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LEARNING
UNIT 1C
PARAPHRASING

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• explain identify rewritten texts that
constitute plagiarism
• explain why and when to paraphrase ideas
• apply different techniques in paraphrasing

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 ‫ون‬‫ر‬
َ ُ َّ
‫ك‬ َ ‫ف‬َ ‫ت‬َ ‫ت‬ ‫ال‬َ ‫ف‬َ ‫أ‬
Will you not then reflect? (6:50)

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 What is paraphrasing?

Rewriting of text in your own words

Acknowledge Provide
Keep original
the original proper
meaning
idea citation

Academic essay – should contain more paraphrases than direct quotation 7

How does paraphrasing differ from
quoting?
Quoting – an excerpt from of an original, the author must
be credited

Paraphrasing – a reworded version of the original that

documents the author and is not as short as a summary.
It may include certain words or phrases from the
original when necessary. The exact words or phrases are
put in quotation marks and the sources is documented.

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 Academic Essay
Any information source that will be referenced should be
presented in new words and expressions.

Pupils in public schools are weak in their academic

Academic performance of pupils from public schools is lower

There is a view that relative to the independent sector, academic

performance of pupils from public schools is lower
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 however...
Some terms cannot be changed because they refer to specific
meaning.

Positive reinforcement

Building up positivity

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 Academic Essay
Information should be as brief as possible
New meanings or new information must not be introduced in a
paraphrase

University students have problem with academic writing

Students in public universities cannot write assignments

The study may not have been conducted in a public university 11

Decide which paraphrase is
better

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 Adverts are a major part of everyday life

Advertising is an important feature of daily life

The influence of adverts can be felt in all aspects of our lives

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 Adverts for the soft drinks, Tango, have recently been banned for
possibly encouraging playground bullying

Advertising for the fizzy drink, Tango, have been disallowed recently
for potentially leading to school bullying

A ban on Tango adverts has been implemented recently, as some felt

the content could encourage school bullies

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Opinion is divided over what impact, if any, advertising has on children. What is
beyond question is that many people, parents in particular are worried about its
effects. 88% of Swedes supported their government’s ban on children’s TV adverts in
1991 (Willow, 2009) while 36% of adults in the UK thought that advertising was
damaging to their children (Sidle, 2011).

There is little agreement on the effect of advertising on children, though it is undoubtedly a concern,
especially for parents. When Sweden banned children’s TV adverts in 1991, 88% of the population
supported the decision (Willows, 2009), while in the UK, over a third of adults thought advertising
could damage their children (Sidle, 2011).

Views vary on what possible effect advertising can have on the young. What is without doubt is that
most people, especially parents, are concerned about the impact. 88% of Swedish people were in
favour of their government’s ban on advertising on children’s television (Willows, 2009), and in the UK,
36% of adults believed adverts were harmful to their offspring (Sidle, 2011).

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Can you guess what’s the
message in the picture?

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 Important Note:

Generally, you should try to fully understand a statement or

an idea first before paraphrasing it. Without a clear
understanding, it would be difficult for you to produce an
accurate paraphrase. Also, even if you have completely
changed the wordings used in the original statement, you
still must provide citation because the specific idea is not
originally yours.
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Original
The craft of hurricane forecasting
advanced rapidly in the sixties and
early seventies, thanks to fast
computers and new atmospheric
modeling techniques. Now there is a
lull in the progress, strangely parallel to
the lull in the storm cycle. The National
Hurricane Warning Centre shoots for a
24-hour warning period, with 12
daylight hours for evacuation. At that
remove, it can usually predict landfall
within 100 miles either way. Longer
lead times mean much larger landfall
error, and that is counterproductive.
He who misses his predictions cries
wolf.
Study the following
Not acceptable and PLAGIARIZED
Hurricane forecasting made rapid
progress in the 60’s and 70’s due to
fast computers and new atmospheric
techniques, but there is now a lull in
the progress. The Warning Centre tries
for a 24-hour warning period, including
12 hours of daylight. That close to the
storm’s arrival, the Warning Center can
usually predict landfall within 100
miles either way. If lead times are
longer, there will be a much larger
error, which will be counterproductive.
Acceptable
During the past thirty years, powerful
computers and new techniques that
allow modeling of the atmosphere
have significantly increased the
accuracy of hurricane forecasting,
though there have been no
improvements in forecasting during the
past few years. However, now it is
possible to predict where a hurricane
will hit land with an error of not more
than 100 miles if a warning of 24 hours
is allowed. If more than 24 hours is
required, the error will be greater.
Repeated forecasting errors will cause
the public to ignore the warnings
(MacLeish, 1980).

