In-class Writing Activity

You will be given a time limit in which to write a composition on a topic your instructor will provide (2–3 pages every other line).

Vocabulary

shortened version	to select	to delete	to criticize
to contain	to summarize	to rewrite	to distinguish
mixture	source	one’s own words	main information
to reduce to rearrange	relevant information to simplify	concise complete	subsidiary information
original document	original wording	attitude	opinion
to elaborate	accurate	to be clearly written	to be well organized

Plagiarism

ObjectivesIn this unit you will:	learn what plagiarism is;
	learn what a deliberate plagiarism is; learn what an accidental plagiarism is;
	know how to avoid plagiarism when writing.

Starting up

Ex. 1. Discuss the following questions with your colleagues to share experience on the problem of cheating.

1. Why do some students cheat? List the reasons.

1. How do students cheat? List some examples of cheating behavior.

2. What are the consequences of cheating? List them.

3. Do professionals (e.g., professors and scientists) ever cheat? Why? How?

4. Have you ever heard of plagiarism? What is it?

Introduction

Plagiarism is a form of cheating that involves borrowing or paraphrasing ideas from another person without acknowledging the source. That is, plagiarism involves stealing from other peoples published or unpublished outlines, paragraphs, essays, papers, or speeches. The plagiarized portion can be anywhere from one or two characteristic words to an entire document.

Plagiarism is a crime in many countries because of copyright laws. A copyright is one's ownership of a created work. Plagiarism is considered a serious matter, therefore, and students who plagiarize are reported and punished.

Listening

Script 20 part 1

Ex. 2. Listen to some reasons for plagiarism, in Alan Bradshaw opinion. Listen to the first part of his interview, in which he speaks about deliberate plagiarism and number each point in the order in which he mentions it.

Plagiarism can happen for many reasons:

1. Because you do not have the energy to do the work yourself;

2. or, perhaps, because you are not able to do the work yourself;

3. this is when you make the decision to steal someone else's work. For example, this could be either: because you do not have the time to do the work yourself;

4. because you think your lecturer will not care;

5. because you think your lecturer will not notice.

Script 20 part 2

Ex. 3. Listen to the second part of Alan Bradshaw’s interview, in which he enumerates what plagiarism can involve and number each point in the order in which he mentions it.

Plagiarism can involve:

1. asking another person to do the work for you;

2. copying another student's work;

3. or even paying for someone to do the work for you;

4. copying another person's work from a book or a journal;

5. buying the text from the Internet;

6. copying another person's work from a web-site;

7. downloading the complete text from the Internet.

Script 20 part 3

Ex. 4. Listen to the third part of the interview, in which Alan Bradshaw speaks about accidental plagiarism and number each point in the order in which he mentions it:

1. when you take notes from a book or journal, you copy out some sections and do not make this clear in your notes. Later when you re-read the notes, you forget that they are not your words or ideas;

2. you borrow your friend's notes, not realizing that some of the words are plagiarized;

3. you forget to acknowledge another person's words or ideas;

4. you feel your written work is not good enough;

5. you do not know that you must not copy a person's words directly;

6. you do not have time to include the acknowledgments and list of references;

7. you do not have the skill for expressing another person's ideas in your own words;

8. you do not know the correct systems for indicating that you are using another person's words or ideas.

Ex. 5. Identifying examples of plagiarism.

Write an X next to each action that constitutes plagiarism.

1…… inventing (making up, creating) content for a research paper.

2 talking to another student during an exam.

3 submitting a composition that was copied from someone else.

4 paraphrasing from someone else's article without acknowledging the source.

5 taking a test for someone else.

6 falsifying research data.

7. writing a composition using someone else's outline, opinions, or ideas.

8 writing information (names, dates, mathematical formulas, and the like) on pieces of paper, articles of clothing, or parts of the body to refer to while taking a test.

9 submitting for publication an article which was already published by someone else.

10 ….. looking at another person’s answers on a test.