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Chinese university EFL teachers’ perceptions of plagiarism

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Abstract

Although Chinese university students’ perceptions of plagiarism have been extensively investigated, those of their teachers have been surprisingly under-researched. This study sought to address this gap by investigating 112 Chinese university English teachers’ knowledge of and attitudes towards plagiarism. While 57 participating teachers had overseas academic experience, the remaining ones received all their education in mainland China. They completed a perceptions of plagiarism survey that elicited their knowledge of several common forms of plagiarism in Anglo-American academia, perceptions of various possible causes of plagiarism, and attitudes towards plagiarism induced by different causes and plagiarism in general. The study found that the teachers reported varying knowledge of different types of transgressive textual practices, variegated perceptions of the different causes of plagiarism, but clearly punitive attitudes towards plagiarism. It also revealed significant differences between teachers with and without overseas academic experience in knowledge of and stances on plagiarism. These findings highlight the complexity of plagiarism as an intertextual phenomenon and point to the important role of cultural practices and academic socialisation in shaping perceptions of it.

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Notes

  1. In this study, “Anglo-American” is used as an adjective to denote cultural institutions and norms in such English-speaking countries as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA, which have a shared cultural heritage and a common ethnolinguistic identity.

  2. Despite our best effort to match the overseas-trained and the home-trained teachers for key demographical characteristics, we could not completely rule out the possibility that prior to their participation in the in-service teacher training programme the overseas-trained teachers differed from their home-trained counterparts in other aspects that might have been relevant to their perceptions of plagiarism.

  3. Strictly speaking, Singapore is not an Anglo-American society. Because of its history as a British colony and the dominant status of English as a working language and the medium of instruction, the educational system of the nation-state has been under Anglo-American influences, and its universities follow Anglo-American academic standards and practices.

  4. The instrument is available from the authors upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. English Language and Literature, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore, 637616, Singapore

    Jun Lei & Guangwei Hu

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  1. Jun Lei
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  2. Guangwei Hu
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Correspondence to Jun Lei.

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Lei, J., Hu, G. Chinese university EFL teachers’ perceptions of plagiarism. High Educ 70, 551–565 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9855-5

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