PLAGIARISM AMONG ESL STUDENTS

Plagiarism, Acculturation, and Ethnicity among ESL Students

Abstract

In recent years Ethics has received increased attention from academia and media. Numerous reports have indicated that schools offering business education have given rise to one of the types of immoral conduct-plagiarism. The literatures have frequently pointed out the plagiarism in the stereotypes of Asian students; however, this is not potentially supported. A behavioural criterion was utilized to study and analyze the relationships among acculturation, ethnicity, and plagiarism. This was performed in a sample of 158 graduate and undergraduate students. Different levels of student acculturation showed substantial deviations in plagiarism behavior, however, ethnicity was not included. Also, the numerous implication and variations for managing and training international workers and students are discussed.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Introduction4

Research Questions5

Key words5

Literature Review5

Causes of Plagiarism5

Ethnicity, Culture, and Plagiarism Attitudes6

Culture and Plagiarism7

Acculturation and Plagiarism10

Methods11

Participants11

Procedures12

Results13

Discussion15

Implications16

Student Education17

Faculty Education18

Conclusions, Limitations, and Suggestions for Advance Research18

References20

Plagiarism, Acculturation, and Ethnicity among ESL Students

Introduction

Given the growing media attention business ethics have received in recent years, a substantial push towards incorporating ethics courses and standards into the business education curriculum has occurred internationally. More specifically, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has included a requirement for business schools to include ethics components (if not courses) in curriculum to attain or receive continuing accreditation from this certifying body (Griffith 2006). While the question as to whether ethics can be learned at the undergraduate or the graduate level of education has yet to be answered, ethics classes have become standard in business schools.

Academic dishonesty comes in different forms, including providing another individual with answers to a test, providing copies of past exams and assignments to current students, or looking over another student's shoulder during a test to copy an answer. Plagiarism is a form of unethical behavior familiar to educators, administrators, and students that seems rampant in academia today. The Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary (2006) has defined plagiarism as follows: "to commit literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source."

In the global arena, we find that ethics have an even greater relevance in both education and industry. Students, professors, and managers struggle to reconcile cultural differences and understand why they occur. In this study, we examine the relationships between ethnicity, acculturation, and plagiarism among university students. Our goal is to determine whether there are differences in the amount of plagiarism across ethnic groups and whether students' acculturation to western educational cultural norms affects their behavior. This study has implications for professors and those interacting with different ethnic groups and seeks to modify their behavior to create uniform codes of ethics, as well as programs that prepare students for study overseas.

Research Questions

Following are the research question for the proposed study:

Will ESL students use plagiarize material in their assignments irrespective of their ethnicity?

Is there any difference between Asian and American peers using plagiarize material in their assignments?

Is there any relation between ESL student and its culture heritage in using plagiarize material?

Key words

Ethics, plagiarism, acculturation, ethnicity, and criterion ...