| Exercise 1. Skim the text and say what the difference between quoting and paraphrasing is. |
When you write a paper, you read a lot of material about the topic. This helps you to examine the various aspects of a topic to understand it. By the time you have thoroughly researched what has been written, you will have started to form ideas of your own, see patterns, and be able to think about the topic in your own words.
Along the way, you probably took a lot of notes, copied articles, and searched the Web looking for information. The material you found and included in your paper is what you have to list (or reference) in your bibliography.
Sometimes something you read is exactly the point you want to make, and is written so well you want to use it directly. You can do so legally by quoting. Anything you directly quote must be put in quotation marks and referenced.
Sometimes you like the content of a paragraph or section of something you read, and want to paraphrase, or restate it in your own words for your paper. Although it is not illegal, paraphrasing in scholarly papers must be cited as a professional courtesy. You need not use quotation marks unless the statement is word-for-word as it appears in your source, but if you paraphrase in papers required for university, you must acknowledge you are doing so with a footnote / endnote or parenthetical citation.
| Exercise 2. Discuss with a partner what you understand by each of these terms. |
• Summarizing
• Quoting
• Paraphrasing
| Exercise 3. Compare your ideas with the definitions below, but first complete the sentences with the appropriate word. |
Paraphrasing is r…ing what the writer said, in your own words.
Summarizing is i…ing the point you want to make from your source and w…ing it in your own words. Whereas a paraphrase will include all the detail, a summary will be shorter and will include only the key information.
Quotation is c…ing the exact words of the author.
| Exercise 4. Match the term with its definition. |
| 1. note-taking | a) is word for word stating what someone else has written |
| 2. referencing | b) is saying the same thing, but in your own words |
| 3. quoting | c) is a notation at the bottom of the page in a printed document |
| 4. paraphrasing | d) is a reference management software package, used to manage bibliographies |
| 5. footnote | e) is a list of sources you use when researching a topic and writing a paper. |
| 6. plagiarism | f) is defined as passing off someone else's work as your own. |
| 7. endnote | g) is the procedure of recording information captured from another source |
| 8. citing | h) is the method of introducing ideas needed to make your paper acceptable for academic purposes |
| 9. bibliography | i) is a standardised method of formatting the information sources you have used in your assignments or written work |
| Exercise 5. Discuss these questions with a partner. |
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1. Why do we take notes and summarize?
2. What are good note-taking and summarizing skills?
3. What is the difference between paraphrasing and quoting?
4. What does the process of referencing involve?
5. What types of citing do you know?
6. How do you personally interpret scientific information?
7. What method do you personally use?
| Exercise 6. Read the text below and 1) guess why paraphrase is more common than quotation in academic writing; 2) say why citing must be done properly. |
Writers normally use a mixture of summarizing and paraphrasing, and only use quotations occasionally. Generally, quotations should only be used when you feel that the author expresses an idea or an opinion in such a way that it is impossible to improve upon it or when you feel that it captures an idea in
a particularly succinct and interesting way (Trzeciak & Mackay, 1994, p. 59).
While quotation is more common in the humanities and social sciences, you generally do not quote at great length: try to make quotes only long enough to make your point.
Whether paraphrasing or quoting, whenever you make reference to an idea from another source you must cite it – that is, provide the reference details. Use page numbers when you use the exact words (and therefore have quote marks) or are giving a very close paraphrase of words on a particular page of your source.
Making errors with the author's name seriously detracts from your work. There really is no excuse for misspelling an author's name. If referring to
an author several times, it is important to find out his/her gender. If you are unfamiliar with the author's first name, this may require checking with a native speaker. Sometimes biographical information is included in a book or article which can give a clue to the author's gender.
Note that after using pronouns (he, she, him, her) two or three times it is wise to restate the author's name, to ensure clarity in your writing and avoid any confusion about who the pronouns refer to. When you start a new paragraph and are still referring to the same author, it's a good idea to include the full citation, and include the date, again.
| Exercise 7. Read the sentences below and decide what you'd better do (quote or paraphrase) in favour of your academic writing. |
ü an author expresses a particularly original idea;
ü an author expresses an idea clearly or well;
ü you use an idea or data from a source (e. g. book or journal article);
ü you wish to illustrate the author's perspective;
ü you need to make a point about the author's language.
