paraphrasing for english lessons

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Teaching Students to Paraphrase

Ideas for scaffolding paraphrasing so that students correctly learn this valuable but difficult-to-master skill.

When discussing text in the classroom, it’s tough for students to shift from utilizing an author’s words (copying) to accepting the challenge to express that author’s idea in their own words (paraphrasing).

But teaching effective paraphrasing is necessary because the use of paraphrasing facilitates important literacy skills : It encourages repeated reading, develops note-taking habits as students track quotes and outline text details, and expands vocabulary as they consider appropriate ways to describe the original text. The skill may seem daunting to students because it takes time to find the appropriate words to reshape a sentence, but that is time well spent.

We also need to teach paraphrasing, of course, so that students develop the skill set required to avoid committing plagiarism unintentionally .

Student Tools

One way to support students is to make them aware of tools that may help when they’re paraphrasing. Think of these as training wheels—students won’t use them forever.

Academic Phrasebank : Ready-made phrases help students organize their sentences when they paraphrase. The site provides sentence starters for defining ideas, comparing and contrasting ideas, describing cause and effect, and explaining evidence to support statements.

For instance, if a student were paraphrasing vocabulary word X, they would be able to find sentence starters such as “The word X encompasses...,” “The word X is challenging to define because...,” and “The word X is intended to....”

Ashford University Writing Center : This website has a five-item quiz to review the paraphrasing process. It allows students to identify examples and non-examples of paraphrasing for a given text.

When examining non-examples, students are shown how replacing or rearranging words is akin to copying and pasting on a computer. Students see examples of effective paraphrasing, including a change of sentence structure or personal elaboration combined with limited quoted information.

Tone Analyzer : This tool allows students to enter a brief sample from a text and receive an analysis of the tone. When using this tool, students can request an assessment of whether the text illustrates anger, joy, sadness, etc. In addition to these emotions, the website includes language descriptors such as confident (used to describe texts that use active voice and/or words such as will , must , etc.) or tentative (texts with words such as seems , appears , might , etc.). This tool is useful in helping students successfully align the tone of their paraphrased material with the tone of the original text.

Student Self-Check Prompts

Students should outgrow the tools above, and teachers can encourage that growth by showing them how to monitor their own progress with paraphrasing. Students can self-check to determine how on track with paraphrasing they are by asking themselves these questions:

• Can I identify elements of the text that are most significant (and thus appropriate to preserve) when I put it in my own words?
• Can I recite elements of the text from memory in order to prepare to put it into my own words?
• How can I adjust the sentence structure to preserve the meaning of the text?

Student Cautions

Because the journey to paraphrasing may involve a few hiccups, it’s a good idea to identify potential student challenges. When paraphrasing, remind students that they should:

• Attempt to describe the text in their own words gradually, one component at a time (thanks to Doug Lemov and Maggie Johnson for this close reading strategy). For instance, they might first use their own words to describe significant phrases in the reading, and then make an effort to explain one or two key sentences, and finally attempt to paraphrase an entire paragraph.
• Monitor the similarities between the text and the paraphrase. For instance, after describing specific sentences or paragraphs, they should note how many words are shared. Instead of using the same words as the author, focus on mirroring the same main idea. The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning at Yale offers easy-to-follow models for how to achieve this.
• Ensure that there is a sufficient number of word substitutions in the paraphrased material. (Substituting only a couple of words could constitute plagiarism.) Students should focus on changing the structure of the sentence . This may involve converting a simple sentence to a compound sentence or adding a prepositional phrase.
• Avoid adjusting special language (acronyms, figurative language, jargon, etc.). These kinds of terms are considered common knowledge, so using them in a paraphrase doesn’t constitute plagiarism. Resources such as the Purdue Online Writing Lab can help students figure out whether a particular term is common knowledge.

Teachers can push students to move beyond copying by encouraging them to see paraphrasing as the go-to reading response. When we equip students with needed resources, we make student voice the rule instead of the exception.

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• How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

Published on April 8, 2022 by Courtney Gahan and Jack Caulfield. Revised on June 1, 2023.

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words. Paraphrasing a source involves changing the wording while preserving the original meaning.

Paraphrasing is an alternative to  quoting (copying someone’s exact words and putting them in quotation marks ). In academic writing, it’s usually better to integrate sources by paraphrasing instead of quoting. It shows that you have understood the source, reads more smoothly, and keeps your own voice front and center.

Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the source . Also take care not to use wording that is too similar to the original. Otherwise, you could be at risk of committing plagiarism .

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Table of contents

How to paraphrase in five easy steps, how to paraphrase correctly, examples of paraphrasing, how to cite a paraphrase, paraphrasing vs. quoting, paraphrasing vs. summarizing, avoiding plagiarism when you paraphrase, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about paraphrasing.

If you’re struggling to get to grips with the process of paraphrasing, check out our easy step-by-step guide in the video below.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Putting an idea into your own words can be easier said than done. Let’s say you want to paraphrase the text below, about population decline in a particular species of sea snails.

Incorrect paraphrasing

You might make a first attempt to paraphrase it by swapping out a few words for  synonyms .

Like other sea creatures inhabiting the vicinity of highly populated coasts, horse conchs have lost substantial territory to advancement and contamination , including preferred breeding grounds along mud flats and seagrass beds. Their Gulf home is also heating up due to global warming , which scientists think further puts pressure on the creatures , predicated upon the harmful effects extra warmth has on other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).

This attempt at paraphrasing doesn’t change the sentence structure or order of information, only some of the word choices. And the synonyms chosen are poor:

• “Advancement and contamination” doesn’t really convey the same meaning as “development and pollution.”
• Sometimes the changes make the tone less academic: “home” for “habitat” and “sea creatures” for “marine animals.”
• Adding phrases like “inhabiting the vicinity of” and “puts pressure on” makes the text needlessly long-winded.
• Global warming is related to climate change, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.

Because of this, the text reads awkwardly, is longer than it needs to be, and remains too close to the original phrasing. This means you risk being accused of plagiarism .

Correct paraphrasing

Let’s look at a more effective way of paraphrasing the same text.

Here, we’ve:

• Only included the information that’s relevant to our argument (note that the paraphrase is shorter than the original)
• Introduced the information with the signal phrase “Scientists believe that …”
• Retained key terms like “development and pollution,” since changing them could alter the meaning
• Structured sentences in our own way instead of copying the structure of the original
• Started from a different point, presenting information in a different order

Because of this, we’re able to clearly convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original phrasing.

Explore the tabs below to see examples of paraphrasing in action.

• Journal article
• Newspaper article
• Magazine article

Once you have your perfectly paraphrased text, you need to ensure you credit the original author. You’ll always paraphrase sources in the same way, but you’ll have to use a different type of in-text citation depending on what citation style you follow.

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It’s a good idea to paraphrase instead of quoting in most cases because:

• Paraphrasing shows that you fully understand the meaning of a text
• Your own voice remains dominant throughout your paper
• Quotes reduce the readability of your text

But that doesn’t mean you should never quote. Quotes are appropriate when:

• Giving a precise definition
• Saying something about the author’s language or style (e.g., in a literary analysis paper)
• Providing evidence in support of an argument
• Critiquing or analyzing a specific claim

A paraphrase puts a specific passage into your own words. It’s typically a similar length to the original text, or slightly shorter.

When you boil a longer piece of writing down to the key points, so that the result is a lot shorter than the original, this is called summarizing .

Paraphrasing and quoting are important tools for presenting specific information from sources. But if the information you want to include is more general (e.g., the overarching argument of a whole article), summarizing is more appropriate.

When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid accidental plagiarism .

