Detecting translingual plagiarism and the backlash against translation plagiarists

Os métodos de detecção de plágio registaram melhorias significativas ao longo das últimas décadas e, decorrente da investigação avançada realizada por linguistas computacionais e, sobretudo, por linguistas forenses, é, agora, maisfácil identiVcar estratégias de reutilização de texto simples e soVsticadas. Especificamente, simples algoritmos de comparação de texto criados por linguistas computacionais permitem detectar fácil e (semi-)automaticamente plágio literal,ipsis verbis (i.e. que consiste na reutilização de trechos de texto idênticos em diferentes documentos) como é o caso do Turnitin ou o SafeAssign , embora o desempenho destes métodos tenha tendência a piorar quando a reutilizaçãoé disfarçada através da introdução de alterações ao texto original. Neste caso, são necessárias técnicas linguísticas mais soVsticadas, como a análise de sobreposição lexical (Johnson, 1997), para detectar a reutilização. Contudo, estastécnicas são de aplicação muito limitada em casos de plágio translingue, em que determinado texto é traduzido e reutilizado sem atribuição da autoria ao texto original, proveniente de outra língua. Considerando que (a) normalmente,a tradução amadora (e.g. tradução literal ou tradução automática gratuita) é ométodo utilizado para plagiar; (b) é comum os plagiadores fazerem alterações aotexto, nomeadamente gramaticais e sintácticas, sobretudo após a tradução automática;e (c) os elementos lexicais são aqueles que a tradução automática processamais correctamente, antes da sua reutilização no texto derivado, este artigopropõe um método de detecção de plágio translingue informado pelas teorias datradução e da interlíngua (Selinker, 1972; Bassnett and Lefevere, 1998), bem comopelo princípio de singularidade linguística (Coulthard, 2004). Recorrendo a dadosempíricos do corpus CorRUPT (Corpus of Reused and Plagiarised Texts),um corpus de textos académicos e não académicos reais, que foram investigadose acusados de plagiar textos originais noutras línguas, demonstra-se a utilidadeda metodologia proposta para a detecção de plágio translingue. Finalmente,discute-se possíveis aplicações deste método como ferramenta de investigação emcontextos forenses.Plagiarism detection methods have improved signiVcantly over thelast decades, and as a result of the advanced research conducted by computationaland mostly forensic linguists, simple and sophisticated textual borrowingstrategies can now be identiVed more easily. In particular, simple text comparisonalgorithms developed by computational linguists allow literal, word-for-wordplagiarism (i.e. where identical strings of text are reused across diUerent documents)to be easily detected (semi-)automatically (e.g. Turnitin or SafeAssign),although these methods tend to perform less well when the borrowing is obfuscatedby introducing edits to the original text. In this case, more sophisticatedlinguistic techniques, such as an analysis of lexical overlap (Johnson, 1997), arerequired to detect the borrowing. However, these have limited applicability incases of translingual plagiarism, where a text is translated and borrowed withoutacknowledgment from an original in another language. Considering that(a) traditionally non-professional translation (e.g. literal or free machine translation)is the method used to plagiarise; (b) the plagiarist usually edits the textfor grammar and syntax, especially when machine-translated; and (c) lexicalitems are those that tend to be translated more correctly, and carried over to thederivative text, this paper proposes a method for translingual plagiarism detectionthat is grounded on translation and interlanguage theories (Selinker, 1972;Bassnett and Lefevere, 1998), as well as on the principle of linguistic uniqueness(Coulthard, 2004). Empirical evidence from the CorRUPT corpus (Corpus ofReused and Plagiarised Texts), a corpus of real academic and non-academic textsthat were investigated and accused of plagiarising originals in other languages, isused to illustrate the applicability of the methodology proposed for translingualplagiarism detection. Finally, applications of the method as an investigative toolin forensic contexts are discussed

Detecting plagiarism in the forensic linguistics turn

This study investigates plagiarism detection, with an application in forensic contexts. Two types of data were collected for the purposes of this study. Data in the form of written texts were obtained from two Portuguese Universities and from a Portuguese newspaper. These data are analysed linguistically to identify instances of verbatim, morpho-syntactical, lexical and discursive overlap. Data in the form of survey were obtained from two higher education institutions in Portugal, and another two in the United Kingdom. These data are analysed using a 2 by 2 between-groups Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), to reveal cross-cultural divergences in the perceptions of plagiarism. The study discusses the legal and social circumstances that may contribute to adopting a punitive approach to plagiarism, or, conversely, reject the punishment. The research adopts a critical approach to plagiarism detection. On the one hand, it describes the linguistic strategies adopted by plagiarists when borrowing from other sources, and, on the other hand, it discusses the relationship between these instances of plagiarism and the context in which they appear. A focus of this study is whether plagiarism involves an intention to deceive, and, in this case, whether forensic linguistic evidence can provide clues to this intentionality. It also evaluates current computational approaches to plagiarism detection, and identifies strategies that these systems fail to detect. Specifically, a method is proposed to translingual plagiarism. The findings indicate that, although cross-cultural aspects influence the different perceptions of plagiarism, a distinction needs to be made between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. The linguistic analysis demonstrates that linguistic elements can contribute to finding clues for the plagiarist’s intentionality. Furthermore, the findings show that translingual plagiarism can be detected by using the method proposed, and that plagiarism detection software can be improved using existing computer tools

