Paraphrasing &

Summarizing

BY: RUSSELL RODRIGO

Week 1 Lesson Outline

Describe the difference between paraphrasing and

summarizing

Describe the steps involved in paraphrasing and summarizing

Know how to avoid plagiarism

Paraphrasing

To paraphrase is to rewrite something 'in your own words'.

• Lecturers like to see you using paraphrasing in your writing because it demonstrates what you know and understand about their subject (because it is in your own words).

• Most of your academic reading texts are made up of paraphrases. Any information in a paragraph that does not have quotation marks and is referenced is either a paraphrase or a summary.

Paraphrasing

Students often experience difficulties writing acceptable paraphrases. In

their studies of student essay writing problems, Brown and Smith (2006)

observe that the most common paraphrasing error made by students was

that they only changed a few of the writer’s words. They also noted that

this practice was a particular problem with internet users who copied and

pasted information from web sites. Even if this paraphrased text is

referenced, it is not an acceptable practice as the words and sentences are

also almost the same as the original text (Johnson & Jackson, 2006).

Therefore students who lack mastery in paraphrasing may experience

problems with avoiding plagiarism. (106 words)

Paraphrasing

Successful paraphrasing depends on the writer’s ability to rephrase the original author’s words into their own, but also maintain the same meaning.

Two simple ways of rephrasing are to use synonyms and the passive voice.

• A) A group of US researchers has carried out trials on a new vaccine.

• B) An unhealthy lifestyle can be the cause of many diseases.

Examples of original text:

Using synonyms:

• .Using passive

voice:

Using both synonyms

and passive voice:

Paraphrasing

Practice paraphrasing these sentences in your own words by using

synonyms and/or passive voice.

1. We need more proof that active learning really works.

2. They will build a huge medical center on the old site in the near future.

3. The organizers cancelled the talk because the main speaker was ill.

Paraphrasing

For ALL paraphrases:

• Keep the meaning the same as the original

writing

• Change most of the words except for

technical terms

• Restructure the sentence patterns

• Blend with the sentence (use reporting

words)

• Use strong/weak author to acknowledge the

source

• Reference the source/s of information

Paraphrasing

Don't do this!

• Don't just change a couple of words from your information source and think that it is an acceptable paraphrase—adding a reference makes no difference! Either use a direct quote (the author's EXACT words) or change the words of the author significantly so that it is a correct paraphrase.

• Don't just switch around sentence parts from your information source and add a reference, then think that it is an acceptable paraphrase—adding a reference makes no difference! Either use a direct quote (the author's EXACT words) or change the sentences significantly so that it a correct paraphrase.

• Avoid patchworking (cutting and pasting and copying bits of information from a variety of sources and connecting it all together in a paragraph, usually without references). It is a GOOD strategy to use information from different sources in a paragraph but you must paraphrase and reference each and every piece of evidence correctly.

Summarizing

Summaries of material may be used to give an overview of an author’s work.

• Because they are very brief outlines of arguments made, they are very useful when you want to indicate the support given for and/or against some position you are taking in your argument.

• In your writing you may make a summary from:

• one or more paragraphs

• an entire article, chapter or complete work

• a combination of readings with similar ideas

• You can get an idea from your reading as to whether an author has used a direct quote, paraphrase or summary to support their argument.

Summarizing

Summarizing

For ALL summaries:

• Keep the meaning and degree of certainty

the same as the original writing

• Put the main idea and key points into your

own words

• Expect that length of your summary will be

very short compared to the original writing

• Blend with the sentence (use reporting words)

• Use strong/weak author to acknowledge the

source

• Reference the source/s of information

Summarizing

Don't do this!

• Don't sacrifice CLARITY (clear writing) by clogging your writing up with too many details. You need to get to the essence of what the writer has to say in as few words as possible.

• Don't do a one-off summary. You need to have several tries at a good summary. Keep checking against the original to ensure that you have maintained the message and captured the surety of the writer (how committed the writer is to their opinion).

Lesson Review

Describe the difference between paraphrasing and

summarizing

Describe the steps involved in paraphrasing and summarizing

Know how to avoid plagiarism

F2F Activities

Practice

Practice

Paraphrasing Homework pp. 11-12