Writing Centre Development
PLAGIARISM REHABILITATION AS CATALYST IN THE SUCCESSFUL GROWTH OF THE WRITING CENTRE ENVIROMENT
Zander Janse van Rensburg
NorthWest University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
Plagiarism is a growing concern in the African academic environment and with a growing contingent of firstgeneration students, predominantly nonnative speakers of English, poor writing skills could be a contributing factor. As illustrated by the annual results of the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (Van Dyk & Weideman, 2004), these students are illequipped to write effectively. Therefore the question is: Can plagiarism detection tools/software (e.g. Turnitin) be used to promote development of a writing centre and academic writing skills (Penketh & Beaumont, 2014) (Ledwith & Rísquez, 2008), without compromising the image of the writing centre as a safe haven? Data from a campus specific questionnaire indicated that when students do commit plagiarism it’s mainly because of a lack of knowledge or skill (compare Baird & Dooey, 2014: 389; Devlin & Gray, 2007), which is in keeping with the excuse most frequently presented in defence during disciplinary hearings. Students fear disciplinary hearings; therefore the local writing centre, in collaboration with the local disciplinary office, has been repositioned as a safe haven (Buranen, 2009) to which students can turn for consultation (assistance) against plagiarism. The centre therefore becomes a safe, remedial pedagogical space when students have inadvertently committed a transgression. This paper presents data from the questionnaire on plagiarism and also explains the steps taken based on these findings to create a safe, remedial, pedagogical space. The favoured effect is that the services of the Writing Centre provide opportunities for qualitative and quantitative research on plagiarism and academic writing.
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