Explanation:
This version uses different language and sentence structure from that of the original. Even when your paraphrase is
acceptable, you must show the source of the ideas. Putting ideas into your own words does not make those ideas your own.
They are still the property of their originator, who must be given credit. 24
 Study the following
Original
“The video of Topen’s dancing has
racked up more than 400,000
views since it was posted on
YouTube last week, and the
plumber says he’s already been
approached in public for his
autograph.” (Reported by John,
2010)
Not acceptable and PLAGIARIZED
The video has racked up more than
400,000 views since posted on
YouTube last week, and the
plumber has even been
approached for his autograph.
Acceptable
Even though the YouTube video of
the dancing plumber was only
published last week, it has already
received more than 400,000 views.
Topen has become an almost
instant celebrity as strangers have
even asked him for autographs
(John, 2010).

Explanation:
This is a good paraphrase as the meaning is retained although the structure and words have been changed. Also, citation is
given to acknowledge the original source.

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Paraphrasing
Techniques

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 Paraphrasing Techniques

Synonym Change Parts Reduction of

Replacement of Speech Clauses

Change of
Summarising
Structure
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 1. Synonym Replacement
1) Word level assist aid
beautify enhance
search seek

2) Cluster level

Original sentence Paraphrased sentence

My house requires a fresh coat of paint. My home needs a new layer of paint.

The majority of the participants are men. More than half of the participants are men.
Original quote Partial paraphrase A better paraphrase

"While the DEA says While the DEA says According to Kalb (2005),
OxyContin is a valuable OxyContin is a useful drug, although OxyContin is a
drug, it is concerned that it is worried that many useful drug, many doctors
many doctors who are doctors who are have insufficient
prescribing the prescribing the knowledge about its side-
medications don't know medications don't effects to advise patients.
enough about it and are understand enough about
not conveying the dangers it and are not explaining
to patients…" (Kalb, 2005, the dangers to patients
p. 27). (Kalb, 2005).

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When choosing synonyms, be careful with using the words with the same meaning.
Inappropriate replacement of words can distort the content of the original text.

Original text Inappropriate replacement Better replacement

“It can be difficult to choose a
suitable place to study English.”
“It is often a challenge to pick up a
relevant school to learn English.”
Note: “Pick up” does not mean
“choose” and “relevant” is the
synonym for “suitable” but its
meaning does not come close to
“suitable” at all in this sentence.
“It is sometimes hard to select an
appropriate place to learn English.”
Note: This is a better replacement
as all words have the same
meaning

In short, paraphrase is not just about replacing the words. It is more of retaining the meaning
using different set of suitable words.

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 Let’s Paraphrase This Sentence
Margaret Bassey currently has one mission in life: gaining weight

at the moment
goal
getting fat

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 Margaret Bassey at the moment has one goal in life: getting fat.

At the moment, Margaret Bassey has one goal in life which is to get fat.

At the moment, Margaret Bassey has one goal in life: getting fat.

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 Practice synonym replacement
“The young people who are rebelling all around the world will never know a world in which war does not mean
annihilation.”
According to Mead (1969),
The teens who are rebelling in various countries will never understand a world which war
does not bring upon death (Mead, 1969).
Youths today who are protesting on a global scale will never understand a world where
fighting will not result in total destruction (Mead, 1969).

“The young believe that contraception is possible and necessary and that our capacity to feed the world will not last.”

Mead (1969) states that

“They realise that if the pollution of air and land and water is allowed to go on, this planet will become uninhabitable.”
 
Mead (1969) also maintains that
 2. Change Parts of Speech

Noun Pronoun Adjective Determiner

Verb Adverb Preposition Conjunction

Interjection

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Example
Verb Noun
Develop Development
Persist Persistence
Continue Continuation

Adjective Noun
Lazy Laziness
Sensitive Sensitivity
Marketable Marketability
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The adjective noun
verbed the direct object
adverbially
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Original quote
 "Last week the spotlight on
OxyContin intensified as the Drug
Enforcement Administration
announced a national strategy to
combat the painkiller's
illegitimate use. . . " (Kalb, 2005,
p. 28)
Step 1: Partial paraphrase Step 2: A better paraphrase
 The Drug Enforcement  Recently, the Drug Enforcement
Administration last week Administration spotlighted on
spotlighted OxyContin more OxyContin by declaring a
intensely and made an nationwide campaign to put a
announcement of a national stop to the misuse of the drug
strategy, which combats using the (Kalb, 2005).
painkiller illegitimately (Kalb,
2005).
Note: If a student restructured
the sentence, changing parts of
speech, some paraphrasing would
occur but it lacks originality and
results IN PARTIAL PLAGIARISM.
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 Paraphrase the original text below by changing
the parts of speech. The suggested replacement
is underlined.