Forensic Linguistics: the potential of language for law enforcement in the digital age

The recent technological developments have granted citizens worldwide access to the Internet, including in handheld devices, and offered them new communication possibilities. Nevertheless, they have also exposed them to more cybernetic attacks, as criminals gained new opportunities for cybercriminal practice. The (perceived) increase in the number of cyberattacks faces Law Enforcement with two major challenges: firstly, the higher the volume of cyberattacks, the harder it is to dedicate the necessary resources, including human, to fight them; secondly, the range of sophisticated stealth technologies used by cybercriminals to remain anonymous online hamper the work of the forces. This paper argues that, since (cyber)criminals use language to communicate, their anonymisation can be undermined by the language that they use because language use is idiosyncratic, so each speaker makes a particular use of their language (Coulthard, 2004). This is enabled by Forensic Linguistics, which can be broadly defined as the application of linguistic analyses in legal or Law Enforcement contexts. This article presents two illustrative cases of cybercrime to show the potential of the forensic linguistic analysis. The first is the case of an anonymous set of text messages spreading defamatory contents, whose linguistic analysis enabled the sociolinguistic profiling of the author, and hence narrow down the pool of suspects. The second presents a cross border cybercriminal practice: fraudulent and deceptive messages sent to citizens for purposes of extortion. The article concludes by discussing the potential of the linguistic analyses in the fight against (cyber)-crime, and making recommendations for Law Enforcement

Thermal performance of light blocks in a Mediterranean climate

The challenge of reducing energy consumption in buildings is fundamental for the near future, considering the impact of buildings in the overall energy demands. Mediterranean regions have a mild heating season and a hot and dry winter. Its climate is characterized by plentiful solar radiation all along the year and large daily range of temperature during the summer. Thermal inertia and insulation material properties can act in a different way along the day and the year, and the better solution for the summer can be the worst solution for the cooling season. Masonry walls that define the boundary between the interior and exterior are one of the most important components of buildings mainly for energy efficiency. Despite being one of the most common and ancient building materials, it is possible to improve its performance working in units, mortars and finishes. This work aims at studying the effect of materials with different thermal insulation and thermal mass on thermal comfort and energy savings of three types of buildings, two single-family houses and one apartment, in a Mediterranean climate. Thermal behavior of traditional and light solutions is compared and it is found that thermal comfort is similar but light solutions present lower energy consumptions for the three studied house topologies. Otherwise, this study shows that housing topology has more influence namely, when comparing energy needs

Validity and reliability of the Portuguese version of Mathematics Academic Motivation Scale (MATAMS) among third cycle of basic school students

The importance of motivation in mathematics education is expressed in the large number of studies related to the teaching and learning process. Improving students’ motivation in the mathematics classroom is a fundamental issue for teachers, investigators, and policymakers, due to its relevance in the students’ behavior and academic success. The Academic Motivation Scale is a highly applied tool to evaluate students’ motivation based on Self-Determination Theory. In Portugal, there is a lack in the analysis of the different domains of mathematics motivation defined by Self-Determination Theory, for students attending basic education. Additionally, there is no comprehensive instrument that allows that evaluation. Adapting the Academic Motivation Scale, the purpose of this study is to assess the mathematics motivation of Portuguese students who attend the third cycle of basic education. In addition, it is intended to analyze the properties of this new instrument using a sample of 349 Portuguese students aged between 12 and 17. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated a very good validity and reliability of this measuring instrument of mathematics students’ motivation. The results of this work allow the development of educational policies that promote strategies to increase students’ motivation in mathematics

