Hanoi - Vietnam

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON PLAGIARISM

By Duong Vu
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................2

MAIN BODY........................................................................................................3

1. The concept of plagiarism..............................................................................3

2. The concept of cultural perspectives..............................................................3

3. A cultural perspective on plagiarism..............................................................4

3.1. Language..................................................................................................4

3.2. Education.................................................................................................5

3.3. A pedagogical approach to prevent plagiarism across cultures.............6

CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................8

REFERENCES......................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
Upon the utterance of the name Oscar Wilde, a famous poet and
playwright of the 19th century, people are surely to remember Wilde's many
important works, namely The picture of Dorian Gray or The importance of
being earnest, and his profound quotes. Perhaps one of his most well-known
saying “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to
greatness” has been used time and time again. This holds true to date, especially
when one considers the emergence of overlapping ideas in the fields of story
writing and musical composition. The brazen act of taking the hard work of
another person as one’s own can be brushed aside under the pretense of paying
homage. However, in the academic circle, the same act can be considered a great
taboo, and is labeled with the term “plagiarism”. Alarmingly, plagiarism is most
commonly found among higher education students. The reasons, as explained by
Carroll (2002) and Posner (2007), are that students lack the knowledge on the
subject of plagiarism, they plagiarize due to negligence in writing, not with
deception in mind, and that poor time management also plays a pivotal role in
encouraging plagiarism (Lim & See, 2001). In addition, cultural background has
an effect on the plagiarism tendency of students. The findings of Lucas and Niall
(2003) point out that approximately three quarters of Asian and Chinese students
find fabricating a bibliography a trivial matter, and nearly half of them think
lightly of copying word for word. The data acquired from them, in contrast to
that of their American and Greek peers, 10% and 90% respectively, show a
dangerous mindset of Asian and Chinese students when it comes to plagiarism.
Following the same line of thoughts, in one of his research, Egan (2008) has
found Malaysian students to be more susceptible to plagiarism than their
Australian peers. Likewise, Stappenbelt (2009) notices that students from non-
English speaking countries, upon writing academic papers in English, are more
likely to plagiarize. From these examples, it seems that students from different
birthplaces vary in their attitudes towards plagiarism. But what exactly is the
drive behind this problem? To answer this question, researchers and educators
have taken into consideration one of the biggest factors that affect each and
every learner as a person: culture. As such, this assignment intends to explore
the level of influence that culture has on students' tendency to plagiarize and
whether it is a solvable problem.
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MAIN BODY
1. The concept of plagiarism
If one is to search for the definition of plagiarism, s/he will undoubtedly
find out that the term plagiarism is always associated with the word "stealing".
In broad term, as explained by Cottrell (2003), plagiarism is to use other
people's works without giving the sources of inspiration and information proper
acknowledgement. However, the word "works" here can be a piece of art, a
screen in a movie, or perhaps a design for a new seasonal dress. The definition
given by Cottrell certainly has grasped the basic outline of plagiarism, but it is
not specific to the term "plagiarism" used by researcher. Prior to the general
definition given by Cottrell, Samson and Radloff (1992) explained plagiarism as
the use of some else's "words, thoughts, or writing" without being authorized or
giving the authors' due acknowledgement. Following the same line of thinking,
Park (2003) labeled plagiarism as "literary theft", an act of stealing the words, or
ideas, of others, usually through copying. The notion of plagiarism presented
from these researchers certainly has narrowed down to within the academic
circle, all agreed on the fact that plagiarism means stealing from others. Though,
there is still a gap in the definitions given, where lies the concept of self-
plagiarism, or the act of submitting one's own assessed or published works
elsewhere (Plagiarism, 2005). While many argue against the term "self-
plagiarism", it is undeniable that the act is condemned widely, and is still
considered a breach of research ethics. As such, plagiarism is no longer just
about taking words and ideas from others, but also copying one's own words. It
can be seen that the concept of plagiarism has become rather complicated,
especially to people without prior study into the subject. The thin line between
what is ethically correct and what is not can be easily crossed if one lacks
understanding into the problem.
2. The concept of cultural perspectives
As previously mentioned, one of the greatest influences that affect a
person is culture. Researchers have increasingly poured in effort in an attempt to
proof the connection between culture and human behaviors. As generalized by
Park and Huang (2010), the brain may be wired by culture. This means people
from different countries with different cultural backgrounds tend to react
differently to the same situation under the same conditions, which leads to the
need of a cross-culture approach when dealing with the subject of human
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behaviors. "To walk in one's shoes", without a doubt, is the most appropriate
saying for this. The social norms may differ for each culture so it is essential to
view a concept or situation through one's worldview and perspective (Ojalehto
& Medin, 2014). The prime example for the influence of culture is the
distinction between how one views self-value in Western and Eastern countries.
In contrast to a high sense of individualism displayed by most Europeans and
Americans, Asians tend to put a greater emphasis on collectivism. The
dichotomy between two groups of people has more than often led to heated
debate as both parties have a tendency to impose their own ideas and values on
the other. The same can be said when it comes to the concept of plagiarism. As
found in a research conducted, a number of scholars from institutes in Asia
plagiarized without even realizing their own actions could be categorized as
plagiarism (Introna, Hayes, Blair, & Wood, 2003). Therefore, trying to discern
the reasons behind why many students from Asian countries plagiarize will
require researchers to "walk in the shoes" of these learners, hence the need of a
cultural perspective on the topic of plagiarism.
3. A cultural perspective on plagiarism
What is culture? To put it simply, culture is the way of life of a specific
group of people. It entails everything around an individual, both tangible and
intangible. To ask what aspects of culture have an effect on the way a person
view plagiarism may be too broad of a topic for a single individual to answer.
As such, only two big factors will be explained, namely language and education.
3.1. Language
Language is undoubtedly one of the biggest aspects that comprise culture.
Nowadays, an increasing number of students from Vietnam as well as many
other Asian countries seek higher education oversea. The reasons may vary but
mostly due to the better teaching facility as well as a more renowned pedagogy
system provided by Western universities. The total number of international
students in the United States boasted nearly a million in the fall of 2015, with a
10% increase when compared to the previous year (Institute of International
Education, 2015). From an educational perspective, the most striking aspect of
the trend is that the largest and fastest growing groups of students also come
from academic cultures that are distinct from that of the United States. Over 70
percent of the international students come from Asian countries, primarily from
China, South Korea, and India in the US (Institute of International Education,
2015). However, the postgraduates soon face a series problem: they have to
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learn everything in a foreign language. For higher education students to write a

