PARAPHRASING - GUIDELINES

WHAT IS PARAPHRASING?
Most academic writing tasks (essays, reports, reviews etc.) require
students to draw upon the work of experts in the subject to
support key points. This can be done either by direct quoting the
experts or by paraphrasing their ideas.
araphrasing is a centra! ski!! in academic writing. "e show our
understanding of the ideas of experts on the topic by rewriting
these in our own words. This is why !ecturers prefer paraphrasing
to direct quotation. "hen we rephrase information in our own
words, we show how we understand the origina! text and a!so
show that we can express the ideas in our own way. araphrasing
invo!ves using reading and writing ski!!s to c!arify our
understanding and to convey this understanding to our reader. "e
are therefore te!!ing the reader both about the origina! text and
about our own !earning.
WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FR A GD PARAPHRASE?
A good paraphrase:
conveys the same ideas as the origina! source,
!ut uses !arge!y di#erent words within a di#erent sentence
structure
is re!evant to the ideas in your argument
is !inked to the rest of the text
is referenced in the text and in the reference !ist
HW IS PARAPHRASING DIFFERENT FR"
SU""ARISING?
araphrasing and summarising invo!ve simi!ar processes. $
summary focuses on the overview and the main points in the
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origina!. $ summary is a shorter version, with examp!es and detai!s
!eft out. $ paraphrase is sometimes shorter, but it cou!d a!so be
!onger. .oth paraphrases and summaries require in/text references
to the origina! text.
HW IS PARAPHRASING DIFFERENT FR" #UTING?
Paraphrasing$ #uoting$
"hen we paraphrase we take
information written by another writer
and express this in a di#erent way,
using %i&'r'nt (or%s. This process
is often ca!!ed 0putting the information
into your own words1. Ea)h
paraphras' n''%s a r'*'r'n)' to
th' origina+ t',t-
2n quoting you use the ',a)t (or%s of
the author, and these are usua!!y p!aced
in quotation marks or, if !onger, as
indented text. Ea)h quot' n''%s to
in)+u%' a r'*'r'n)' to th' origina+
t',t an% a pag' nu.!'r-
E,a.p+'/
The key advantages of email are that it is simple
to use and asynchronous which means that a
message can be sent at any time without the
receiver needing to be available at the same time.
A receiver can respond more carefully than if, for
example, they were responding to a phone call
(Mundell, 2!".
E,a.p+'/
Mundell (2!" highlights some benefits of email,
#apart from ease of use, email has other
advantages. $ecause it is asynchronous, people can
send and receive messages without the need for the
other party to be immediately available. This may
allow respondents to construct a more thoughtful
reply than would be the case during a conventional
phone conversation or personal discussion% (p.
&''".
PARAPHRASING EFFECTI0EL1 HELPS A0ID
PLAGIARIS"
2t1s important to communicate the same meaning as the ideas in
the origina! text, but to do so in di#erent words. This can1t be done
just by substituting some words for their synonyms a!one. 2t
requires more substantia! changes to sentence structure.
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STEPS IN PARAPHRASING
2n paraphrasing we aim to generate our own phrases and sentences
which exp!ain the ideas in the origina!.
3
4ead the source text to get the genera! idea (gist). 2t1s he!pfu! to
skim it quick!y 5rst and then read it through in more detai! to
make sure you understand the main ideas. 6ome peop!e 5nd it
he!pfu! to high!ight or under!ine key ideas on a photocopy.
*
7ook away from the text and think about the ideas you1ve just
read. This is an important step as it he!ps you to identify the key
ideas that are re!evant to you and he!ps you start to reconstruct
the ideas your own words.
+
6tart rewriting the key ideas, putting the text into your own
words. This can be di8cu!t if you keep !ooking at the source text.
9
2t1s a good idea to work on paraphrasing the ideas in the section
of text or paragraph rather than focusing on sing!e sentences :
;ou cou!d&
%se a di#erent word order as we!! as di#erent words. .y
starting a sentence in a di#erent way you wi!! be more !ike!y
to use di#erent words&
Culture shock is change to People experience culture
shock when
%se synonyms or words of simi!ar meaning&
merge with change to integrate; reject change to dismiss
<hange the forms of words& nouns : verbs= nouns to
adjectives etc.&
Impact on the environment change to environmental
efects
%se di#erent !engths of sentence and di#erent !inking words
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6ee the use of these di#erent techniques in the !onger examp!es
of paraphrasing given be!ow.
)
4eturn to the origina! text. <ompare your paraphrase to check
whether your paraphrase keeps to the meaning intended by the
writer of the origina!. $dd the in/text reference.
PINTS T CNSIDER WHEN PARAPHRASING/
>ne genera! guide!ine for paraphrasing is not to copy groups
of more than + words from the origina! : if you want to copy
more, you shou!d treat it as a quote.
6ometimes you wi!! need to copy some individua! words
exact!y because a synonym may a!ter the meaning
signi5cant!y, or because the word is a common!y used term in
the 5e!d.
araphrasing is a good activity for he!ping bui!d vocabu!ary
know!edge. <ross/check meanings of synonyms in an ?ng!ish
dictionary or a thesaurus.
"hen writing an assignment you shou!d be paraphrasing from
a number of di#erent sources. ractice paraphrasing as you
make notes.
A++ sour)'s 2ou paraphras' or quot' *ro. .ust !'
r'*'r'n)'%-
2t1s common to have to draft and re/draft paraphrases. 6ome
sections of text wi!! be more di8cu!t than others.
WHEN T PARAPHRASE
There are severa! considerations to think about when deciding
whether to paraphrase or quote from an origina! source inc!uding&
@ow di8cu!t it is to paraphrase
@ow many quotations you have used throughout your
assignment. Auotations shou!d be used sparing!y in your
writing.
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@ow !ong the origina! text is. 2t is genera!!y better to
paraphrase'summarise rather than quote !ong sections of text.
6ometimes the origina! text is particu!ar!y interesting or we!!
written and because of this you may choose to quote rather
than paraphrase.
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