This can happen if the paraphrase is too similar to the original quote, with phrases or whole sentences that are identical (and should therefore be in quotation marks). It can also happen if you fail to properly cite the source.

Paraphrasing tools are widely used by students, and can be especially useful for non-native speakers who may find academic writing particularly challenging. While these can be helpful for a bit of extra inspiration, use these tools sparingly, keeping academic integrity in mind.

To make sure you’ve properly paraphrased and cited all your sources, you could elect to run a plagiarism check before submitting your paper. And of course, always be sure to read your source material yourself and take the first stab at paraphrasing on your own.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Critical thinking

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:

• Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive , or start from a different point)
• Combining information from multiple sentences into one
• Leaving out information from the original that isn’t relevant to your point
• Using synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning

The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely in your own words and properly cite the source .

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To present information from other sources in academic writing , it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.

It’s appropriate to quote when:

• Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text
• You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis )
• You’re presenting a precise definition
• You’re looking in depth at a specific claim

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If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Gahan, C. & Caulfield, J. (2023, June 01). How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-paraphrase/

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Paraphrasing Techniques for Academic Writing (EAP)

A few notes on teaching paraphrasing.

When I teach paraphrasing, I generally go over some techniques such as the list below. These techniques can provide students some tools to paraphrase successfully and avoid the overuse of quotations, or worse yet, plagiarism. Although these methods are especially useful to intermediate-level students, keep in mind that the best overall advice is to tell them to try to rewrite the idea into their own words . Some students can get too caught up in the game of changing from active to passive or finding obscure synonyms in the dictionary, and they forget that the best thing to do is ask themselves:  What does this sentence mean?  Can I rewrite it in my own words?

The chances are, if they are upper-intermediate or advanced students, then they may already be able to do this. Nevertheless, the below handout can be useful for students who don't have the flexibility yet to paraphrase on their own.

Five Paraphrasing Techniques

(Handout download:  paraphrasing-techniques-eap.docx )

Approximately 80% of low-income families will be assisted by the proposed `free lunch' program. (Health Canada, 2015)

Techniques:

1. Use Synonyms

According to Health Canada, roughly 80% of poor families will be helped by the suggested `free lunch' campaign .

2. Change from Active to Passive Voice

According to Health Canada, the suggested `free lunch' campaign will help roughly 80% of poor families.

3. Change from Positive to Negative

According to Health Canada, only roughly twenty percent of poor families will not benefit from the program.

4. Change Word Forms

According to Health Canada, the suggested `free lunch' campaign will provide assistance to roughly 80% of poor families.

5. Change the Order of Information

The suggested `free lunch' campaign will provide assistance to roughly 80% of poor families according to Health Canada .

Finally, after using the aforementioned techniques we have gone from this quotation:

to this paraphrased sentence:

The suggested `free lunch' campaign will provide assistance to roughly 80% of poor families according to Health Canada.

• Does the paraphrased sentence contain the same meaning as the original? Yes
• Have we referenced the source of the information? Yes
• Overall, have we avoided plagiarism by paraphrasing sufficiently? Yes

All the answers are 'Yes', which means we have paraphrased well.

- Copyright Matthew Barton of Englishcurrent.com

• The Difference between Patchwriting and Paraphrasing

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Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is finding another way to say something when you don't know how to say it.

Paraphrasing is not only an essential skill for all speakers but also key to learners developing communicative ability beyond their existing knowledge of language.

Example The learner is describing a photograph of a glider and doesn't know the word, so paraphrases by saying ‘an airplane that uses the wind'.

In the classroom One way to practise paraphrasing is through word games. For example, in a definition game learners have to provide paraphrases, so that others can guess the original word. This can be done in written form in crossword activities as well.

Further links: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/heroes-villains-pride-prejudice-0 https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/windrush-generation https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/green-great https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/creativity-language-classroom  

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 Academic Paraphrasing Skills

Paraphrasing is  presenting ideas and information in your own words and acknowledging where they come from. By using your own words, you demonstrate your understanding and your ability to convey this information.

Paraphrasing video

A 10-minute video on how to paraphrase effectively using t he 4-key stages of paraphrasing.

What is paraphrasing?

• Paraphrasing shows you have a clear understanding of the topic.
• Paraphrasing ensures that the text used is relevant to your specific assignment.
• Direct copying is plagiarism . Quotation is acceptable but only when defining terms or a very central statement.

Which is a summary, quotation and paraphrase?

Poor paraphrasing..

Why is this a poor paraphrase?

Original source

“Exeter Council spends £3.3 million each year on biofuel heating rather than the £7 million it would spend if it still relied on oil and gas” (Smith, 2021, p.221).

Poor paraphrase

Smith (2021) highlights that Exeter Council pays £3.3 million every year on biofuel heating instead of the £7 million if it relied on oil and gas.

It’s a poor paraphrase because the writer has only changed a couple of the words. If this was put through a plagiarism checker it would score a very high originality score. 

Paraphrasing websites

Paraphrasing is a difficult skill and needs constant practice. However, there a range of websites to help you paraphrase words and change the sentence structure. These four websites are important for good paraphrasing. For more information go here

Key steps to effective paraphrasing

1.highlight important words / key terms (words that cannot be changed), 2.find synonyms / alternative words for high frequency words, 3.change grammar:   sentence structure,   active to passive, nouns to verbs, adjectives to adverbs, word order, etc.., 4.check meaning, paraphrasing step by step examples (using synonyms), original sentence: ‘memory is the capacity for storing and retrieving information’ (smith, 2021)., 1: choose keywords that cannot be changed , memory has the capacity for storing and retrieving information (smith, 2021), 2: find synonyms for the other words, memory  is the  capacity  for  storing  and  retrieving  information., use google or thesaurus.com to find a range of synonyms – like below.

3. Choose the words that are similar in meaning or change the form (storing to storage)

B) memory is the facility for storage  and recovering data.  [paraphrases sentence – ok]  , 4. change the grammar, word forms and structure, c) data recovery and storage are facilitated in the memory. [paraphrased sentence – very good].

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Paraphrasing Lesson

Paraphrasing lesson 1 – how to paraphrase effectively.

 It starts by discussing the differences between quotation, paraphrase and summary. It takes students through the basics of identifying keywords, finding synonyms and then changing the grammatical structure. There is plenty of practice, all with efficient teacher’s notes.  Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]   Example  / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Paraphrasing Lesson 2 – improve your paraphrasing skills

This lesson helps students to improve their paraphrasing skills. The guided learning approach includes a text analysis activity where students identify the paraphrasing strategies, five sentence-level tasks to practise the strategies and two paragraph-level exercises to build on the previous tasks..  Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]   Example  / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Writing a paragraph: paraphrasing.

This lesson provides a number of quotations based around smoking. The lesson ask students to pick three quotes, paraphrase them and write a coherent paragraph using the paraphrases. It includes a model answer. More info.

      Writing a paragraph – using quotes about smoking

Students are given a worksheet with nine quotes taken from The New Scientist, BBC News, The Economist, etc… and choose only three. They use these three quotes to write a paragraph trying to paraphrase the quotes and produce a cohesion piece of writing.  Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]    Example / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Free lesson: Paraphrasing quotes

Here are a range of quotations adapted from an academic text on the topic of the Environment. Take the quotations and paraphrase them into suitable sentences with similar meaning.

Paraphrasing: writing worksheet 

This worksheet provides paraphrasing practice. There are five sentences taken from an academic text and students paraphrase the sentences to keep the same meaning. Includes possible answers. TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Practice Exercise  

• Paraphrasing

Smith et al., (2010) state that ‘human activities can also change the climate.’

