Talking about Plagiarism as an Ethical Dilemma among Algerian Students of English

Abstract

Albeit plagiarism has received increased attention, literature provides little practical strategies on how to approach this topic with students. The purpose of this study stems from the necessity to address the students’ awareness of what constitutes plagiarism, their attitudes towards the way their teachers cope with it, and the reasons behind committing this ethical dilemma. To this end, the present study relied on 36 undergraduate students studying at the department of English, Ain-Temouchent University. Data were gathered via a likert scale questionnaire. The findings disclosed a general agreement among the respondents about what constitutes plagiarism. The findings also indicated that the majority respondents opined that they would be accused of plagiarism if they copy someone else’s work. Additionally, the findings stipulated that the students plagiarize because they lack proficiency in the language. Finally, the respondents mostly agreed that Abstract: University instructors often guess about who might have committed plagiarism, but do not care about detecting this act.