Chapter 4 - Paraphrasing, Summarising and Quoting

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Chapter 4: Paraphrasing, Summarising and Quoting

4a: Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing means rephrasing the ideas in a source in your own words, keeping or slightly condensing the details in the original source. To paraphrase a text, follow the steps below:

Read the original text carefully and take brief notes.
Put aside the original text and rewrite the text using your own words.
Acknowledge the source of the original text where appropriate.

Here are several ways to paraphrase a sentence or a short segment of a text:
(i)	Using synonyms or words with similar meanings
	Example 1
	Original text: Deforestation involves change of forest land to farms or urban use. According to the data in Chart A, agriculture causes about 80% of deforestation and a large number of trees have been cut down for growing crops.
	Paraphrased version: Deforestation involves conversion of forest land to farms or urban use. According to the data in Chart A, agriculture leads to approximately 80% of deforestation and a huge quantity of trees have been felled for growing crops.

	*Notes*: When applying this technique, refer to a thesaurus or dictionary. However, not all words that are synonyms can be used in the same way or have exactly the same meaning.

	Example 2
	Original text: The new policy further worsens the traffic congestion.
	Paraphrased version: The traffic congestion further deteriorates because of the new policy.

	*Notes*: The words “worsens” and “deteriorates” have the same meaning but the former can be used as a transitive verb (i.e. a verb taking a direct object) or an intransitive verb (i.e. a verb not taking any object) and the latter is an intransitive verb. The object of the first sentence (“the traffic congestion”) has become the subject of the second sentence when the intransitive verb (“deteriorates”) is used.

	Example 3
	Original text: The price of oil soars because of the instability in the Middle East.
	Paraphrased version: The price of oil escalates because of the instability in the Middle East.

	*Notes*: In this example, “escalates” is a better choice than “increases” or “rises” as the former means “increases rapidly” while the latter two just mean “goes up”.

(ii)	Changing parts of speech and/or word order
	Example
	Original text: There was evidence that the refugees were treated unfairly.
	Paraphrased version 1: There was evidence of unfair treatment of the refugees.
	Paraphrased version 2: Unfair treatment of the refugees was evident.

	*Notes*: Nouns/noun phrases are often used in academic writing, so changing a(n) verb/adjective into a noun/noun phrase is a common way of paraphrasing. However, when changing the part of speech of a word, the word order may need to be changed.

	Original text: The factories could continue to operate so long as the resources were available.
	Paraphrased version : The availability of the resources allowed the continued operation of the factories.

(iii)	Changing the voice
	Examples
	Original text: The new tax was introduced by the government in 1985.
	Paraphrased version : The government introduced the new tax in 1985.
	Original text: B&T is implementing a new marketing strategy.
	Paraphrased version : A new marketing strategy is being implemented by B&T.

	It should be noted that the sudden change of the voice may result in incoherence. e.g. The government introduced the new tax in 1985. It aimed to reduce consumption of energy. *Notes*: “It” in the second sentence refers to the “new tax” but not the government. The change of the voice in the first sentence makes the two sentences less coherent.

(iv)	Combining sentences
	Example
	Original text: The number of tourists was on the rise in the third quarter. However, the retail sales remained flat.
	Paraphrased version 1: Despite the rise/growth in the number of tourists in the third quarter, the retail sales remained flat.
	Paraphrased version 2: The increase in the number of tourists in the third quarter did not lead to a rise/growth in retail sales.

	*Notes*: Depending on the relationship between the two sentences (e.g. causal relationship, contrast, sequential relationship), they can be combined using appropriate cohesive devices.

(v)	Rewriting numbers and statistics Examples:
	Original text: About 75% of the agricultural land has been converted into commercial land.
	Paraphrased version : About three-fourths of the agricultural land has been converted into commercial land.

	Original text: More than 92% of the respondents agreed with the proposal of urban renewal.
	Paraphrased version : The majority of the respondents agreed with the proposal of urban renewal.

	Original text: Two weeks ago, the death toll of the earthquake reached 51, with 798 injured.
	Paraphrased version : A fortnight ago, the death toll of the earthquake was over 50, with almost 800 injured.

4a 4b 4c

Activity 2

Paraphrasing usually involves the combined use of the techniques discussed. When paraphrasing, the same vocabulary and sentence structures as the original should be avoided. Study the original text and the two paraphrased versions below, and decide which version is better.

Original text: One of the educational fields where visuals are often used is language education. The difficulties of working with abstract concepts in language can be reduced or eliminated by the use of visuals. Visuals can help provide a meaningful context, present the network of concepts, summarise the relationships between concepts, motivate students and facilitate teaching. Images are also effective means to illustrate concepts with examples.
Paraphrased version 1: One field in education where visuals are often used is language education. Visuals help reduce or eliminate the obstacles of working with abstract concepts in language. They can help provide a purposeful context, present the network of concepts, summarise the relationships between concepts, motivate students and facilitate teaching. Images are also effective means to illustrate concepts with examples.
Paraphrased version 2: Visuals are widely used in education, in particular in language learning. The advantages of visuals are manifold as they help overcome the barriers of working with abstract concepts in language, provide a context for meaningful communication, enhance students’ incentive to learn and facilitate teaching. Images also help learners understand abstract concepts through concrete examples and see the connection and relationships between them.