Research Skills 3: Using sources in your writing – paraphrasing and in-text references

Aims
In this lesson you will find out about: * what you can use from sources in your writing * how to paraphrase * how to make a basic in-text reference
Homework review
From your reading of the sources, discuss with a partner some of the themes or topics you think you could include in your Practice 1 Assignment, which has the following title:

Discuss the influence of the internet on teenagers and young adults. Support your argument with examples and evidence.

From talking to your partner, do you have any new thoughts about what you could include in your essay?

What you can use from sources in academic writing (E)

The sources you choose as your background reading for an essay topic will contain a great range of ideas and information. Part of your task, as a good academic writer and researcher, is to select those parts of the text that are most relevant to your topic. You will want to choose items that you think can help you develop and build the points and arguments you want to make in your writing assignments.

Activity 1 (E)
In the table below are types of ideas and information you might want to take from a source text to build your points in your own essay.

* definitions | * explanations | * theories | * examples | * statistics | * trends | * causes | * effects | * problems | * solutions | * arguments | * recommendations | This is, of course, not a complete list, and each type is not exclusive. For example, a trend might be presented with the use of statistics, or solutions to a problem might be shown as recommendations.

Look at the following BBC News extract from the source reading your tutor gave you last week for your Practice Assignment 1. Can you match the content of any of the sentences with the types mentioned in the table above (e.g., can you find any statistics or problems?)

The latest ONS Family Spending Survey, published last month, analysed the income and expenditure of more than 11,000 households across the UK. The data was collected in 2011. The charity, E-Learning Foundation, extracted the data on computer ownership and internet access for families with children aged under 18.Overall, most children (89%) can get on to the internet via a computer at home but according to E-Learning Foundation this figure masks a divide between rich and poor.A book called Teenagers and Technology, from Oxford University's Department of Education, and published this month, highlights the ways in which teenagers without an internet connection feel shut out from their peer group and disadvantaged in their studies. The authors of Teenagers and Technology also found that parental fears about teenage time-wasting on social network sites were often unfounded with the benefits using digital technologies outweighing perceived risks.E-Learning's Valerie Thompson said imaginative use of technology by schools could help overcome the educational disadvantages suffered by children on free school meals, a key indicator of poverty. "Technology can underpin learning by making it more relevant and personalised," she said. "It can also help children with special educational needs, particularly those who struggle to cope in a normal, classroom, helping them learn and complete work at their own pace.(Adapted from: Burns, J. (2013) A third of poorest pupils 'without internet at home' BBC News [online], 4 January. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20899109) |

How to use a source: quotation, paraphrase and summary (E)
As discussed in previous lessons, there are different ways to use a source in your writing, which you should be able to use appropriately if you want to demonstrate that you are an effective academic writer.

Activity 2 (E)
Read the following extract, and using your own words, try to answer the following questions:

1. Why do you need to use sources in your academic writing? 2. What does the writer mean by saying that you need to “acknowledge… another writer’s work”? 3. What is the difference between quotation, paraphrase and summary?

(from Espinosa, Hancock & Walsh, 2012, Language for Study Level 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

In-text citations (E)
As the paragraph above states, in academic writing it is essential to give a citation to the source of your ideas and information. This means you need to provide a reference to the source in the sentence where you use the ideas or information.

Activity 3 (E)
In the sentences below from a report by Chan and Fang (2007) on internet use, underline the in-text citations. Where in the sentence do you find these citations?

1. Male respondents are found to use internet more frequently than female respondents for playing games. This finding is consistent with previous studies (Gross, 2004).

2. Some boys thought that working hard was not a cool and masculine action while it was more acceptable for girls to work hard (Warrington et al. , 2000).

3. Pastore (2000) stated that the reasons for the adolescent to download music from the internet are convenience, availability of hard-to-find works, and free music.

These citations follow the Harvard style of referencing. If you look at the examples, what information about the sources can you find in the citations?
Paraphrasing text (E)

Paraphrasing is an important skills because if you can take ideas or information from a source text and put it into your own words, you are demonstrating your understanding of the source text. Read the box below which gives advice on the process of paraphrasing:

(from Espinosa, Hancock & Walsh, 2012, Language for Study Level 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

Language for paraphrase (E)
Paraphrase involves rewriting original content in your own words, but how can you do this? There are several language tricks you could use to help you to paraphrase successfully.

Activity 4 (E)
Look at the sentences below which have been taken from the BBC news article by J. Burns (2013) on teenagers access to the internet. On the left is the original sentence, and on the right the paraphrase. What grammar or vocabulary method is used to make the paraphrase?
A.
ORIGINAL | PARAPHRASE | The charity, E-Learning Foundation, extracted the data on computer ownership and internet access for families with children aged under 18. | Data on computer ownership and internet access for families with children under 18 was extracted by a charity called the E-Learning Foundation (Burns, 2013). | Paraphrase method: |

B. ORIGINAL | PARAPHRASE | According to the E-Learning Foundation this translates to a total of 750,000 school age children living in households with no internet, and some 650,000 without a computer. | The E-Learning Foundation state that three-quarters of a million school students have homes without internet access, while over six hundred thousand do not have a computer (Burns, 2013). | Paraphrase method: |

C. ORIGINAL | PARAPHRASE | Parental fears about teenage time-wasting on social network sites were often unfounded with the benefits using digital technologies outweighing perceived risks. | Burns (2013) mentions that the fears of parents about teenagers wasting time on social network sites were often not founded because the beneficial uses of digital technology outweighed perceived risks. | Paraphrase method: |

In reality, you are unlikely to use just one method for each paraphrase, but a mix of different methods to achieve a successful paraphrase.

