THECNIQUES OF PARAPHRASING

THECNIQUES OF PARAPHRASING :

 

Writing skills are important to everyone especially academic writing (at university); you are expected to involve integrating ideas from other authors into your own style. And one of the techniques to improve your paraphrasing skills  are: active reading, clarification and understanding of the essence of what has been written or said.

Paraphrasing: To paraphrase is to formulate the same thought differently. In a conversation, a paraphrase consists in transmitting his own message to the speaker, but in the words of the listener. The purpose of paraphrasing is to test the listener for the accuracy of their own understanding of the message. Paraphrasing, oddly enough, is useful precisely when the interlocutor's speech seems clear to us.

At the same time, it is advisable to understand and highlight the very essence of the message and formulate it in one sentence, without going into details. It is important to convey to the interlocutor that you understood him correctly and to receive confirmation of the correctness of your understanding yourself.

Ø    Here is the main techniques to paraphrase :

Changing the structure of a sentence

1-Read the source text 3 times at least and make sure you understand the main ideas.

2-Write down the main ideas (Brain Storming).

3-Compare what you have written with the original text and make sure you have kept the main ideas and that your style and version are different.

                                Changing the words                              

1-  Once you understand the main ideas of the source text look for main words – these  words can not be changed  in the paraphrased version, as they are key to the meaning.  

2-    Search for words or sentences that can be changed.

3-  Use dictionary to find alternatives (if possible).

(It is really easy to notice when someone copied directly from the source text. We all have our own style in writing and yours will be different to the author you are reading.)

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