Peterson et al., (2010) point out that ‘climate is controlled by the long term balance of energy of the earth and its atmosphere.’, smith et al., (2010) note that ‘winds and ocean currents redistribute heat over the surface of the earth.’, jones & smith, (2010) argue that ‘the atmospheric amounts of many greenhouse gases are increasing, especially carbon dioxide, which has increased by 30 % over the last 200 years, primarily as a result of changes in land use (e.g., deforestation) and burning coal, and natural gas (e.g., in automobiles, industry, and electricity generation).’, lucus et al., (2010) mention that ‘the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities will change the climate by enhancing the natural greenhouse effect, leading to an increase in in the earth’s average temperature.,   paraphrasing answers, academic english / paraphrasing exercises                    , 1) smith et al., (2010) state that ‘human activities can also change the climate.’, it has been suggested that climate change is influenced by human activity (smith et al., 2010), 2) peterson et al., (2010) point out that ‘climate is controlled by the long term balance of energy of the earth and its atmosphere.’, according to peterson et al, (2010) the lasting equilibrium of energy between the earth and the atmosphere is regulated by the climate., 3) smith et al., (2010) note that ‘winds and ocean currents redistribute heat over the surface of the earth.’, the continuous distribution of warmth is through wind and ocean currents across the periphery of the planet (smith et al., 2010)., 4) jones & smith, (2010) argue that ‘the atmospheric amounts of many greenhouse gases are increasing, especially carbon dioxide, which has increased by 30 % over the last 200 years, primarily as a result of changes in land use (e.g., deforestation) and burning coal, and natural gas (e.g., in automobiles, industry, and electricity generation).’, jones & smith’s (2010) argument holds validity that over the last 20 years there has been a 30% increase in greenhouse gases (co2) due to the manipulation of the environment for the benefit of globalisation., 5) lucus et al., (2010) mention that ‘the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities will change the climate by enhancing the natural greenhouse effect, leading to an increase in in the earth’s average temperature.’, lucus et al., (2010) argue that the earth’s average temperature is increasing because of human activity through the intensification of atmospheric greenhouse gases., more  writing  resources  , academic phrases, academic style [1], academic style [2], academic style [3], academic style [4], academic word list , writing websites, error correction, hedging [1], hedging [2], nominalisation, noun phrases [1], noun phrases [2], the syllabus, referencing, in-text referencing, harvard ref. [1], harvard ref. [2], apa ref [1], apa ref [2], ref. generators, reference lists, reporting verbs, credible sources, evaluating sources, academic integrity, 'me' in writing, writer's voice  , writing skills, paraphrasing [1], paraphrasing [2], paraphrase (quotes), summary writing  , summary language, critical thinking, analysis &  evaluation, fact vs opinion, argument essays, spse essays, sentence str.  [1], sentence str.  [2],     sentence str. [3], punctuation, academic posters new, structure    , essay structure, introductions, thesis statements, paragraphing, topic sentences  [1], topic sentences [2], definitions, exemplification , conclusions, linking words, parallelism, marking criteria, more digital resources and lessons.

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Learn Paraphrase Writing #1

In this exercise you will learn one paraphrasing skill: using synonyms to rewrite sentences. Here is an example.

Photo by Pseudo Victor

More than half of the women who attended the one-day meeting were in business with their spouses .

Some of the words are underlined. Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find synonyms for these words and phrases. Now rewrite this sentence with these new words and phrases.

Here is one possible answer.

The majority of the women who went to the one-day conference were in business with their husbands .

Paraphrase Writing Questions

Here are the questions for this lesson.  If you want, download the writing worksheets with the questions and answers here .

• Approximately 30,000 students may be assisted by the proposed “free lunch” program.
• With the development of flash memory cards, the market for portable music players jumped sharply .
• Although the coach’s strategy was a little dangerous , the team was successful.
• Therefore , the effect was an increase in student examination results .
• In addition , a strong typhoon is expected to batter the coast over the next few days.
• The expenditure needed to combat climate change will require changes to the federal government’s budget .
• The engineer must judge how much dynamite to use according to the volume of material to be removed from the tunnel.
• Two of the students were expelled for violating the school’s “no fighting” policy .

Download the Writing Worksheets

Click here to download the worksheet for this lesson.

Good luck. Write some of your answers in the comments section so everyone can read your writing.

18 thoughts on “Learn Paraphrase Writing #1”

Thanks. paraphrasing is soooooooo important for students whose writing skills are so low that they almost feel that they cannot complet assignments unless they plagiarize!

Hi, I’d just like to thank you for taking the time to share such excellent resources. :)

Well…. thank you Dara. I’m glad you liked it.

very interesting and practical! thank you very much!

very practical and useful! thank you very much!

Glad you liked it.

I am tutoring to German girls in English.

Hi. Thanks for the material you presented. I’m going to take the TOEFL exam soon and wanted to practice paraphrasing. Here is example 1 to share to others: a. Almost 30,000 students may be helped by the suggested free lunch program. b. Nearly 30,000 students may be aided by the recommended free lunch program. c. Around 30,000 students may be supported by the offered free lunch program.

I thought I would practice with 3 synonyms to really get it into my brain. Thanks again!

thank you so much,its very useful for us to improve our writing skills,and i think we need more than that,please update it as much as you can!we are looking forward for it!

Hello, is it okay if i paraphrase: “More than half of the women who attended the one-day meeting were in business with their spouses.” with “Over half of the women who went to the one-day conference were in business with their husbands.” ? Thank you very much

HI, in the 6th sentence would it be alright if i paraphrased “to combat climate change” with “to tackle climate change” ? Thank you sir :)

7) The engineer must how much dynamite to use on the of material to be removed from the tunnel. I hope this is correct :)

Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills in learning a second language, because it helps improve your vocabulary, grammar and understanding of texts.

2. With the expansion of flash money cards, the market place for portable music players increase significantly

Hi I disagree with you here. To avoid plagiarism the whole sentence must be different. Any fool can use a thesarus. We want the students to take notes and “digest” the material, before they write about the topic in their own words and structure. Also, remember to cite the source!

I understand your comment about fools and a thesaurus. I guess my idea comes from a teaching perspective. Break down the tasks into bite size teachable moments. Then later hope and teach students how paraphrase properly with a full toolkit.

Even if the coach’s tactics was a little unsafe, the team got won. Consequently, the conclusion was an increase in student exercise scores. Besides, a strong tsunami is expected to attact the coast over the next few days. The cost needed to overwhelm climate change will require changes to the federal government’s fund. The engineer must decide how much dynamite to use through to the quantity of material to be removed from the tunnel. Two of the students were removed for against the school’s “no fighting” norm.

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Paraphrasing, Quoting, and Summarising

Efl & esl english language skills.

Skills:  Reading & Writing

Level:   B2  Upper-intermediate and above

Learn how best to rewrite correctly, with a creative paraphrasing and summarising activity based on movies

Printables: Paraphrasing exercises , Logline activities

What is paraphrasing?

How to paraphrase in three easy steps, paraphrasing exercises, how to quote, summarising with loglines, the avengers  logline, write your own logline.

Paraphrasing is the ability to copy what we heard or read by repeating it in our own words composed by our own thoughts. Being able to paraphrase well is an essential speaking and writing skill.

It’s also a reading skill. Sentences normally only have one idea. So that we can repeat what we read while keeping the original meaning at the same time, it’s important that we understand everything, including the finer details. Paraphrasing is often done for short pieces of text such as one or two sentences, which brings us on to its purpose.

