Expected to Plagiarize

There are multiple things that can be scary for students in college. One of those many things is plagiarism. Though it does not only pertain to college students, it is where it is likely to happen the most. In every class, plagiarism is discussed, as a reminder to every student. Even though we know, as students we are constantly reminded how serious the act is and the consequences of doing so. There are a number of cases in which students are wrongly accused of plagiarism, oftentimes, they’re told not to even bother fighting the case. Plagiarism enters a whole other realm when the accusations are false and biased towards students. It is unfortunate when biased views cloud the professional view of a student’s paper. This is particularly discriminatory towards anyone who are expected to write a certain way. Even when students fight for their name to be cleared of the dishonorable act of plagiarism, it is unfair to the students that they are immediately put at a disadvantage if the educator expects them to write in a particular manner. You build interest and emotion nicely in your introduction.

 One of the many who was accused of plagiarism was Tiffany C. Martínez, a sociology major at Suffolk University in Boston. Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz interviewed Martínez on the incident in her article, “‘Not Your Language’: How a Classroom Interaction Led a Student to Speak Out on Microaggressions”. Martínez’s professor did not directly accuse her of plagiarism but rather indicated that the paper was “not [her] language.” (Zamudio-Suaréz p3). The professor’s words are reflected as an accusation that Martínez should not be writing the language that she was. In the incident described by Martínez, her professor announced her opinion not only on her paper but to the whole class. Feeling challenged, Martínez saw the broken code of confidentiality between student and professor and discussed the comment in front of the entire class as well. Martínez describes to her interviewer that she had gone home that day and created a blog post to reflect what had happened that day. This is when things changed. Her blog received a lot more attention than she thought it would. Which led to her university sending out an email regarding the situation but not hers in specific. After a series of questions on her Martínez felt about the situation, she makes it clear that although nothing was directly done since the paper was not reported as plagiarism, Martínez still had to rewrite it all because she put in the transitional word, “hence”. However, she felt that the email sent by the university was an acknowledgment of the situation. That was enough for Martínez to feel that she was heard.

The language attitude represented in Zamudio-Suaréz’s article is that of expectations. Particularly expectations that derive from stereotypes. Like that of Martínez, who was not expected to write such a paper. This is where the issue lies, that someone of her background, Latin decent, “should have” written something different in order to meet the professor’s expectations. It is coming back around to how the way one speaks determines their value – and if they meet expectations. When the expectations are not met, they are lying because how could someone of said stature be acting/talking/writing like that. The professor was likely to set an example to the class, that someone like her needs to stick to their language. Though the question then arises, what is that language? Who determines whose language is what? Martínez says later in the article, that the plagiarism accusation is not even the focal point of the issue. The focal point was the fact that the situation was not handled well, and then was attempted to be altered when Martínez took a stand for herself.

In Lippi-Green’s The Linguistics of Life, she devotes a section to Grammar, what is correct and what isn’t. She mentions the fact that this “correctness” has a correct way by the books, but then there is also a correct way by social construct. This aspect, of socially correct grammar. Lippi-Green uses an example of an expectation of speech overheard inBorders Books in Ann Arbor, where the mother is saying to her son, “I hate it when you use such ignorant, slovenly language…” (Lippi-Green 12). She is referring to some sort of grammatical decision in the boy’s speech to determine it is not proper. A decision that is made by “Michiganders” (Lippi-Green 13).  This perspective that the mother has is that the boy’s speech is not his, but that of a ‘Michigander’. This connects to the article on Martínez’s situation because, there was this underlying expectation of Martínez to use a certain “language” or “grammar”. In Lippi-Green’s example, it’s clear that the mother thinks that that kind of talk is beneath her. That their choice of speech is better and is expected to be better. In Martínez’s case, her Professor thought that the way the paper was written was ‘too good’ That Martínez’s “language” (Zamudio-Suaréz p3) is beneath what she wrote. Due to this underlying expectation that her background means a different assortment of speech.

Personally, I have been accused of plagiarism, though it was not a direct connection to my race, it did challenge my intellect. My seventh-grade science teacher had accused me of using words that were not mine; the words I were using were “too big” of someone my age. After talking to me about it, I voiced myself and said that that was how I right and to cross-check with my English teacher. Which she did and was told that the paper very much looked like something I would write. My fear of plagiarism is

Image not available due to Copyright.

how difficult it is to not do it. Given there are only so many combinations of words to form a proper sentence for it not to be repeated or reused.  In the box beside above, was to be an image of a comic made by Off The Mark, showing a man presenting to a judge stacks of paper of those who plagiarized his words. Starting with a twitter post that says, “I’m having coffee”. I emailed the creator for permission to use the comic, it was allowed if I had bought a copy of it. The point of the image was to represent how many times people say the same thing. Often times, we are plagiarizing without even realizing it, through tone and idea is what helps differentiate plagiarism and your own words.

There are things that can be overlooked, and other things that have a starting cause. In that, with every accusation made, there was a reason for it. Although many won’t admit to the fact that their accusations are biased it often times can be seen by everyone else. There comes a lot of expectation when our background is known. This ranges from, accents and intellect, to words that we need to use because of our background. It is difficult to change other people’s views on language and ethnic groups. However, we need to break those expectations and use our ever-growing lexicon to prove that anyone from anywhere may have a vast language. A language that may even include “hence”.           

Work Cited

Lippi-Green, Rosina L. English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States. Routledge, 2012.

Parisi, Mark. “Twitter Coffee Plagiarizing.” Lawyers & Legal Cartoon Series, Off The Mark, Off The Mark, 2009. https://www.offthemark.com/cartoon/business-finance/lawyers-legal/2009-05-06

Zamudio-Suaréz, Fernanda. “‘Not Your Language’: How a Classroom Interaction Led a Student to Speak Out on Microaggressions.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 Oct. 2016, https://www.chronicle.com/article/Not-Your-Language-How-a/238239.