WRITING:
FOCUS ON ACADEMIC
WRITING:
PARAPHRASING
FORMAT:
1. GENERAL WRITING
2. FOCUS ON ACADEMIC WRITING
3. PARAPHRASING
4. PRESENTING AN ARGUMENT
5. CRITIQUE – CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS (CTS)
(1) WRITING
• AUDIENCE & CONTEXT
• PLANNING (before you write) – ‘BRAINSTORMING’
• STRUCTURE & ORGANISATION (BEGINNING/MIDDLE/END)
• STYLE (PERSUASIVE/DISCUSSION/INFORMATIVE/ARGUMENTATIVE)
• TRANSITIONS/CONNECTING IDEAS
• CHECK YOUR WORK - PUNCTUTATION/GRAMMAR/EDITING
(2) ACADEMIC WRITING
• TONE/FORMALITY
• PASSIVE VOICE/3RD PERSON
• HEDGING/IMPARTIALITY
• AVOID COLLOQIUAL LANGUAGE/SLANG/CONTROVERSY
• CONTEXT (a view) – ARGUMENT (your view)– USE EVIDENCE
• PRESENT INFORMATION/FACTS TO READER - JUDGEMENT
(3) PARAPHRASING: What is it?
'Paraphrasing' means rewriting the same
information in a different way. It helps you
better to integrate the ideas into the particular
piece you are writing.
(3) PARAPHRASING: A step-bystep guide
Decide what the key information is, for
the purposes of your discussion.
PARAPHRASING: A step-by-step
guide
Change the order of the ideas and
the words. This can help you to
emphasise your interpretation of the
original text.
PARAPHRASING: A step-by-step
guide
Change the word form/grammatical
form if necessary.
PARAPHRASING: A step-by-step
guide
Use synonyms if appropriate, but do not change
any specific terminology. In the example below,
terms such as 'plagiarism management',
'universities', 'students' and 'distance' were not
changed. The best place to find suitable
synonyms will be elsewhere in the same article.
PARAPHRASING: A step-by-step
guide
If some words stay the same in the
same order (three or more consecutive
words), you need to use quotation
marks around these words.
PARAPHRASING: A step-by-step
guide
Repeat the author's name or a pronoun
through the paraphrase, so it is clear that
we are still reading a paraphrase.
PARAPHRASING: A step-by-step
guide
Add a detail about where the information came
from, if necessary. In the example below, the
information 'through her study of eighteen
policies on plagiarism from different universities'
was added, to give some context to the claims.
PARAPHRASING: A step-by-step
guide
Keep the author name and page number. (You may
have been told that you do not need the page
number for a paraphrase, but if the idea came from
one specific page, it is still useful to include it. That
way, you can check the information again if you
need to.)
Example 1
Original:
Universities also place the burden of
understanding plagiarism and attribution
conventions on students.
Example 1 (cont’d)
Paraphrase:
The responsibility for learning how to reference
correctly and avoid plagiarism tends to be passed
from the university to the students, as SutherlandSmith (2010:9) found.
Example 1 (cont’d)
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Here, the following changes have been made:
Order of ideas or words (look for where 'university'
appears)
Word form (active 'place the burden on' changed to
passive 'to be passed to')
Synonyms ('understanding' changed to 'learning how to',
'plagiarism and attribution conventions' changed to
'reference correctly and avoid plagiarism'). Note some key
terms have not been changed.
EXAMPLE TEXT (2):
Prior to the formation of the Second Republic in
1931, Spanish women were not the legal equals of
men. Unmarried women were in a slightly better
legal position than were married women, since once
they reached the age of 23, they possessed some
legal rights, such as the right to sign contracts and
conduct business.
MAKE IT EASIER – BREAK IT DOWN (Sentence 1)
Prior to the formation of the Second Republic in 1931,
Spanish women were not the legal equals of men
Original Text (key words):
Spain –
Formationprior 1931 –
equal –
legal –
men and women –
Paraphrased alternative:
society - Spanish society - time
established/creation
before 1931
equality/parity
rights/privileges
males and females
MAKE IT EASIER – BREAK IT DOWN (Sentence 2)
Unmarried women were in a slightly better legal position
than were married women, since once they reached the
age of 23, they possessed some legal rights, such as the
right to sign contracts and conduct business.
Original Text (key words):
unmarried women –
better legal position than married women
age of 23 – some legal rights
sign contracts/conduct business
such as
Paraphrased alternative:
single women
greater legal rights
allowed to sign contracts
do/carry out business
for example
ORIGINAL TEXT:
PARAPHRASED TEXT:
Prior to the formation of the
Second Republic in 1931,
Spanish women were not the
legal equals of men. Unmarried
women were in a slightly better
legal position than were married
women, since once they reached
the age of 23, they possessed
some legal rights, such as the
right to sign contracts and
conduct business (Smith, 2020).
There was a time in Spanish
society, before 1931 and the
creation of the Second Republic,
in which equality between males
and females did not exist.
Women who were unmarried,
enjoyed greater privileges than
married women. For example,
those over 23, were allowed to
sign contracts and carry out
business (Smith, 2020).
(3) PARAPHRASING:
HOW DO YOU DO IT?
•
•
•
•
•
•
READ AND UNDERSTAND (more than once)
TAKE NOTES - LIST MAIN POINTS/KEY WORDS (use bullet points)
ORGANISE YOUR IDEAS
REPHRASE (DO NOT LOOK AT THE ORIGINAL WHEN YOU DO THIS)
CONSIDER SYNONYMS/WORD ORDER - SENTENCE STRUCTURE
PRESENT YOUR UNDERSTANDING – SUMMARISE (CTS)
Let’s try an EXAMPLE…………..