Volume 3, No. 1, May 2007

Dealing with plagiarism at a Japanese university: a foreign teacher's perspective

Robert W. Norris, Fukuoka International University, Japan.

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Abstract

Most of the current research on academic plagiarism that is available in English deals with English writing done by native and nonnative speakers. Little research has been done by native speakers teaching in a foreign language. This paper documents my own case as an American professor teaching at a Japanese university. The first section of the paper covers my experiences and difficulties in coping with an increasing amount of plagiarism in my classes conducted in Japanese. The next section summarizes the research I did on the definition of plagiarism, on the question of cultural influences, and on reasons students plagiarize. The following section reviews recommendations and measures that schools and researchers in the West are trying to implement to combat the problem. The purpose is to look for possible implications for the situation in Japan. The final section discusses the results of my reflective practice.