School of Arts and Humanities (ARH)

Enhancing Academic English Skills

Module: Paraphrasing and Summarising

Paraphrasing and Summarising

Lecture

Source: http://www.om-software.in/services/images/filter_data.png

Aims

1. to be aware of ways to summarise and paraphrase parts of texts

2. to understand how paraphrases are used

3. to practise identifying main ideas from a source

4. to practise using synonyms and reporting verbs

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 School of Arts and Humanities (ARH)
Enhancing Academic English Skills
Module: Paraphrasing and Summarising

Paraphrasing

1. Evaluating paraphrasing

Read the text on the next page and then rank the three paraphrases, with “1” being the best. Give
reasons for your evaluation.

Original passage

The causes of the industrial revolution

Allen (2009) argues that the best explanation for the British location of the industrial revolution is
found by studying demand factors. By the early eighteenth century high wages and cheap energy
were both features of the British economy. Consequently, the mechanization of industry through
such inventions as the steam engine and mechanical spinning was profitable because employers
were able to economise on labour by spending on coal. At that time, no other country had this
particular combination of expensive labour and abundant fuel.

Paraphrases

(a) Allen (2009) claims that the clearest explanation for the UK location of the industrial
revolution is seen by examining demand factors. By the eighteenth century cheap energy
and high wages were both aspects of the British economy. As a result, the mechanization
of industry through inventions such as the steam engine and mechanical spinning was
profitable because employers were able to save money on employees by spending on coal.
At that time, Britain was the only country with significant deposits of coal.

(b) The reason why Britain was the birthplace of the industrial revolution can be understood by
analyzing demand in the early 1700s, according to Allen (2009). He maintains that,
uniquely, Britain had the critical combination of cheap energy from coal and high labour
costs. This encouraged the adoption of steam power to mechanise production, thus saving
on wages and increasing profitability.

(c) A focus on demand may help to explain the UK origin of the industrial revolution. At that
time workers’ pay was high, but energy from coal was inexpensive. This encouraged the
development of mechanical inventions based on steam power, which enabled bosses to
save money by mechanising production (Allen, 2009).

Rank
Reason for evaluation
order

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a

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c

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 School of Arts and Humanities (ARH)
Enhancing Academic English Skills
Module: Paraphrasing and Summarising

2. Think about how you paraphrase and put down the steps on the left column of the table
below. Then take down the suggested steps on the right.

Your steps Suggested steps for paraphrasing well

Step 1 Step 1

Step 2 Step 2

Step 3 Step 3

Step 4 Step 4

Step 5 Step 5

3. How would you complete the following tips for good paraphrasing?

Three keys to paraphrasing well

Words
(a) Use your own ………………………………… and your own sentence structure.

(b) Make your paraphrase approximately the same …………………… as the original.
meaning
meaning
(c) Do not change the ……………………………………… of the original.

4. Basic paraphrasing techniques

How do you change the words but say the same? – Some tips

(a) Use synonyms – e.g. argues → claims/ wages → labour costs/ trend → tendency
(b) Changing the word class – e.g. explanation (n.) → explain (v.)/ profitable (adj) →
profitability (n.)
(c) Change word order – e.g. …the best explanation for … is found by studying demand
factors → A focus on demand may help explain ….

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 School of Arts and Humanities (ARH)
Enhancing Academic English Skills
Module: Paraphrasing and Summarising

5. How to use paraphrases

Study the example below.

A student is to write an essay on the following topic:

Television programming in the United States is often criticized for promoting the wrong
values. Do you agree or disagree with this criticism?

Here is one of the excerpts he finds useful:

For 10 years, the Environmental Media Association (EMA) has been working to weave the
environment into prime-time television programming. Created by and for professionals in the
entertainment industry, EMA works with the stars in front of the cameras as well as the creative
staff behind them to include environmental themes in scripts, show environmental products on
sets, and make environmentally sound decisions in the studios.

Source: Paragraph 2 of an article written by Kivi Leroux in the online magazine E Magazine titled
“Subliminal Messages: Primetime TV Programs Educate Viewers on the Environment.” It appeared in the
“Current” section of the July – August 1999 edition.)

The excerpt is paraphrased as follows:

According to an article in E Magazine, environmental messages have been deliberately put into
prime-time television shows for the past decade. Environmental Media Association, an
organization of professionals in the entertainment business, encourages television actors,
writers, directors, and producers to promote environmentalism in three ways: by using
environmental issues in scripts, by using environmental products as props, and by making
environmentally conscious choices in studios (Leroux, para. 2).

Here is a paragraph in his essay. Discuss with your partner how the paraphrase was used.

para. 2).

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 School of Arts and Humanities (ARH)
Enhancing Academic English Skills
Module: Paraphrasing and Summarising

Summarising
1. Read the original passage and evaluate the two summaries that follow it.

Original Passage

Swahili speakers wishing to use a "compyuta"—as computer is rendered in Swahili—have been out of luck when it
comes to communicating in their tongue. Computers, no matter how bulky their hard drives or sophisticated their
software packages, have not yet mastered Swahili or hundreds of other indigenous African languages.

But that may soon change. Across the continent, linguists are working with experts in information technology to make
computers more accessible to Africans who happen not to know English, French, or the other major languages that
have been programmed into the world's desktops.

There are economic reasons for the outreach. Microsoft, which is working to incorporate Swahili into Microsoft
Windows, Microsoft Office, and other popular programs, sees a market for its software among the roughly 100 million
Swahili speakers in East Africa. The same goes for Google, which last month launched www.google.co.ke, offering a
Kenyan version in Swahili of the popular search engine.

