AN EXAMINATION OF STUDENT ATTITUDES TO PLAGIARISM-DETECTION SOFTWARE: A PILOT STUDY AMONG JAPANESE ENGLISH MAJORS

This project investigated the use of plagiarism-detection software on an undergraduate L2 academic writing course. Plagiarism-detection software was incorporated into the course as an aid to paraphrasing. A case study approach was adopted to determine students ’ impressions of using the software both before and after the course. Journal entries and group interviews were used to collect the data. Emergent themes from the data were also examined in conjunction with samples of students’ written work. The results indicate an almost unanimously favourable reaction to the software as a learning aid