Teaching Summarizing Skills at Secondary Level

Teaching summarizing skills at Secondary level
INTRODUCTION
Summarizing is an essential thinking skill that has also been shown to be one of the most effective strategies for building content knowledge. Therefore, there can be no doubt that both language teachers and content teachers should help students develop this complex thinking skill. Consequently, we would have to find an answer to the following questions:
1) 2)
How can summarizing skills be taught? How can content teachers in our CLIL classes teach them?
This publication attempts to give some practical hints for those teachers who are interested in teaching summarizing skills to their students. The suggested activities can be carried out in any content area, as long as coordination between the English language teachers and the content-subject areas teachers takes place. The idea behind this type of coordination is that the English language teacher develops the linguistic exercises that will be needed in the content area when summarizing: paraphrasing, synonym work, identifying main ideas and crossing out irrelevant ones, linking devices, etc.
I would like to finish this brief introduction by saying that it goes beyond the scope of this paper to describe this complex thinking skill in detail. As a teacher trainer, my aim is to provide some examples of practical activities for the classroom. Those of you who are interested in working on this skill can send me your content proposals and I will gladly help you with the language tasks you require.
Loli Iglesias B07 Getxoko Berritzegunea iglezama@gmail.com November 2013
PRACTICAL TIPS FOR SUMMARY WRITING

A summary is intended to highlight objectively the main points of another writers work. Although written in your own words, the summary does not include your opinions of the piece you are considering. Since the summary eliminates those details that are not needed to convey the major points, it is naturally shorter than the original. In general, a summary is from one fourth to one half the length of the original. The problem we all face when attempting to summarize a piece of writing is figuring out what to include and what to leave out. Below are some tips on how to choose material to include in your summary. Do not include your own thoughts on the matter. Describe the issue as objectively as possible, whether you agree with it or not. Underline topic sentences and key ideas and cross out the less important details Take notes on those key ideasjot down the information that clarifies the topic sentence, for example. When you summarize, you might try following these steps: Read the piece for understanding first. Never summarize as you read the article for the first time. Before you begin to write, check the topic sentences and key words (words that are underlined, italicized, or capitalized). These will clue you in on main ideas. Jot down the organization of the original and follow that pattern in your summary. Check your summary to be sure you have been objective. Your opinions are not part of the original
CHECKLIST FOR THE STUDENT
Step 1: read the text carefully and identify the main ideas. Then decide which to include.
Step 2: Paraphrase sentences when possible, use synonyms or similar words rather than copying.
Step 3: Avoid adding your own ideas and opinions.
Step 4: Use connectors to shorten or combine sentences. The sentences you choose should fit together and form a logical whole. In other words, will someone reading your summary understand the subject?
Step 5: Check your work for mistakes and be sure you havent written more words than you are allowed to.
CHECKLIST FOR THE TEACHER TO ASSESS STUDENTS SUMMARIES
- Is the summarys length appropriate? (The student didnt write more words than he/she was allowed to)
- Is the summary neutral (objective) in its representation of the original author's ideas, omitting the writer's own opinions?
- Are the original author's ideas expressed in the summary writer's own words?
- Does the summary quote sparingly (usually only key ideas or phrases that cannot be said precisely except in the original author's own words)?
Will the summary stand alone as a unified and coherent piece of writing?
Is the original source cited so that readers can locate it?
EXERCISE ON PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
Read the text about our brain and the truth:
Our brain and the truth
Mankind has long hoped that science could find a way to determine if a person is telling the truth or lying. In the 20th century, scientists constructed an instrument called the polygraph, which is based on the fact that when people lie, they tend to feel tense. The polygraph keeps a record of certain physiological signs, such as heart rate or blood pressure. When these increase suddenly, a person is probably feeling tense because he or she is lying. However, since the polygraph is really measuring how nervous a person is, its results are not 100 % reliable. Now it seems that scientists may have come up with a better idea: the fMRI. The fMRI is an instrument which uses magnetism to draw a picture of brain activity. In one experiment, researchers asked six people to tell a lie, and five people to tell the truth, measuring them with the fMRI. The results were amazing. The brain activity of the people who lied was radically different from that of those who were telling the truth. For example, lying activated different parts of the brain than truth telling. Furthermore, more parts of the brain were activated in the liars. Research is still at an early stage. The study was small and tests have not yet determined whether liars can trick the equipment, as some people are able to do with the polygraph. When these tests are done, we may find that the fMRI is the lie detector of the future.
Order the following statements so as to summarize the text
Consequently, researchers have developed the fMRI, which uses magnetism to
measure brain activity.
Research on the instrument is continuing.
The polygraph, which is the lie detector invented in the 20th century, is not completely accurate because it only measures how tense a person is.
In short, the fMRI has shown that brain activity in liars is different from that in people who are telling the truth
................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................
MODEL SUMMARY (Text: Our brain and the truth)
The polygraph, which is the lie detector invented in the 20 th century, is not completely accurate because it only measures how tense a person is. Consequently, researchers have developed the FMRI, which uses magnetism to measure brain activity. In short, the FMRI has shown that brain activity in liars is different from that in people who are telling the truth. Research on the instrument is continuing.
AN EXAMPLE OF A SCIENCE TEXT

