Paraphrasing ... an essential skill for academic writing

In academic writing you support your ideas with the ideas of others,  then cite and reference these 'authors', following whichever referencing system (i.e. APA,  MLA,  Harvard) is required.   Please note that I wrote "use the ideas",   not  "use the words" (as in direct quoting).   Good writers use direct quotations rarely.   That means  unless you want to be caught and punished for plagiarism,   you need to know how to paraphrase.

What is paraphrasing?   Simply put,  it  is taking the ideas of someone else and putting them in your own words,  plus citing and referencing the author of the idea/s.      There is no need for quotation marks, but you need to change the words and grammar sufficiently for it to differ from the original.    Only the idea should remain the same.    A writer can paraphrase a phrase,   a clause,  a sentence or a paragraph.   When we get to larger units than paragraphs,  the process is called summarizing.  

Paraphrasing is not easy.   A writer needs a strong vocabulary and grammar skills,  plus access to a good thesaurus/dictionary.   The internet has made copying and pasting too easy,  which results in too many writers just composing texts with bits and pieces copied from other texts.   Without quotes and citations,  this is plagiarism;  with many quotes and citations,  it is bad writing.     The way to effective paraphrasing is following an effective method.   I recommend the following 5-step method.

1. Read and understand the original idea.
2. Cover or turn over the original text.
3. In point form,  write down the idea.
4. Using the notes from step 3,  write the idea in grammatically correct form.
5. Compare your paraphrase with the original.   Does the idea accurately reflect the original idea?  Is the vocabulary and grammar sufficiently different?

Don't forget to note the page (or paragraph) number and the referencing information.

Beyond this larger strategy, there are some specific techniques a writer can use to paraphrase.

1. Use synonyms for all but generic words (ie.  business, school, computer) which have no substitutes.
2. Restructure the grammar of the sentence.
3. Make phrases into clauses,  or clauses into phrases.
4. Convert active tense to passive tense,  or passive tense to active tense.
5. Change word forms

As an example,  study the following.

The original text:

The central point the reader is to draw from this unique narrative is that character and plot are intertwined.

An unacceptable paraphrase (which only changes the words) is:

The main idea the reader should conclude from this original story is that character and plot are strongly connected.

An acceptable paraphrase (which changes both the words and the grammatical structure) is:

Upon reading this unique story,  one should conclude that character and plot are strongly connected.

An unacceptable paraphrase (where the original meaning is inaccurately conveyed) is:

When reading this story,   you should enjoy the connection between the characters and the plot.

MIT's Academic Integrity Handbook provides some excellent examples of acceptable and unacceptable paraphrasing here:

Avoiding Plagiarism - Paraphrasing

And you can practice paraphrasing and check your answers at Owl Writing Lab

Finally,   it is important to remember that effective paraphrasing is founded strong reading ability (you need to understand what it is you are paraphrasing),   strong vocabulary,  and strong grammar.   The better your reading and writing is,  the better your paraphrasing will be.

Improve your pronunciation

This is a skill (which requires some knowledge) that is too often neglected except for the lower levels of ESL classes. As a consequence,  our speaking suffers in the numerous instances we must speak in academic classes.

• asking questions of the teacher
• answering questions asked by the teacher or other students
• participating in group discussions
• making presentations

Pronunciation also influences our listening in that how we believe a word sounds like influences our comprehension.   If we believe it sounds like our pronunciation which is incorrect,  then when we hear it spoken correctly or differently we will not know it.      

Pronunciation can even impact our writing.    I will often see words misspelled because the writer has written the word based on their incorrect pronunciation.    For example,  "friend"  might be written as "frand" because the writer confuses the short e sound in "friend"  with a short a sound (as in "hand").

It is not realistic to expect that you can sound like a native speaker unless you move to an English speaking country before age seven.    Your objective should be to speak well enough that others can understand you in your present context.     How do you go about achieving this?

As with all things language related,   you must first do a self-assessment.   Where are your pronunciation problems?    You may already know which English sounds and words you cannot pronounce very clearly. This is a start.   This questionnaire may be helpful:

from the Second Language Pronunciation Assessment Handout Packet 

                                         (Amy Gerhiser & Diana Wrenn ,  GA TESOL,  March 3, 2007 

                         http://teachingpronunciation.pbworks.com/f/Pronunciation+assessment+packet+.pdf)

Another easy way to develop a balanced picture of your pronunciation is by asking someone who does not know you very well (ie. a classmate) to listen to you speak (or read something) and give you some feedback. After 5 or 10 minutes they should be able to tell you which words or sounds you do not say clearly.    Then do the same with another person.   I suggest you try the first time with a native speaker such as a Canadian classmate.    The second time you should do this with a non-native speaker but of a different nationality/first language from you.

