English for Academic and Professional Purposes

1
Understanding Research Skills

Week 0013: Understanding Research Skills

You have learned in the previous modules about quoting and

summarizing as ways of citing sources. This module will discuss
the last part of citing sources – paraphrasing. In Lesson 2, you
will learn about English words with foreign origin. Knowledge
of these vocabulary terms will give you confidence as they
increase your level of preparedness in any academic tasks you
may encounter in a college coursework.
In school or in any profession, we produce different types of
documents and other forms of work by which using resources
from other people is unavoidable. A good academic practice
requires that we are expected to appropriately acknowledge all
contributing sources. In writing an essay, we often use our own
words to put over someone else’s thoughts and ideas. While there
are some words that we cannot change (especially the names of
people, places, chemicals, and so on), we should use our own words
for as much as we can of the rest of the passage. We should also aim
to change the structure of the passage, perhaps by reordering the
thoughts and ideas. This is paraphrasing. When we paraphrase, we
need to make it very clear where the original author’s ideas start
and where they finish. If we include our own examples, we should
make it clear that these are our thoughts and not those of the
original author.

Objectives:

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

a. apply correct technique in paraphrasing;

b. identify different ways of citing sources used in research
skills;
c. Identify the meaning of English words borrowed from other
languages.

Citing Sources Using a Paraphrase

A paraphrase is a piece of text in an academic paper, borrowed

from an original source and written in your own words.
Paraphrasing is common in all fields, but it is the primary way to

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 report evidence from sources in the natural sciences and qualitative
social sciences.

When to paraphrase:

1. When a source’s ideas or information, but not its language, are

important to your argument (for example, if the result of a
study of earthworms supports your claim, but its exact
language doesn’t matter)
2. When you can state the ideas of a source more clearly or
concisely than the original.
3. When a source uses technical terms that are unfamiliar to your
readers
4. When you use many passages from sources (so that you can
avoid having too many quotations).

A paraphrase is a condensation and

interpretation of a source, a distillation of its
most important elements. It is nearly always
more concise than a direct quote.

EXAMPLE 1:
Original Source

Here's an excerpt from the

beginning of the pamphlet , The
Crisis, published by Thomas
Paine in 1776:
These are the times that try men's
souls. The summer soldier and the
sunshine patriot will, in this crisis,
shrink from the service of his country;
but he that stands it now, deserves
the love and thanks of man and
woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily
conquered; yet we have this
consolation with us, that the harder
the conflict, the more glorious the
triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we
esteem too lightly: it is dearness only
that gives every thing its value.
Paine encourages the people of the
American colonies in the face of
growing English oppression,
promising that those who stand and
Paraphrase 1 fight will earn a "glorious" triumph
and "the love and thanks of man
and woman" (The Crisis, 1776).
Paine mocks those among the
American colonists who wanted an
easy victory over the
Paraphrase 2 oppressions of England, calling
them mere "summer soldier[s]" and
"sunshine patriot[s]" and
insisting that things too easily
obtained are of little lasting worth
(The Crisis, 1776).
 English for Academic and Professional Purposes
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Understanding Research Skills

 Notice the above paraphrase samples uses both quote and

paraphrase. Again, a paraphrase involves more than minor
changes in the vocabulary and word order of a source. The point
of paraphrasing is to present ideas in your own words; if you
aren't going to change the wording of the source significantly,
you might as well quote it directly. The advantage of paraphrase
is that it helps you refine your own understanding of the source
and then present that understanding to your audience. You just
have to make sure to set it off with quotation marks.

 Notice that the example of paraphrase above indicates the

source - the title of the article and the year of publication
separated in parentheses. It is necessary to cite your source
since the ideas you're summarizing or paraphrasing came from
someone else. This is a way of avoiding plagiarism.

EXAMPLE 2:

Original Source

A plagiarize version

Chase (1996) study the roles

of Critical care nurses. Critical
care nurses function in a
hierarchy of roles. In this
brain surgery unit, the nurse
manager does not directly care
for patients but follows the
progress of unusual or long –
term patients.
Paraphrase
Critical care nurses
present a hierarchy of
roles. The nurse According to Chase (1995),
manager hires and fires the roles of nurses in a
nurses. She does not critical care unit follows a
directly care for patients hierarchy . She found out
but does not follow that this hierarchy
unusual or long – term differentiates the roles
cases. between an expert and
others. Similarly, if the
educational experts do not
directly teach students, the
experts in this unit do not
directly attend to patients.

