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stevenpa
Joined: 24 Aug 2006
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 Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:00 am Post subject: |
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| rothkowitz wrote: |
| The western examples are examples of "poor form",whereas with the Korean examples I don't think anyone would feel primarily aggrieved.They may even have a twinge of envy or regret that they weren't able to or didn't think of doing the same thing themselves. |
Perhaps, but I think a more accurate characterization would be that Anglos view cheating/plagiarism as "malpractice" (i.e. it's not acceptable and punishment tends to be quite serious and strictly enforced) whereas Koreans may view the same acts as "poor practice" (i.e. it's not good, but it's more tolerated and punishment is not serious or strictly enforced).
I do not, however, believe that envy or regret (again, culturally charged concepts) figure into the equation to a significant degree or else we would probably see students attempting to cheat at every opportunity just to allay those emotions, which is clearly not the case. |
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stevenpa
Joined: 24 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
stevenpa:
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| I guess what I'm trying to say is that cultural concepts almost never translate seamlessly across cultures. The work that Anna Wierzbicka has done on intercultural communication and cultural scripts is a worthwhile starting point for more on this topic. |
Fascinating: any weblinks you can post to her?
And just how do you characterize the Korean concept of fairness? |
This is a good question and I've been thinking of an answer off and on all day. I'm not sure, so I'll postpone saying anything until I can come up with a description that I�m happy with.
However, I will say that cheating/plagiarism may not even fall under the purview of (Anglo) fairness. You mentioned Pennycook in a previous post. Doesn�t he support his argument that plagiarism in Chinese culture is justified by saying that it is seen as an act of flattery? That seems to have nothing to do with fairness, though I�ve not read enough of his stuff to know where he is coming from.
My main motivation for posting in the meantime was to warn against the dangers of using words that are "culturally charged" (i.e. ethnocentric) when describing another culture.
There are numerous Wierzbicka articles out there, some online. Two good ones are:
Cultural scripts: What are they and what are they good for?
https://nats-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/pub/User/InterculturalCommunication/cultureWierz.pdf
Contrastive sociolinguistics and the theory of �cultural scripts�: Chinese vs. English
I can't find this one online, but it's also a good one. I've got the PDF. How can I send it to you if you're interested? |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:43 am Post subject: |
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roth:
Neo-Confucianist education is quite utilitarian in nature, which traditionally has distinguished itself from Western education, at least in the humanities. So you're correct to point this out.
It's a bit sad that those Korean students most likely to pursue learning for its intrinsic value go abroad to do so, such losing that positive influence on their peers back home. But perhaps the traditional perception will modify with the next generation. One can only hope.
And I also agree that education here is caught up far too much with socio-economic class reminiscent of the West before the Second World War when government funding was unavailable to all but a few scholarship students.
stevenpa:
| Quote: |
Perhaps, but I think a more accurate characterization would be that Anglos view cheating/plagiarism as "malpractice" (i.e. it's not acceptable and punishment tends to be quite serious and strictly enforced) whereas Koreans may view the same acts as "poor practice" (i.e. it's not good, but it's more tolerated and punishment is not serious or strictly enforced).
I do not, however, believe that envy or regret (again, culturally charged concepts) figure into the equation to a significant degree or else we would probably see students attempting to cheat at every opportunity just to allay those emotions, which is clearly not the case. |
I couldn't have stated it better myself, really.
As for Pennycook, I once engaged him in an exchange of emails on his journal article on plagiarism (he has also taught in mainland China), calling it a cultural cop out. Yes, flattery can be reflected in the practice but so is sheer laziness (i.e., not thinking for oneself) and force of habit (i.e., it's done all too often). Actually part of my critique involved the fact that he made no mention of fairness in terms of acknowledging the author of a work. And he should know that some department deans have the temerity to take published credit for research done entirely by lower rank faculty (this actually happened to a friend and former colleague of mine).
But Pennycook is a criticalist and a postcolonialist, which makes him vulnerable to being an unwitting apologist for what he sees as oppressed cultures (bunk in the Chinese context since the Chinese are impervious to this interplay).
Please PM me that article. Mahalo. |
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rothkowitz
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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edited
Last edited by rothkowitz on Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:33 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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rothkowitz
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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아이구......
To render the quick,do people start to feel greedy and rushed for time here in Korea? |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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stevenpa:
Read about the cultural scripts in the weblink you posted. Semantics and linguistics in general has much to inform our understanding of comparative psychology, it would seem. Without trying to, the article demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary investigation. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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Paji:
While I found that Transparency Index interesting, after reading about the professor's methodology I am inclined to look askance at the results. Tolerance for corruption is higher in some countries than in others. I do believe that most Americans, for instance, have a very low tolerance for corruption and therefore they would be more sensitive to it, which in turn would be reflected in the survey findings. In other words, we cannot claim to have a reliable correlation between perception and reality when variance exists cross-culturally. From the methods section:
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| Noteworthy examples of deteriorations from CPI 2005 to CPI 2006 are Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia and the United States. In these cases, actual changes in perceptions occurred during the last two years. |
Intuitively, I gather that countries with much higher, more diverse populations will be more inclined to score lower on the CPI scale. Perhaps the potential to repress corruption is higher in societies with both sound legal systems and smaller populations. Aside from demographics, the existence and stability of democratic institutions would seem to be a more reliable indicator than public perception in any case. One can see that at a glace on the world map provided.
Common sense also challenges the results: does anyone seriously believe that Chile is no more corrupt than the U.S., for instance? And what of Japan: we've had a steady flow of news reports on corruption in Japan over the decades, although I'm fairly certain that it's still less than one would find in South Korea. The Japanese might also have a more positive collective self-image, which has been borne out in other, unrelated comparative studies on East Asians.
There is also the timing to be factored in: this survey was conducted at a time in the U.S., for example, when the Enron scandal was breaking news and public sentiment had turned especially sour against corporations. Of late, a rising tide of legislative reform is on the doorstep of Congress, especially in matters of accepting PAC monies.
For me, a much more interesting survey would be one on judicial redress. To what extent is corruption tolerated legally? At the risk of being defensive, I dare say that the lawsuit environment of the U.S. would have that country register a higher score. |
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stevenpa
Joined: 24 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
| ...some department deans have the temerity to take published credit for research done entirely by lower rank faculty (this actually happened to a friend and former colleague of mine). |
Why is this allowed to happen?
Last edited by stevenpa on Fri Jan 19, 2007 2:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:19 am Post subject: |
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stevenpa:
Deans in China are generally not elected by their colleagues but are in some sense political appointees with arbitrary powers no Western dean would imagine for him or herself. I respected this Dean's knowledge and research--she had no need to do this--but I could never look past this professional affront. |
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