Another trick is to  record yourself using a smartphone and then identify pronunciation problems on your own.  Using Siri on an iPhone or iPad,  or Google voice search will tell you what words you speak clearly enough. Dictionary app voice searches also do this.   You could also do a voice dictation.   If the computer cannot understand you,  then it is likely there is a problem.   If they do understand you,  then these words/sounds are probably okay.

This text, also  from the Second Language Pronunciation Assessment Handout Packet, would be helpful to practice reading aloud.

A future blog post will look at Canadian English sounds,  some common pronunciation error, s and more techniques to improve your pronunciation.

Here are some webpages/websites you may find helpful to improve your pronunciation.

English Pronunciation Podcast    (an archive of numerous audio podcasts dealing with different sounds)

English Pronunciation    (this provides a great overview of the various English sounds, with words and sounds                                        you can practice)

American English Pronunciation

English Club Pronunciation  (a useful collection of links and resources)

Librivox    (22 recordings of a poem read aloud -- you can compare different pronunciations and even record yourself on your smartphone and then compare with these.  Read the poem here)

Using blogs and other website sources for academic purposes

In response to a student asking about using a webpage as a reference,   I found this page from the official APA Style Blog

It is important to remember that much/most of what exists on the Internet is not considered academic.

Anyone can post anything,  and this may not be true,  accurate, or supported.     Alarm bells always ring for me when there is not identifiable author or organization for a webpage/web article.     It is even more vital to be a critical reader when doing research on the Internet.  A Canadian Writer's Reference (5th edition) provides useful advice about evaluating web sources on pages 355-357.  

This graphic from  http://libguides.frostburg.edu/content.php?pid=263617&sid=2177956#7360303

also provides a handy  framework for guiding academic use of internet sources.

Improve your speaking and presentation skills with Toastmasters

For further information about Toastmasters at VIU,   contact Blessing at:   tsolurodavid@yahoo.com

If Thursdays don't work for you,  there are numerous other Toastmasters clubs in Nanaimo that meet on different days, times and places.  

 You can find out more by visiting the Toastmasters of Nanaimo calendar     here:   

   Nanaimo Toastmasters

Best Vocabulary Strategies -- Slideshow from a Workshop

           Click the image to go to the slideshow.

"Academic Style" or "How to Write so that Others Understand You and Are Impressed"

Style is vitally important in writing.  Your overall writing presentation,  the words you use and how you use them has a great impact on your readers.   And, of course,  you write for your readers.

Academic writers wants to appear academic and professional.  They do this in various ways.   First, they use academic words and phrases,   such as "major"  instead of "big",   "much"  or "many" rather than "a lot of",  "effective" rather than "good".    The words you use should convey precise meaning.  For example,  "good" is too general;  as a reader,  I want to know good in what way? Except for social media,  you do not write the way you speak,  or you should not.    Professional style also avoids jargon, slang, or colloquialisms. This
style of language is too informal for academic professional writing.

Academic writing also adopts a style of writing sentences that are neither too short, nor too long,  but which are clear and demonstrate the writer's knowledge.    My rule of thumb is that a sentence should not exceed 3 lines on a page.   A sentence should reflect one idea.   An idea can be complex,  thereby requiring numerous clauses.   But if it is too complex,  it is best to break it into several sentences.   Don't make it too difficult for the reader.   As a writer,   you know what you mean,  but you should put yourself in the shoes of the reader.    
One important way to support our points when writing is by examples.   Examples can be introduced within a sentence,   or as a sentence on their own.   Remember to say something about the example given rather than just throw it in.   Try to use powerful examples that are current and ideally universal.    Examples from history don't necessarily need to be avoided, but they should be blended with those nearer to us in time.
Examples from one's own country may not necessarily apply in other countries.     Examples must be credible,  relevant,  and easy to comprehend.

One of the challenges writers in Canada who come from other countries face is that what is considered good academic style in their country may not necessarily be considered good in Canada.    In North America,  you don't write to show off.    Using "multi-syllabic words"   that most people don't know (for example:  pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis ) or filling your writing with unnecessary words to make it longer  is just bad writing.  The democratic ethos holds that good writers write in a way that anyone with the necessary context and background knowledge should be able to understand.

It is also important to remember that all academic writing is not good academic writing.   There are many bad writers in academia who do not necessarily write clearly and concisely.    A good way to improve your writing is to find some models of  exemplary academic and professional writing,  and emulate them.   Read the Economist or Time magazine.     Or Harvard Business Review.       Find a writer you like and study their style.    

Remember it takes time to develop a style that fits you and fits your reader.    Knowing the key principles comes first,  then following them.  

You may find these internet resources useful.

You can read the online version of one of the best style books,  appropriately name The Elements of Style here.

Words and phrases to avoid

More words and phrases to avoid  (with alternatives)  from the British Council

A great opportunity to improve your English starts next week