Paraphrasing in English
Quoting or paraphrasing
Hello again. Let me tell you how I once had to write my first seminar paper in an introductory seminar at the English department. I had read some papers from other researchers and wanted to use a number of sources. Their texts sure looked smart. There were abstracts, there were quotes, in-text citations and summaries.
Four vexed questions and their answers
Well, before I could even start to write my outline, I had to answer four vexed questions:
1) Should I summarize the sources?
2) ShouId make full quotations of the sources?
3) Should I cite sources within my own sentences?
4) Should I report it as paraphrase?
So I went to the library and looked for guidebooks about the topic. This is what I found:
1) Should I summarize the sources?
Kate Turabian from Chicago University explains i nher guidebook that we write short summaries in cases where details of an idea would seem to be redundant or of no interest (Turabian 2011: 73). So if I refer to the main ideas of a very long text, then I'd rather summarize it and decribe its theses and argumentative structure in general to my readers.
2) ShouId make full quotations of the sources?
The question whether I should use full quotation or an in-text citation, so I learned, is one of size. If I have a longer idea that I want to discuss, I better quote the passage. Then I use the original words, enclose them in British English quotation marks ('...') or in American English ("...") and write the reference below or in a footnote. I learned painfully from my teachers that they do not like student papers with too many quotations. From a guidebook by Stephen Bailey I learned that it is better to quote when 'the original words express an idea in a distinctive way' and 'the original is more concise than your summary could be' (Bailey 2011:65). I like one idea by Kate Turabian very much. She says that another reason to quote the exact words is academic fairness (Turabian 2011, 73). She explains that when we criticise someone’s idea, it is quite pertinent to quote their exact words to avoid misunderstanding. This way everybody can see exactly what it is that we are criticizing.
3) Should I cite sources within my own sentences?
If the original source text is short enough, then I usually insert it smoothly into the flow of my own text. I cite the author's name, year and page of the text. In the final analysis, it is you who has to decide what you prefer.
4) Should I report it as paraphrase?
To answer the question when we should paraphrase, I turn to the good old OALD. They state that the function of paraphrasing is 'to express what somebody has said or written using different words, especially in order to make it easier to understand' [1]. So paraphrasing means facilitating understanding of an idea. Kate Turabian goes further and says that we usually want to paraphrase when we intend to explain with more clarity and accuracy the ideas of a source. Here I understood that my paraphrase already influences the way I wish a certain passage to be understood. So I still feel I always have to be aware that my paraphrase also interpretes the original sentence to a certain extent. That's why we have to attach a lot of importance to our choice of words and expressions as we, in the first place, actually just want to express in our own words what the author has said, in order to interprete or comment on it afterwards. A further reason for paraphrasing a source is given, Turabian continues, when our argument is based on the details but not on the exact wording of a passage. That means when the actual words are essential for our argumentation, we better quote them in their original words. Siepmann, et al. experts on English academic writing, summarize the reasons for paraphrasing: 'You may wish to paraphrase another author's work because:
Four vexed questions and their answers
Well, before I could even start to write my outline, I had to answer four vexed questions:
1) Should I summarize the sources?
2) ShouId make full quotations of the sources?
3) Should I cite sources within my own sentences?
4) Should I report it as paraphrase?
So I went to the library and looked for guidebooks about the topic. This is what I found:
1) Should I summarize the sources?
Kate Turabian from Chicago University explains i nher guidebook that we write short summaries in cases where details of an idea would seem to be redundant or of no interest (Turabian 2011: 73). So if I refer to the main ideas of a very long text, then I'd rather summarize it and decribe its theses and argumentative structure in general to my readers.
2) ShouId make full quotations of the sources?
The question whether I should use full quotation or an in-text citation, so I learned, is one of size. If I have a longer idea that I want to discuss, I better quote the passage. Then I use the original words, enclose them in British English quotation marks ('...') or in American English ("...") and write the reference below or in a footnote. I learned painfully from my teachers that they do not like student papers with too many quotations. From a guidebook by Stephen Bailey I learned that it is better to quote when 'the original words express an idea in a distinctive way' and 'the original is more concise than your summary could be' (Bailey 2011:65). I like one idea by Kate Turabian very much. She says that another reason to quote the exact words is academic fairness (Turabian 2011, 73). She explains that when we criticise someone’s idea, it is quite pertinent to quote their exact words to avoid misunderstanding. This way everybody can see exactly what it is that we are criticizing.
3) Should I cite sources within my own sentences?
If the original source text is short enough, then I usually insert it smoothly into the flow of my own text. I cite the author's name, year and page of the text. In the final analysis, it is you who has to decide what you prefer.
4) Should I report it as paraphrase?
To answer the question when we should paraphrase, I turn to the good old OALD. They state that the function of paraphrasing is 'to express what somebody has said or written using different words, especially in order to make it easier to understand' [1]. So paraphrasing means facilitating understanding of an idea. Kate Turabian goes further and says that we usually want to paraphrase when we intend to explain with more clarity and accuracy the ideas of a source. Here I understood that my paraphrase already influences the way I wish a certain passage to be understood. So I still feel I always have to be aware that my paraphrase also interpretes the original sentence to a certain extent. That's why we have to attach a lot of importance to our choice of words and expressions as we, in the first place, actually just want to express in our own words what the author has said, in order to interprete or comment on it afterwards. A further reason for paraphrasing a source is given, Turabian continues, when our argument is based on the details but not on the exact wording of a passage. That means when the actual words are essential for our argumentation, we better quote them in their original words. Siepmann, et al. experts on English academic writing, summarize the reasons for paraphrasing: 'You may wish to paraphrase another author's work because:
- it supports your own views
- it contradicts your own views and you want to argue against it
- the author's position is too well-known or not sufficiently memorable to warrant quoting' (Siepmann at al 2011: 306)
[1] OALD entry; retrieved from: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/paraphrase_1?q=paraphrase