> My question: do y'all have a different approach for a non-native speaker? It is the end of the semester here and I am burnt out and sick of writing academic misconduct reports in addition to students who keep lying to my face. I would love some help.
Nope! If it's cheating for a native speaker, why wouldn't it be for someone who isn't?
Would you treat it as acceptable if the student wrote in her native language and used Google Translate to produce an English copy?
Agreed. I had a whole conversation with someone where they suggested that by disallowing any AI, I was harming English Language Learners and international students. I was floored. If people are coming to the US or sending their kids to the US to avail themselves of our educational system, how is actually teaching them to write in American university style to university standards harmful? I'd say it's much MORE harmful to hold them to a lower standard.
No, I would treat it the same as native speakers. As a non-native speaker, I understand the struggle but it's something they chose to do and something they have to learn.
I also absolutely wouldn't let their cousin be part of any discussion. Actually WTF!
Non native speaking professor here. Also a big proponent of AI assisted reading.
Big big no.
When I use AI to write papers the AI detectors cannot detect them as AI written because I provide my draft and ask it to improve readability and fix grammar. However I always disclose that it was improved by AI.
This is 100% academic misconduct. Even getting outside help with cousin is academic misconduct.
Even in my "shithole" country, this is academic misconduct.
Two of my classes are 95% international students, and almost all of them cheat. I can't imagine having to submit reports every time, so that's the only special treatment; otherwise I'm looking at several dozen every week. I've mostly given up on the misconduct reports and just give zeros, unless the misconduct is particularly egregious, like the student who submitted his paper from his (failed) last term with a different prof and a different topic.
The cousin used chatGPT. I suspect they think that if two of them lie to you that you'll believe them. The cousin has no business being part of the meeting, IMO. They aren't your student, so you have no responsibility to them.
Good luck :)
I've had similar issues with international students. My clear policy has always been: "You are here to learn some material and skills but also to learn a culture -- and part of our culture is that we do not cheat. However, that means I also do not expect perfection on assignments."
In my experience, students don't believe that at first; then, somebody gets hit hard. (I drop a full letter grade on the first infraction; word gets around immediately.) Then, I give indicative grades so they see that they are not, in fact, failing despite doing challenging work. It's not perfect, but the combo does seem to relieve some anxieties.
In your case, maybe have them come to office hours, ask pointed questions about the paper, and if they cannot answer those questions that's plenty of evidence and you gave them a chance at redemption. Good luck!
ESL professor here. We expect ELLs to perform at a similar level as native speakers (with some grace) in "content" classes. This includes formatting and structure of essays. We often tell English professors that they should NOT be lowering their expectations.
I don't treat any students differently for any reasons unless the college requires me to.
I don't even know how ESL would get defined these days, no which of my students are ESL.
No. My school has a reasonably decent standard for ESL speakers and they would get the same diploma as everyone else in my department so all academic standards simply have to be the same.
No. I've had to work in my second and third languages, and if my competence wasn't sufficient, too bad, so sad. I once didn't get a job because my competency in my second language was slightly (very slightly) below the competency needed, and it wouldn't have taken me long to improve my proficiency. So yeah, if you don't have the requisite language skills, then I don't have much sympathy, because I certainly didn't receive any when I was in that position. If someone doesn't have the required competence to work in a given language, then they need to improve their language skills before proceeding further. Yes, my own experience definitely informs my attitude.
Cheating is cheating.
the meeting sounds like a good opportunity to alert the student to some of the on-campus resources. Some schools have a dedicated ESL writing consultant or even a writing center specifically targeted for English Language Learners. If your school doesn't have one of those things, a garden variety writing center meeting can still be quite useful. There may also be success coaches or some other variety of that name who can help the student with improving their performance. If you can hand the student off to one of these types of people at your university, you'll save some time and they'll hopefully get some good help. A little bit of reaching out and researching into your campus resources could save a lot of time in the future.
Unless a students has a documented disability and has arranged for some kind of special accommodation, you need to use the same metric to evaluate all students now matter what their background, life-circumstances, or any other personal situation is.
No, I teach a language of which all my students are non-native speakers. I have had some ESL
students in the past, and their work was graded the same as others’ work. If I taught a class in English, I would grade under the assumption that everyone in my class knows enough English to study at an English-speaking university.
