English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Quarter 1 Term: Week 3

Unit Topic: Summarizing

Learning Competency:
 Uses various techniques in summarizing a variety of academic texts

Day 1- 3

Overview

English class is not complete without discussing the topic on summary and
often times, students are asked to do it though they do not have enough
knowledge on this skill. As a result, students fail to do it right and become
frustrated even in other writing activities.

Basically when we summarize, we reduce the most important details from

the bigger texts, get the main idea, and take only the essential elements in
articles. It seems easy-read an article, get the main topic, deduce the gist, and
write the final copy on a paper. However, no one said it is easy and most of the
writers would say it never was.

Writing a summary requires higher-level thinking skills. One must analyze

the article first and then synthesize it before he can infuse the details together.

SUMMARIZING

A summary is a synthesis of the key ideas of a piece of writing, restated in

your own words – i.e., paraphrased.  You may write a summary as a stand-alone
assignment or as part of a longer paper.  Whenever you summarize, you must be
careful not to copy the exact wording of the original source.

BASICS OF SUMMARIZING

As with directly quoting and paraphrasing, summarizing requires you to cite

your sources properly to avoid "accidental" plagiarism. Summarizing is to take
larger selections of text and reduce them to their basic essentials: the gist, the
key ideas, the main points that are worth noting and remembering.
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COMPONENTS OF GOOD SUMMARY
 Write in the present tense.
 Make sure to include the author, the year, and title of the work.
Example:
a. In Pixar’s 2003 movie, Finding Nemo…
b. In Stephen King’s horror book The Shining (1977)…
c. In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I CouldNot Stop for Death (1890),”
 Be concise: It should be 1/10 as long.
 Include 2-3 main points of the text or work.
 Avoid quotations; a summary is not paraphrase or a direct quote.
 Do not put your own opinions, ideas, or interpretations into the summary.

WHAT IS NOT SUMMARIZING?

 Everything
 Ideas from the text word-to-word.
 Incoherent and irrelevant ideas;
 Ideas that are not stated in the text;
 Summary that has the same length or is longer than the original text.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
 Deepen your understanding of the text.
 Learn to identify relevant information.
 Concentrate on the gist or main idea.
 Capture the key ideas in the text and put them together clearly and
concisely.

HOW TO SUMMARIZE?
 Read the text.
 Don’t let big words scare you.
 Ask, “What was this text about?”

HOW DO I SUMMARIZE?
A good summary:
 Identifies the writer of the original text.
 Synthesizes the writer’s key ideas.
 Presents the information neutrally.
Summaries can vary in length.  Follow the directions given by your
instructor for how long the summary should be.

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YOUR ANSWER SHOULD BE…
1. Should be a complete sentence or two.
2. Should cover main point and key ideas.
3. Should be in your own words.
4. Shouldn’t just be a word or two.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN YOU ARE SUMMARIZING:

1. Clarify your purpose before you read.
2. Read the text and understand the meaning.
3. Select and underline or circle the key ideas.
4. Annotate key.

FORMATS IN SUMMARIZING

1. Idea Heading Format - the summarize idea comes before the citation.

Example: Benchmarking is a useful strategy that has the potential to help

public officials improve the performance of local services (Folz, 2004; Ammons,
2001). Once the practice of a particular city is benchmarked, it can be a
guidepost and the basis for the other counterparts to improve its own.

2. Author Heading Format – the summarized idea comes after the citation.
The author’s name/s is/are connected by an appropriate reporting verb.

Example: The considerable number of users of FB has led educators to

utilize FB for communicating with their students (Grant, 2008; as cited in
Donmus, 2010).

The study of Kabilan, Ahmad and Abidin (2010) shows that the
students perceived FB as an online environmentt tto expeditte language
learning specifically English. Donmus (2010) asserts that educational
games on FB fecundate learning process and make students’ learning
environmentt more engaging. As regards literacy, this notion reveals that FB
could be used as a tool to aid individuals execute a range of social acts through
social literacy implementation(ibid).

Blackstone and Hardwood (2012) suggest the facilitative strength of

FB as it either elicits greater engagement on collaboration among
students.
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 3. Date Heading Format – the summarized idea comes after the date when
the material was published.On the other hand, active participation of the
citizens in development contributes to a sound and reasonable government
decisions.

Example: In their 2004 study on the impact of participatory development

approach, Irvin and Stansbury argue that participants can be valuable to the
participants and the government in terms of the process and outcomes of
decision making.

