Super Strategies for Teaching Paraphrasing and Summarizing!

Cristin A. Boyd Studies in American Language, San Jose State University, San Jose/Silicon Valley California USA superteach@cristinanderic.comhttp://boydsteachingresources.pbworks.com/

SOME ‘SLIGHTLY RANDOM’ THOUGHTS

Little to no research about teaching paraphrasing

Limited resources for actual “how to” (most grammar focused)

Activities based on 17+ years of teaching reading & writing (and a search for resources)

Not an exhaustive collection (share ideas) How-to/what of citation is not black & white Accessible readings = soft sources (popular

magazines) Justification: build skills & confidence

Today’s Outline Challenges, activity, practice, variations, repeat End: more Q & A and create resources

TERMS & MEANING FOR THIS PRESENTATION

Paraphrase: A restatement of an

author’s idea. Usually a shorter piece

of text -- sentence or two.

Length of restatement can be as long as or longer than original.

Attribution is required for every paraphrase.

Paraphrasing is a fundamental part of writing a summary.

Summary: A series of

restatements about an article, essay, etc.

Restatements work together as a whole.

Summary is much shorter than original.

Generally requires one attribution.

CHALLENGES FOR ESL/EFL STUDENTS

Ownership of ideas varies between cultures. Memorized sections of Confucianism Mother: Person I admire (Yongfang 2003)

Paraphrasing may be interpreted differently. Restating words of scholars = bad news Common knowledge in collectivist cultures

Some cultures are reader (vs. writer) responsible. Assumptions re: reader knowledge

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MORE CHALLENGES

Reading skills Ss misunderstand original Ss depend on lower-level reading skills

(decoding) Ss lack vocabulary

Ss are preoccupied with grammar/sentence structure. Teacher feedback/learning focus on grammar/

sentence structure Grammar = mastery of language

Textbooks don’t explain “how” to paraphrase. Teachers don’t explain “how” either.

THE MOST PRESSING CHALLENGE (IN MY EXPERIENCE/OPINION). . .

a misplaced focus

on the word

WHY IS THIS A MISPLACED FOCUS?

Meaning in English is not character/word-level Sentences and paragraphs carry meaning

Cited source info used to support paragraph-level ideas 1 paragraph = 1 idea (topic sentence,

supporting, conclusion)

Paraphrase = restatement of an idea (that is used to support another idea)

WHY DO SOME STUDENTS FOCUS ON WORDS?

Desire to understand everything

Low-level reading/learning skills

Words are tangible; ideas often elusive

Native country learning (lang = math)

Grammar-based paraphrase activities

Heavy reliance on bottom-up processing

Memorization-focused learning

Word-focused L1 Example

L1 INFLUENCE ON WORD FOCUS

mu ('tree') shows a trunk and two leafless branches of a tree. The bottom half of the character may be hanging branches or the roots of a tree .… the character doubles to represent "forest" and triples to represent "dense forest." It joins with the character for "person" to represent "rest,” . . .

mo ('last' or 'top') shows a tree in which the top is marked with a horizontal stroke, while

ben ('source' or 'origin') shows a tree in which the root is marked with a horizontal stroke.

Relationships between characters complex also

From: http://www.mmtaylor.net/Literacy_Book/DOCS/pt1.html

WHERE IS MEANING?

In English . . . -- a collection of words (groups of sentences and paragraphs)-- “discourse blocks” (Christensen 1963, Pitkin 1969) -- paragraphs (Kaplan 1972)

By focusing on Words, Ss = Miss & Misunderstand main ideas when reading Worry too much about individual words,

grammar & sentence structure Paraphrase slowly & laboriously End up with stilted, awkward, incorrect

paraphrases (plagiarized content?)