There are a couple of reasons to paraphrase. Firstly, if we are writing an original piece of work, say an essay or a blog, and we want to include an extract from a copyright text such as a book or an article, then we can paraphrase it. We could perhaps quote it instead, but this often comes with some limitations, for example how much is legally allowed to be copied or maybe the extract itself is just too wordy.

This is the second reason to paraphrase. We can make the extract shorter and simpler and pass our understanding on to the reader by making it clearer too.

Therefore, paraphrasing is different to directly quoting or plainly summarising. All three are ways of rewriting something but they each have a different purpose. We don’t paraphrase a book, we summarise it, as books have many ideas. You can find one type of summary on the back of most books, which is called a blurb .

In fact, on the back of a novel you might see all three examples at play. The opening sentences of the novel could be paraphrased in an interesting way at the top. In the centre there will be a descriptive summary of the story and the author. Below that it might have some catchy quotes from reviewers.

Paraphrasing is effective at demonstrating that we understand a writer’s point of view in a sentence they wrote. Another benefit to this technique is that because paraphrasing is not just copying word for word, it helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism. Although, whether we are paraphrasing, quoting, or summarising someone else’s words, it’s always necessary to mention the source of the information.

Here are some examples of paraphrasing:

Norwegian law says that anything found that is older than 1537 is state property.

Paraphrased:

Objects found in Norway from before 1537 should be returned to the government.

Fatou sometimes asks herself, “I can’t dance, I can’t rap ... What am I doing?”

Every so often, Fatou finds herself questioning her singing and dancing abilities.

In a statement given by the European Council, they said that “batteries contain many valuable resources and we must be able to reuse those critical raw materials”.

It’s important that the precious natural materials that go into making batteries are reusable, the European Council have officially stated.

When we need to copy some text without quoting it, we can’t get away with just changing the word order and call it paraphrasing! Here is how to paraphrase in three easy steps.

Do you understand the idea(s) of the sentence(s)? Do you know the meaning of all the words?

When we want to use what someone else wrote in our own work, it’s probably because we like it. It’s certain that we understand it if that is the case. If, however, we want to paraphrase something because we disagree with it, it’s worth checking that we understand the full meaning. Either way, asking yourself the two questions above is a great first step.

The next step is to identify the words that carry the meaning of the sentence. There are a few things to be aware of here:

• The facts cannot be changed, such as who or what the sentence is about. Things such as proper nouns or facts and figures will most likely stay the same.
• The rest of the important words can be changed with synonyms to suit our taste, such as government for state . Also, looking at names or data as words, it is possible to use synonyms. Compare for example, a percentage figure of 51% could be written as “just over half”.
• The sentence structure might also change too. Using verbs instead of nominalisations could be useful when rewriting something, especially to make it clearer. For example, the opening phrase “In a statement given by...” compared to the closing phrase “...have officially stated”.

The last thing to do is to re-read your new sentence to see if it carries the same meaning as the original. Finally, the original needs to be referrenced in an appropriate way.

Choose between A or B as the best paraphrased answer.

1. Original :

Snoop Dogg said the store “stays true to who I am” and that Tha Dogg House will be mind-blowing.

Paraphrase A:

“I’m a true artist” said Snoop Dogg, talking of his mind-blowing new project, Tha Dogg House.

Paraphrase B:

It will blow people’s minds Snoop Dogg said, speaking of Tha Dogg House being a reflection of his creativity.

B is the best paraphrase. Paraphrase A is a bad example of paraphrasing because quote marks are used for words that Snoop Dogg doesn’t actually say.

2. Original :

Finally Zimmer managed to ask, “Will you marry me?” There was screaming and clapping from the crowd as the newly-engaged couple hugged.

Zimmer eventually got around to asking the big question. The crowd showed their delight with a large applause as Zimmer and his partner had an embrace.

The audience gave a loud applause after Zimmer proposed and gave his partner an embrace in front of them.

B is the best paraphrase because it uses only one sentence to paraphrase the information.

3. Original :

Research in 2018 shows that today’s generation consumes 20% less alcohol than the previous one.

The latest generation drinks quite a bit less alcohol than older generations — 20% less actually, according to 2018 research.

Recent studies reveal that today’s generation drinks a fraction less alcohol than older generations did.

A is the best paraphrase. Paraphrase B tries to rephrase the data but is too subjective.

4. Original :

The initiative aims fundamentally to help men who struggle with problems like depression and anxiety in their everyday life.

The purpose of the scheme is to help men with their day-to-day mental difficulties.

They have a plan to help people who are failing to cope with the stresses of modern life.

A is the best paraphrase. Paraphrase B is too vague.

5. Original :

Dua Lipa recommends the books she reads on social media and that reading helps her to “understand emotions and feelings”.

Dua Lipa shares what she reads on social media, believing it helps her feel better about herself in the process.

Dua Lipa shares the books she has read on social media because she believes it helps us to understand ourselves better.

B is the best paraphrase. Paraphrase A doesn’t make it clear what Dua Lipa is reading or why she shares it.

top   |  print paraphrasing exercises

Quoting is linked to paragraph structure, for example as a way to illustrate a point, which is a language skill for another time. So this section will mostly cover the technical know-hows of quoting instead of diving into the reasons why, and offer some higher-level synonyms for the word said .

Quotes are often used as evidence, compared to paraphrasing something in your own terms. In fact, quoting is sometimes known as “direct quoting” whereas paraphrasing is sometimes known as “indirect quoting”. Direct quotes require quotation marks but paraphrasing doesn’t need quotation marks. Typical examples of direct quoting would be a famous movie line or the words of an expert. Or both at the same time, as in this passage from Matthew Bortolin’s 2005 book The Dharma of Star Wars :

Yoda’s words about Luke in The Empire Strikes Back can easily be applied to us: “Never his mind on where he was. What he was doing.” Likewise, our minds are rarely in touch with where we are and with what we are doing.

It is also possible to make a quote fit within the rhythm of your own sentence:

Scientist Rayyanah Barnawi was thrilled to say “hello from outer space” from on board the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Or even to employ paraphrasing and a quotation together:

The RAC said they want the trialled cameras in the worst areas affected, and “the sooner effective camera enforcement can be put in place the better”.

Here are some alternative verbs to use instead of relying on say .

A2 Pre-intermediate and lower:

B1 Intermediate:

B2 Upper-intermediate:

C1 Advanced:

A short final note on usage. British and American English rules of quotation can vary slightly. American English uses double quote marks, “like this” and British English uses single quote marks, ‘like this’. However, British media tends to use the double style too, as do the lessons on Every Bit English. And according to British English rules, your sentence punctuation goes outside the quote marks. Look out for an in-depth language skills page on punctuation here in the future!

In the first section What is paraphrasing? above, it was mentioned that paraphrasing, quoting, and summarising have different purposes, and it had book blurbs as an example. Well, now we’re on the summarising section, we will see that summarising can have various purposes and styles of its own.

Instead of looking at how to write an academic summary, say a book summary for an essay, we’ll look at summaries in the form of loglines .

A logline is a short, one or two sentence summary of a movie (or television show or book) written with the aim to catch the reader’s interest. It is short but packed with detail such as the main theme of the story, what the characters are like, and it will be written in an exciting style.

You’ll see loglines on Netflix for example, typically directly underneath the movie’s image and title. This is because loglines play an important role in advertising a movie and they’re written before a movie ever even starts production.

A writer needs a useful way to summarise their script and so they write a logline. This will be a carefully written summary that uniquely captures exactly what their story is about. If it is written successfully, then producers and studios who read it (before the script) are more likely to be interested in making it into a movie.

