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[MW]

Sascha Matuszak, a Foreign Expert from Minnesota, U.S.A reports that �Cheating is a Way of Life in China, Guanxi rules in China�s Schools.� Sacha reports that his Chinese university students engaged in widespread cheating on tests, i.e. only six essays were produced by sixty students due to sharing information during the test process. It is also claimed that the students not only used texts verbatim, but were impervious to corrective remarks about the evils of plagiarism. (Matuszak (9/11/01)

On 12/26/02 a foreign English teacher ([email protected]) published a letter at www.eslcafe.com complaining of widespread cheating on tests and tolerance by public university administrators in China.

In Guangzhou, secret video tapes caught students using various methods to cheat on an exam while the exam proctors or monitors intentionally looked the other way or gave the students extra time to complete the exam. Students were observed passing notes, making gestures to each other, discussing the test in hushed voices, and even exchanging answer sheets. (People�s Daily, (7/11/00), �College Exam Cheating Operations Uncovered�) And in another cheating scandal from the same Province, thirty-nine students and five teachers were accused of a scheme where the teachers took the test first and then sold the correct answers to students. (People�s Daily, (7/15/00)

It was reported that in Shanxi one student held up her exam paper for the person behind to copy and the teacher looked the other way. In another incident involving student cheaters in a music department, the school administration was furious with the teachers who exposed the cheating rather than with the cheating students. (www.china.org.cn, (6/3/02)

In Henan Province in the Fall of 2002 a professional test taking surrogate complained that he has been required by social expectancy and political pressure �guanxi� to take the Band 4 and Band 6 English tests more several times for friends and allies who knew that they would fail the examination if they were required to sit for it themselves. The test monitor not only cooperated in this fraud, but often was the one making all of the arrangements for its success. (source: author's personal experience)

In November 2002, as soon as a teacher left an examination room, the students starting sharing test answers. (21st Century, (11/4/02)

The U.S. based Educational Testing Service canceled its GRE Computer Science test in China in August 2002 after an earlier decision to suspend the text due to widespread cheating. (International Herald Tribune, (10/15/02)

[Dragon]

Dear Comrade, thanks again for educating us teachers of the ESL Industry on cheating of students. We will strive to educate ourselves on this infecting evil. Your insightfulness is infecting and you are surely a genius.
Dragon
Long live Comrade MW for 10,000 years

[Roger]

Here is one example of my problems with Chinese students:
In a test that required them to write their answers, I divided the 60-strong class into 2 groups with separate questions. The groups were consisted of rows with uneven numbers and rows with even numbers, so that nobody could copy from their neighbour's answer sheet.
I was doing this for about two months when the principal at our school decided it was "unfair" to my charges!

In another school, I practised the same, and I never had bad feedback although some students clearly were unhappy with this. Surprisingly, however, one day all my colleagues and all students were asked to come for a meeting in the courtyard.
I asked a Chinese teacher about the goings-on, and he explained that the school had found out, to their consternation, that students had been cheating on a large scale for the entire term!
The students were severely criticised and made to write an apology!
At least this school was kind of virginally-innocent in the matter! Which surprised me much more than the actual prevalence anywhere I have been to!

[hubei_canuk]

What cheating?
----------------------

Chinese Students do not cheat.
Chinese people never lie.
And they don't talk in class while the teacher is talking and they don't talk at pubic music recitals and public speeches.
Ask any student.
They will tell you: "I wasn't talking."
Ask any chinese:
"Chinese people don't lie"
...
This is a "foreigner problem".
I'm shocked and appalled at the allegations.
You must not meddle in China's internal afffars!

[MW]

Question: Do Chinese Students Cheat?

Correct Answer: Is the Pope Catholic?

[Dragon]

Dear Comrade,
Yes, down with the Pope as you say. Please keep posting we wait for the next insight. Live 10,000 years
DRAGON

[hubei_canuk]

Step 1. Teach a Game to Chinese students for the purpose of learning English.
Step 2. Play the Game.
Step 3 Revise purpose of game to "who can cheat the best.?".
Step 4 Put the game in your repetoire.
Step 5 Play the game again for the "purpose of getting salary."