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PROBLEMS WITH GRAMMAR-BASED PARAPHRASE ACTIVITIES

Some combination of changes to original:

compliment and subject positions

verb from positive to negative

verb from active to passive

Focuses too much on words

Result: Missed/

misunderstood idea Poor/Jumbled/Stilted

Restatement

Examples Problems

TO TO OVERCOMTo overcome these challenges &

resulting problems:

all paraphrase work in my classes is based on . . .

First understanding an idea

then restating it.

WHERE TO BEGIN: GOOD READING SKILLS

(UNDERSTANDING IDEAS)

Pre-read to get overall gist of article/section Read fast, multiple times Focus on IDEA/s Focus on content words (vs. function) Scan for main ideas

In paragraphs and sentences Avoid getting side tracked on individual words

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READING SKILLS (CONTINUED) RMmy ading Skills

Work through ambiguity. Avoid translation. Use dictionaries very rarely

Use context for meaningLook up:

important & repeated keys words only when main idea truly can’t be deciphered.

Embrace a new style of reading!

Resource: What good readers do handout

#1 PARAPHRASING RESOURCE!

STEPS FOR PARAPHRASING WELL

Introduced and regularly practiced & reviewed. . .

on board, in quizzes

& front page of class wiki

Resource: “Paraphrase Well” handout

STEPS FOR PARAPHRASING WELL

1) Read the section repeatedly  to understand the main idea.

2) List  important key

words. 

3) Cover original & restate the main idea in your different words.

4) Don’t worry about grammar! Restate idea first!

5) Check restatement for clarity of original idea (& original structure)

6) Check grammar & edit as needed. 

7) Check attribution.

AS THE TEACHER…

I CONSISTENTLY WALK THE TALK and

focus mainly on Ss’ restated ideas

I address grammar only after the idea is clear.

PARAPHRASE “ON THE RUN”

Paraphrase “on the run” A fun, active activity for practice with word

meanings from context (definitions)

Original text posted outside class ‘Runner’ reads a definition outside (2 minutes) ‘Scribe’ is told meaning inside classroom Collaboratively write a new definition

Same activity with steps/list articleSs can exchange and check others’ work

Limit Time! Don’t allow Ss time to memorize!

VERBAL RESTATEMENT

do activity

VERBAL RESTATEMENT

Ss retell main idea verbally Speaking = less worry about grammar, sentence structure, perfection T can draw out some missing points/details; walk S toward main idea.

“You almost have it, but isn’t there something about X ?”

MAGAZINE BLUBS Do activity

MAGAZINE BLUBS Use short blurbs from magazines.Provide a context for paraphrase. Ss work in pairs

Limited time – about 5 minutes. Makes Ss focus on idea, can’t get side tracked w/ vocabulary, no time to look up words, pressure to report main idea.

Short blurbs focus students on one ideaContext makes paraphrasing more realistic Context focuses reading on using an idea

for support

SUMMARY RESOURCES “Finding main

ideas” handout Summary GridHow to Write a

Summary handout (on wiki)

Debate in Costco Connection magazine

INTEGRATION WORK To integrate paraphrased source into

a paragraph Sentence 1: introduces topic (topic sentence)

Sentence 2: introduces paraphrase

Sentence 3: connects/integrates source & main idea.

Resource: integration handout

SOURCE LIST

1: New York Times Up Front Nov 22, 20102: New York Times Up Front Oct 25, 20103: Health June 20094: Mothering Jan 2010

Thank You!

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WHAT IS SENTENCE-LEVEL PARAPHRASING?WHERE DOES IT FIT INTO STEPS FOR RESTATING MAIN IDEAS?

Using synonyms Changing sentence from active to

passive and vice versa. Changing parts of speech. Combining sentences. Inverting complement and

predicate.

See grammar toolbox web link/handout on wiki page.

Only after main idea has been restated. Word level focus = lost main

idea. Back to L1 reading skills.

Only as a means to fine-tune a paraphrase; make it less like original.

In some classes I never give out a sentence-based handout!

Sentence-level paraphrase work

When and where?