This document contains the agenda and notes from an English literacy course. It discusses plagiarism and ownership of texts from various cultural perspectives. Several students share their experiences with textual borrowing and memorization when learning English. It is noted that plagiarism needs to be examined considering the complex relationships between textual construction, learning and memory. Classroom practices are discussed, such as refraining from cultural stereotyping and understanding students' positions on text and learning before accusing them of plagiarism.

1. ENGL: 725/825: Second Language LiteracySession # 5

2. The 6th Annual LGBT Film Festival is to be held at 6 PM in Beard Auditorium, Stouffer Hall, Sunday evenings in October (October 4, 11, 18, 25.)Showing of American Violet, Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 7 p.m. in HUB Susquehanna RoomThree Rivers TESOL, October 1 due dateNNEST Newsletter Call for Manuscript. Due date October 5. See the NNEST IS website for details.Article for JSLW or JEAP: “Dialogic, multivocal writing: Voices from a second language literacy course”: Email Dr. Seloni if interested in working on this. Open a gmail account as we’ll be using googledocsas a writing tool. Send your gmail address to lisyaseloni@gmail.comAnnouncements

3. Viewing a short segment of WABYour voices about textual ownership: Reading Blogs and Class DiscussionViewing segments of WAB Key Theoretical Concepts: Plagiarism, textual ownership, authorship, and learning Discussion of Plagiarism (Theo and Wan-Ning)Brainstorming Research topics for your ProposalsAgenda

4. WAB– 14:19-17:04What are your believes about plagiarism and intellectual property? Have your believes changed after this week’s readings? If so, describe how?Citation Practices and International Students

5. One of the charges which is considered as the ultimate violation of academic integrity is plagiarism. According to Bloch, “The integration of previously published written texts into a new text is governed by a set of rules, the violation of which is called plagiarism. I would contend that this definition of plagiarism is qualified in that it has not considered critically the varying perception of plagiarism in different cultures. Obviously, plagiarism is a construct coined in the Western academia which has not reflected the Oriental realities with regard to the production and promotion of knowledge.Zaman says…

6. I would propose that before we consider plagiarism as a crime, we must acknowledge that the development of knowledge is a gradual and consensual phenomenon, which surpasses the special and temporal boundaries to maintain a linear connection between past and present, so the future is sustained. And, of course, students should be allowed to take part in this act of intellectual tradition without being punished at least until plagiarism is clearly defined. The following question merits critical consideration while plagiarism is defined:In some cultures, memorizing written discourses is considered critical to one’s intellectual development; therefore, regurgitating memorized discourses is not considered as a crime in academia at all. When a student of this background comes to an academic culture which considers memorization as plagiarism, who should be in position of compromise—the student or the academia—to ensure his/her academic development?Zaman continues…

7. Pennycook redefines the concept of plagiarism in relationship to text, memory, and learning. Such a reconfiguration of plagiarism allows us, as language teachers, to gain more insights into textual borrowing and language use and creativity. I put them in order because as an EFL language teacher and teacher educator, I can relate and identify with Pennycook’s line of thought. In my teaching context, my students rely heavily on textual borrowing which they employ in their language use (mostly in writing but also in speaking), up to the moment where you can sense a certain “creativity” in their language use. Will they be able to develop ownership over the language, will they “appropriate” the language, to use Vygotsky’s concept, or not.Hayat says…

8. In my university in Japan, it was a habit for some students to submit their course paper by cutting and pasting documents from websites. I think not only students in my university but also ones in any other collage students should have any experience of doing this as Pennycook (1996) reported in the book (Casanave, p.172)In fact, I did plagiarism. When I was a freshman, I joined a summer ESL program in Cambridge, England. Over there, students are allowed to listen to lectures by professors from several fields such as English literature, anthropology, and politics. Each course required students to write "academic paper" at the end of the course. At that time, I had no idea what is APA styles. Even I had never thought of a concept "citation". Asuka admits….

