Taslima Akter ID no. 2013-2-92-006 Program: ELT East West University Zohur Ahmed Assistant ...

114 Pages·2016·1.39 MB·English

Exploring the Forms, Causes and Remedies of Plagiarism in the Academic Writing of Graduate
Students in the Private Universities in Bangladesh

Taslima Akter
ID no. 2013-2-92-006
Program: ELT
East West University

Zohur Ahmed
Assistant Professor
Department of English
East West University

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Masters of Arts in ELT

East West University
Aftabnagar
Dhaka-1212
17 January 2016
Running head: FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Exploring the forms, causes and remedies of plagiarism in the academic writing of graduate
students in the private universities in Bangladesh

Taslima Akter
East West University

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FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Declaration

I hereby declare that this dissertation represents my own work and that it has not been
previously submitted to this university or any other institution for a degree, diploma or any other
certification.

Signature:

Taslima Akter

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FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Certification

This dissertation, titled ‘Exploring the forms, causes and remedies of plagiarism in the academic
writing of graduate students in the private universities in Bangladesh.’ by Taslima Akter, ID.
2013-2-92-006 is being submitted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
MA in ELT.

_____________________
Name & Affiliation

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FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Abstract
Plagiarism is a well-documented problem in the academic writing of students. This paper reports
on a study aimed at investigating the forms, causes and remedies of plagiarism in the graduate
students’ academic writing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five teachers to
know about their own ways of defining plagiarism, tracing techniques restricting this academic
theft. A questionnaire based on Likert scale was administered to 20 graduate students of two
private universities to gather information about the forms or ways, causes and remedies of
plagiarism. They were also given home assignments to write so that we could trace out their
forms of plagiarism as proof. The data across the three tools revealed plagiarism is prevalent to a
large extent in the students’ academic paper which is a big threat to the academic integrity. The
growth of internet use, lack of awareness about academic writing and plagiarism issue, deliberate
copying through internet without acknowledgement, bad paraphrasing, students’ unwillingness to
work hard, lack of proper application of university plagiarism policy etc. have been found to be
the prime agents of graduate students’ plagiarism. By raising enough awareness among students
and teachers, giving them proper training on academic writing as well as plagiarism issue and its
rules to avoid it, and adopting plagiarism checker, we can reduce this academic dishonesty and
subsequently originate creative writers. Suggestions for further research in wider timeframe and
with more respondents are also suggested to know more about the academic document and
plagiarism issue.
Key words: plagiarism, academic writing, plagiarism policy, academic integrity, internet
use, acknowledgement, plagiarism checker, training

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FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Acknowledgement
Plagiarism is a serious problem all over the world especially in our country. I have
initiated to conduct some research in this field because personally I have experienced a lot of
gaps in my friends’ writing and in our education arena and in doing so I have been gifted lots of
suggestions and opinions by a number of persons who I really appreciate. First of all I express
my sincere gratitude and thanks to my research guide Mr. Zohur Ahmed, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of English, East West University for his sincere guidance in completing the study. He is so
good mannered and resourceful teacher that I really felt comfortable and stress free to work with
him. I am also grateful to Dr. Mian Mohammad Naushaad Kabir, Assistant Professor, Institute of
Modern Language (IML), University of Dhaka and Dr. Shahariar Hoque, Dean, East West
University & Mr. M S Arefeen, Lecturer, Dept. of English, King Khalid University, KSA for
their fruitful suggestions in this field. I would also like to mention the support and helpful
attitude of all the respondents i.e. the teachers and the students, who rendered their cooperation
while collecting the data for the survey.
I also express my thanks to the library staffs of East West University to have used the
library facilities and also for helping me to find out the necessary information required.
Finally I convey my indebtedness to my family members to give me freedom and time
and Mr. M S Arefeen, Lecturer, Dept. of English, King Khalid University, KSA and Mr. Shahe
Arefin, a student of BBA, South East University for their computational assistance.

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FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Table of Contents
Abstract iv
Acknowledgement v
Chapter
1. Introduction 1
1.1. Background 1
1.2. Assumption 4
1.3. Problem Statement 4
1.4. Hypothesis 5
1.5. Research Questions 5
1.6. Scopes 5
1.7. Limitations 5
2. Literature Review 7
2.1. Plagiarism is a big problem 7
2.2. Types of plagiarism 8
2.3. Classification of plagiarism 9
2.4. Causes of plagiarism 10
2.5. How students plagiarize? 11
2.6. Failure of citing/referencing properly 12
2.7. Cheating vs. plagiarism 12
2.8. Unacknowledged copying and paraphrasing 13
2.9. Copyright and plagiarism 13
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FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

2.10. Ownership and plagiarism 14
2.11. Efficient writer and poor writer 15
2.12. Plagiarism and learning and skills 15
2.13. Consequences of plagiarism 16
2.14. Who plagiarizes more? 16
2.15. Some steps and strategies to prevent plagiarism 17
2.16. Use of plagiarism checker 20
2.17. Critical analysis 22
3. Methodology 26
3.1. Participants 26
3.2. Methods and techniques of data collecting 26
3.3. Research tools 27
4. Data Findings and Interpretation 28
4.1. Data interpretation process 28
4.2. Data findings and analysis from teachers’ interview 29
4.2.1. Data findings 29
4.2.1. a. Common themes from teachers’ interview 29
4.2.1. b. Different themes from teachers’ interview 31
4.2.2. Data Analysis 35
4.3. Data findings and analysis from Likert scale 39
4.3.1. Data findings 39
4.3.1. a. Forms or ways of plagiarism 39
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FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

4.3.1. b. Causes of plagiarism 49
4.3.1. c. Solution of plagiarism 64
4.3.2. Data analysis 66
4.4. Data findings and analysis from students’ documents 73
4.4.1. Data findings 73
4.4.2. Data Analysis 78
4.5. Overall critical reflection on collective data 81
5. Pedagogic Implications and Recommendations 83
5.1. Implications 83
5.2. Recommendations 83
6. Conclusion 87
References ix
Appendices xvii
Appendix A. Semi-structured interview questions for teachers. xvii
Appendix B. Likert Scale based questionnaire for the students. xviii
Appendix C. Materials used for the written document xxii

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FORMS, CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WRITING

Table of Contents
Abstract iv
Acknowledgement v
Chapter
1. Introduction 1
1.1. Background 1
1.2. Assumption 4
1.3. Problem Statement 4
1.4. Hypothesis 5
1.5. Research Questions 5
1.6. Scopes 5
1.7. Limitations 5
2. Literature Review 7
2.1. Plagiarism is a big problem 7
2.2. Types of plagiarism 8
2.3. Classification of plagiarism 9
2.4. Causes of plagiarism 10
2.5. How students plagiarize? 11
2.6. Failure of citing/referencing properly 12
2.7. Cheating vs. plagiarism 12
2.8. Unacknowledged copying and paraphrasing 13
2.9. Copyright and plagiarism 13
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