Paraphrase

A paraphrase (/ˈpærəˌfreɪz/) is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin paraphrasis, from Ancient Greek παράφρασις (paráphrasis) 'additional manner of expression'. The act of paraphrasing is also called paraphrasis.

For other uses, see Paraphrase (disambiguation).
Look up paraphrase in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

History

Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral traditions, paraphrasing as a specific educational exercise dates back to at least Roman times, when the author Quintilian recommended it for students to develop dexterity in language. In the Middle Ages, this tradition continued, with authors such as Geoffrey of Vinsauf developing schoolroom exercises that included both rhetorical manipulations and paraphrasing as a way of generating poems and speeches. There is interest in the study of paraphrases relating to concerns around plagiarism and original authorship.[1]

Types

For the purposes of education, Fred Inglis identifies five levels of paraphrase:[2][3]

  1. replacing words with synonyms
  2. varying sentence structure
  3. reordering information
  4. turning long sentences into multiple shorter ones (or vice versa)
  5. expressing abstract concepts more concretely.

Paraphrasing with synonyms is considered by some to be an acceptable stage in teaching paraphrase, but it is necessary that it is ultimately combined with techniques for altering sentence structure to avoid the appearance of plagiarism.[4] Studies of English language students have found that ESL learners tend to rely on using synonyms rather than changing sentence structure when paraphrasing. Participants in a study of some Vietnamese ESL learners expressed that they preferred using synonyms out of a fear that using the wrong sentence structure would lead to the sentence having a different meaning. Na and Mai suggest that ESL teachers should provide varied activities including tasks requiring changes in syntax, and that ESL students should be given source texts to paraphrase whose meaning they are already readily able to understand.[5]

Analysis

A paraphrase typically explains or clarifies the text that is being paraphrased. For example, "The signal was red" might be paraphrased as "The train was not allowed to pass because the signal was red". A paraphrase is usually introduced with verbum dicendi—a declaratory expression to signal the transition to the paraphrase. For example, in "The signal was red, that is, the train was not allowed to proceed," the that is signals the paraphrase that follows.

A paraphrase does not need to accompany a direct quotation. The paraphrase typically serves to put the source's statement into perspective or to clarify the context in which it appeared. A paraphrase is typically more detailed than a summary. One should add the source at the end of the sentence: When the light was red, trains could not go (Wikipedia).

A paraphrase may attempt to preserve the essential meaning of the material being paraphrased. Thus, the (intentional or otherwise) reinterpretation of a source to infer a meaning that is not explicitly evident in the source itself qualifies as "original research," and not a paraphrase.

Unlike a metaphrase, which represents a "formal equivalent" of the source, a paraphrase represents a "dynamic equivalent" thereof. While a metaphrase attempts to translate a text literally, a paraphrase conveys the essential thought expressed in a source text—if necessary, at the expense of literality. For details, see dynamic and formal equivalence.

In your own words

The phrase "in your own words" is often used within this context to imply that the writer has rewritten the text in their own writing style – how they would have written it if they had created the idea.[6] Nowadays, there are some models to learn and recognize paraphrase on natural language texts.[7] Sentences can also be automatically paraphrased using text simplification software.[8]

See also

References
  1. D'Angelo, Frank J. (October 1979). "The Art of Paraphrase". College Composition and Communication. 30 (3): 255–259. doi:10.2307/356389. JSTOR 356389.
  2. Skills for Academic and Career Success. Pearson Higher Education AU. 16 September 2013. p. 104. ISBN 9781486014712.
  3. Inglis, Fred (2008). Key Concepts in Education. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9780857022998.
  4. Ruiter, Rik (2005). Highway to E.S.L. ISBN 9780595342211.
  5. Chi Do Na; Nguyen Xuan Nhat Chi Mai (2017). "Paraphrasing in Academic Writing: a Case Study of Vietnamese Learners of English" (PDF). Language Education in Asia.
  6. "Writing in your own words". The Open University. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  7. Figueroa, Alejandro; Guenter Neumann (2013). Learning to Rank Effective Paraphrases from Query Logs for Community Question Answering. AAAI.
  8. Shardlow, Matthew. "A survey of automated text simplification." International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications 4.1 (2014): 58–70.
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