Paraphrasing and Summarising

1. Paraphrasing and Summarising ASC Academic Skills Centre

2. Overview • Paraphrasing • Changes the original text into your own words • About the same size as the original text (ideally, shorter) • Maintains the original meaning • Summarising • Changes the original text into your own words • But includes only the main ideas, key information • Much shorter than the original text • Maintains the original meaning

3. Original Text (84 words) Language is the main means of communication between peoples. However, so many languages have developed that language has often been a barrier rather than an aid to understanding among peoples. For many years, people have dreamed of setting up an international universal language which all people could speak and understand. The arguments in favour of a universal language are simple and obvious. If all people spoke the same tongue, cultural and economic ties might be much closer, and good will might increase between countries (Kispert, 2005) Paraphrase (63 words, slightly shorter than the original) Humans communicate through language, but because there are so many different languages people around the world have a difficult time understanding one another. Some people have wished for a universal international language that speakers all over the world could understand. Their reasons are straightforward and clear. A universal language would build cultural and economic bonds. It would also create better feelings among countries (Kispert, 2005) . Summary (28 words, much shorter) People communicate through language; however, having different languages creates communication barriers. A universal language could bring countries together culturally and economically as well as increase good feelings among them (Kispert, 2005).

4. Before you start Underline the ideas you want to convey, and take notes

5. Take effective notes • Read until you understandthe original text fully • Decide what information is important • Cover / close the text • Use a separate piece of paper • Note the source • Note useful information in your own words • Check the meaning matches the original text • Use your notes to paraphrase and/or summarise

6. Strategies for paraphrasing and summarising • Don’t change common nouns • Use appropriate synonyms to replace adjectives, verbs, adverbs, transitions (and nouns) For example; big = large, huge, enormous • Change the word form For example; advance - advancement • Change the sentence structure For example; the length, complexity, word order • Change active to passive/ passive to active sentences • Use transitions, signals or signposting to improve coherence • Check that the paraphrase matches the original text • Maintain academic integrity Simply substituting synonyms is usually not enough!

7. Write a good paraphrase

8. Paraphrasing Examples (Adapted from Unilearning, 2000) Education System: 1. Social control • Training, developing skills for economy 2. Teaching social attitudes and values The education system serves two socialisation purposes: providing the necessary skills development to suit the demands of the economy, and teaching the socially acceptable attitudes and values of the day (Jagtenberg & D’Alton, 1988).

9. Practise and paraphrase A. As a result of the unsound use of land, deserts are creeping outward in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Worse, the productive capacity of vast dry regions in both rich and poor countries is falling (Byrnes, 2007). OR B. Vitamin C in large doses not only protects against the common cold but also offers protection against other infectious diseases, both viral and bacterial. I believe that Vitamin C in adequate amounts could considerably decrease the incidence and severity of the flu (Pauling, 2009). (Adapted from Chulalongkorn University Language Institute and Oshima and Hogue, 1981)

10. Convey the ideas, not the detail Contemporary police practices reflect the push by Police Ministers over the last decade to place policing on a more professional basis. The AFP for example, according to Keelty (2004), has a workforce where the majority of people have tertiary qualifications: From an organisational perspective, the AFP’s evolution is also reflected in the changing composition of our staff. More than 70 percent now have tertiary or post-graduate qualifications equipping the organisation with high-level skills in fields as diverse as science and technology, economics, sociology and law (Keelty, 2004, p. 13) Jims (2003) claims that other structural changes have also impacted on the relationship between the media and the police. What point am I making here? How could I summarise it?

11. Convey the main ideas, not the detail* Contemporary police practices reflect the push by Police Ministers over the last decade to place policing on a more professional basis. The AFP, for example, has a workforce where more than 70 percent of the staff have tertiary qualifications in fields ranging from science and technology to economics, sociology and law (Keelty, 2004). Other structural changes have also impacted on the relationship between the media and the police (Jims, 2003). These changes have resulted in a Federal Police force staffed by professionals who are better equipped to engage with both the media and the general public. Cut details, only include the main points, and embed the ideas in your own paragraph

12. Summarising and Paraphrasing Examples (Adapted from Unilearning, 2000) Wenger’s (1993) findings indicated that wearing corrective shoes is of no more benefit than ordinary shoes in improving flat footedness in young children.

13. Summarising and Paraphrasing Examples(Adapted from Unilearning, 2000) • Workplace • -’Not encourage open expression of feelings’ • Negatively effects on motivation, enjoyment, productivity. The emotional suppression encouraged by the workplace negatively affects the problem solving ability, motivation, enjoyment and productivity of employees at work (Stoner & Wankel, 1986).

14. Summarising and Paraphrasing Exercise(Adapted from Purdue OWL) In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester, p. 46-47). Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester, p. 46-47).

15. Before you start Underline the ideas you want to convey, and take notes

16. Strategies for paraphrasing and summarising • Don’t change common nouns • Use appropriate synonyms to replace adjectives, verbs, adverbs, transitions (and nouns) For example; big = large, huge, enormous • Change the word form For example; advance - advancement • Change the sentence structure For example; the length, complexity, word order • Change active to passive/ passive to active sentences • Use transitions, signals or signposting to improve coherence • Check that the paraphrase matches the original text • Maintain academic integrity Simply substituting synonyms is usually not enough!

17. Practise this. . . Strictly speaking, American motion pictures today are not a mass medium. As any multiplex marquee attests, theatrical movies cater primarily to one segment of the entertainment audience: teenagers. Without the support of the teenage audience, few theatrical movies break even, fewer still become hits, and none become blockbusters. In America, movies reflect teenage, not mass—and definitely not adult—tastes. Source: Article by John Doherty published in 2002

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