“In this study, the researcher will not deal with the vowels and
consonants in great detail and only the place and the manner of
articulation will be emphasised” (Wong, 2000, p. 30).

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 3. Reduction of Clauses
• Another method of paraphrasing involves changing clauses to phrases. A longer clause (usually
marked by the use of who, that, when, while, whose, which) is shortened into a phrase while
retaining the same meaning.
• For example, the clause, "while the DEA says OxyContin is a valuable drug" could become a more
succinct phrase, "claiming Oxycontin's value." If a student combines this approach with synonym
replacement, more effective paraphrasing occurs.
Original quote Step 1: Partial paraphrase Step 2: A better paraphrase
"While the DEA says OxyContin is a Claiming Oxycontin's value, the DEA Claiming OxyContin’s importance,
valuable drug, it is concerned that it is concerned that many doctors DEA is worried that many doctors
many doctors who are prescribing who are prescribing the and patients are unaware of the
the medications don't know medications don't know enough dangers of the drug (Kalb, 2005).
enough about it and are not about it and are not conveying the
conveying the dangers to patients. . dangers to patients (Kalb, 2005).
. . " (Kalb, 2005, p. 27).

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Paraphrase the clauses beginning
with which and when.
1. “The mist nets were set up during the day when the bats were
asleep to ensure that they were unaware of the traps” (Crawford,
2010, p. 12).
2. “To develop trainee teachers’ awareness of their minute-to-minute
decisions, one strategy is to ask them to write reflective journals,
which serve as a prompt for them to evaluate their own teaching”
(Yang, 2011, p. 4).

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 4. Change the Structure
Changes to sentence structure include:
i. active and passive voice
ii. combining sentences
iii. breaking up sentences – unpacking ideas

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How active voice can change to passive
Tense Active Voice Passive Voice

Simple present Irsyad writes a report A report is written (by Irshad).

Simple past Irsyad wrote a report

Simple future Irsyad will write a report

Present perfect Irsyad has written a report

Past perfect Irsyad had written a report

Future perfect Irsyad will have written a report

Present continuous Irsyad is writing a report

Past continuous Irsyad was writing a report

Modals Irsyad can write a report

• We cannot form passive sentences with intransitive
verbs.
• An intransitive verb has two aspects. The first aspect is
an action verb. The second aspect is it does not have
direct object. On the other hand, passive sentences
require objects in the sentences.
• The patients’ health deteriorated due to the Covid19.
• The students’ attendance increased with the
examination around the corner.
Example of changing the active to the passive
voice
Original quote Step 1: Partial paraphrase Step 2: A better
paraphrase
“Students, predominantly The Intel sponsored The course in information
mature, with widely programme in information technology was studied by
diverse skills and technology was studied by mostly adult students with
experience, studied on an predominantly mature varying abilities and
Intel sponsored students with diverse skills familiarity (Heinze &
programme in information and experience (Heinze & Procter, 2004).
technology” (Heinze & Procter, 2004).
Procter, 2004, p. 89).

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 Example for combining sentences
Original quote
“Translation has played a
central role in human
interaction for thousands of
years. But there are limits to
what can be done in this way.
The more a community is
linguistically mixed, the less it
can rely on individuals
(translators) to ensure
communication between the
different groups” (Crystal,
2003, p. 11).
Step 1: Partial paraphrase Step 2: A better paraphrase
Although translation has Although translation has
played a central role in human enabled interaction between
interaction for thousands of people since ancient times, its
years, there are limits to what effectiveness is limited
can be done in this way especially in a multilingual
because the more a community (Crystal, 2003).
community is linguistically
mixed, the less it can rely on
individuals (translators) to
ensure communication
between the different groups
(Crystal, 2003).
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Rewrite the sentences into passive sentences

1. The city constructs tiny homes for the homeless.

2. The whistle-blower exposes illegal or dishonest activities in the
organisation.
3. Effective leaders constantly monitor the work progress of new
workers.
4. You must put on your oxygen mask in an emergency.
5. Captain Sully successfully landed the plane in the Hudson River to
save its 155 occupants.
 Changing Sentence Patterns: Combining and Breaking them
Simple sentences contains a subject and a verb. It Nik and Ameer conducted a
expresses a complex thought. research last year.