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| Exercise 8. Decide which of these statements about paraphrasing are true (T) and which are false (F). |
1. Paraphrasing uses the exact words of the text.
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2. Paraphrasing is used because too many direct quotes are not appropriate.
3. Paraphrasing expresses complex ideas in a clear and simple way.
4. Paraphrasing should clearly support the point you are making.
5. Paraphrasing from a book is easier than paraphrasing from your notes.
6. Paraphrasing should copy the style of the original text.
7. Paraphrasing shows how your own ideas have been developed by your reading.
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| Exercise 9. Read this statement and decide whether the paraphrase below is suitable. Why? / Why not? |
Technological improvements such as greater fuel efficiency merely lead to greater consumption of a product – people drive more, for example.
Technological advancements such as greater fuel efficiency only lead to increased consumption of a product – people fly more, for example.
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| Exercise 10. This paragraph is difficult to understand and is a good example of text that could be paraphrased. Spend some time with a dictionary and a partner to try to work out its meaning. |
The eco-efficiency of the economy is improving through dematerialization, the increased productivity of resource inputs, and the reduction of wastes discharged per unit of output. However, eco-efficiency is not improving fast enough to prevent impacts from rising.
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| Exercise 11. Read this paraphrase of the above paragraph. Match sections of the paraphrase to the original text. |
The environmental efficiency of the economy is improving in two ways. Firstly, less energy is being used in production; and secondly, less waste is being produced. However, the change is too slow, and the impact is still increasing.
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| Exercise 12. Read the text and take notes from it. |
Levels of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) were once used as the sole means to compare standards of living in different countries. Essentially, this comparison implied that if you had more money, you could consume more and thus have
a higher standard of living. Today, the more commonly accepted measure is
the HDI (Human Development Index). Whilst this does still take GDP into account, it also considers two other factors. These are the average life expectancy at birth and the average number of years' education each person receives. Thus quality of life is not only based on the ability to consume products but also to live
a long, healthy and educated life, and consumption of products does not necessarily lead to an increased standard of living.
Exercise 13. Look at your partner's notes. Use the effective note-taking tips to evaluate your partner's notes.
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| Exercise 14. Look at this opinion and use your notes to create a paraphrase that supports it. |
Consumption of products does not necessarily lead to an increased standard of living.
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| Exercise 15. Look at your partner's paraphrase and answer these questions. |
1. Does the paraphrase sound like his/her own style of writing?
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2. Is the paraphrase different enough from the original?
3. If it is too similar to the original, how could they change it, e. g. vocabulary, word formation, word order?
4. Does it clearly support the statement?
Exercise 16. Read this paragraph. What is the function of each sentence?
Achieving a work-life balance not only helps to lower consumption levels, it can also impact on life satisfaction. According to a recent study, countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden all pay attention to work-life balance and are also the four happiest countries in the world (De Graaf, 2010). Thus the benefits in reducing hours of work are not only environmental but also personal satisfaction.
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| Exercise 17. Create a similarly structured paragraph using your paraphrase from the previous exercise. |
| Exercise 18. Look at the paragraph below and decide which of these three sentences best summarizes the main idea. |
Assessment is vital to any teaching and learning. The minimum that students and teachers need to know is that a required standard has been reached for particular awards. More importantly, without adequate information about what has or has not been learned, whether subject knowledge or skills, students cannot progress, teachers cannot assess their own teaching, and institutions cannot have confidence in the awards they offer.
1. Assessment is important in education.
2. Assessment is important in education to test students' progress.
3. Assessment is important to maintain standards in education.
Compare your answer with a partner. If you have chosen different sentences, explain your choice.
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| Exercise 19. Spend one or two minutes studying this paragraph. Then close your book and write a one-sentence summary without looking back at the paragraph. |
Many language teachers harbour a deep mistrust of tests and of testers.
The starting point for this book is the admission that this mistrust is frequently well founded. It cannot be denied that a great deal of language testing is of very poor quality. Too often, language tests have a harmful effect on teaching and learning, and fail to measure accurately whatever it is they are intended to measure.
Compare your sentence with a partner. Did you select the same main ideas?