The Awareness and Attitudes of University Students Toward Plagiarism.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the awareness and the attitudes of second year EFL university students toward plagiarism. The study also attempts to answer two research questions: Are second year EFL students aware of plagiarism? What attitudes do second year EFL students have toward plagiarism? To answer the questions, a mixed method is used. To gather necessary data, two questionnaires are used. First, a students’ questionnaire which is administered to seventy students from second year EFL students at the English Department of Foreign Languages, University of Mila, to obtain insights about their awareness and understanding of plagiarism, in addition to their thoughts and attitudes toward it. Second, a teachers’ questionnaire is administered to twelve teachers at the English Department of Foreign Languages, University of Mila, in order to investigate the students’ awareness and attitudes toward plagiarism from their perspectives. The main findings indicate that second year EFL students are aware about the concept of plagiarism and have a negative attitude toward it. However, they still plagiarize because of laziness.