A Study On The Plagiarism Of English Majors In Their MA Theses

Originality is one of the most important indicators to the quality of an MA (Master ofArts) thesis. However, plagiarism has become a growing concern nowadays. Previousstudies on plagiarism have shown that on the one hand, this phenomenon exists all the timeand its seriousness is on the rise in recent years; on the other hand, this phenomenon hasquite a wide range, from junior high school students to graduate students. However, mostof these studies focus on the undergraduate students in L1(First Language) context.The current research studies500MA theses written by English majors in L2(SecondLanguage) environment. As for the methods, this study is conducted in a rather large scaleand adopts an on-line detection tool. Based on the regulations on plagiarism from severaluniversities in China, the collected data are divided into four levels,0-20%,21%-30%,31%-50%and above50%, which in this thesis are defined as “reasonable copying”,“slightplagiarism”,“moderate plagiarism”, and “severe plagiarism”. Finally, an auxiliaryquestionnaire is conducted among30graduates to explore the reasons behind thephenomenon. Three research questions are addressed below:1. To what extent do the students plagiarize others in their MA theses?2. What are the differences and similarities of plagiarism of the students in differentgroups?1) What are the differences and similarities of the plagiarism in the students’ MAtheses in different graduation years?2) What are the differences and similarities of the plagiarism in the students’ MAtheses in different school types?3) What are the differences and similarities of the plagiarism in the students’ MAtheses in different specialities?3. What are the reasons that mainly drive the plagiarism?The major findings of the study are as follows:As for the general situation, first,55.4%of the students in the three years committedplagiarism which is above20%, and1.2%of the texts were regarded as committingplagiarism very severely. Second, based on their sources, the mean percentage of similarityindex with Internet source ranks the first among the three kinds of sources. As for the situation in different groups, first of all, the quality of English majors’ MAtheses in those years is turning better for that the ratio of “reasonable copying” isincreasing while the ratio of three other types of plagiarism is decreasing, and in each ofthe three years, source from Internet always ranks the first. Secondly, similarity index hasno significant difference among the different school types, but the mean percentage ofother schools is the highest in terms of source from Internet and of source from studentpapers, while those from “985” schools commit the highest in terms of source frompublications. Thirdly, it indicates that students in translation studies commit the leastplagiarism based on the detection result of Turnitin.As for the factors contributing to plagiarism, the most common ones are limitedknowledge of plagiarism, lack of time, lack of confidence in language proficiency, andlack of access to various sources, according to the perception of thirty students who wereasked to do a questionnaire.The findings of the present study indicate the following pedagogical implications:first, the concept of plagiarism should be put in a significant place in the instruction ofacademic writing; second, in terms of sources, students should be provided with morepublications and be taught to make use of the Internet more efficiently; third, theimprovement of writing capability is the prerequisite for reducing plagiarism.