9. "If a person’s identity is defined in terms of things owned, and if words and ideas can be owned as a type of property, then the worst crime for a person to commit in the academic community is the ‘‘identity’’ theft of another’s property since the plagiarist passes up the chance to develop his or her own". (Ouellette, 2008, 256). To my mind, such statements seem to connect between language, identity, and learning and view plagiarism in terms of ethical binaries. Yet, how should we differentiate or draw conceptual framework between plagiarism and common knowledge? Should we, as EFL/ESL writing teachers, consider plagiarism as part of literacy practices that govern identity construction? if so, how and why? Osman successfully cites and says…

10. Plagiarism is more than academic crime. Rooted in political, sociocultural realitiesNeeds to be examined and understood in terms of complex relationships between textual construction, learning and memory (Pennycook)Changing textual practices. How do we define plagiarism in the era of Internet/electronic interactions?Multiliteracies and ownership of texts authorshipPlagiarism and textual ownership: Is plagiarism a way of learning?

11. Collaborative writing: Who is the owner of the text?Electronic writing: Blogging, wikipedia, googledocs, Emailing, word-processingAre academic communities “more concerned with excluding new members than with ways of admitting them”? (Giroux)What type of difficulties do electronic texts present with respect to issues such as authorship and intellectual property?Changing writing practices

12. Casanave’s review on audience and plagiarismPennycook’s intellectually stimulating article on otogenesis of authorship and textual ownership. The relationship between text, memory and learning.Joel Bloch’s article on authorship and intellectual property in the era of Internet.Diane Pecorari’s research University Responses to plagiarismThis week’s articles

13. …..levels of Plagiarism?Owl online writing lab,owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/r esearch/r_plagiar.html

14. TheoWan-NingDiscussion Facilitators

15. Move away from simplistic categorization and stereotypes such as “It’s culturally accepted to plagiarize in Asia”As Pennycook stated, cross-cultural communication is a site of struggle and contestation. The notion of plagiarism is needed to be understood within the particular context of its development as well as relative to alternative cultural practices.Classroom Practices

16. Refrain from cultural stereotyping and cultural derogation when it comes to teaching L2 students rules and conventions in English academic writing—moving away from oversimplificationsTry to understand students’ positions on text, memorization and learning before accusing them of any academic crime such as the act of “deliberate” plagiarism. Pecorari (2001), " inadvertent plagiarism must be treated not as a crime but as an opportunity to educate students" (p.174)Classroom Practices

17. Remember that some students might not have a full understanding of plagiarism as it is defined in US context. It is crucial to engage students into a dialogue about plagiarism and textual ownership.

18. I remember writing down phrases, words, sentences, and paragraphs I admired in order to improve my English (German or French). When learning a language, I do not really care about plagiarism. I learn patterns, words and phrases in context. I admit that the next step would be to use those phrases and grammar patterns in a different context, but it all starts with somebody's text. Therefore, the more you learn, the more influences you have from different authors (or maybe just few, depending on student's and teacher's preferences). In the end, once you are proficient in language, you might not even remember where you got ideas and phrases from. In Bakhtin's terms, you have appropriated them; in Western terms, you plagiarize them.I learned English by repeating, memorizing, and appropriating. Or plagiarizing?To quote one of the students, "Perhaps, plagiarism is a way of learning" (Pennycoook, 1996, p.225).Alyona says…

19. It is important to understand authorship, authority and plagiarism as located not within some objective describable system of textual relations but rather in a historically established system for the distribution of social power and privilege” (Scollon, 1995, p, 25 cited in Pennycook, 1996, p. 227)Final words…

20. http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=6595http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=6767IRB Protocol and IRB meeting Dates

21. Blogging about your research topic. Respond to at least one classmate’s research topic.Schedule an appointment to see me next week about your individual topics.Readings.Blogging on readings.Assignments