paper in their L2 language, such task is certainly too taxing for some
postgraduates who lack the baseline proficiency in L2 language. This is where
plagiarism comes into play. As mentioned, students from non-English speaking
countries, upon writing academic papers in English, are more likely to plagiarize
due to their inability to recognize the levels of plagiarism (Stappenbel, Rowles,
& May, 2009). Paraphrasing is perhaps one of the most needed skills one will
need upon treading the path of academic writing. Learners with low L2 language
proficiency are unable to assess their own paraphrases, which lead to their being
incapable of confirming whether it is plagiarism or not. Some students choose
only to change a few words from the original sentence because they do not have
the required capability to properly rephrase a statement in their own words.
Other reasons as mentioned by Adhikari (2018) are that international students
may not have the required skills to properly search and understand sources of
information, or they may not be able to take their own stands or get the ideas of
the authors because they struggle with content or context, and may make
mistakes because they cannot comprehend and restate information to their
understanding during the writing process. International students, as well as their
domestic counterparts, also fail to distinguish between "responsible use of
sources and unacceptable ones" because modern technologies are making it
unclear for everyone to do so. These problems, while vary, all stem from a lack
of proficiency in foreign language. The easiest solution that students tend to
apply to their study to escape from these issues is through plagiarism, which
may not be the most moral way, if not outright unethical.
3.2. Education
The language shortcomings of a foreign student lead him/her to the
morally wrong path of plagiarism, but for many other oversea postgraduates,
who has more than enough proficiency in L2 language, they still find themselves
misstep into the plagiarism territory. These "innocent accidents" actually happen
more often than one might think. How can someone unintentionally commit
plagiarism? The basis for this problem is that, in the first place, foreign students
fail to comprehend what plagiarism is. An example can be traced from an article
written by Matalene (1982) where she recounted her experience of trying to
teach academic writing to students in China, stating how students there did
many other things with excellence but failed to understand originality or the
notion of plagiarism as a whole and did not have a habit of citing sources in their
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works. Matalene said that “for the Chinese writer, invention means doing it the
way it has been done” (p. 794), unlike the Western concept of originality, “make
it new.” She further added that Chinese writers expressed their own ideas
following “some fundamental principles of the culture which contains them” (p.
794). Learning through imitation and memorizing the whole textbook by heart,
reciting the whole history in the form of folklore are very common practices of
literacy and writing in many Eastern pedagogical systems. Though this example
may come from an article long ago, it is hard to deny the long lasting effect of
those "fundamental principles" have had on the educational systems of Asian
school to date. The Confucius way of learning, which entails learning by heart
and imitating, has deeply engraved in some Eastern countries' education.
Students from these countries when put under the academic system of their
Western counterparts generally fail to adapt to the new concept of plagiarism.
The results are transparent, as described from the experience of Williams (2003)
where he recounted the challenges he had to face upon trying to teach writing to
students from different national upbringings at an American school in the United
Kingdom. He told the story of a student who apparently refused to properly cite
sources: he would show the student how to cite sources and “she would assure
[him] that she understood” how to, but then “proceed in the next draft to provide
one or two citations in a paper filled with information from other sources” (p.
589). Unfortunately, many other students share the same line of thinking of the
student from the story. A survey conducted by Egan (2008), as well as one
provided by Lucas and Naill (2003), shows an alarming reality where students