Vitamin A Vitamin A is found only in yellow animal fats, in egg-yolk, milk and cheese. It is particularly plentiful in fish-liver oils, hence fish-liver oils are used for preventing and curing illness caused by lack of vitamin A. In a well-fed, healthy human being, the liver can store up sufficient vitamin A to meet the body's requirements for six months. Although vitamin A itself is not present in plants, many plants produce a substance called carotene, formed from leaf-green which our bodies can convert into vitamin A. Carotene is the yellowish-red colouring matter in carrots. The greener a leaf is, the more carotene it usually contains. Hence the importance of green, leafy vegetables in the diet as a source of carotene. Tomatoes, papayas, mangoes and bananas contain more carotene than most other fruits. Red palm oil contains so much carotene that it is used instead of cod-liver oil. Thus, it is very valuable, both as a food-fat and for deep-frying. Vitamin A and carotene are insoluble in water and they are not destroyed by heat unless oxygen is present. Boiling in water, therefore, does not destroy much vitamin A or carotene. Vitamin A encourages healthy growth and physical fitness. Young animals soon stop growing and die if vitamin A is not present in their diet. This vitamin keeps the moist surfaces lining the digestive canal, the lungs and air passages healthy. It also helps keep the ducts of the various glands, the tissue that lines the eyelids and covers the front of the eyeball functional. As vitamin A helps these tissues build up resistance to infection, it is often called the anti-infective vitamin. Some of the most common disorders in people are caused by a shortage of vitamin A, when the moist tissues become dry and rough. This often causes serious eye disease, followed by infection of the air-passages. The skin may also become flaky and rough. Another defect caused by shortage of vitamin A is 'nightblindness', when the affected person has distinct vision only in bright light. As the body cannot produce vitamin A, it has to come from external sources. Thus a well-balanced diet is required and is usually sufficient to provide the necessary amount. There is therefore no need to supplement the need in the form of pills. (Taken from http://www.englishdaily626.com/summary.php?020)
EXERCISE TO IDENTIFY THE MAIN IDEAS OF A TEXT (Text: Vitamin A)
When writing a summary, its important to include only the main ideas of a text. Read the text about vitamin A.
Which of the ideas below would you include in a summary of the text?
1. Sources of vitamin A 2. Examples of all fruits containing carotene 3. Description of what physical fitness means 4. Main functions of vitamin A 5. Detailed description of skin disorders caused by lack of vitamin A 6. Brief account of the things we can do to get the necessary amount of vitamin A in order to be healthy
After checking with your teacher, combine those sentences using connectors to write a summary of the original text.
EXERCISE ON LINKING DEVICES (Text: Vitamin A)
Choose the correct linking word and you will get a summary of the text you have read:
Vitamin A is found only in certain food substances and it is also abundant in fish-liver oils. Fortunately, our liver is able to store some vitamin A to meet our requirements. (Even though / However) vitamin A cannot be found in plants, carotene is a substance which our bodies can convert into vitamin A. It is found in green leafy vegetables, carrots and some fruits. Vitamin A is not easily destroyed by heat. It is essential for healthy growth and physical fitness. It also helps keep the eyes from infection. (In spite of this / Consequently), a lack of vitamin A could lead to eye diseases. If we eat healthily, we will not have to take extra vitamin supplements. (Therefore / Although), we should follow a well-balanced diet so as to ensure that the body receives the necessary supply of vitamin.
EXERCISES TO IDENTIFY TOPIC SENTENCES (Text: Vitamin A)