Activity 4: The passive (E)
In the previous activity, (A) included an example of using a passive verb form.

1. Decide which of the following sentences are true or false about active and passive sentences:

a) All sentences can be made into passive sentences. b) An active sentence must have an object after the verb if you want to change it to a passive sentence. c) When you change an active sentence to a passive sentence the subject of the sentence will change. d) In a passive sentence, the subject of the active sentence becomes an agent, and is often put after the verb with the connecting word ‘by’. e) In a passive sentence, you must always include the agent.

2. There can be different reasons for using the passive. Match the reasons (a) – (c) with the examples i -iii below.

a) It makes what you write seem less personal, or more objective. b) It shifts the focus to the person or thing that receives the action. c) It avoids specific blame of anyone or anything for something that has happened.

i. It has been found that teenagers spend on average 40 minutes a day checking social networking sites. ii. Children’s health has been affected by car emissions in urban centres. iii. A significant error was made when the research was carried out.

3. How would the following sentences change from active to passive? Be careful with the verb tense, and decide if it is necessary to mention the agent.

a) Thirty years ago, people often heard the news on the radio. b) Today, young people do not read many political or economic news stories. c) Senior citizens use the internet much less than young adults. d) People are increasingly watching sports and celebrity news on specialist websites.
(Adapted from Espinosa, Hancock & Walsh, 2012, Language for Study Level 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

Activity 5: using synonyms and changing word forms (E)
As you develop your vocabulary, it is a good idea to keep a record of words you could use as synonyms, and to keep word tables of different forms of the same word. This could help you at a later time when you need to paraphrase ideas from a text.

1. Look at the original paragraph below about internet use, then try to complete the paragraph that follows with different forms of the words in bold in the text.

(from Espinosa, Hancock & Walsh, 2012, Language for Study Level 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

2. With words in general use, it is usually possible to find a synonym. However, there are many technical words that it impossible to use synonyms for. Look at the list of words below. If you think you can use a synonym, write it in the box to the right of the word; if not, just put a cross (see the examples below).

to increase | to rise / go up | fees | | the internet | x | to design | | to know | | a prototype | | staff | | the law courts | | marketing | | pollution | | the inflation rate | | products | |

3. Now try to use a combination of synonyms or changes in word form to paraphrase the following sentences that come from Chan and Fang’s 2007 report, ‘Use of the internet and traditional media among young people’. Don’t forget to include a citation!

A. ORIGINAL | YOUR PARAPHRASE | A survey was conducted to examine the use of internet and traditional media among Chinese young people in Hong Kong. | |

B. ORIGINAL | YOUR PARAPHRASE | A total of 27 percent of respondents with full- or part-time jobs spent more than three hours on an average weekday surfing the internet at the office. | |

C. ORIGINAL | YOUR PARAPHRASE | Respondents reported that the time spent on surfing the internet exceeded the time spent on watching television and listening to radio. | |

Activity 6: (S)

Try the Centre for Language, Linguistics and Area Studies’ online activity for matching academic synonyms:

https://www.llas.ac.uk//materialsbank/mb107/AcademicSynonymsAdjectives.htm

Homework task: Practice Assignment 1
Remember, the aim of this assignment is to enable your tutor to give you feedback on how well you use sources to build ideas and arguments in your academic writing. It does not count towards your final assessment for the Presessional English Course.

During the next week you should type a 500 – 800 word essay in a Word document with the title:

Practice Assignment 1: Discuss the influence of the internet on teenagers and young adults. Support your argument with examples and evidence.

To complete the essay you should: * finish and hand it in by a deadline given to you by your tutor * use at least 3 different sources (but only the sources already given to you by your tutor, do not look for extra information online). * include correct Harvard-style academic references to these sources in your essay (look at the Brunel Library’s information on referencing, or the course handbook if you are not sure how to do this – see the information below). * have information from these sources included in your own words. * avoid copying and pasting from the sources with no reference (= plagiarism)

Information on referencing

Information on Harvard-style references can be found in your Presesssional course handbook in the pages for Referencing Guidelines.

Brunel Library also has a helpful PDF summary on how to include Harvard-style references in your work (in-text citations) on their Harvard Examples page. Open the webpage below, then at the top right click on the Quick Guides: Harvard Referencing Guide to download:

http://libguides.brunel.ac.uk/referencing

Homework Task 2: Notetaking
To prepare for next week’s lesson, which looks at notetaking and summarising, read the University of Reading’s webpage on Effective Note-taking:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/Studyresources/Reading/sta-effective.aspx