Misunderstood: Paraphrasing
A concept that is frequently misunderstood in my writing courses is paraphrasing. When we suggest that students put their research “into their own words”, there are invariable those who resort to simply replacing some words with synonyms without actually understanding the information they are paraphrasing.
One analogy that I have often considered is asking students to consider their favourite movie. If they had just rewatched the film and were going to describe it to a friend, how would they do that? Most of them, having seen the film and enjoyed it, know enough to summarize the film, some plot points, and characters in the film. In order to effectively paraphrase, students need to understand the research they have reviewed first, and then from there, they should be able to rephrase it in their own words, the way they would describe their favourite movie.
I think an image of a movie theatre is a good visual depiction of this analogy.
TweetExample for "Misunderstood: Paraphrasing":
https://unsplash.com/photos/AtPWnYNDJnM
Richard Hock
That’s a great idea Rob. Yes, who doesn’t love movies and it’s kind of a “free writing activity” where students can write a lot or a little about a film / movie they really like. I find that 6 steps on how to paraphrase helps and shows the students different methods on how to do it correctly very useful too.
Marsha Appling-Nunez
Many of my learners have difficulty with understanding the difference between a paraphrase and a summary. I can often get a decent summary of an event or a movie, but transferring this to what a learner has just read seems to gob-smack them. And paraphrasing beyond a synonym and occasional verb tense change requires more time and practice than my course can allow for.