Transcript Academic English and Academic Dishonesty

Academic English:
Avoiding Plagiarism
Paraphrasing
Group Discussion
What is plagiarism?
Come up with a definition.
• Plagiarism can involve two things:
(1) Claiming somebody’s idea
as your own.
(2) Claiming somebody’s words as
your own.
• In academic circles, plagiarism is a
serious offense that can ruin your career.
• It is important for graduate students to
understand the seriousness of the
offense.
• It is especially tempting for graduates
students writing in a foreign language to
use language from native speakers.
How to Avoid Plagiarism
• (1) Don’t claim other people’s ideas as
your own.
This involves (a) writing in-text citations
when you are using other people’s
research and (b) creating a reference list
at the end of your written work.
• (2) Don’t use other people’s words
without direct quotations and citations.
• If you don’t want to use quotations then
you must paraphrase the original text in
your own words (and include a citation).
• It is not acceptable to use large amounts
of texts written by others as your own.
Paraphrasing
• Since an over abundance of quotations
looks bad in academic writing,
paraphrasing is an essential skill for
academic writers.
What is paraphrasing?
• Paraphrasing is changing vocabulary and
sentence structure so that the wording is
original to you (though the idea is still
somebody else’s and must be cited).
Vocabulary: Synonyms
• Perhaps, the easiest way to begin
paraphrasing is to find synonyms for key
words.
Smoking is forbidden in the building.
Smoking is prohibited on the premises.
Vocabulary: Synonyms
• However, there are two important points
to make about using synonyms to
paraphrase.
(1) Make sure the synonym actually
works in that situation.
(2) Many technical terms should not be
paraphrased.
comprehensible input
understandable input
Vocabulary: Antonyms
• Antonyms can also be used when the
structure is changed from an affirmative
sentence to a negative sentence.
• Smoking is prohibited in the building.
• Smoking is not allowed in the building.
Vocabulary: Word Form
• You can also change the form of
important keyword from say a noun to a
verb or adjective.
• Chronic health problems have been
linked to industrialization.
• Chronic health problems have been
linked to the rise of industry.
Sentence Structure:
Affirmative/Negative
• As already mentioned above negative
sentences can be made affirmative or
vice versa. Note some vocabulary shift is
usually required to do this.
Few learners willingly participate.
Most learners do not willingly participate.
Sentence Structure:
Active/Passive Voice
• Another good structural change is
changing active to passive voice or vice
versa.
Researchers have found compelling
evidence that smoking causes cancer.
Compelling evidence that smoking
causes cancer has been found.
Sentence Structure:
Gerund/Infinitive Structures
• Another good structural change is
changing active to passive voice or vice
versa.
Speaking with married women is taboo
in some cultures.
It’s taboo to speak with married women
in some cultures.
Sentence Structure:
Other Structures
• The possibilities are endless for changing
structure. Modals for example can often
be rewritten.
He may have committed a fraud.
It is possible that he committed a fraud.
Paraphrasing Longer Works
• When paraphrasing longer works (as in
doing summaries) you should also
consider changing the sentence order
when possible.
• Over grazing on the steppe lands of Asia
has resulted in a loss of ground cover.
This in turn has left soil exposed to the
wind resulting in a yellow dust that
blows across China, Korea, and Japan.
• The yellow dust that afflicts some East
Asian countries occurs as a result of soil
being exposed to winds. This is due to
overgrazing on the Asian steppe which
erodes the ground cover.
• Let’s try some examples in class.