Why has it been claimed that students who use English as a second language are more likely to plagiarise

Introduction The users of English language as a second language especially in schools have a higher temptation of committing plagiarism. ESL students are also not very confident on their original English words especially when they use them in addressing a native English speaker.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Why has it been claimed that students who use English as a second language are more likely to plagiarise? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Some countries where these students come from like China and Japan put little or no emphasis on the need for proper citation in acknowledging the works of others. This may be the foundation of academic dishonesty among such students. According to (Dant, 1986, p.81) students in high schools are taught to copy without giving credit to the owner of a certain written work. There are also debates on what plagiarism is as others argue that there are no original words as all pe ople use words learnt from others. Learning institutions that admit students who use English as their second language (ESL) should put in place the necessary measures to educate them on the evils of plagiarism besides showing them how to avoid it. This will benefit both the students and the schools in improving the learning standards. As such, the paper seeks to discuss the factors that predispose ESL students to be more involved in plagiarism. Reasons why ESL students are more likely to plagiarise ESL learners may be ignorant of plagiarism. According to (Piety, 2002, p.1), people have done plagiarism at some point unintentionally. Most of the people who find themselves in gross violation of plagiarism standards do not know whether they are plagiarising other peoples work or not. There are various reasons as to why students who use English as their second language are more likely to be involved in plagiarism. Although there is no conventional definition of plagiarism, it can be defi ned as the use of words or even phrases of another person and rewording thoughts of another person in a closely related manner. This means that students who use English as a second language may involve themselves in plagiarism without any intention. Some schools even go to the extent of encouraging students to copy others’ work from the textbooks in most Chinese schools, for instance. The use of other people’s work is also a show of learning and accomplishment in China (Buranen, 1999, p.69). Such students are ignorant of their plagiaristic actions.Advertising Looking for essay on languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Since they have been taught to use other people’s work as a sign of having read the work, they use direct wordings of the writers to prove it. In some schools, teachers also demand direct wording of answers as they appear in certain books. Some academic discipline may also encourage ESL s tudents to plagiarise. For example, science subjects require direct answers as they appear from the discipline masters. This implies a higher likelihood of plagiarism in the works of undergraduate students. Students that use English as the second language also face difficulties in distinguishing between plagiarisms and paraphrasing. The ESL students therefore plagiarise more due to confusion and variation in expectations. According to (Hall, 2005, p.12), plagiarism arises from confusion and different expectations. Confusion between plagiarism and paraphrasing will always exist. This means that, up to date, there is no clear distinction between the two. In many cases, students are taught to paraphrase original work when writing their academic papers and dissertations. To the ESL students who have language variety limitation, paraphrasing may not be any different from plagiarising. This holds because their limited English words may not have a variety of words. Hence, they just replace each word from the original word with another word that they think bears the same meaning. This makes a little or no difference between having plagiarised and having paraphrased other peoples work. In addition, institutional meaning and scope of plagiarism differs. The scope of plagiarism varies from one institution to the other. According to (Meyers, 1998, p.2), there is no single definition of plagiarism. The definitions exist in the form of institutional rules and regulations rather than a law. This may refer to the use of another person’s ideas and words and not acknowledging them or even failure to acknowledge the owners of language, research, and ideas used in essays, dissertations, and other written works. The ESL students are therefore likely to adapt to the plagiarism rules of the school they join rather than applying what they already leant from their previous schools.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Why has it been claimed that students who use English as a second language are more likely to plagiarise? