Frank Bonkowski is an educational writer, English language teacher, and e-learning specialist, passionate about learning and teaching. As a lover of writing, Frank has a twofold mission: to teach English learners to write better and to train language teachers in teaching effective academic writing. He was a teacher trainer at several universities, including McGill, Concordia, and TELUQ, a center of distance education. We are thrilled to have Frank as a member of our online course community at English Learner Portal.
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In today’s post, let’s look at ways you can help learners avoid plagiarism. The text is based on a lecture in Module 3 of my three-credit graduate course in teaching writing.
Why plagiarism is serious business
In this lecture, we tackle the serious problem of plagiarism. If a learner is caught plagiarizing, it can have serious consequences.
At college or university level, the least serious penalty could be getting a zero grade on an assignment; a more serious penalty would be failing the course altogether. The most serious penalty would be getting thrown out of the school.
Learners need to be able to properly paraphrase, summarize, and quote the ideas of others when doing research. In doing these things learners avoid plagiarism.
In this lecture, we’ll first look at who is guilty of plagiarism. Then, we’ll review two strategies for helping learners avoid plagiarism: taking notes and paraphrasing.
Who is guilty of plagiarism?
Ask learners if they have ever taken parts of someone’s writing without citing the source.
Ask learners if they have ever used quotations without giving credit.
Inexperienced writers make these mistakes. It’s easy, simple to do, and seems harmless. If learners haven’t mastered the intricacies of English, it may be tempting to plagiarize. This is true for both native and non-native speakers of English alike.
Plagiarism, also called “cyberplagiarism” by McWhorter, has increased dramatically with 
the widespread use of the Internet (Successful 592).
It can take 3 different forms:
- a) “borrowing” information from online sources without acknowledging it,
- b) cutting and pasting material directly without citing the source,
- c) buying essays or papers online and using them as your own work.
Copying the ideas of others is not new. Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Martial complained about others stealing his poetry.
Plagiarism is not just a violation of another’s writing. it’s also harmful to creators of music, videos, and graphics. For example, here is an interesting anecdote.
Songwriters sometimes commit plagiarism and may get heavy fines if found guilty. In 2014, the Marvin Gaye family was awarded a whopping $ 7.3 million for copyright infringement of a 1977 Gaye song by another singer.
Any way you look at it, plagiarism is theft—the stealing of somebody else’s ideas. Plagiarism is just dumb.
So how can writers avoid plagiarism or be more conscious of it?
The answer is simple. They can learn and practice how to take notes and to paraphrase.
Tip #1 for avoiding plagiarism: Take Notes
Learners need to get into the habit of reading carefully and taking good notes.
Here is a student example using the two-column method (which I explain in another lecture of the online course) presented in an academic English classroom course I teach. The student had to take notes using an online film review.
Film: “No Country for Old Men”
Keyword and questions
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Notes (key ideas and facts) A modern movie “Remains remarkably grounded in the everyday” “Sharpest Coen Bros. film in years” “Excruciating violence to ratchet up the tension” “Shocks ’round every plot twist” |
| Summary:
Review by Bob Mondello , art critic: A really great movie and even the best Coen’s Brothers film in a while. The movie has a surprising narration and is remarkably authentic and realistic. The violence keeps the tension high and shocks viewers at every turn in the plot. |
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Tip #2 for avoiding plagiarism: paraphrase
Paraphrasing is a restatement of an original text in the writer’s own words. It could be a restatement of an entire sentence, part of a sentence, or one or more paragraphs, written in about the same length as the original.
It shows that a writer understands clearly the meaning of the original text. Paraphrasing is a useful way for all writers, but particularly non-native speakers of English, to improve their writing skills.
Here is a useful 10-point paraphrasing checklist you can share with your students.
Sources:
Douglas, Scott Roy. Academic Inquiry: Writing for Post-secondary Success. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.
McWhorter, Kathleen T. Successful College Writing: Skills, Strategies, Learning Styles. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.
Williams, Julia. “Unit 4: Art History.” Academic Connections 4. White Plains: Pearson Education, 2010. 75+. Print.
For more helpful teaching tips, enroll now in Teaching Writing to Intermediate and Advanced English Language Learners and earn 3 university credits.
In the next blog post, we will take a look at the SQ3R method based on a lecture in Module 4 of the writing course.
JOIN me on June 28 for a 2-hour online writing workshop
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cafeteria had a different type of table one month out of the year. From second grade on up, I began to practice fasting during the month of Ramadan. To fast during the month of Ramadan means to not have any food or drink from sunup to sundown. At this young of an age, I didn’t practice it to its full extent. Sometimes I fasted half days, other times I completed whole days. The “fasting table” that I shared with my Muslim peers was placed smack dab in the middle of the cafeteria, so the cafeteria ladies could keep an eye on those “fasting Arab kids”. Yes.. I said it.. the fasting kids (who were not eating lunch) sat in the 
When answering these questions, it is important to think about the science behind them. “The brain’s two prime directives are to stay safe and be happy.” (Hammond 2015) With that said, learning is difficult when a child is preoccupied about their safety. Yes, physically safety is key. But emotionally safety, can also really impact a child’s learning. I attended a school where teachers really did their best to make me feel secure about who I was. With this, I was able to focus on learning because I didn’t feel that my identity put me in jeopardy.
students really express themselves. Lots of teachers are trying something new by having students create “vision boards”. Vision boards not only teach teachers about a student’s background, they also teach teachers about students’ goals. Students can use the vision board later to refer to their own goals. A vision board can take form in any way. It just has to be goal oriented. 