If we turn writing a logline into an English lesson activity, then it presents a fascinating way to practice the reading and rewriting skills necessary for good summarising and paraphrasing. Remembering the first step of paraphrasing above, to write any paraphrase requires understanding the original text. The same applies to summaries and their original texts. For both techniques, some level of reading analysis is required.

In the next section a movie logline is analysed and in the final section the materials and guidance are offered to try it yourself.

Earth’s mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.

Source (external link):  IMDb.com

Sounds like an exciting movie judging by this summary! We can tell from just these few words that it’s a fantasy action movie. It pictures a massive-scale battle between good and bad, and possibly in between the heroes too. Let’s take a closer look at what the logline manages to detail.

The setting:

The heroes:

mightiest heroes

Their present situation:

must come together and learn to fight as a team

Their goal:

if they are going to stop

The problem:

the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.

As every movie has a different story, loglines always tell a different story. As summaries, loglines will often contain these narrative elements:

• The setting. This is usually a place or a period in time.
• The hero or heroine. It could be a group as in the above example. The literary term for the main character is protagonist .
• The main character’s present situation. Where they start their story. In a logline, this is often a time of difficulty or change in their life.
• The goal. What the main character has to do for a happy ending to the story.
• The problem. In literary terms, the villain, or hero’s enemy, is called the antagonist . This could be anything from a fantasy figure with evil plans, to a long journey to be overcome.

Writing a logline is a good exercise for practising summarising and paraphrasing. There are two activities presented below. In the first, you can practice paraphrasing by rewriting a logline, and in the second, you can practice summarising by writing your own logline.

Before that, here are some tips for writing a better logline:

• The order of events as shown in the above example is good for loglines
• Try not to use the main character’s name. Describe them instead.
• For practice purposes, keep it only one sentence long.
• Don’t say how the story finishes! (No spoilers .)
• Don’t finish with a question mark.

Once you’ve completed the activities and written some loglines, share them and see if anyone can guess what movies they are!

Look up any logline and write it down. Then analyse it for the five narrative elements and write each element in the table. Use the keywords in the logline to help identify what element it is. Then think of some synonyms for the keywords. Use your new keywords to paraphrase the original by writing your own version of the logline.

Think of a movie you know well. Fill in the table with ideas for keywords that describe and summarise the movie. Then compose your own logline for it. Afterwards, look up the original and see how close you were!

top   |  print logline activities

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• 2 Advancing Learning: The challenges of speaking
• 3 Advancing Learning: Confessions from an obsessive language learner: what I have learnt from continually studying languages for 32 years
• 4 Advancing Learning: Developing real conversation skills
• 5 Advancing Learning: Does anyone really need to use a dictionary?
• 6 Advancing Learning: Empowering students with paraphrasing strategies
• 7 Advancing Learning: EMI: English as a medium of instruction
• 8 Advancing Learning: The Fifth Skill – ‘viewing’
• 9 Advancing Learning: Five strategies to help students cultivate a growth mindset
• 10 Advancing Learning: Gamification
• 11 Advancing Learning: Global Citizenship Education in the ELT classroom
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• 13 Advancing Learning: Helping very young learners improve their collaboration skills
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Advancing Learning: Empowering students with paraphrasing strategies

By Judy Alden

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Paraphrasing is a skill that is often assessed in exams. Experienced teacher and assessment writer Judy Alden examines how to teach it, offering practical tips and techniques you can take straight to the classroom.

Introduction

As English Language teachers, one of our core aims is to teach our learners how to express themselves. And I’m sure, like myself, you receive a great deal of satisfaction when your learners are able to reproduce the language that you’ve taught them. But what else can we do to avoid learners simply sticking to the script? The answer is quite simple: we need to demonstrate the power of paraphrasing in the classroom.

Paraphrasing is an essential skill that helps learners develop their communicative ability beyond their existing knowledge of language. In other words, it’s an empowering skill that enables learners to keep learning new words or phrases similar to the ones they already know. This is why in this article we’re going to look at a paraphrasing technique, activities to encourages students to paraphrase, and how paraphrasing is often a skill that is assessed in exams in all the subskills.

Synonyms for all levels

Teaching synonyms is a straightforward technique that can be adapted to all levels of learners. In fact, it’s probably one of the first strategies used with lower level learners to start expanding their vocabulary. For example, when teaching the A2 word ‘ grandmother ’ the synonyms ‘ grandma, granny, gran, nanna, nan ’ can also be taught since they are the informal versions of ‘grandmother’ which native speakers would tend to use. With higher level students, you can use the same approach but with a more complex word bank of synonyms. Learners at all levels need to identify and separate which synonyms are formal ( green ) and which are informal ( blue ).

Rather than teaching students how to express something with one word, think about having them build up sets of synonyms. Then learners will know how to create their own word banks of linking words that have similar meanings so they can express themselves in a variety of ways right from the start.

Four paraphrasing activities

As every teacher knows, having a toolkit of ideas keeps things fresh in the classroom. So how can we encourage our students to use paraphrasing strategies in the classroom on an ongoing basis? One way to achieve this is to include learner-centred ice-breakers to target this skill. Here are four ice-breakers that you might want to try or adapt for your learners.

Social Butterfly (speaking)

This ice-breaker focuses on paraphrasing when answering questions at an imaginary party. Elicit a few questions from your learners and write down a list of question prompts they need to ask people (e.g. …name? …age? …hobbies? …free time? …last holiday? etc). Then tell learners that they must go and mingle. Encourage them to be ’social butterflies’ and speak to as many people as possible in the allotted time (five minutes). When they mingle, they must take turns asking and answering the questions. Let learners know that whenever someone answers a question, they must say either ‘ Pardon? ’ or ‘ Sorry? ’ to prompt their partner to rephrase what they have said.

You might want to write one or two examples up on the board. For example,

What’s your name?

My name ’s Kasia.

I’m called  Kasia.

What do you like doing in your free time?

I usually go swimming  or visit  my friends .

I like going for a swim  or hanging out  with my mates .

To create a party-like environment, you could play music while learners complete the task. While the activity is taking place, monitor and record good examples of paraphrasing, then go over them as a whole group.

Full Picture (reading & speaking)

To avoid having this jigsaw reading task become a detailed reading task, text selection is essential for this five-minute ice-breaker. Choose a brief, three-paragraph text that has a clear beginning, middle and end – a text about a sequence of events, for example, works well for this type of task. Then place learners into groups of three and give each student a different paragraph. If possible, put each paragraph on different colour card. Give the class one minute to read their paragraphs without writing down any notes. When time’s up, they must place their texts face down. For the next three minutes, each teammate has about a minute to tell their team what their paragraph said, so they can decide on the order of the paragraphs. For the final minute, ask teams to give reasons for their decisions. This will encourage learners to further paraphrase their texts before you, finally, ask teams to turn the texts over and check if they figured out the correct order.

Back to the Board (listening & speaking)

Back to the Board is an ice-breaker that can be adapted for all ages and levels and is an excellent student-centred approach to revising vocabulary by paraphrasing key words. To set this task up, you need to divide the class into two teams and place two chairs at the front of the class facing away from the whiteboard or Smartboard. You’ll also need a list of vocabulary learnt in previous sessions and a scoreboard. Nominate one person from each team to sit with their backs to the board. Once they are seated, emphasise that they mustn’t peek! Then, write one word from your list on the board. Ask the class to describe the word on the board. The first person with their backs to the board to shout out the correct word earns a point for their team. Have a new pair come up, and keep repeating the process until you complete the list of words. The team with the most points wins.

It’s always a good idea to demonstrate at least one example before nominating the first two students:

• Write the word on the whiteboard: e.g., houseboat
• Demonstrate an explanation without saying ‘house’ or ‘boat’: It’s an unusual type of home that floats. You can see this kind of home on canals or lakes.

