ACTIVITY 1

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is an important skill to be acquired in the tertiary education as it is useful for

incorporating other people’s words or findings to support our arguments, and act as a premise or
supporting details.

TASK 1

TWO paragraphs are provided in this task. Match the paraphrase with the actual words of the text
and think about what had been changed.

PARAGRAPH 1

According to Charles Morris in his discussion in firstborns (1989), the first child in a family is more
likely to have achieved excellence than children who are born later. Scientists explain this in a
number of ways. The first born has a greater opportunity to receive higher education, if only
financial elements are considered. Another suggestion is that these children have a deeper
motivation for achievement, possibly resulting from the way they relate to adults, particularly their
parents who have very high expectations for them. Thus, firstborn children try to gain acceptance
through conformity and meeting the high standard set for them.

Paraphrase The Author’s Words

suggest several explanations
is more likely to attend college
economic factors
may be an outcome of
as a result
may seek approval


PARAGRAPH 2

Of the changes a child goes through, none is more dramatic than the acquisition of language. Like
motor abilities and perception, language depends on both physical maturation (control of the
muscles that move the mouth and tongue) and experience. At about two months, the infant begin
cooing, and in another month or two, the infant enters the babbling stage and starts to repeat sounds.
Between eight and ten months, infants seem to take special pleasure in talking aloud to themselves
as they work at grabbing hold of things and crawling. Vocalization at this age is still primarily non-
social. Psychologists have recorded mother-child dialogues at this age to see just what the children
pick up and what they omit. Most noticeably , children at this age omit auxiliary verbs (can) “I have
that?” “I (am) eating it” and prepositions and articles : “It (is) time (for) Sara (to) take (a) nap?”
Apparently children grab hold of the most important words, probably the words their parents stress.

Paraphrase The Author’s Words

transformations a child undergoes
physical development as well as practical
knowledge
when a baby is about two months
not truly communicative
children omit words not emphasized in their
parents’ speech