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 STEPS IN PARAPHRASING:

1. Read the original text.

2. Substitute words . You may use synonyms by consulting a
Thesaurus to know the precise meaning.
3. Rearrange sentences.
4. Check the meaning of your paraphrase against the original.
5. Don’t forget to identify the source you are paraphrasing.

What are the Quotations retains the original

differences between word from the author or from a
quoting, source document but the author
paraphrasing, and must be acknowledged as the
summarizing? original source.

Paraphrasing is not a word-for-

Summarizing uses own words to
shorten other’s ideas. A summary
should include the main points of
the author’s ideas. A summary
should be about one-third of the
original length. It is important to
acknowledge the original source.
word repetition of what the speaker
has sad, nor do you need to
summarize the content of each
phrase or minor detail (Beebe, Beebe
& Redmond, Interpersonal Communication:
Relating to Others).
Paraphrased material must also be
attributed to the original source.

Below are examples of words and their substitutes or synonyms:

Instead of… Use

We became aware of We realized

Damaged vision Impaired vision

unpleasant unacceptable

Of vital importance Essential role

skill ability

knowledge awareness
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Understanding Research Skills

English Words with Foreign Origin

Some English words that we use today originate from foreign words. Here are the list:

English Words Meaning

with Foreign
Origin

facade French: front

fiance French: a man engaged to be married

fiancee French: a woman engaged to be married

cello Italian: a musical instrument like a violin but larger with a lower tone

buffet French: meal at which guests serve themselves from food on a table

epitome Greek: a condense account; a summary; person or thing typical of something

robot Czech: a machine made in imitation of a human being

blitzkreg German: warfare in which the offensive is extremely rapid, violent and hard to resist.

gauze French: thin cloth used for bandages

mustache French: hair on upper lip

corps French: a military unit

divorcee French: a divorced woman

lingerie French: woman’s undergarments and nightgowns

protocol Greek: rules of etiquette of the diplomatic corps

idyll Latin: a short poem or prose describing a scene or event connected with country life.

chic French: smart and stylish

Ad lib Latin: to speak without notes

bonafide Latin: genuine, without fraud

rendezvous French: meeting by appointment at a fix place or time

soiree French: evening party

colossus Greek: a gigantic statue, anything huge or important

millennium Latin: a thousand years

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 Coup d’ etat French: sudden overthrow of a government

Habeas corpus Latin: a writ requiring that a prisoner be brought before a court to decide the
legality of his detention

verbatim Latin: word for word

Modus operandi Latin: the manner of working

Erratum Latin: error in writing or printing

Glossary

Paraphrase - is putting another person’s ideas into one’s own words using one’s
own sentence structure and style of writing. A paraphrase
simplifies a selection; it does not necessarily shorten it. It can
be longer than the original source.
Plagiarism - is the uncredited use, either intentional and unintentional, of
somebody else's words or ideas.
Quotation - uses the writer's actual words that support your argument. It is
enclosed with quotation marks depending on the number of
lines of the quotation.
Summary - is shorter than the original source but contains the main points
of the author. It is an overview of the source material.

References:

Book
Brantley, C. and Miller, M. ( 2007) Effective Communication for Colleges.
Singapore. Thomson South Western
Dapat, JR, O( 2013) Applied English for Academic and Professional Services.
Manila , Philippines. JFS Publishing
Online Supplementary Reading Materials
Handout in Academic Writing.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20110928111055_949.pdf.
Retrieved February 3, 2016.

Using Evidence: Citing Sources Properly

http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations
Retrieved on 20 April 2017.

Using Evidence: Paraphrase.

http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/evidence/paraphrase.
Retrieved on 20 April 2017.
 English for Academic and Professional Purposes
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Understanding Research Skills

Common Foreign Words and Phrases Used in the English Languge

study.com/academy/lesson/common-foreign-words-used-in-the-english-
language.html. Retrieved on 26 July 2017

Online Instructional Videos

Using & Crediting Sources: Citing Paraphrases

http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations#s-lg-box-
10295051. Retrieved on 27 July 2017.

Paraphrasing Sources: What Is Paraphrasing?

http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/c.php?g=465757&p=3404688
Retrieved 27 July 2017

Paraphrasing Sources: Comparing Paraphrasing and Quoting

http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/c.php?g=465757&p=3397089
Retrieved 27 July 2017

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