Written by Ruby, 2021 Cohort
As an international student, I completed my undergraduate degree in Canada. Although I did not go to university in China, from the experiences of people I know, I have noticed some cultural differences in plagiarism between the two countries. Generally speaking, I think Canadians take plagiarism more seriously than the Chinese. This can be concluded mainly from two aspects, one is academic dishonesty education, and the other is the consequences one can experience.
Plagiarism Education
From my freshman year at SFU, the instructor in my writing class was spending half of the semester teaching the students what is plagiarism, why it matters, and how to avoid it. They especially emphasized what is considered plagiarism in Canada in comparison to other cultures, and the consequences of plagiarism in SFU. Even as an international student, this made me realize that academic dishonesty in Canada is a serious thing. In China, I haven’t heard anyone mention to me that they have courses in universities that teach them how to avoid academic dishonesty. Instead, I’ve heard many people tell me privately about how they “copy-paste” materials from online sources as their own work in assignments. Perhaps because there are too many students in the same class in China, the instructors are unable to check every student’s assignment. This leads to students being more “self-indulgent” in China.
Plagiarism Penalties
On the other hand, there are some differences in school penalties between China and Canada. In Canada, academic dishonesty at its worst can lead to students being expelled from school. Depending on the number of records, the student may be penalized for failing the assignment for the first time. The second time is usually falling for the course. However, in China, only the university entrance examination is absolutely intolerant to cheating. However, in China, cheating is absolutely not tolerated only in the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE). When students enter university, most universities do not offer courses to educate students about academic dishonesty. Punishment for plagiarism is generally more lenient than in Canadian universities. In most cases, the teacher will talk to the student privately, inform the parents, or retake the test. In more severe cases, the student will fail the course but hardly ever be expelled from school.
Therefore, the attitude of Chinese students towards plagiarism is that they know it is a bad thing, but will not be particularly careful to avoid it. This indirectly causes many Chinese students to take plagiarism less seriously when they first come to Canada.