from countries under the heavy influence of Confucianism think too lightly of
plagiarism. To be more precise, only one tenth of the Asian student body took
into consideration the gravity of not citing sources or copying other works,
while the rest either lightheartedly considered plagiarism minor offence or
brushed the issue aside entirely (Introna, Hayes, Blair, & Wood, 2003). The
numbers from these researches are a grim reminder for educators to take a
greater emphasis on teaching students to avoid plagiarism, as the contrast in
educational systems between Western and Eastern nations may be a hard bridge
to cross.
3.3. A pedagogical approach to prevent plagiarism across cultures
While many educators lament how the effect of culture on students'
viewpoint of plagiarism is long lasting, some researchers have begun to search
for a solution to these issues. Adhikari (2018) argued that, instead of trying to
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figure out whether students making mistakes are honest or dishonest, teachers
can prevent and address plagiarism pedagogically. Even though it is true that
culture has an influence on learners' standpoints on the topic of plagiarism, it is
not permanent and can be resolved through improving students' understanding
of originality, their capabilities to generate new ideas on given topics, as well as
the level of their citation skills relative to the demands. Perhaps the simplest
solution is to raise the L2 language proficiency of students. However, for higher
study, this issue is for foreign students to cope with by themselves, as educators
can only introduce or present students to the necessary researching and writing
techniques, not the language itself. Students will simply have to put more effort
into their study in order to reach the level of language ability required for higher
education. What an educator can do, according to Adhikari (2018), is to
intensively provide learners with guidelines and reference materials as this is a
great way to help postgraduates learn effective and correct citation. Another
solution brought up by Bista (2011) is that students, especially ones learning in
foreign language, "must receive direct, explicit instruction concerning
plagiarism in the preparation of research papers as well as course work” (p.
167). Explicit instruction and motivating learning environment can go a long
way in helping students fill often large gaps in their academic skills, reaching
the requirements without fear of making mistakes,
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CONCLUSION
As the concept of intellectual property keeps evolving throughout the
years, plagiarism is growing to be more and more complex, as well as becoming
multifaceted, whether it is intentional or not. As quoted at the introduction of the
assignment: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to
greatness”, after exploring the concept of plagiarism through the standpoints of
students from different cultural backgrounds, that "imitation" is perhaps only
acceptable in Eastern countries which are under the heavy influence of
Confucianism. The notion of plagiarism that their Western counterparts
emphasize is often obscure in the eyes of foreign higher students. This, in turn,
leads to an increase in plagiarism cases involving foreign students. The reasons
may vary, from a lack of L2 language proficiency, to the ignorance of the
concept of plagiarism. Nevertheless, educators should refrain from making
assumptions based on a student's cultural background or put too much of an
emphasis on his/her attitudes towards plagiarism. In short, while “culture” does
shape academic skills and practices, as well as a student's ability to conduct
research, the teaching of academic skills must be the primary focus of helping
students to avoid plagiarism while learning research and writing skills. When
students realize that citing and quoting properly builds their credibility with
readers, they will start to learn to do so in their own accords, and will no longer
let their cultural circumstances hinder them from treading the path of academic
research.
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Bista, K. (2011). Academic dishonesty among international students
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Institute of International Education. (2015). Open Doors report on
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Posner, R. A. (2007). The Little Book of Plagiarism. New York:

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