The topic sentence is the most important sentence of a paragraph. Identifying topic sentences will help you to write a good summary.
Choose the best topic sentence in the following paragraph:
Vitamin A encourages healthy growth and physical fitness. Young animals soon stop growing and die if vitamin A is not present in their diet. This vitamin keeps the moist surfaces lining the digestive canal, the lungs and air passages healthy. It also helps keep the ducts of the various glands, the tissue that lines the eyelids and covers the front of the eyeball functional. As vitamin A helps these tissues build up resistance to infection, it is often called the anti-infective vitamin.
A) Technical names for vitamin A B) Main functions of vitamin A C) Causes of young animals death
Now write a topic sentence of your own for each of the other paragraphs in the text.
EXERCISE TO HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE KEY WORDS IN THE TEXT
(Text: Vitamin A)
(When the text the content area is going to ask students to understand and summarize has got a considerable amount of difficult words for the students, the English language teacher can pave the way. You can find an example below: synonym match)
Match the numbers and letters so that you can understand the meaning of the key words from the text you have read:
1) Egg-yolk 2) Lack 3) Hence 4) Moist 5) Duct 6) Disorder 7) Cod 8) Flaky 9) Rough 10) Source
a) Tending to peel off or break easily into flakes b) Wet, humid c) A large marine fish with an important source of liver oil d) Disease, illness e) Deficiency f) Therefore, consequently g) Not smooth h) The yellow internal part of an egg i) Absence of something required or desired j) Any bodily passage, especially one conveying secretions or excretions
MODEL SUMMARY (Text: Vitamin A)
Vitamin A is found only in certain food substances and it is also abundant in fish-liver oils. Fortunately, our liver is able to store some vitamin A to meet our requirements. Even though vitamin A cannot be found in plants, carotene is a substance which our bodies can convert into vitamin A. It is found in green leafy vegetables, carrots and some fruits. Vitamin A is not easily destroyed by heat. It is essential for healthy growth and physical fitness. It also helps keep the eyes from infection. Consequently, a lack of vitamin A could lead to eye diseases. If we eat healthily, we will not have to take extra vitamin supplements. Therefore, we should follow a well-balanced diet so as to ensure that the body receives the necessary supply of vitamin.
EXERCISES ON PARAPHRASING
(Ideally, the content teacher should choose the texts he/she would like his/her students to work with and ask the English language teacher to deal with the most difficult passages by providing students with paraphrasing exercises that will help them understand the content area texts. Below these lines you can find two different types of paraphrasing exercises)
1) Read the short text below. Then look at the paraphrased sentences and decide which one is paraphrased better for a summary. Explain your choice.
The globalization of food has played a major role in causing people to neglect the unique food of their own cultures. This can be seen quite clearly in countries such as Spain, Italy and France
1. The globalization of food has caused many Europeans to give up their traditional diets.
2. Sadly, the globalization of food has led many people, for example, the Spanish, the Italians and the French, to neglect the unique food of their own cultures.
2) Paraphrase the following sentences using the prompts given and adding the words that you need.
Oily types of fish, such as salmon and mackerel, are a great source of Omega -3 fatty acids essential for making brain cell membranes, which are necessary for brain function.
Oily fish / needed / brain function

............................................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................................
Urban planning is not a recent invention. People have designed their settlements from the earliest times. Despite differences based on geography, culture, and the needs of the population, the various planners had many things in common.
Urban planning is far from ............................................................................... Although .............................................................................................................
The number of students going to university to study pure and applied sciences is decreasing by about five per cent each year.
There is an annual fall ........................................................................................
Vitamin A and carotene are insoluble in water and they are not destroyed by heat unless oxygen is present.
If.............................................................................................................................
LANGUAGE OF SUMMARIZING
Useful linkers To express sequence order:
First At the beginning In the first part In the introduction Further on Next In the section which follows In the next section In the main part Finally In the end At last
To add information to support the main idea:
In addition Moreover In addition to that
To express consequences of what was previously said:
Therefore Thus Consequently
To conclude: In short To sum up In conclusion All in all On the whole
Useful noun groups: The author The writer The scientist The reporter The reader
Useful verbs: Argues Writes States Points out Explains Mentions Emphasizes Concludes Pretends Underlines Stresses
Useful sentences: In this text, the author argues that In this text, the reader is informed about In this passage, the author analyzes In this passage, we are told about This is an article about This passage reflects the opinion of ... about This text expresses the thoughts of concerning

Teaching Summarizing Skills at Secondary Level

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Teaching Summarizing Skills at Secondary Level

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Teaching summarizing skills at Secondary level

Loli Iglesias B07 Getxoko Berritzegunea iglezama@gmail.com November 2013