Plágio : um problema forense

Nas últimas décadas, o plágio tem sido perspetivado como um problemagrave nas mais diversas esferas sociais e prossionais, da academia até à justiça,com consequências sérias. Importa, por isso, questionar o papel desempenhadopela linguística forense nestes casos. Este artigo começa por contextualizar a problemáticado plágio, em geral, e do plágio académico, em particular. Tomandocomo exemplo o caso do Reino Unido, aborda a relevância das políticas de prevençãoe combate ao plágio e a sua aplicação no Brasil e em Portugal e discuteo papel desempenhado tradicionalmente pela linguística forense na deteção deplágio. Descrevendo os contributos desta área da linguística para os processos deanálise e deteção, questiona a função da linguística forense na análise de casos deplágio, identicando, com bases em casos reais, os marcadores linguísticos maisrobustos na deteção e análise de textos suspeitos. O artigo termina com uma discussãosobre a natureza multidisciplinar da linguística forense, questionando se,em casos de plágio, deverá limitar-se à comparação textual e à justicação dessesresultados, ou se deverá adotar uma abordagem multidisciplinar que permita interpretaros resultados encontrados.Over the last decades, plagiarism has been seen as a serious problem in social and professional settings alike, from the academy to the legal community, with serious consequences. It is thus paramount to discuss the role played by forensic linguistics in these cases. This article begins with a discussion of plagiarism, in general, and academic plagiarism, in particular. It takes the UK as an example to debate the relevance of plagiarism policies and their enforcement in Brazil and in Portugal and the role traditionally played by forensic linguistics in detecting plagiarism. The article lists some of the contributions of this eld of linguistics for plagiarism analysis and detection, and then discusses the role of forensic linguistics in the analysis of plagiarism claims. Some of the linguistic markers that are most relevant when detecting and analysing plagiarism are identi ed, based on real cases. The article concludes with a discussion of the multidisciplinarity of forensic linguistics, to argue that forensic linguistic analysis of instances of plagiarism should go beyond the textual comparison and the explanation of the results thereof to enable a multidisciplinary interpretation of those results

Trimetilaminúria (Estudo de caso)

A 39-year-old female civil servant was sent to the Nutri tion consultation for food and nutrition monitoring af ter she went to her attending physician with complaints of intense and unpleasant body odor, as well as foul smelling urine. According to the patient, the situation would have been due to eating some squid that were spoiled. The hypotheses of urinary infection, vaginal Trichomoniasis and Trimethylaminuria were placed by the physician.Uma mulher de 39 anos, funcionária pública, foi enca minhada à consulta de Nutrição para acompanhamento de alimentação e nutrição, após ter procurado o seu mé dico assistente com queixas de odor corporal intenso e desagradável, além de urina fétida. Segundo a própria, a situação ter-se-ia ficado a dever a umas potas de co meu e que estariam estragadas. As hipóteses de infec ção urinária, tricomoníase vaginal e trimetilaminúria foram colocadas pelo médico.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Storage System for Pulsed Energy generated by a Pavement Energy Harvesting Solution

With the constant technological developments, there are nowadays (2020) the possibility of developing a Pavement Energy Harvesting solution that can harvest kinetic energy from vehicles and convert it into electricity. Harvesting kinetic energy from vehicles might be increasing road safety by reducing the vehicle´s speed without any driver action. When vehicles move across the module, an electro-mechanical system converts its surface motion into pulsed electric energy. The electric energy produced requires a storage system so it can be used in multiple electric applications locally installed. This project focus on the modelling of the electric generation behaviour of the Pavement Energy Harvesting generation module, the AC/DC energy conversion system, and its storage. At first, a comparative analysis of the different technologies for energy storage has been performed, leading to the selection of supercapacitors and ultracapacitors (LiC supercapacitors) as the strongest candidates to store pulsed energy from the generation module. Then a model of the generation module is created based on MATLAB/Simulink to test different conversion circuits and to analyse the performance of the storage system to achieve an effective and efficient combination

Positive Mathematical Programming: a Comparison of Different Specification Rules

In this paper, the prescriptive capacity of different types of positive mathematical programming models applied to the Alentejo agricultural sector is analysed. Model results are compared for 2000 and 2004 agricultural price and subsidies scenarios, regarding optimal combination of activities. Thus, it is tested, on one hand, models capacity to reproduce Alentejo agricultural sector behaviour, and by the other hand, their response and adjustment capacities to changes in prices and in agricultural policy.Positive mathematical programming, agricultural supply, Alentejo, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

The dawn of the human-machine era: a forecast of new and emerging language technologies

New language technologies are coming, thanks to the huge and competing private investment fuelling rapid progress; we can either understand and foresee their effects, or be taken by surprise and spend our time trying to catch up. This report scketches out some transformative new technologies that are likely to fundamentally change our use of language. Some of these may feel unrealistically futuristic or far-fetched, but a central purpose of this report - and the wider LITHME network - is to illustrate that these are mostly just the logical development and maturation of technologies currently in prototype. But will everyone benefit from all these shiny new gadgets? Throughout this report we emphasise a range of groups who will be disadvantaged and issues of inequality. Important issues of security and privacy will accompany new language technologies. A further caution is to re-emphasise the current limitations of AI. Looking ahead, we see many intriguing opportunities and new capabilities, but a range of other uncertainties and inequalities. New devices will enable new ways to talk, to translate, to remember, and to learn. But advances in technology will reproduce existing inequalities among those who cannot afford these devices, among the world's smaller languages, and especially for sign language. Debates over privacy and security will flare and crackle with every new immersive gadget. We will move together into this curious new world with a mix of excitement and apprehension - reacting, debating, sharing and disagreeing as we always do. Plug in, as the human-machine era dawn