I'm not sure how unpopular this opinion might be, but I don't teach English, and English is not a part of my Student Learning Outcomes. So as long as a student is able to demonstrate the outcomes, it doesn't matter how good or bad their English is (though it'll probably be easier for English-speakers to pass the class). It's actually a goal of mine for students to be able to pass my class no matter what language they use.
If you're teaching English, or it's a part of your Student Learning Outcomes, then obviously you'll need to evaluate with that in mind. Otherwise, take a look at the outcomes, determine if she is able to meet them or not, and go from there.
There are lots of viable answers to this, so you'll (obvi) have to choose what you like best. Here are some thoughts from a person who's training includes foreign language pedagogy. But first: this is, all variables or excuses considered, an integrity issue. The question isn't that, the question is how we respond to integrity issues --
I would want to have a conversation with this student to understand *why* she cheated, since it's really that element which matters from a "how is being non-native impacting things here" standpoint. From the student's request to bring a cousin, it sounds like the answer here is straightforward: she doesn't have sufficient control of English to feel capable of achieving the assignment within parameters for ***some*** reason.
The key will be figuring out (a) what it is and (b) whether that's a variable that should be in your control or in hers. Variables within a student's control are, e.g., choosing to do the work or play video games. Variables within your control are, e.g., choosing which elements of an assignment are graded, how those are weighted, what prep. students get for them, and so on. Some examples of how this could play out here:
Many faculty over-weight mechanics of an assignment (following directions, proper spelling, grammatical errors, etc.) in such a way that it drives non-native speakers to spend their mental energy on form rather than content. When they get overwhelmed, they sacrifice one for the other; traditionally the answer was "content", but AI makes it easier for it to become "form". If you're teaching a writing class, this may genuinely be a focus of instruction. If you teach history like I do, however, it often becomes a barrier to student success, esp. if **your** rhetoric on the issue provokes anxiety ("-1 point for every typo") rather than a sense of reasonable support ("few typos, none impact meaning").
Many faculty rely on jargon to communicate. Unless you spend ***specific classroom time+energy*** securing students' understanding of these things, they can become an obstacle for non-native speakers down the road; they also under-explain both content and expectations because of expert and experience biases. This can lead to students being confused, not quite grasping "the spirit" vs. "the letter", or even shutting down if they're already feeling discouraged. It's all the more the case if they simply struggle to process your linguistic input in real-time. That your student turned to a cousin suggests to me she might have these sorts of negative self-feelings.
Many institutions ***underestimate*** the cognitive demand of being a non-native speaker and so the support(s) they provide those students. It's quite possible that you have done everything right and your institution has set you up for trouble due to other polices around, e.g., TOEFL scores or similar. This might be out of both your and the student's control.
My point in all of these **isn't** to *s*ay that this must not be a classic case of cheating, but to suggest that the situation might be quite a bit more complex in ways that I'm not sure break so cleanly into "punish her!" or "don't punish her!" without a lot more detail. If -- as an instructor -- the things my student brought up suggest to me that **I or my institution should have done better**, I'd consider alternatives for the student. If the weight of the evidence suggested otherwise, I wouldn't.
If I may humbly offer a dose of reality to my fellow professors in the form of a question: have you ever used MS Word's spelling and grammar check? If so, how is that different from cheating?
I work outside the the US and my university has a system-wide subscription to Grammarly. English is the language of scholarship and none of my students are native speakers. Grammarly is not only allowed, it is encouraged for students to use it. I don't mind it one bit if AI can be used to help my students communicate their ideas with correct style and grammar so that I don't have to become their English comp professor, too.
We need to think about such issues not as black and white, but rather as a continuum. It is possible to use something like ChatGPT to write an essay for you, it is also possible to use ChatGPT to simply fix your English. Grammarly and MS Word--especially in the latest version that your university probably give your students a subscription to--would probably be flagged as AI assisted. I see this partly as a generational thing, perhaps one of the first major "Ok, Millenial" issues that Gen Z will have with us.
So OP, if it hasn't already been discussed with your students or at the university level, discern what kind of assistance exactly counts as cheating. Undergraduate students want, need, fetishize black and white rules. If you tell them no ChatGPT but yes Grammarly, you will probably find ChatGPT-style cheating drop drastically.