But the campaign to Africanize cyberspace is not all about the bottom line. There are hundreds of languages in Africa
– some spoken only by a few dozen elders – and they are dying out at an alarming rate. The continent's linguists see
the computers as one important way of saving them. UNESCO estimates that 90 percent of the world's 6,000
languages are not represented on the Internet and that one language disappears somewhere around the world every
two weeks.

Source: The following passage is excerpted from a newspaper article written by Marc Lacey. It appeared on page A3
of the New York Times on November 12, 2004. The title of the article is "Using a New Language in Africa to
Save Dying Ones."

Summary A Summary B

People who speak Swahili and who want to communicate using a Many Africans who do not speak any
"compyuta," which is the Swahili word for computer, are unable to do of the major languages on the Internet
so in their own language. It makes no difference that computers have have been unable to use computers in
huge hard drives and sophisticated software. They cannot operate in their native languages. Computers
Swahili or other African languages, of which there are hundreds. Soon, cannot yet accommodate languages
however, they may be able to. Linguists in Africa are working with such as Swahili. However, that
information technology specialists to make computers operable to situation may soon change. Linguists
Africans who do not know any of the languages currently used on the and computer experts are working to
Internet. Economics is bringing about this change. Microsoft sees a develop computers that work in
market for its software among Swahili speakers in East Africa. Google Swahili and other African languages.
now has a search engine for speakers of Swahili in Kenya. Other Economics is one reason for doing so.
software companies will probably soon develop products for African Computer companies such as
consumers. In addition to economics, there is another reason for Microsoft and Google see a potentially
making the computer accessible to Africans. Hundreds of African huge market for its products in Africa.
languages are dying out, and linguists view the computer as a way to Another important reason is to save
save them. According to UNESCO estimates, 90 percent of the world's languages that are in danger of
6,000 languages are not on the Internet, and one language becomes becoming extinct (Lacey, 2004).
extinct every day somewhere in the world. The hope is that computers
can help save them (Lacey, 2004).

Which is better? Why?

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 School of Arts and Humanities (ARH)
Enhancing Academic English Skills
Module: Paraphrasing and Summarising

2. Steps of summarising

Compare the steps for writing a summary with those for writing a paraphrase. How do they differ?

Paraphrasing
Step 1 Read the original passage several
times until you understand it fully.
Look up unfamiliar words, and find
synonyms for them as far as possible.
For technical vocabulary, keep it.
Step 2 Take notes by writing down only a few
words for each idea rather than
complete sentences. For more
complicated ideas, some outlining with
headings may help.
Step 3 Write your paraphrase from your notes.
Don’t look at the original while writing
Step 4 Check your paraphrase against the
original to make sure the original
meaning is retained but not the original
words and sentence structures.
Summarizing
Step 1 Read the original passage several
times until you understand it fully.
Look up unfamiliar words.
Step 2 Decide what the important ideas are. It
helps to underline important ideas.
Take notes by writing down only a few
words for each idea rather than
complete sentences.
Step 3 Write your summary from your notes.
Don’t look at the original while writing.
Step 4 Check your paraphrase against the
original to make sure the original
meaning is retained but not the original
words and sentence structures.
Step 5 Add an in-text citation at the end.

Step 5 Add an in-text citation at the end.

3. How would you complete the following tips for writing a good summary?

Three keys to writing a good summary

(a) Use your own ………………………………… and your own sentence structure.

(b) Remember that a summary is much shorter than a paraphrase. Include only the main
points and main supporting points, leaving out most ……………………………………..

(c) Do not change the ……………………………………… of the original.

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 School of Arts and Humanities (ARH)
Enhancing Academic English Skills
Module: Paraphrasing and Summarising

4. When to summarize, paraphrase or quote a text

Summarize when
— the details are irrelevant;
— the source is not important enough to warrant the space.

Paraphrase when
— you can state it more clearly and concisely than the source does, or
— your argument depends on the details in a source (but not its specific words).

Quote when
— the quoted words themselves are your evidence;
— the quoted words are strikingly original, well expressed, odd or otherwise too important to
lose in paraphrase;
— the excerpt is from an authority which backs up your view;
— the excerpt expresses your key concept so clearly that the quotation can frame the rest of
your argument;
— the passage states a view that you disagree with, and to be fair you want to state it exactly.

Embed paraphrases and quotations in summaries, e.g.

In his discussion of religion, Posner (2003) says of American society that… He argues that
to understand how well social norms control what we do, we should consider “the historical
importance of religion as both a source and enforcer of such norms” (p. 299).

5. How to introduce quotations and paraphrases

— You can introduce an independent quotation or paraphrase with a phrase, clause, or

sentence before the quotation:
◦ In Jensen’s (2013) view…
◦ Jensen (2013) says that….
◦ Jensen (2013) shows that no economy can undergo rapid growth forever: “The
economies…” (p.47)

— You can also put the reference at the end of a summary or paraphrase:

◦ In a similar comparison, Singapore employs a combined healthcare system. This

combination has allowed Singapore to ensure health coverage to the poor, prevent
financial destitution from catastrophic illness, and still preserve choices for those
more financially able (Lim, 2004).

Sources:

Ashton, W. (n.d.). Writing a short literature review. Retrieved September 11, 2014, from
https://www.york.cuny.edu/~washton/student/Org-Behavior/lit_rev_eg.pdf
Bailey, S. (2011). Academic writing: A handbook for international students (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Flesch, R., & Lass, A. H. (1996). The classic guide to better writing. HarperCollins.
Language Centre, Queen Mary, University of London. (n.d.). Academic English online. http://www.qmul.ac.uk/
Oshima, A., & Hogue, A. (2006). Writing academic English (4th ed.). Pearson Education.