[chastenosferatu]

My school has been unique in regards to cheating. When I catch a student cheating or multiple students turn in the same answers or paper they are personally shredded in front of the class for the first offense. For the second offense the offending student or students are permanently removed from my class. I went to the mat with the school on this one and won. The last straw was when I told them the student was no longer my student due to continued cheating. The school responded that they had already paid their tuition, I pulled the money out of my pocket and tossed it down. That was it, the school booted the student and refunded the tuition, they couldn't lose face by letting ME repay it.
Of course student placement testing still consists of parental guanxi rather than english skill or ability but so be it. I'm still working on the solution for that one. I'll share when I have a breakthrough.

[chinasyndrome]

[quote="hubei_canuk"]

[wOZfromOZ]

I'd like to share some stuff

I'm teaching 3rd year business reports this term at my uni. in Shanghai.
.......10 week term and in week 6 Interim reports were due. Week 10 full business reports are due.

I've got 2 classes - 36 per group and have done groupwork with them the whole term all the way through.

I've got the lowest ability group and the highest ability group.

I marked a total of 19 interim group reports........all different - assessing the viability of penetrating the U.S. or Aus. markets with their Chinese 'real' or 'fictitious' products.

They were 'indoctrinated' in week 1 to not cheat, copy, plagerise, or otherwise cut out huge 'bleeding chunks' from 'academic carcasses' and
submit these as their own in the final stage.

I failed 3 because there was an absence of footnoting and I failed 1 as there was slab after slab copied verbatum from an 'academic carcasses'

The other 15 interrim assignments were completed well. I dont go overboard if they make a few expression errors. What I demand is their own ideas, own expression and acknowledgement of other's published work!

Of the 4 that failed, all was not lost for them - I say, 'give them another chance.'

I told them they had 2 days to get it right and (last Tuesday) get it right they did. I was stoked! They indeed did listen the second time and respond with responsibility, cooperation and competance.

You guys need take a long look at your own methods before striking out
at the students sometimes hey!

wOZfromOZ

PS - You can overcome the endemic cheating. It is possible!
be professional, be vigilant and back that up with a proactive
reinforcement of YOUR standards.

[killian]

do the students in china still sit side-by-side at two person desks? they grow up looking of the paper of their deskmate. how to unto 12 years years worth cribbin?

[gmat]

[arioch36]

Actually, my Chinese friends are quite honest in saying not to trust promises made by leaders.

Mr. Oz, you are teaching at a teacher's college? I agre totally in second chances, many bosses give second chances. I'm glad I was given a secon chance. If they are willing to work to correct their mistakes, hay that's what it is all about, folks! You others never had a second chance

I'm going to be very intersted in events at my school this semester. Last semester I failed 6 people. 3 failed the makeup exam (actually 4, but one got a 50...yeah i passed him as he cried on my shoulder)
Of course you know at most schools no one fails ( Some schools do) So the three that failed, i am supposed to give them some extra coaching, and a last chance. one of the three boys is making some efforts, One is making no effort, and one is making very lackadaisical effort. if I fail two students for real, do I get to enter into the teacher of the year race? (Assuming anybody is left in China.

Will the last person to leave China please turn out the lights?

[gmat]

[arioch36]

Actually, though the thread was about cheating, Oz was not talking about cheating.

Don't think I ever had a boss who wouldn't give second chances. Mmost professors do to anyone who asks.

Senator Biden and Kennedy (and probably others) are still going strong.

So OZ wasn't talking about blatant cheating. Don't get me wrong, I don't tolerate cheating. a zero the 1st time, has never happened a second time (to my knowledge)

The strange thing is, for all their practice, Chinese students are terrible at cheating. That's because most of their cheating is encouraged by the teacher. The teacher looks out the window or leaves the room for them to cheat, because he knows that the student can't possibly pass the test, and/or because the teacher is new, and wants to make sure the student likes him enough so he can get a bonus/re-hired.

The Japanese test is a perfect example. Learn a smattering of a 3rd language ? Great idea. But what the students are expected to know after one semester or one year is totally, totally unrealistic. But the admin plays the game and makes the teacher test them at this level, so the college can tell the government the student is meeting the standard set. So the teacher has , "no choice" but to let them cheat.

Some of the students cheat just because they feel it is expected of them. I have had many students tell me how happy they are that they are not allowed to cheat in class, and they hate letting people cheat off them. But they feel thy must allow it. Actually, I sympathize with this (though I don't agree).

I mean what would you do, if the girl who is going to share the same room with you for 4 years, and is going to be in all the same classes as you for four years, wants to cheat of you?

Blanket parties aren't fun