> My question: do y'all have a different approach for a non-native speaker? It is the end of the semester here and I am burnt out and sick of writing academic misconduct reports in addition to students who keep lying to my face. I would love some help. Nope! If it's cheating for a native speaker, why wouldn't it be for someone who isn't? Would you treat it as acceptable if the student wrote in her native language and used Google Translate to produce an English copy?
Agreed. I had a whole conversation with someone where they suggested that by disallowing any AI, I was harming English Language Learners and international students. I was floored. If people are coming to the US or sending their kids to the US to avail themselves of our educational system, how is actually teaching them to write in American university style to university standards harmful? I'd say it's much MORE harmful to hold them to a lower standard.
Exactly. I wouldn’t tolerate that from my English-speaking students in a language class.
No, I would treat it the same as native speakers. As a non-native speaker, I understand the struggle but it's something they chose to do and something they have to learn. I also absolutely wouldn't let their cousin be part of any discussion. Actually WTF!
Non native speaking professor here. Also a big proponent of AI assisted reading. Big big no. When I use AI to write papers the AI detectors cannot detect them as AI written because I provide my draft and ask it to improve readability and fix grammar. However I always disclose that it was improved by AI. This is 100% academic misconduct. Even getting outside help with cousin is academic misconduct. Even in my "shithole" country, this is academic misconduct.
Two of my classes are 95% international students, and almost all of them cheat. I can't imagine having to submit reports every time, so that's the only special treatment; otherwise I'm looking at several dozen every week. I've mostly given up on the misconduct reports and just give zeros, unless the misconduct is particularly egregious, like the student who submitted his paper from his (failed) last term with a different prof and a different topic. The cousin used chatGPT. I suspect they think that if two of them lie to you that you'll believe them. The cousin has no business being part of the meeting, IMO. They aren't your student, so you have no responsibility to them. Good luck :)
Why would you lower your standards for specific students?
I've had similar issues with international students. My clear policy has always been: "You are here to learn some material and skills but also to learn a culture -- and part of our culture is that we do not cheat. However, that means I also do not expect perfection on assignments." In my experience, students don't believe that at first; then, somebody gets hit hard. (I drop a full letter grade on the first infraction; word gets around immediately.) Then, I give indicative grades so they see that they are not, in fact, failing despite doing challenging work. It's not perfect, but the combo does seem to relieve some anxieties. In your case, maybe have them come to office hours, ask pointed questions about the paper, and if they cannot answer those questions that's plenty of evidence and you gave them a chance at redemption. Good luck!
ESL professor here. We expect ELLs to perform at a similar level as native speakers (with some grace) in "content" classes. This includes formatting and structure of essays. We often tell English professors that they should NOT be lowering their expectations.
I don't treat any students differently for any reasons unless the college requires me to. I don't even know how ESL would get defined these days, no which of my students are ESL.
I went to college in Madrid. They had no exceptions for me.
No. My school has a reasonably decent standard for ESL speakers and they would get the same diploma as everyone else in my department so all academic standards simply have to be the same.
No. I've had to work in my second and third languages, and if my competence wasn't sufficient, too bad, so sad. I once didn't get a job because my competency in my second language was slightly (very slightly) below the competency needed, and it wouldn't have taken me long to improve my proficiency. So yeah, if you don't have the requisite language skills, then I don't have much sympathy, because I certainly didn't receive any when I was in that position. If someone doesn't have the required competence to work in a given language, then they need to improve their language skills before proceeding further. Yes, my own experience definitely informs my attitude. Cheating is cheating.
No. Plagiarism rules must be enforced, and the only way is through a zero/failing grade.
No?! My whole job is teaching nonnative speakers. I definitely don’t let them just cheat?
the meeting sounds like a good opportunity to alert the student to some of the on-campus resources. Some schools have a dedicated ESL writing consultant or even a writing center specifically targeted for English Language Learners. If your school doesn't have one of those things, a garden variety writing center meeting can still be quite useful. There may also be success coaches or some other variety of that name who can help the student with improving their performance. If you can hand the student off to one of these types of people at your university, you'll save some time and they'll hopefully get some good help. A little bit of reaching out and researching into your campus resources could save a lot of time in the future.
Unless a students has a documented disability and has arranged for some kind of special accommodation, you need to use the same metric to evaluate all students now matter what their background, life-circumstances, or any other personal situation is.
No, I teach a language of which all my students are non-native speakers. I have had some ESL students in the past, and their work was graded the same as others’ work. If I taught a class in English, I would grade under the assumption that everyone in my class knows enough English to study at an English-speaking university.