When these experiences are being provided in the classroom, it gives the child a pleasant memory of their school experience. Valuing that child goes a long way for a lifetime of confidence in who they are. Going back to brain science, the schema that is built for a child of experiences in the classroom will help reduce anxiety towards future classroom experiences. It will also help the child overcome adversity when they experience it because a teacher helped build a foundation of confidence.
community. My conversations with my students taught me so much about traditions. I continued to engage in them. Years later, I ended up working in a Middle School fifteen minutes away in Albany Park that served a large Hispanic community. The school had a significant Puerto Rican population. My conversations a decade prior to that with students helped me build relationships in my new environment as a language arts teacher then later as a Dean of Instruction. Students felt safe with me because I tried to learn their culture and bring it into the school and classroom.
Within a week of our arrival, Muzyen and her family greeted us and welcomed us. When I came home from errands, they eagerly kept the kids while I shuttled groceries up the three flights of stairs. Muzyen understood my younger daughter’s nervous cries and stood singing to her in the hallway as they watched me work. When her daughters were home, one of the daughters would keep my girls entertained while I cleaned the house or cooked dinner – teaching them songs, hand-games, and stories. When my family returned from outings and clomped and chattered our way up the stairs, Muzyen’s family would open the door to talk with us and visit with our little kids. Occasionally, on long afternoons, Muzyen would break up the monotony of my day by inviting me for tea. She offered sweet pastries and savory dishes as we fumbled through small-talk and conversation.
everyone prepared for a big event. The neighbors would clean their homes top to bottom – so thoroughly that they would even hang their carpets over the balconies to dry after hand-washing them. The community scoured the local markets and stores for specialty foods they would use for traditional meals, toys to give their children, and outfits to wear for the festivities. Furthermore, people stocked up their kitchens as shops would be closed for a few days.
Muzyen knew what it was to be an outsider. Because of that, she invited us to join her family’s festivities. One of the more intimate components of their celebrations was a breakfast to break their fast. Muzyen had already graciously included our family at a few of their iftar dinner meals. The breakfast marked the beginning of a three-day celebration. This was more of a family affair. Normally new friends or neighbors might visit on the third day, but in my observation not typically the first breakfast.
Laurie Meberg has been working cross-culturally for seventeen years as a teacher, community developer, and refugee liaison. She learned two languages through immersion and tried to learn a third through friendships in a multicultural community. She has frequently helped emerging English speakers by being a conversation partner – mostly over cups of tea. She lives in Colorado with her husband and three children.
No doubt, many of you currently have students in your classrooms who have difficult names to pronounce or different spellings of popular names. The challenge when working with many ELL students is being able to connect with the students on an individual level despite the language barrier. Learning their names and being able to pronounce them correctly is very important for ELL students—especially for new, incoming students. Names are representations of who we are and where we come from. For many students, the significance, spelling, and pronunciation of their name means more to them now that they are in a new, unfamiliar environment. This is not to say that many students won’t change their name, because many will. They may modify their name to include nicknames or even slightly change the spelling of their name, and that is okay because it is their choice. So, for now, embrace those difficult-to-pronounce names and practice rolling your Rs because I promise that, as the teacher, 
counselor, or school administrator, you being able to correctly say your student’s name means more to them than you will ever know. It is recognizing and accepting them for who they are and what they represent. Names make up who we are; they are part of our identity, and our identity is unshakably tethered to our self-esteem. Promoting positive environments where students feel accepted and connected can help promote school success for the English language learner.
Included below is a great activity that promotes name association with positive personality characteristic traits. Students can work on beginning to identify positive aspects about themselves and work on being able to share them out loud with each other in a classroom setting.
I’d love for you to share how this activity worked for your students and/or how you modified the activity to make it even better. Drop us a note at 
Graciela Williams “Gracie” is a licensed bilingual school social worker in Annapolis, Maryland. Gracie currently works with newcomer students and runs several social skills groups around the county. She specializes in working with international students who have experienced trauma. She has done extensive work incorporating and facilitating student and parent reunification groups within the school system. Gracie has worked as an Adult ESL teacher and program manager for literacy centers in South Carolina and Colorado. She has a bachelor’s degree in counseling from Bob Jones University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of New England. Gracie is also an Adjunct Professor for Goucher College, where she teaches a graduate level seminar course regarding At Risk Students, and she is an Adjunct Community Faculty for The University of New England providing field instruction to current MSW students.
these events, students and/or their families typically set up tables to highlight their countries and cultures and the rest of the students and families walk from table to table sampling food and looking at artifacts and maps. While organizers of these events have good intentions and aim to honor their students’ cultural backgrounds, sometimes these events can seem 
tokenistic. How can we build family comfort in schools throughout the school year? With 79% of teachers in the U.S. being white* and 25% of students being children of immigrants, getting to know the cultural backgrounds of students requires a deeper dive.
There are often two goals of international nights. The first is for students to learn more about other cultures and the second is for teachers to learn more about the backgrounds of their students and their families. With those goals in mind, what are 10 possible alternatives to international night?
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