Student Interactions and The Issue of Plagiarism

Bringing out ESL voices through electronic writing

On page 165 of Casanave’s book, I found myself wondering why she felt that she needed to feel a sense of closeness or intimacy with the student Shuuichi in person to give full recognition to the voice he adopted when he communicated electronically. Personally, I do not view his “real world” shyness and formality as a detractor from his electronically transmitted voice of authority and educated debater. We have popular authors who write books for the masses and whose written voices would never match up with the idea you receive about that person when you meet them at a book signing. Voice, as we’ve discussed, is a very complex and multifaceted aspect of the writer. The way one writes is not always going to mimic the way one speaks, because these are two separate modes of communication and they tend to vary. Also, if we run with the idea that writing electronically allows students to develop another identity for themselves, why would we assume an automatic intimacy with a personality we have spent less than a year getting to know? On average, the amount of time an instructor gets to spend with a student, whether mainstream or non-mainstream is negligible. Sometimes, I think educators need to be more realistic in their goals and expectations of what they can accomplish with their student over a relatively brief period of time.

The case study debates over the benefits of electronic interactive writing versus that of the traditional classroom interaction seem to indicate that there is no way which is truly better than the other. Basically, it really depends on a number of variables including the members of the class and the teacher. Nothing works all the time for everyone, a concept we’ve also discussed. The key is to be flexible and open to the fact that what works with one class may stifle another and vice versa.

Students and Plagiarism

Whether they are mainstream American students, ESL students, or International students, students in general often have issues with the act of plagiarism. Plagiarism is one of those things that are talked about in hushed voices and usually only after a student has been punished or expelled over some act of plagiarism. Teachers rarely take the time to establish a comprehensive, working understanding of what constitutes plagiarism, why plagiarism is wrong and worthy of punishment, and why the punishments for plagiarism are so harsh. Everyone plagiarizes. There are very few new or novel arguments being made in the world that was not offered up by someone else in previous time. The whole concept of plagiarism largely rests on the ideas of intellectual property and copyrights. While students do need to learn proper ways of citation to join the conversations going on in the academic community and acknowledge the earlier contributions of other authors, they also need to learn what differentiates plagiarism from the rote memorization they were encouraged towards in earlier years of education.