Lesson V: Basics of Summarizing

What is Summarizing?
It includes the gist or main idea, useful information, or key words or phrases that help
you meet your reading purpose.
Done after reading
Benefits of Summarizing
Deepen your understanding of the text;
Learn to identify relevant information or key ideas;
Capture the key ideas in the text and put them together clearly and concisely.

You are not summarizing, if you are doing the following:

Write down everything
Write down ideas from the text word-for-word;
Write down incoherent and irrelevant ideas;
Write down ideas that are not stated in the text
Write down summary that has the same length or is longer than the original text.

Guidelines in Summarizing
Clarify your purpose before you read.
Read the text and understand the meaning.
Select and underline or circle the key ideas and phrases while reading; another strategy is
to annotate the text.
Without looking at the text, identify the connections of these key ideas and phrases using a
concept map.
List your ideas in sentences form in a concept map.
Combine the sentences into a paragraph. Use appropriate transitional devices to improve
cohesion.
Ensure that you do not copy a single sentence from the original text.
Edit the draft of your summary by eliminating redundant ideas.
Compare your output with the original text to ensure accuracy.

Formats in Summarizing

1. Idea Heading Format

In this format, the summarized idea comes before the
citation.
Example:
Benchmarking is a useful strategy that has the potential to help
public officials improve the performance of local services (Folz, 2004; Ammons, 2001).
Once the practice of particular city is benchmarked, it can be a guidepost and the basis for other
counterparts to improve its own.
2. Author Heading Format

In this format, the summarized idea comes after the citation. The author’s name/s is/are
connected by an appropriate reporting verb.
Example:
The study of Kabilan, Ahmad, and Abidin (2010) shows that the students perceived FB as an
online environment to expedite language learning specifically English.
3. Date Heading Format

In this format, the summarized idea comes after the date when the material was
published.

Example:
In their 2004 study on the impact of participatory development approach, Irvin and Stansbury
argue that participation can be valuable to the participants and the government in terms of the
process and outcomes of decision making.