Message Trail (writing)

A very quick writing task to encourage learners to paraphrase when they write is called Message Trail. This ice-breaker is easy to prepare – all you need are four sentences targeting vocabulary and structures previously learnt in class. Put learners into groups of four and give each person a piece of paper that has a different sentence. Tell learners they need to change one word in the message so that it still has the same meaning then pass the message to the person on their left. Keep passing and rephrasing the messages until the teams run out of ideas of how to paraphrase the sentences. Finally, have each team read out their final sentence to compare the types of paraphrases they came up with. The team with the most paraphrases that still reflects the meaning of the first sentence wins.

It’s also a good idea to do one example with the class. For example:

I rarely  have enough time to clean my room.

I hardly ever have enough time to clean my  room .

I hardly ever have enough time  to clean my bedroom .

I hardly ever  have  time  to clean my bedroom.

Only on rare occasions  do I have time to clean  my bedroom.

Only on rare occasions do I have time to  tidy up  my bedroom.

Paraphrasing for exam success

You’ll be doing your learners a great service by reinforcing how to paraphrase in the classroom, as it is a skill that is needed for exams from A2 onwards. For speaking assessments, for example, encouraging learners to paraphrase by rephrasing statements, questions or ideas, and saying them in a different way, results in higher marks.

Many listening and reading exams often have questions that test listening or reading for detailed meaning, gist, feelings, attitudes and opinions, all of which require learners to decode paraphrases. In order to achieve this, learners need to piece together the different paraphrases they hear or read in order to arrive at the correct answer. So even at the lower end of the CEFR scale, paraphrasing comes into play.

Writing exams generally award lower marks if learners simply lift vocabulary off the question paper rather than paraphrase the information provided to complete the task. For example, the new B1 Preliminary Part 1 Writing task requires learners to write an email in about 100 words using four note prompts in a situational email. Learners should always aim to rephrase the prompts and the language that appears in the email in order to receive higher marks. Importantly, they need to identify what type of information they need to write about, rephrase information in the email and add their own ideas.

For example, learners should avoid copying large segments of text that appear in the email like this:

I’m really happy we’re working on the science project together too!

Encourage them to paraphrase like this:

I’m so glad we’re going to be partners for the science project!

Hopefully, by developing your learners’ ability to paraphrase in the classroom, they’ll have the skill and confidence to perform well in exams. However, the real icing on the cake is for learners to become self-aware of the power of paraphrasing and how it can support their language learning journey.

About the author

Judy Alden originally comes from Vancouver and has over 18 years’ experience teaching in South East Asia and Europe. She combines being a freelance assessment writer with delivering teacher training workshops, while also writing ELT course books and materials for international publishers.

As an assessment writer based in the UK, she often gets asked to produce listening assessments varying between British and American English. Judy has also written young learner assessment materials for the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education. 

• advancing learning

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Advancing Learning: Confessions from an obsessive language learner: what I have learnt from continually studying languages for 32 years

Advancing Learning: Developing real conversation skills

Advancing Learning: Does anyone really need to use a dictionary?

Advancing Learning: EMI: English as a medium of instruction

Advancing Learning: The Fifth Skill – ‘viewing’

Advancing Learning: Five strategies to help students cultivate a growth mindset

Advancing Learning: Gamification

Advancing Learning: Global Citizenship Education in the ELT classroom

Advancing Learning: Guilt-free teaching – how your students learn more when you plan less

Advancing Learning: Helping very young learners improve their collaboration skills

Advancing Learning: How to approach essay writing

Advancing Learning: Long live 'Life Skills'!

Advancing Learning: Making blended learning useful and effective

Advancing Learning: Moving towards learning-friendly teaching

Advancing Learning: Multisensory learning in the inclusive classroom

Advancing Learning: Online Language Teacher Education

Advancing Learning: A practical guide to online professional development

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Advancing Learning: Teaching mediation

Advancing Learning: Top tips for managing your pre-primary classroom

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Paraphrasing

In our Paraphrasing lesson plan, students learn what paraphrasing is, when it is used, and strategies for paraphrasing effectively. Students also learn how to distinguish paraphrasing from summarizing and plagiarism.

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Our Paraphrasing lesson plan introduces students to paraphrasing selections of text correctly. The students will also learn the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing. In addition, plagiarism is discussed and reasons are given why it’s wrong to plagiarize another person’s work. Students are asked to work collaboratively to summarize a given piece of text. Students are also asked to paraphrase several sentences and short paragraphs on their own in order to demonstrate their understanding of the concept.

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to define paraphrase, distinguish it from summarizing and plagiarism, and correctly paraphrase selected text and passages.

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Tag: practice with paraphrasing.

5 Brilliant Writing Tips for TOEFL

Improving your toefl writing score.

You are in the right place if your TOEFL writing score is lower than 25 and you don’t know why.  If you WANT to score 25 or above on the writing section of the TOEFL IBT exam, these 5 writing tips for TOEFL will help you increase your score. One of my students went from a 21 to a 27 on the writing exam using these easy, clear strategies. Read these brilliant ideas and put these techniques into practice to skyrocket your writing score and help you get into the university of your dreams.

Writing Tip for TOEFL #1: Vary Your Sentences

Avoid boring the reader by following the same, monotonous sentence pattern every time.  Study different ways to structure your sentences and practice varying your sentences in your introduction and body paragraphs. 

There are four different types of sentences in English: simple, complex, compound, and complex-compound.  

• simple sentences (one subject and one verb): ➡️People ride bikes to work.
• compound sentences (a compound sentence has two or more simple sentences that are connected by one of the following conjunctions: and, or, or but) ➡️In Copenhagen, employees commute to work by bike, and cars are slowly disappearing from the roads.
• complex sentences (A simple sentence with an independent clause and a subordinate clause. A subordinate clause is indicated by “when, because, since, if…” and can’t stand alone in the sentence.  ➡️ Many citizens take the bus because they get to work faster.
• compound-complex sentences (a compound-complex sentence has two or more simple sentences (independent clauses) and one or more subordinate clauses. ➡️Although the majority of people ride their bikes to work, some people take the bus, and other people go to work on foot.  

Test takers often think that in order to get a high score, they should use more compound-complex sentences because they perceive them as more impressive.  Why do they think this? One reason is that many people translate the sentence structure from their own language.  For example, in Spanish and Russian, longer sentences with multiple commas are standard.  However, when translated, those sentences are too long in English and need to be broken into multiple sentences.  

In English, it recommended to use sentence variety and vary between simple, complex, and compound, and keep the number of compound-complex sentences to a limit.

Sentence Variation within Paragraphs

Don’t write sentences in a  paragraph like this: ⛔️ .

Cars, long considered valuable by the human population, although expensive, are valuable assets to citizens, not only as great transportation methods but also because they are comfortable and luxurious (compound-complex). Firstly, cars help people, young and old, get safely from one place to another, and additionally are safer than bikes, especially for the elderly population (compound-complex) Vacations, on the other hand, require a lot of planning, by both family members and teenagers, making it difficult to make an action plan and foresee all of the unexpected risks, which can sometimes make traveling an exhausting endeavor for everyone involved (compound-complex). In this essay, I will defend these key arguments about cars (simple).

What is wrong with this essay? The sentences are too LONG, full of commas, and the ideas become convoluted and unclear when there are too many compound-complex sentences. 

