English Language Development and Academic Integrity – Making the Connection

Abstract

Cultural differences and language barriers have been attributed to plagiarism incidents among ESL students at university. It is a known fact that misinterpretation can occur among university students for whom English is a second language, particularly when it comes to understanding the norms of referencing and academic writing requirements. Language differences have been identified as potential barriers to academic writing which in turn is related to academic integrity ( LaRay Barna 1994; Correa, 2011). Non familiarity with source use and inadequate skills to summarize and paraphrase effectively, and inability to quote sources to strengthen arguments in assignments, have been cited as reasons for poor referencing practices and plagiarism among ESL students. This paper focusses on a teaching excellence and developmental project that investigated student understanding of academic integrity and advancing student skills in paraphrasing and referencing. The project involved conduct of workshops for students on integrating source use and synthesis skills training and seminars for staff for increasing awareness of academic integrity among students. The project findings point to improved student learning outcomes and development of English language proficiency.



Author Information
Beena Giridharan, Curtin University, Malaysia

Paper Information
Conference: ECE2017
Stream: Educational Policy, Leadership, Management and Administration

This paper is part of the ECE2017 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon