Grammar

Revising, Editing & Proofreading

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 20:35:35 +0000

Revising, Editing & Proofreading ana.lacerda@ma… Wed, 08/14/2024 - 16:35

Skills Categories:

Academic writing

Skills Keywords:

Editing, Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page Will Help You:

Understand the differences between revising, editing, and proofreading.
Apply these different techniques to your writing process.

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare an academic paper or literature review and indicating you are currently in step 4, part 2, revising, editing and proofreading.

Introduction

After drafting your paper, you need to review it carefully. The review process is divided into three steps: revise, edit and proofread. Contrary to what many people assume, these are not synonyms – they involve different goals, procedures, and outcomes – but each one is integral to a quality written product.

Step 1: Revising

What is Revising?

Revising involves focusing on the content and organization of the overall text and considering sections, passages, or paragraphs that need to be changed, added, or removed.

Think about whether your writing

contributes to the overall purpose of the paper
flows logically and smoothly from one section to another
contains all the important information
avoids unnecessary information.

How to Revise your Paper: Reverse outlining

This is helpful after you’ve written a rough draft and especially when you want to check the logical flow of ideas within a section or paragraph.

Re-read each section of your paper and create an outline of the key points and evidence therein.
Analyze the structure and flow of the paragraphs within a section
If needed, re-organize the paragraph into a more logical order, or recognize points that need to be added or removed.

Reverse outline (example) (48.14 KB, PDF)

This example with annotations shows how a student revised a paper section by identifying the key points to make sure they flow logically.

Tip: Take a break/ask a friend

After completing a rough draft, take some time away from your paper so that you can revise it with a fresh set of eyes or more objectively. You can also ask a friend or classmate to read it over, asking them to pay attention to the clarity of ideas.

Step 2: Editing

What is Editing?

Editing involves focusing on clarity and accuracy of language at the sentence level.

Editing considerations include

Sentence structure
Clarity
Concision
Vocabulary usage
Grammatical accuracy
Tone and formality
Consider the audience (e.g., understanding the differences in writing for a generalist or specialist reader)

How to Edit your Paper

1. Sentence Structure

Using a variety of different sentence structures is most effective in creating a dynamic and readable text. As you edit, make sure that you aren’t using the same structure repeatedly.

One of the most common issues to look out for is the balance between passive and active voice. The passive voice is fine when used selectively but can make a text overly wordy, repetitive, and unclear when overused.

Examples below are taken from: https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/formandstyle/writing/scholarlyvoice/activepassive

Example: Overuse of Passive Voice (Unclear ‘doer’ of the actions)

A survey was administered. Using a convenience sample, 68 teachers were invited to participate in the survey by emailing them an invitation. Email addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation were provided by the principal of the school. The teachers were emailed an information sheet and a consent form. Responses were collected from 45 teachers…

Example: Overuse of Active Voice (‘I’ is quite repetitive)

In this study, I administered a survey. I created a convenience sample of 68 teachers. I invited them to participate in the survey by emailing them an invitation. I obtained email addresses from the principal of the school…

Example: Balance between Active and Passive

In this study, I administered a survey using a convenience sample. Sixty-eight teachers were invited to participate in the survey. The principal of the school provided me with the email addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation. I emailed the teachers an information sheet and a consent form. A total of 45 teachers responded…

2. Clarity

There are numerous considerations when focusing on clarity, such as providing ample explanations of your points (rather than assuming the reader will understand) or using technical terminology appropriately (see point 7 below).

Here is an example of how to use language effectively for clarity by avoiding unclear pronoun references.

Unclear Example

The income gap between rich and poor has continued to widen over the past decade, contrary to mainstream economists’ predictions. This indicates that new models are required to understand this.

Clear Example

The income gap between rich and poor has continued to widen over the past decade, contrary to mainstream economists’ predictions. This disparity between theory and reality indicates that new models are required to understand this trend.

3. Concision

In the field of Education, the audience for our scholarly works consists of other researchers but also practitioners like school administrators and teachers, sometimes even parents. As such, it is important to use concise and direct language rather than long and complex explanations. Concision makes your writing easier to read and thus more accessible to a wider audience.

