Paraphrasing

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Secondary students who have English as their second language are often tempted to copy sections of text in constructing responses to questions. There are many reasons why students are tempted in this way.  To copy sections of text is easy and you know that the grammar and spelling will be accurate. Sometimes students may be unsure of  meaning and try to mask their lack of understanding with copy. Sections of  text may be taken from a book, a magazine or information that has been given to you by your teacher. To copy or plagiarise means to ‘take someone else’s words’ and  is totally unacceptable in Australian education institutions. Students who do copy or plagiarise are heavily penalised.

There is  however a simple skill which allows students to use the information presented in text without plagiarising. Paraphrasing is a re-statement of meaning using different words. By changing some of the words in the passage you can still present the information you need from the text but it does not constitute copy. You can change nouns for pro-nouns, remove or change adjectives and adverbs or remove conjunctions. You may change the structure of the sentences but you have not changed the meaning of the text. Use a thesaurus or a dictionary to find alternate words that have the same or similar meaning. By making a few simple changes you can still present the appropriate information and retain the accuracy of the grammar and spelling.

Paraphrasing is an important skill for all students to learn.  The penalties for plagiarism are high and in certain situations especially in Universities, students who  copy often find themselves in very serious trouble;  so don’t plagiarise, paraphrase!