Excellence or Academic Dishonesty: How Much Help is Too Much?
Ohio TESOL—November 11, 2011
Lucinda Hunter, Instructor, ESOL Program, Bowling Green State University,
lhunter@bgsu.edu
Amy Cook, Instructor, ESOL Program, Bowling Green State University,
amycook@bgsu.edu
Kimberly Spallinger, Director, ESOL Program, Bowling Green State University,
spallkk@bgsu.edu
Questions for Discussion:
1. How would you answer the question—how much help is too much?
2. Do you think that there is a difference between the amount of help that is
appropriate (in terms of “fixing” grammatical problems/revising language) on a
paper for an ESL class vs. a paper for another academic class?
3. How do you/would you handle cases where students have received too much help
from friends/family members and turned in papers where the writing does not
reflect their true ability or writer’s voice?
4. Have you ever had trouble with legitimate services such as writing center tutors
reformulating students’ writing? How did you/how would you handle such a
situation?
5. Do you allow students to use on-line translators for writing in your classes? Why or
why not?
6. Why do you feel that students struggle to understand the differences between
academic policies in their home countries and in the United States?
7. What are some strategies that you have used with students to discuss academic
honesty in general and specifically to cover the topic of “too much help”?
Excellence or Academic Dishonesty: How Much Help is Too Much?
Ohio TESOL—November 11, 2011
Lucinda Hunter, Instructor, ESOL Program, Bowling Green State University,
lhunter@bgsu.edu
Amy Cook, Instructor, ESOL Program, Bowling Green State University,
amycook@bgsu.edu
Kimberly Spallinger, Director, ESOL Program, Bowling Green State University,
spallkk@bgsu.edu
Some Solutions that we have tried at BGSU:
1. Clarifying language on Achievement Requirements:
a. Specific notes on acceptable places to go for help
b. Policy on on-line translators
c. Changed university written language about academic honesty to be easier
understood by students
2. Maintaining active communication with the Learning Commons (Writing Center)
a. Notifying director of problems
b. Creating a group of tutors with specialized interest in working with ESOL
students
c. Having tutors observe ESOL writing courses
3. Spreading academic honesty discussions throughout the semester
a. Trying to incorporate topic into other in-class work
b. Adapting Purdue OWL’s essay assignment about academic dishonesty for
ESOL writing classes
c. Utilizing games to reinforce concepts
4. Working with students on problematic drafts
a. Giving students vocabulary quizzes over language used in their essays
b. For repeat offender: having student translate BGSU’s academic honesty
policy into her own language (with help from ESOL specialist at the writing
center)
c. Requiring students to revise problematic drafts for portfolio (even if grade
remains the same)
Resources:
Arizona State University Graduate College. A little too much help from your friends:
The slippery slope of collaboration. Retrieved from:
http://graduate.asu.edu/beintheknow/six_sins/too_much_help.
Breland, T. (2011) Battling plagiarism. TESOL Connections, October, 2011. Retrieved
from http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolc/issues/2011-10-01/2.html
Elder, C.Pflugfelder, E. and Angeli, E. (2010). Contextualizing plagiarism. Retrieved
from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/929/1/
Schworm, P. (2008, February 12). College applications can be too good: Admissions
officers wary of slick essays. Boston Globe. Retrieved from
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/02/12/college_appl
ications_can_be_too_good/
Snowden Library Tutorial. Lycoming College. Retrieved from
http://www.lycoming.edu/library/instruction/tutorials/plagiarismGame.aspx
References:
Clark, I. (1996). Are writing centers ethical? WPA: Writing Program Administration
- Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, 20(1/2), 32.
Evans, F., & Youmans, M. (2000). ESL writers discuss plagiarism: The social
construction of ideologies. Journal of Education, 182(3), 49.
Harris, Muriel, and Tony Silva. (1993). Tutoring ESL students: Issues and options.
College Composition and Communication 44(4): 525-37.
Hyland, F. (2001). Dealing with plagiarism when giving feedback. English
Language Teachers Journal, 55(4), 375.
Reid, Joy. (1994). Responding to ESL students’ texts: The myths of appropriation.
TESOL Quarterly 28 (2); 273-92.
Ouellette, M. A. (2008). Weaving strands of writer identity: Self as author and the
NNES “plagiarist.” Journal of Second Language Writing, 17(4), 255-273.
doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2008.05.002
Serivon, C. (2004). Avoiding appropriation. ESL writers: A guide for writing center
tutors. Shanti, B. & Rafoth, B. (Ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.