USING REPORTING VERBS

A reporting verb is a word used to discuss another person’s writings or

assertions. They are generally used to incorporate the source to the discussion in
the text. Hyland (1999) lists a frequency of reporting verbs used according to
discipline:

LISTS OF REPORTING VERBS

DISCIPLINE
(from most common to least common)
Biology Describe, Find, Report, Show, Suggest, Observe
Suggest, Argue, Find, Demonstrate, Propose,
Marketing
Show
Linguistics Suggest, Argue, Show, Explain, Find, Point out
Sociology Argue, Suggest, Describe, Note, Analyze, Discuss
Philosophy Say, Suggest, Argue, Claim, Point out, Hold, Think
Suggest, Argue, Find, Show, Describe, Propose,
Overall
Report

AN EXAMPLE OF SUMMARIZING

Original text:

America has changed dramatically during recent years. Not only has the
number of graduates in traditional engineering disciplines such as mechanical,
civil, electrical, chemical, and aeronautical engineering declined, but in most of
the premier American universities engineering curricula now concentrate on and
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encourage largely the study of engineering science.  As a result, there are
declining offerings in engineering subjects dealing with infrastructure, the
environment, and related issues, and greater concentration on high technology
subjects, largely supporting increasingly complex scientific developments. While
the latter is important, it should not be at the expense of more traditional
engineering.

Rapidly developing economies such as China and India, as well as other

industrial countries in Europe and Asia, continue to encourage and advance the
teaching of engineering. Both China and India, respectively, graduate six and
eight times as many traditional engineers as does the United States. Other
industrial countries at minimum maintain their output, while America suffers an
increasingly serious decline in the number of engineering graduates and a lack of
well-educated engineers. (169 words)

(Source:  Excerpted from Frankel, E.G. (2008, May/June) Change in education:

The cost of sacrificing fundamentals. MIT Faculty Newsletter, XX, 5, 13.)

One-paragraph Summary:

In a 2008 Faculty Newsletter article, “Change in Education: The cost of

sacrificing fundamentals,” MIT Professor Emeritus Ernst G. Frankel expresses
his concerns regarding the current state of American engineering education.  He
notes that the number of students focusing on traditional areas of engineering
has decreased while the number interested in the high-technology end of the
field has increased.   Frankel points out that other industrial nation produce far
more traditionally-trained engineers than we do, and believe we have fallen
seriously behind. (81 words)

DAY 3

Task 1: Directions: Write a summary about the given sample.

*For Online Modality, watch 4:57 minutes short film review entitled “Now or
Never” about Family Relationships produced by Vivandry Productions thru
YouTube. Copy the given link and paste it on your browser for easier
access.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUSE_8aC_84
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*For Modular Modality, read the essay about the Importance of Family
below and write your answer on a piece of paper.

“IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY”

One cannot emphasize enough on the importance of family. They play a

great role in our lives and make us better human beings. The one lucky enough to
have a family often do not realize the value of a family.

However, those who do not have families know their worth. A family is our
source of strength. It teaches us what relationships mean. They help us create
meaningful relationships in the outside world. The love we inherit from our families,
we pass on to our independent relationships.

Moreover, families teach us better communication. When we spend time with

our families and love each other and communicate openly, we create a better
future for us. When we stay connected with our families, we learn to connect better
with the world.

Similarly, families teach us patience. It gets tough sometimes to be patient

with our family members. Yet we remain so out of love and respect. Thus, it
teaches us patience to deal better with the world. Families boost our confidence
and make us feel loved. They are the pillars of our strength who never fall instead
keep us strong so we become better people.

Task 2: Directions: Write S if the statement describes good summarizing and N

if not.

1. Misty simplified ideas.

2. Michelle revised the main idea.
3. Dan copied everything from the book.
4. Ash looked for key words and phrases.
5. Mary extracted the key ideas in the text.
6. Andy concentrated on the important details.
7. Isabel wrote down the general and specific ideas of the text.
8. Lance added some of his related research to the information presented in
the text.
9. Mike extended the message of the text and included some of her
interpretations.
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 10. To add more information, Max added her analysis and comments to the
ideas of the author.

DAY 4: ASSESSMENT

A. Directions: Read the text below and summarize it in your own words after in
one paragraph.

So how do you go about identifying your strengths and weaknesses, and

analyzing the opportunities and threats that flow from them? SWOT Analysis is a
useful technique that helps you to do this.

What makes SWOT especially powerful is that, with a little thought, it can
help you to uncover opportunities that you would not otherwise have spotted.
And by understanding your weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate threats
that might otherwise hurt your ability to move forward in your role.

If you look at yourself using the SWOT framework, you can start to separate
yourself from your peers, and further develop the specialized talents and abilities
that you need in order to advance your career and to help you achieve your
personal goals.

B. Directions: Read the given article below. Write your summary about the
article that consists of at least 3 paragraphs.

