Abstract
Cultural and developmental perspectives (Flowerdew & Li, 2007) of plagiarism were explored through interviews with Chinese graduates of UK master's degrees after they have returned to work in transnational higher education in China. This allowed reflection on experiences of plagiarism in the context of the participants' educational history, life in the UK and their return to China. These accounts provided narratives of their development of academic integrity and a cultural comparison of the British and Chinese understandings of plagiarism. Interpretive repertoires (Gilbert & Mulkay, 1984) identified the significant commonalities and inconsistencies within and between the participants' accounts. The findings suggest that the participants use UK institutional vocabulary and have developed a more strict approach to plagiarism and academic integrity during their master's course and in their subsequent educational career. Analysis indicates that rather than being equivalents, plagiarism and the corresponding Chinese terms are dependent on the particular assessment backgrounds in the UK and China. Having moved between and adapting to these educational contexts, the potential for these returning Chinese graduates to act as a cultural bridge for academic integrity within internationalised higher education is discussed.
Highlights
International education has faced a perceived plagiarism ‘epidemic’ (Howard, 2004) as staff, students and institutions attempt to deal with the shift to the era of the internet and internationalisation (Sutherland-Smith, 2008)
This study explores the intercultural (Gu, 2009) nature of plagiarism using a unique sample of the Chinese population who hold UK master’s degrees and are employed in transnational higher education in China
The narratives and resulting interpretive repertoires provide a cultural comparison of academic integrity in the British and Chinese educational contexts
Summary
International education has faced a perceived plagiarism ‘epidemic’ (Howard, 2004) as staff, students and institutions attempt to deal with the shift to the era of the internet and internationalisation (Sutherland-Smith, 2008). In this context, Chinese learners have been singled out for particular attention as a result of issues concerning learning style and cross-cultural conceptualisations of plagiarism (Bloch, 2012; Jin & Cortazzi, 2006; Leask, 2006; Pennycook, 1996). The participants’ knowledge and educational experience provide an opportunity for an informed comparison of plagiarism in Chinese and UK educational contexts and a reflection on the development of academic integrity
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