What is paraphrasing?
Answer
Paraphrasing a text is taking the information from it and explaining it in your own words. This is important as it demonstrates that you have understood the text, not just copied it into your work.
For example, the following text is taken from Essential Creativity in the Classroom (2007) by Kaye Thorne:
‘An individual may find that they have a preference for one or two learning styles, or they may find that, like a small percentage of people, they have a balanced learning style.’
You might want to use the information here about learning styles in your work. To paraphrase this, you need to write it in your own words in a way that shows clear understanding of the text. You could write something like:
‘People often have preferred styles of learning, though a minority of people learn just as well in a variety of ways (Thorne, 2007, p.31).’
The information is the same, but the wording is significantly different. This shows that the information has been understood and processed.
You can find more advice about academic writing via the Learning Development team.