In the distant past, many people thought bats had magical powers, but
times have changed. Today, many people believe that bats are rodents, that they
cannot see, and that they are more likely than other animals to carry rabies. All of
these beliefs are mistaken. Bats are not rodents, are not blind, and are no more
likely than dogs and cats to transmit rabies. Bats, in fact, are among the least
understood and least appreciated of animals.

Bats are not rodents with wings, contrary to popular belief. Like all rodents,
bats are mammals, but they have a skeleton similar to the human skeleton. The
bones in bat wings are much like those in arms and the human hand, with a
thumb and four fingers. In bats, the bones of the arms and the four fingers of the
hands are very long. This bone structure helps support the web of skin that
stretches from the body to the ends of the fingers to form wings.

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 Although bats cannot see colors, they have good vision in both dim and
bright light. Since most bats stay in darkness during the day and do their feeding
at night, they do not use their vision to maneuver in the dark but use a process
called echolocation. This process enables bats to emit sounds from their mouths
that bounce off objects and allow them to avoid the objects when flying. They use
this system to locate flying insects to feed on as well. Typically, insect-eating bats
emerge at dusk and fly to streams or ponds where they feed. They catch the
insects on their wingtip or tail membrane and fling them into their mouths while
flying.

There are about 1,000 species of bat, ranging in size from the bumblebee
bat, which is about an inch long, to the flying fox, which is sixteen inches long
and has a wingspan of five feet. Each type of bat has a specialized diet. For
seventy percent of bats, the diet is insects. Other types of bats feed on flowers,
pollen, nectar, and fruit or on small animals such as birds, mice, lizards, and
frogs.

One species of bat feeds on the blood of large mammals. This is the
common vampire bat, which lives only in Latin America and is probably best
known for feeding on the blood of cattle. Unfortunately, in an attempt to control
vampire bat populations, farmers have unintentionally killed thousands of
beneficial fruit-and insect-eating bats as well.

Bats, in fact, perform a number of valuable functions. Their greatest

economic value is in eliminating insect pests. Insect- eating bats can catch six
hundred mosquitoes in an hour and eat half their body weight in insects every
night. In many tropical rain forests, fruit-eating bats are the main means of
spreading the seeds of tropical fruits. Nectar-feeding bats pollinate a number of
tropical plants. If it were not for bats, we might not have peaches, bananas,
mangoes, guavas, figs, or dates.

Today, the survival of many bat species is uncertain. Sixty percent of bats
do not survive past infancy. Some are killed by predators such as owls, hawks,
snakes and other meat-eating creatures, but most are victims of pesticides and
other human intrusions. In Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, where there were
once eight million bats, there are now a quarter million. At Eagle Creek, Arizona,
the bat population dropped from thirty million to thirty thousand in six years.

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 Bats often have been burdened with a bad reputation; perhaps because
they are not the warm, cuddly sort of animal we love to love. However, their
unusual physical features should not lead us to overestimate their harm or to
underestimate their value

* This will be the rubric to be used by your subject teacher in checking your
summary for Day 3: Task 1 and Day 4: Assessments.

EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR

CRITERIA TOTAL
(4) (3) (2) (1)
Main idea is
not clear in
Mostly clear Main idea is
Clear main the first
main idea in not present
Main Idea idea in the first sentence-
the first in the first
sentence not
sentence sentence
specifically
stated.
Important
All important details are Some critical Contains
Details details are included but information only some
included. some might is missing. details.
be missing.
to make the
Ideas are Ideas are
writing flow. Ideas are in
connected to not in
Order Ideas are in random
make the logical
logical order.
writing flow. order.
order.
Author uses Author
Author writes a few does not
their own Author uses sentences use their
words to their own that sound own words
Paraphrase create a words to too similar to to write
summary that write the text and summary.
includes great summary. not enough
word choice. of their own
words.
Convention No spelling, 1-2 spelling, 3-4 spelling, 5-or more
s grammar and grammar grammar spelling,
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 grammar
and and
and
conventions conventions conventions
conventions
errors. errors are errors are
errors are
found. found.
found.
TOTAL

References:
 Mondez, R. G. (2016). English for Academic and Professional Purposes.
Makati City: Diwa Learning Systems, Inc.
 Reginio, C. U. (2016). English for Academic Advancement. Sampaloc,
Manila: St. Augustine Publications, Inc.
 Wyson, J. D. (2016). English for Academic and Professional Purposes.
Quezon City: Vibal Group, Inc.
 Retrieved from:
 https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/paraphrasing-
summarizing.htm
 https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/academic-writing/summarizing
 https://www.bcit.cc/cms/lib04/NJ03000372/Centricity/Domain/141/
Response%20Writing%20Rubric.pdf

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