Plagiarism in EMI higher education: Conceptual understanding of staff and students in four South Asian countries

Abstract

This study investigates staff and students’ conceptual understanding of plagiarism in higher education in four South Asian countries in which English is the primary medium of instruction in many disciplines: Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The study aimed to establish the extent to which avoidance of plagiarism was perceived as important by three stakeholder groups and the extent to which these three groups understood their institutional policies on plagiarism. Questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups were conducted with students (N=1575), English language teachers (N=108) and subject lecturers (N=86) at 14 higher education institutions in these countries, and publicly available policies on plagiarism were examined. Findings reveal that, despite all three groups reporting that avoiding plagiarism was important, institutional policies were poorly understood. Students had limited understanding of plagiarism and held beliefs that could lead to inadvertent malpractice in an international context. Teaching staff were hampered by lack of detection tools, lack of clarity on policy, and inadequate understanding of plagiarism.