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This variation of what constitutes plagiarism in one institution and what constitute it in another institution may predispose the ESL student to plagiarism. Furthermore, variations of language rules may also make them easily fall in the plagiarism trap. Moreover, cultural influence is another reason as to why ESL students plagiarise. According to (Hu, 2001, p.54), science and history students are required to find sources to copy from them not only in China but also in Italy. These students are also advised to directly copy author sources that are well honored as a sign of intelligence and good judgments (William, 1995, p.27). When these students join schools that use English as a language of instruction, they find it difficult to avoid this temptation. However, regardless of their academic orientation, these new institutions consider such actions as plagiarism. The ESL students therefore find themselves being involved in plagiarism due to their cultural predisposition. Since the academic culture and their first language in which these students have been brought up disregard plagiarism, it becomes difficult for them to avoid it even when using English as a second language. Laxity of some institutions in enforcing plagiarism regulations is also a reason as to why ESL students are more likely to be involved in plagiarism. According to Dryden (1995, p.5), as long as students mention all books in their bibliography, they can present the ideas from the books as if they were theirs especially if the patchwork is beautiful. This means that some institutions are never strict on plagiarism. The ESL students that join institutions that use English as a language of instruction may come from such institutions. If the previous institutions did not put much emphasis on writing original works and even citing parts or sentences deriv ed from other people’s work, such students are likely to plagiarise. Since most institutions are reluctant to enforce plagiarism regulations, each individual institution should then devise means of curbing plagiarism.Advertising Looking for essay on languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Moreover, poor language and writing skills in second language is another reason why ESL students are likely to plagiarise more. According to (Liu, 2005, p.234), plagiarising in a second language is predominantly a linguistic matter. Therefore, the main reason for Asian ESL students to plagiarise is poor language and writing skills. This therefore means that, since the ESL students have poor or little mastery of the English language that is used as a language of instruction and examination, they copy the work of those they believe have better mastery of the language. This makes them assured that they will not fail because of poor wording. The ESL students are also forced to memorise as a means of learning since the language aspect also becomes a new area of learning in addition to their academic discipline. The ESL students take memorising as a tool for learning (Liu, 2005, p.237). Since every language is learned with learning being a process, the ESL students are faced with an extra working area than the native English speakers. The ESL students lack confidence in their second language writing skills. According to (Buranen, 1999, p.73), much plagiarism done by English as second language and English as foreign language students comes of fear of punishment for grammatical mistakes. It is due to poor English language skills that these students are tempted to plagiarise in order to comply with the language regulations of the institution to avoid failing because of poor language of communication. They also fear that their ideas and arguments on the examinations may not come out clearly in their own original works especially on assignments and examinations papers. The aspect of learning another language also becomes a burden to the student. It is an additional workload to the learner. It is easier to note the writing of a writer who is a nonnative speaker (Buranen, 1999, p.70: McCabe, 2003 p.23). This means that his/her writing depicts a lot of clichà ©s and altern ative words since most of the ESL students are not sure of the meaning of the English words they use, for example, use of words like or, even, either, and many others. This makes them uncertain of whether the words that they used were interpreted to carry the same meaning as they intended. Conclusion In conclusion, while there is no conventional definition of the word plagiarism, the use of other peoples works without acknowledgement amounts to academic dishonesty. Students who use English language as their second language are more likely to be victims of plagiarism. This follows due to various predisposing factors like being ignorant of having made plagiarism mistakes, cultural orientation and variations, institutional laxity, increased access to the internet, lack of confidence in professional use of English as a second language, and poor mastery of the English language writing skills. It is therefore imperative that institutions that admit students that use English as a second la nguage put in place mechanisms to ensure that ESL students are taught how to avoid plagiarism and the penalties of making such academic crimes. Reference List Buranen, L. (1999). But I wasn’t cheating. Perspectives on plagiarism and intellectual  property in a postmodern world. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press. Dant, D. (1986). Plagiarism in high school: A survey. English Jot/mal, 75(1), 81-84. Dryden, L. (1999). No more copying? Plagiarism reconsidered, with a view to reducing it  In student writing. Paper presented at the KOTESOL proceedings PAC2. Seoul. Korea: The Second PanAmerican Conference. Hall, J. (2005). Plagiarism across the curriculum: How academic communities can meet  The challenge of the undocumented writer. ATD. Across the disciplines. Interdisciplinary perspectives on language, learning and academic writing. Retrieved from http://wac.colostate.edu/atd/articles/hall2005.cfm Hu, J. (2001). An alternative perspective of language reuse: Insi ghts from textual and Learning theories and L2 academic writing. English Quarterly, 33(1), p. 27. Liu, D. (2005). Plagiarism in ESOL students: Is cultural conditioning truly the major Culprit?. English Language Teaching Journal, 59(3), p. 237. McCabe, D. (2003). Promoting academic integrity: A US/Canadian perspective in  Educational integrity: Plagiarism and other perplexities. The proceedings of the Australian Educational Integrity Conference. Australia: University of South Australia. Piety, M. (2002). A culture of plagiarism. London: Drexel University. 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