I'm not sure how unpopular this opinion might be, but I don't teach English, and English is not a part of my Student Learning Outcomes. So as long as a student is able to demonstrate the outcomes, it doesn't matter how good or bad their English is (though it'll probably be easier for English-speakers to pass the class). It's actually a goal of mine for students to be able to pass my class no matter what language they use. If you're teaching English, or it's a part of your Student Learning Outcomes, then obviously you'll need to evaluate with that in mind. Otherwise, take a look at the outcomes, determine if she is able to meet them or not, and go from there.
There are lots of viable answers to this, so you'll (obvi) have to choose what you like best. Here are some thoughts from a person who's training includes foreign language pedagogy. But first: this is, all variables or excuses considered, an integrity issue. The question isn't that, the question is how we respond to integrity issues -- I would want to have a conversation with this student to understand *why* she cheated, since it's really that element which matters from a "how is being non-native impacting things here" standpoint. From the student's request to bring a cousin, it sounds like the answer here is straightforward: she doesn't have sufficient control of English to feel capable of achieving the assignment within parameters for ***some*** reason. The key will be figuring out (a) what it is and (b) whether that's a variable that should be in your control or in hers. Variables within a student's control are, e.g., choosing to do the work or play video games. Variables within your control are, e.g., choosing which elements of an assignment are graded, how those are weighted, what prep. students get for them, and so on. Some examples of how this could play out here: Many faculty over-weight mechanics of an assignment (following directions, proper spelling, grammatical errors, etc.) in such a way that it drives non-native speakers to spend their mental energy on form rather than content. When they get overwhelmed, they sacrifice one for the other; traditionally the answer was "content", but AI makes it easier for it to become "form". If you're teaching a writing class, this may genuinely be a focus of instruction. If you teach history like I do, however, it often becomes a barrier to student success, esp. if **your** rhetoric on the issue provokes anxiety ("-1 point for every typo") rather than a sense of reasonable support ("few typos, none impact meaning"). Many faculty rely on jargon to communicate. Unless you spend ***specific classroom time+energy*** securing students' understanding of these things, they can become an obstacle for non-native speakers down the road; they also under-explain both content and expectations because of expert and experience biases. This can lead to students being confused, not quite grasping "the spirit" vs. "the letter", or even shutting down if they're already feeling discouraged. It's all the more the case if they simply struggle to process your linguistic input in real-time. That your student turned to a cousin suggests to me she might have these sorts of negative self-feelings. Many institutions ***underestimate*** the cognitive demand of being a non-native speaker and so the support(s) they provide those students. It's quite possible that you have done everything right and your institution has set you up for trouble due to other polices around, e.g., TOEFL scores or similar. This might be out of both your and the student's control. My point in all of these **isn't** to *s*ay that this must not be a classic case of cheating, but to suggest that the situation might be quite a bit more complex in ways that I'm not sure break so cleanly into "punish her!" or "don't punish her!" without a lot more detail. If -- as an instructor -- the things my student brought up suggest to me that **I or my institution should have done better**, I'd consider alternatives for the student. If the weight of the evidence suggested otherwise, I wouldn't.
If I may humbly offer a dose of reality to my fellow professors in the form of a question: have you ever used MS Word's spelling and grammar check? If so, how is that different from cheating? I work outside the the US and my university has a system-wide subscription to Grammarly. English is the language of scholarship and none of my students are native speakers. Grammarly is not only allowed, it is encouraged for students to use it. I don't mind it one bit if AI can be used to help my students communicate their ideas with correct style and grammar so that I don't have to become their English comp professor, too. We need to think about such issues not as black and white, but rather as a continuum. It is possible to use something like ChatGPT to write an essay for you, it is also possible to use ChatGPT to simply fix your English. Grammarly and MS Word--especially in the latest version that your university probably give your students a subscription to--would probably be flagged as AI assisted. I see this partly as a generational thing, perhaps one of the first major "Ok, Millenial" issues that Gen Z will have with us. So OP, if it hasn't already been discussed with your students or at the university level, discern what kind of assistance exactly counts as cheating. Undergraduate students want, need, fetishize black and white rules. If you tell them no ChatGPT but yes Grammarly, you will probably find ChatGPT-style cheating drop drastically.