Compound sentences has two independent clauses in the The student has two degrees, and
sentence he plans to obtain a professional
certificate.

Complex sentences has one independent clause and one or Although they attended my
more dependent clause graduation, they forgot to buy a
bouquet of flowers for me.

Compound-complex Consists of two independent clauses and We believe that the wedding is
sentences one or more dependent clause beautiful, but our parents, who
disagree with garden weddings,
are disappointed with the
occasssion.
Combining Sentences
The researcher hopes to receive funding from the federal government.
He hopes to receive funding from state resources.

The researcher hopes to receive funding from the federal government or

state resources.

No smoking is a regulation in our medical programme. No mobile

phone is a regulation in our medical programme.

No smoking and mobile phone use are regulations in our medical

programme.
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Change the sentence pattern of
the following
• The boy was happy. The girl was unhappy.
• A hurricane was expected to hit the island, so the islanders sought
refuge at the mainland.
• Employers prefer experienced workers who have more than two
years’ working experience rather than hiring fresh graduates.
• Four students were expelled from school as they violated the school’s
‘No fighting’ policy.
5. Revising the order of ideas
Original Text
The most significant cause of baby
dumping is family break-ups. The
second most significant cause is
the lack of religious convictions.
The third major cause is social
stigma.
Paraphrased Text
There are three major factors
contributing to baby dumping.
The least important factor is
social stigma, followed by the
second factor which is poor
religious convictions. The third
and most important factor is
family break-ups.
Paraphrase the following
• There are many ways to prepare for employment while you are still
studying. The first way is to find jobs before you graduate by doing
part-time jobs during semester breaks or while studying. The second
way is to build your network of contacts while studying. The third is to
ensure a clean online profile.
 6. Summarising
 It is also a paraphrasing technique which helps to retain the
meaning of statements while focusing on the important points or
main idea.
 It is important to eliminate examples or wordy elaborations
when summarizing.

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 Original quote
“Culture shock’ is the state of
being confused when in
contact with a different and
unfamiliar civilisation.
Typically, a person going to
study in another country for
the first time may miss family
and friends and
consequently, feel homesick.
The person may have
sleeping difficulties and in
extreme cases may become
depressed and ill” (Andrews
& Jill, 2004, p. 55).
Step 1: Partial paraphrase
Culture shock’ is the state of
being confused when in
contact with a different and
unfamiliar civilisation. The
person may have sleeping
difficulties and in extreme
cases may become
depressed and ill (Andrews &
Jill, 2004).
Step 2: A better
paraphrase
Andrews and Jill (2004)
observed that culture shock
happens when people face
situations which are new to
their experience. It could
result in insomnia and
eventually lead to
psychological and physical
problems.
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Paraphrase the following
• Ayurveda dates back an estimated 5,000-10,000 years. It is widely
considered to be the oldest form of health care in the world. Scholars
believe that knowledge of Ayurveda spread from India and influenced
the ancient Chinese system of medicine and even the system of
medicine practiced by Hippocrates in Greece.

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 Useful Reporting Verbs 
Common ways of bringing in the ideas of other writers:
According to X, …    
X states/stated that … As stated in X’s study Though X states that …,
As X mentions, … As mentioned by X…  
X found that … A study by X found …  
X is of the view that … In X’s view, … X expresses the view that
X suggests that … Research by X suggests that  
X recommends that …    
X pointed out that …    
X observed that …    
X maintained that …    
X claims that …    
X argues that …    
X believes that …    
 The following is a list of some words that can be used to
introduce an author's ideas, grouped by approximate meaning:
States: Demonstrates: Investigates: Identifies:
articulates indicates shows researches characterises
comments refers conveys experiments recognises
mentions acknowledges portrays conducts defines
maintains asserts supports administers embodies
notes claims substantiates observes analyses differentiates
points out reports corroborates examines distinguishes
says concludes verifies evaluates highlights
suggests summarises confirms scrutinises specifies
      criticises  

Predicts: Argues: Relates:

hypothesises challenges connects
theorises compares links
conceptualises contradicts associates
understands contrasts correlates
  debates  
defends
refutes
holds
justifies

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Do task 7 p.54

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