Now, consider writing a paragraph following a pattern like this: ✅

If I had to choose between spending money on a car and spending money on a vacation, I would invest in a vacation (complex).  Firstly, vacations create lasting memories (simple). Although vacations are sometimes expensive, they are transformative, and they help people unplug (compound). Cars, on the other hand, need constant maintenance (simple). In this essay, I will explore both sides and give reasons to support my opinion that vacations are the most worthwhile investment (complex). 

What did you notice about the sentence variety? How could you improve your sentence structure in the next essay you write? 

Exercise: Write a paragraph about the following essay topic and vary your sentence structure as much as possible. You could try writing 5 sentences using this structure: simple, complex, simple, compound, complex.

(suggested answer at the end of this post)

Writing Tip for TOEFL #2: Use Transition Words in your TOEFL Essay

A well-crafted essay that is coherent uses transition words to help guide the reader.  These words help the reader stay interested in the essay and understand what arguments are coming next.  

Here are some transition words to use: 

Explanation: 

• An example that illustrates this point is
• Specifically
• For instance
• In other words

To Compare: 

• In a similar fashion

To Contrast: 

• Nevertheless
• In contrast
• On the other hand

Cause and Effect 

• Consequently
• As a consequence
• For this reason

Adding more Information

• In addition
• Furthermore
• What’s more

Practice Using Transition Words in a Paragraph

Let’s practice! Add some transition words to the following paragraph to make it sound more natural and have better flow: 

People often say that loyalty is the most important quality for a good friend to have. (1) _______________, in my opinion, a good sense of humor is more important than loyalty.  I say this because sometimes loyal friends are too serious. (2) ______________ loyal friends are too clingy and call too often.  (3)________________ friends with a good sense of humor can turn a bad day into a joyful, silly day. (4) _____________ I would rather have a friend with a good sense of humor than a loyal friend.  

Exercise: Go through one of the practice TOEFL essays you have written in the past and add some transition words from the above list to the essay. Are you always using the same transitional language? Try to use a variety of transitional words in your word bank so that on exam day, you will easily remember them and won’t draw a blank.

Writing Tip for TOEFL #3: Use an Active Voice More Than a Passive Voice

Generally speaking, an active voice is used when the agent does the action and a passive voice is used when you don’t know who did the action or when the agent isn’t important.

🔥Active: Children learn manners from their parents.

🏬Passive: The building was constructed in 1899.

In your essay, you can vary your sentences by adding a passive sentence to your paragraph. In the social sciences, writing with an active voice is recommended more than writing with a passive voice because the writing is more dynamic. Sometimes in articles that describe science experiments, the passive voice is used more to describe how the research study was carried out.

An Example of Active Voice

Here is an example of a series of sentences you could write in the TOEFL essay: Foreign movies depict the life of a country and they show us a little bit about the culture, the language, and the lifestyle. Movies that are made in Spain, for example, are interesting to watch because they show how people give two kisses when they greet each other. In addition, when I watch Spanish movies, I learn how people celebrate festivals in Spain.

Notice that all the sentences in the paragraph are active and the verbs “depict,” “watch,” and “learn” show a clear agent who carries out the action.

One Passive Sentence is Fine *However, there is one passive sentence, “Movies that are made in Spain…” In that sentence, the director who made the movie isn’t important, hence, the passive voice is used. So, you could have one passive sentence in the paragraph to vary the structure to make a general claim. Practice: Use the following prompt to craft your introductory paragraph. Use the active voice and experiment with one sentence with a passive construction.

TOEFL Writing Tip #4: Use Adverb Phrases in your Independent Essay

The TOEFL is testing your ability to use varied, rich vocabulary and academic language. Therefore, it is a good idea to have a notebook with synonyms and adverb phrases for your essays that you can easily reference and use in your practice essays. The more you use them, the more natural it will become to use them on the day of the exam and in your future academic writing assignments at the university of your dreams. Think about these phrases like frosting on a cake. The frosting makes the cake taste more delicious. These phrases make the sentences more pleasing to read.

Adverb Phrases in Use Here are a few example sentences with adverb phrases that you could use in your TOEFL independent essay:

• Perhaps some students prefer to live on their own in college, while others conceivably prefer having roommates. (expresses an opinion that isn’t very strong). ➡️ Notice there is no comma after perhaps.
• Presumably, other students prefer to live with a roommate so that they can have someone to talk to at the end of the day. (indicates a somewhat strong opinion)
• The best experiences from college are definitely celebrated with other people rather than by yourself. (communicates a very strong opinion)
• Undoubtedly, technology is changing the way the human brain works. (communicates a very strong opinion)

Tip #5: Paraphrase on the TOEFL IBT Writing Section

It is crucial to learn how to paraphrase effectively on the TOEFL IBT writing and speaking exams for two main reasons:

• Putting sentences in your own words shows your advanced language skills.
• Paraphrasing is an essential skill to have for communication at the university level.

What you learn in this section will not only help you raise your score on the exam, but it will also help you excel in your academic program. Some people rely on apps like Quilbot to paraphrase in their day-to-day academic writing, but you can’t use your phone on the TOEFL exam, unfortunately.

If you say word for word and copy exactly what the lecturer said or if you repeat the words that are in the reading passage, you will lose points and your score on the TOEFL IBT will suffer. You could also get a zero on the exam. Check out UW Madison’s Writing Center’s great tips on paraphrasing! Also, you might find P urdue’s Online Writing Center’s example of paraphrasing useful as well.

Paraphrasing Means Putting Things in Your Own Words

If you can restate the text or the lecture in a slightly different way and use a variety of language and grammatical structures, you will get a higher score on the TOEFL. Paraphrasing requires practice and if you follow a clear, simple structure for paraphrasing, it will become so much easier and you will be ready to implement your paraphrasing skills on exam day.

To paraphrase, you can substitute the key words with synonyms by focusing on the most important information expressed in the sentence. It might help you to identify the subject and verb of the independent clause to get started. You can change the word order, change the voice from active to passive, and even eliminate some words if they aren’t essential to the meaning of the sentence. DO NOT COPY THE WRITING PROMPT! DO NOT DESCRIBE THE LECTURE WITH THE EXACT WORDING THE PROFESSOR USED!

Paraphrasing Practice Exercise 1a:

The first step in paraphrasing is to underline the key words in the sentence. Then, you can substitute the key words with synonyms. For this reason, it is helpful to generate some lists of synonyms as you write and prepare for the exam.

Practice with Paraphrasing for TOEFL: YOUR TURN

Practice paraphrasing the following sentence: 1b. Underline the key words in the sentence and paraphrase them: “Parents take their children to museums in order to teach them about humanity and the history of our world.”

👀✏️An Important Tip: Some words can’t be paraphrased!!! Some words are absolutely essential to the meaning of the sentence and can’t be paraphrased. Words like “literature, math, the moon, keystone species…etc.” Also, proper nouns can’t be paraphrased. These words have a very specific meaning and there are few if any synonyms to replace them. For that reason, it is important to focus on finding synonyms for some, but not all of the words in the sentence.

Step 1: Change the structure of the sentence In this case, you can move the second clause to the beginning of the sentence and perhaps start with a transition word or start with the “ing” form of the verb. Here is an example paraphrasing exercise using this method:

2a. Public transportation is an effective and cheap form of transportation because the costs are lower than owning your own vehicle. Use transitional language to start the sentence such as: As a result of…. Due to the fact that… Since…. Because…

Start with the second idea first: “ Due to the fact that many drivers have additional expenses that come with owning cars, public transportation is a viable and less expensive option.”

Paraphrasing Exercise with Answers 2b Now, try to paraphrase the following sentence by changing the order of information in the sentence:

“Nowadays, people ride their bikes to work more than ever because bikes are a healthy option and an efficient form of transportation.” (answer key at the end of the blog)

Why is this Rich Vocabulary Important for the TOEFL?

