 03 2012 |

tutorheatherSuper Member!

United States

Ryo..


Yes, all students are told about the rules.


However, I have taught in and out of classrooms for 20 years. I have seen some very difficult situations in which students have cheated out of sheer desperation. Perhaps the pressure that that suffer from parents is so intense that they feel they will never be good enough. Those feelings “freeze” progress. Also, I have had students from extremely difficult home situations who are embarassed to share that they had been beaten that week, or other horrible things. They don’t want to NOT do it, so they do something.


Now, I am not excusing it. Cheating never helps us to learn. It’s a shortcut that will only hurt us. But, there may be something behind it. That is why teachers or the administration talk to the student first in order to see what’s going on. If it’s just from being lazy (which it often is) that is an entirely different problem.


As educators, we have to keep our eyes open for signs that a student may be in trouble. This is one sign that I watch out for.


04:49 PM Apr 03 2012 |

tutorheatherSuper Member!

United States

By the way, I LOVE the word encourage.


What’s in it? COURAGE!



Stay courageous, all!

04:38 PM Apr 03 2012 |

1 person likes this

tutorheatherSuper Member!

United States

Hi all..


One quick thing…


I want to make sure that people understand what I mean by learning a language is a marathon and not a sprint.


A sprint is a very fast, concentrated run—running at top speed over a short distance.


A marathon takes a long time; you have to pace yourself because you are bound to get tired and emotionally weary. You may feel that you want to give up. It can also be used in general to refer to a task that takes a long time and is quite arduous (strenuous).


Just making sure you understood my analogy!


Hang in there guys! I always say that changes are happening beneath the surface even if you don’t feel like you’re learning. You will see the results soon enough. I do encourage you to stay open to making mistakes yes, but also to welcome corrections or fixes. They are never meant to make you feel bad when they come from a person who cares about education and students. How else do we learn? It’s why we go to school. :)


See you all!


H

04:23 PM Apr 03 2012 |

cheer manal

Morocco

Julito thanks for the website it sounds useful ;)


you know ,sometimes i get tired of the English learning, it seems a never ending process…

03:01 PM Apr 03 2012 |

1 person likes this

cheer manal

Morocco

plagiarism is commonplace in my country, students should be taught  well enough by their teachers to be able to trust their own thoughts and potentials, what is winding up is when you notice some intellectual leading people are also involved in plagiarism, like the hungarian president Pall Schmitt who emulated a large part of his doctoral thesis from a bulgarian author, as a result he´s been stripped of the honorary title of doctor and then resigned 


 one should be aware of the rigid results that plagiarists may go through. 

02:25 PM Apr 03 2012 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

I would like to give to my English,baby´s friend a tip that might help us  to improve our  english.Listen to the Voice of America, they broadcast slower-paced English programms in their  ” learning English” segment.It´s a great place for active listening at WWW.VOANEWS.COM. 

02:14 PM Apr 03 2012 |

Radhwan

Radhwan

United Arab Emirates

Normally if we want to learn first step is to fall down as mistakes in our case here
We never learn without mistakes. So it very normal to have bunch of that to improve ourselfs
The second steps as always says that to keep on track we never stop exercising what ever reason only we can have breaks of time but eventually get back to reading writing and so on
Many thanks who were predecessors explaing same point to manal and all friends

01:01 PM Apr 03 2012 |

1 person likes this

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