Shakespeare’s beloved Hamlet did not ask, “To plagiarize or not to plagiarize? That is the question.” But that is often, despite the claims of innocence, the real question many ESL students ask before taking the plunge into the addictive abyss of academic dishonesty. Of course, to be sure, there are some students who simply do not know what constitutes plagiarism. However, these are few and far between. In most cases, the guilty students claim, “I didn’t have time, so I just cut and pasted it off the Internet. I won’t do it again. I promise.” Sometimes they are true to their word . . . sometimes they are not. Almost always they know they should not have done it.

Students often claim that they do not actually know what plagiarism is. Cheating, on the other hand, is a simpler matter. They know it is wrong when they do it. I would consequently like to offer this painless three-step process that guarantees the problems of cheating and plagiarism will stop in the classroom: (1) a true/false quiz on cheating and plagiarism; (2) a short worksheet on plagiarism; and (3) a contract signed by the students, the teacher, and the student advisor or the director stating that if a student cheats or plagiarizes, he or she will fail the course.

Although I use this method at the university level, I think it can be used at all levels of education. Since instituting this three-step process, the number of students who cheat or plagiarize in my classes has significantly decreased.

Step 1: The True/False Quiz

During the first week of the course, I give a true/false quiz with approximately 20 statements that cover all aspects of plagiarism. Here are some examples:

• Plagiarism is a good study skill that all students should use.
• Plagiarism is an academic crime.
• Plagiarism means to steal someone else’s work and pass it off as one’s own work.
• Students may fail a class if they get caught plagiarizing.
• If you can’t find the source, it is all right to plagiarize.
• You can copy example sentences from a dictionary and use them in assignments.
• If you summarize an idea that is not yours, you don’t need to cite it.
• Copying something that you wrote on the web is not plagiarism.
• If you paraphrase something, you do not need to cite the source.
• Using something you read in a newspaper or something you heard on TV or heard from a friend is not plagiarizing.
• Anything that is not yours must be cited.
• Plagiarism is all right if the professor doesn’t discover it.

After the students answer these on their own, they check their answers with a partner and discuss the results. Then we carefully go over each point and discuss the truth or falsity behind each one. This in itself clarifies a great deal for the students. Everyone is clear what actually constitutes plagiarism. The effective element of the quiz is that it always generates very good questions on the particulars of plagiarism. Students are almost always surprised about the U.S. laws on intellectual property.

Step 2: The Worksheet

Next, the students pair up and do a worksheet that has three sections, which vary from obvious plagiarism to a well-paraphrased and cited passage. I ask questions about the three different passages that again elicit a number of questions about what exactly constitutes plagiarism. The worksheet has one sample that has obviously been plagiarized. The students are given the exact website from which the material was taken, and they can see that it is a blatant cut-and-paste job. The second sample is a nicely paraphrased passage of the text. However, there are no citations. The last sample is a nicely paraphrased and well-cited writing sample. By analyzing this, the students understand what is expected of them and understand the need for citation. After going over this, the instructor can also discuss the use of quotations and then reiterate the need to cite paraphrased material.

Step 3: The Contract

Finally, the students sign a contract acknowledging that they understand precisely what plagiarism and cheating are. This last step greatly inhibits any notion of trying to get away with either of the academic crimes.

The contract has four clauses: the first addresses the student’s understanding of what exactly constitutes both cheating and plagiarism; the second demonstrates that the student is aware that if he or she is caught, he or she will receive a failing grade for that particular assignment; the third clause details that the plagiarized assignment may cause the student to fail the class; and the final clause states that the student is clear on all of the above and acknowledges the consequences. The student signs his or her name in all four clauses. The contract is then signed by the lecturer of the class and the academic advisor or the director of the ESL institute.

Since instituting this three-step method, the number of students in my classes who plagiarize each term has dropped from an average of four or five to zero. It is effective because it leaves no doubt in the students’ minds as to what plagiarism is, and it ensures that they are aware of the severity of the issue and acknowledge the consequences. And ultimately, the original question of “To plagiarize or not to plagiarize?” becomes a ghost that we can all put to rest.

Variations

A variation on the last step is a contract developed by the instructor and the students. Here the instructor of the writing class and the students write up the contract together. Then the instructor or one of the students types up and distributes the group-worked contract to the class. These are then signed and filed in the same way as the above are signed and filed. This is perhaps even more effective because each person in the class has now both physically and mentally invested time and effort in the contract. And now the dark question of whether to cheat or plagiarize most definitely becomes a ghost of the past.

Patrick T. Randolph lives in Kalamazoo with his wife, Gamze, his 9-month-old daughter, Aylene, and their cat, Gable. He teaches in the ESL Program at Western Michigan University. Currently he is working on a book with Paul McPherron (to be published by TESOL) on the theory and practice of teaching idioms.