A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? Critical Discourse Analysis of Five Online Automated Paraphrasing Sites

Date
2023-11-01
Authors
Hammond, Kay
Lucas, Patricia
Hassouna, Amira
Brown, Stephen
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Office of the Academic Executive Director, University of Tasmania
Abstract

Research on academic integrity used to focus more on student character and behaviour. Now this research includes wider viewing of this issue as a current teaching and learning challenge which requires pedagogical intervention. It is now the responsibility of staff and institutions to treat the creation of a learning environment supporting academic integrity as a teaching and learning priority. Plagiarism by simply copying other people’s work is a well-known misconduct which undermines academic integrity; moreover, technological developments have evolved plagiarism to include the generation and copying of computer-generated text. Automated paraphrasing tool (APT) websites have become increasingly common, offering students machine-generated rephrased text that students input from their own or others’ writing. These developments present a creeping erosion of academic integrity under the guise of legitimate academic assistance. This also has implications for arrival of large language model (LLM) generative AI tools. In accessing these sites, students must discern what is a legitimate use of the tool and what may constitute breaching academic integrity. This study critically analysed the text from five online paraphrasing websites to examine the discourses used to legitimise and encourage APT use in both appropriate and inappropriate ways. We conceptualised these competing discourses using Sheep and Wolf metaphors. In addition, we offer a metaphor of the Educator as a Shepherd to become aware of APT website claims and assist students to develop critical language awareness when exposed to these sites. Educators can assist students with this through knowledge of how these sites use language to entice users to circumvent learning.

Description
Keywords
1301 Education Systems , 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy , 3901 Curriculum and pedagogy , 3903 Education systems
Source
Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, ISSN: 1449-9789 (Print); 1449-9789 (Online), Office of the Academic Executive Director, University of Tasmania, 20(7). doi: 10.53761/1.20.7.08
Rights statement
© by the authors, in its year of first publication. This publication is an open access publication under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY-ND 4.0 license.