In Your Own Words: Ideological Dilemmas in English Teachers’ Talk About Plagiarism
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
IN YOUR OWN WORDS: IDEOLOGICAL DILEMMAS IN ENGLISH TEACHERS’ TALK ABOUT PLAGIARISM by Steven John Engel A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English and Education) in The University of Michigan 2014 Doctoral Committee: Professor Anne Ruggles Gere, Co-Chair Emerita Professor Lesley A. Rex, Co-Chair Professor Anne L. Curzan Associate Professor Barry J. Fishman © Steven John Engel 2014 DEDICATION To Jennifer, my wife and best friend, who inspires me, and To Phoebe and Elizabeth, who show me what is possible. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “It is also important, if you've had a conversation with a peer or a professor who has helped you substantially in establishing your ideas on a given text, that you cite that conversation at the appropriate point in your essay. (e.g. ‘My ideas about Macbeth derive in part from a conversation with Professor Jones.’ The citation can be more specific than this, depending on the level of detailed assistance you received.)” —University of Michigan English Department Memo on Plagiarism My ideas about plagiarism, my ways of thinking about language and teaching, my attitudes about researching and knowing, and my understanding of what it means to be a scholar derive in part from many conversations with Anne Gere, Lesley Rex, Anne Curzan, and Barry Fishman. My ideas about what a great teacher is derive in part from my experience with John Baynes, Peter Marchant, and Gary Wiener. My ideas about why this project is important come from my students in my classes who taught me about the true objects of learning. My ideas about how to write, how to shape rough ideas into polished prose, how to persevere when feeling overwhelmed, and how to believe in the work I am doing derive in part from Staci Shultz, Hannah Dickinson, Stephanie Moody, Tim Green, Danielle Lillge, Zak Lancaster, Moisés Perales Escudero and the other members of the Joint Program of English and Education. My ideas about graduate school and friendship, of collaboration, of publishing, and of thinking grand thoughts derive in part from late-night conversations about writing and debates about baseball with Christopher Gerben. My ideas about the importance of family derive in part from my parents John and Carol Engel, and my siblings Pete, Chris, and Tracey Engel. And lastly, and most importantly, the ideas that I could do this at all derive in large measure from Jennifer Griggs and Phoebe and Elizabeth Engel. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 THE ELA SCHOLARSHIP ON PLAGIARISM ....................................................................... 7 IDEOLOGICAL DILEMMAS AND PLAGIARISM .............................................................. 19 COLLEGE COMPOSITION SCHOLARSHIP ON PLAGIARISM ....................................... 21 Authorship............................................................................................................................. 23 Ownership ............................................................................................................................. 25 Community ........................................................................................................................... 27 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...................................................................................................... 29 ORGANIZATION OF THE DISSERTATION........................................................................ 31 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................... 33 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 33 TALK AS SOCIAL .................................................................................................................. 35 PLAGIARISM AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE ............................................................................ 40 Turnitin.com: Resisting the Social ........................................................................................ 41 Martial and Beasley: Kidnapping Words .............................................................................. 43 Lauder and Ouologuem: Claiming and Reclaiming Authorship .......................................... 47 PLAGIARISM AS A LITERACY PRACTICE ....................................................................... 51 iv Sponsors of Literacy ............................................................................................................. 51 Discourses about plagiarism ................................................................................................. 56 IDEOLOGICAL DILEMMAS ................................................................................................. 59 THREE POINTS OF INVESTIGATION: AUTHORSHIP, OWNERSHIP, AND COMMUNITY ......................................................................................................................... 60 Authorship............................................................................................................................. 61 Ownership ............................................................................................................................. 62 Community ........................................................................................................................... 64 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 66 THE ORIGINS AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY ................................................................... 69 The Research Site ................................................................................................................. 71 The Department .................................................................................................................... 73 The Participants .................................................................................................................... 75 The Researcher and the Study............................................................................................... 78 The Data Collection .............................................................................................................. 79 THE DATA ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................... 82 Transcription ......................................................................................................................... 82 Coding ................................................................................................................................... 84 Sample Analysis.................................................................................................................... 85 ETHICS..................................................................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER FOUR: MINOR COLLABORATORS, EDITORS, TEACHERS AND DILEMMAS OF AUTHORSHIP .............................................................................................. 89 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 90 THE SCHOOL POLICY .......................................................................................................... 91 The Ideologies of the Plagiarism Policy ............................................................................... 92 Teachers’ “Working Definitions” of Plagiarism................................................................... 96 Teachers’ Other Frames of Authorship ............................................................................... 100 IMPLICATIONS .................................................................................................................... 114 Writing Contests ................................................................................................................. 115 v CHAPTER FIVE: “NOT THE MOST LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS” AND DILEMMAS OF TEXTUAL OWNERSHIP ................................................................................................. 119 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 120 TALKING ABOUT OWNERSHIP AND THE LAW ........................................................... 121 OWNING TEXTS AND THE CULTURE OF PRINT .......................................................... 127 THE INCREASINGLY DIGITAL ........................................................................................