Knowing different parts of speech can help you describe a concept in a similar way by making small changes to the sentence. Let’s practice: Paraphrasing Practice Sentence 3a “There is little scientific evidence that there are life forms on other planets.” Let’s refer to the table above to help us use the adverb “scientifically” and substitute it for scientific. For example, “Life on other planets can’t be scientifically proven. ”

Paraphrasing Exercise 3b Try using a different part of speech from the table above to paraphrase the following sentence: “For women, the biological clock indicates when to have children.” (answer key at the end of the blog)

✅EXPERT TIP: YOU STILL NEED TO CHANGE THE KEY WORDS AND SUBSTITUTE THEM WITH SYNONYMS EVEN IF YOU CHANGE THE PART OF SPEECH OF ONE WORD IN THE SENTENCE!📚

Use these clear writing templates:.

Many TOEFL coaches recommend using a template to help you organize your answer. It is a great idea to follow a clear structure so that your essay is easy to follow and has a well-supported argument.  For the independent essay, create a thesis sentence that clarifies what you are going to argue in the essay. Then, create an outline sentence that describes what you are going to discuss in the body paragraphs.  The independent essay needs to be at least 300 words and you have 30 minutes to write it.

Introduction: General overview sentence+ thesis statement + outline sentence:

➡️ Living alone or living with roommates is an important decision college students have to make. Some people think that it is best to have the support and companionship of roommates, while others believe people are more productive when they live alone. In my opinion, living with roommates helps students develop social skills, adjust to the university lifestyle, and prepare for life after graduation. (In the outline sentence, list the 3 main ideas you will discuss in your body paragraphs)

⭐️Each body paragraph should address 1 main idea with supporting details about that 1 main topic.  If you digress from the main topic or if your examples don’t match the topic of your paragraph, you will get a lower score.

Body Paragraph 1: (Living with roommates helps students develop social skills) + details and evidence

• students learn to share chores
• living with others pushes students to communicate with roommates about doing chores

Body Paragraph 2: (Adjusting to the university lifestyle) + details and personal example

• roommates help each other adapt to the changes of going to school
• friendly support to carry out tasks didn’t overwhelm me when I had roommates’ help

Body Paragraph 3: (Preparing for life after graduation) + details and explanation

• entering the job force requires good social skills
• working with others is a skill people strengthen by living with others

Conclusion : (Transition language … To summarize, to conclude, in summary….restate the thesis statement and the outline sentence by paraphrasing the key ideas you argued in the essay.

Transition words for the conclusion : To conclude, In conclusion, In summary, In closing, To sum up…

THE TOEFL Integrated Essay Template

The introduction.

• The reading and the lecture both address _____.
• The author of the article holds the opinion that ______.
• The lecturer refutes the claims made in the article.
• The lecturer upholds the argument that_____.

The Body Paragraphs

Use the following templates for the body paragraphs:

• As stated by the author of the reading passage,   _____.
• The article supports this with an example of____.
• The lecturer opposes this specific argument and claims that ____.
• Furthermore, the lecturer explains that ______.
• Additionally, the author mentions ______.
• In the article, the author posits that _____.
• The lecturer, on the other hand, contends that ______.
• He/she delves into this point by asserting ______.
• Finally, the author claims that _____.
• To support this point, the author explains that ____.
• Nonetheless, the lecturer’s point of view is  _____.
• He/she mentions that _____.

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In the IELTS speaking test, candidates may forget certain vocabulary due to nerves. This lesson plan gives students practice in explaining what they mean using other words and phrases.

Opinion | All students – including English learners –…

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Opinion | All students – including English learners – deserve to learn to read

Every fall, when parents send their children to school, they do so with big dreams and aspirations for their children’s future. This is especially true for immigrant parents whose own opportunities were limited. I know this as a first-generation Mexican American whose parents had only a third- and sixth-grade education. My dad never learned to read, so he was stuck in low-wage jobs, couldn’t read a bank statement, and was unable to help us with school. His struggles reinforced his big aspirations for me.

Thousands of parents in California continue to face similar challenges.They count on schools to teach their children to read so they can keep learning, succeed in school, and break free from poverty. In California only 3 out of 10 low-income Latino children are reading at grade level in third grade. Only 2 out of 10 low-income Black children read at grade level. For English learners (ELs), who make up 25% of the state’s K-3 students, the data is just as troubling .

These disparities reveal a major social justice issue with long-term implications: kids who are struggling to read by the end of third grade rarely catch up, and they are four times less likely to graduate high school. This number increases to eight times less likely if the student is economically disadvantaged. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. Experts who study language development, literacy, neuroscience, and psychology have found that almost all children, including ELs, can learn to read if equipped with the right resources and supports aligned to the collective body of research known as the “science of reading.” This includes explicit, systematic instruction and practice in phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency; robust instruction and practice of vocabulary, language and reading comprehension; as well as oral language skills and content knowledge through speaking, listening, reading, and writing. 

Unfortunately, many California public schools’ literacy instructional approach doesn’t reflect the science of how children best learn to read.

Our commitment at Families In Schools – whose legacy work is early literacy – is to support parents in their quest for a better education for their children. It is then no surprise that we would co-sponsor Assembly Bill 2222, introduced by Asm. Blanca Rubio , an early literacy bill that could dramatically change the trajectory for thousands of children – including English learners.

What is a surprise, however, is the fierce opposition from groups who advocate for English learners.

Recently, Families In Schools surveyed over 655 LAUSD parents . Almost all (99%) said that reading skills are “extremely” or “very” important for their child’s success in school, college, and the workplace. Ninety-six percent, including parents of English learners, favor requiring schools to incorporate evidence-based practices for reading instruction. Several states have already done this , with positive impacts. In fact, Texas and Mississippi now have the highest percentage of ELs reading proficiently on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test for eighth-graders. California could do the same.

California’s reading crisis is an urgent but solvable problem. Parents need the Legislature to act now, and AB 2222 is our best chance to accelerate progress. If we don’t say “yes” to AB 2222, we will be saying “no” to what children deserve and parents desperately want: the opportunity for all children to reach their dreams and aspirations. 

Yolie Flores is a former school board member in Los Angeles and is the CEO of Families in Schools, a nonprofit organization that works with low-income, immigrant, and communities of color to ensure families can effectively advocate for their children’s education.

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Adobe Commerce 2024 Product Roadmap Review - S432

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Shannon Hane

Sr. Manager, Product Marketing, Adobe

Nishant Kapoor

Director of Product Management, Adobe Commerce, Adobe

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Join Adobe Commerce leaders to learn about our exciting 2024 product roadmap. See how the new capabilities can help you grow B2B and B2C sales faster with adaptable and engaging commerce experiences.

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Sr. Manager, Product Marketing

Shannon Hane is a Senior Product Marketing Manager for Adobe. She leads a team responsible for Adobe Commerce go-to-market strategies, sales enablement, and customer and market research. Prior to joining Adobe, Shannon managed product marketing for commerce and small business solutions for Magento, eBay, and Yahoo!. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and has held a range of marketing positions at Inktomi, E*TRADE, and Apple.

Director of Product Management, Adobe Commerce

Nishant is a Director of Product Management at Adobe and has a track record of delivering products at internet scale. He is driving the product roadmap for Adobe Commerce Foundation that includes API strategy, Cloud Infrastructure, Microservices Architecture, Extensibility Framework, and Platform Performance. Nishant has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in computer science and has over 17 years of experience, including various product and engineering roles at Dell and Expedia Group (VRBO).

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