Below are eight strategies you can follow to make your text more concise.

Eliminate unnecessary words

Career growth was an important factor in why participants chose to enroll in continuing education. -> Participants enrolled in continuing education for career purposes.

Avoid repetition

TOO REPETITIVE: In my opinion, I think that...
CORRECT: In my opinion...

Cut long introductions

TOO LONG: This point is further supported by the fact that…
CORRECT: Furthermore
TOO LONG: For all intents and purposes, this project will…
CORRECT: This project will

Delete “filler” words

UNNECESSARY FILLER: This reveals that the approach is clearly qualitative…
CORRECT: This reveals that the approach is qualitative…

Construct active sentences

PASSIVE: The error message was written by robots.
ACTIVE AND CONCISE: Robots wrote the error message.

Substitute phrases with a word

A majority of… -> most
Due to the fact that… -> because
At all times… -> always
At the present time… -> currently

Replace “wordy” sentence structures such as relative clauses with adjectives, noun phrases, etc.

Educators face issues that are very serious -> educators face serious issues
A course that focuses on language methodologies -> a course on language methodologies OR a language methodologies course

Replace sentence structures “it is + adjective + that...” or “it + verb + that...” with one verb

It is important that teachers attend professional development courses -> teachers should/must attend professional development courses
It seems that students prefer constructive feedback -> students seem to prefer constructive feedback

Editing for Concision (example) (84.5 KB, PDF)

This example shows how to use concision strategies in a paragraph.

4. Vocabulary usage

There are many vocabulary issues to pay attention to. Examples include

countable/uncountable nouns (Research vs. Studies)
preposition combinations (Research in a field vs. Research on a topic)
function of transition words (Although vs. However)

Here is an example combining all three issues:

Incorrect Example

Although, researches on the field of education argue that students’ social and emotional well-being is as important as their cognitive development.

Correct Example

However, research in the field of education argues that students’ social and emotional well-being is as important as their cognitive development.

5. Grammatical accuracy

Common grammatical errors to be aware of include subject-verb agreement, article usage, and appropriate verb tense among others. Let’s use the same example above to demonstrate:

Incorrect Example

However, research in field of education argue that students’ social and emotional well-being is as important as their cognitive development.

Correct Example

However, research in the field of education argues that students’ social and emotional well-being is as important as their cognitive development.

6. Tone and formality

For different assignments or text types, your academic tone and formality will change. For instance,

traditional research paper: more formal with a “standard” academic style and language
reflective writing: less formal with a more narrative style.

One of the most common strategies to use for a formal academic style is avoiding phrasal verbs and upgrade them to more formal sounding academic verbs.

Example with Phrasal Verbs (not very formal)

Given our fast-paced society, academics must routinely put creative solutions to unexpected problems into practice.

Example with Academic-style Verbs (more formal)

Given our fast-paced society, academics must routinely implement creative solutions to unexpected problems.

7. Consider the audience

With a generalist audience, you need to communicate your thoughts more simply and directly. You can do this by defining key terms and/or avoiding too much jargon (technical terminology).

However, a lot of the writing we do in grad school is for a specialist audience who already know a lot about your topic. In this case, you need to avoid the definitions and explanations provided for generalists because specialists will already be aware of them. When editing your paper, for example, think about how much knowledge your professor (the reader) has about your topic and adjust your language accordingly.

In the following examples, the same sentence is written using specific vocabulary (appropriate for a specialist audience) and explanations of concepts (more appropriate for a generalist audience).

Text for a specialist audience

In the field of language teaching and learning, scholars in the plurilingualism and translanguaging traditions have been working to break down a monolingual approach that has been widely accepted for more than a century.

Text for a generalist audience

In the field of language teaching and learning, scholars who promote theories about using all of one’s languages for language learning have been working to break down a monolingual approach that believes in the strict separation of languages and has been widely accepted for more than a century.

Note: In the generalist example, you can use technical terminology as long as you explain what they mean (e.g., “monolingual”)

Step 3: Proofreading

What is Proofreading?

This process involves looking for smaller technical errors on the levels of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Depending on the formatting style of your discipline or department (APA at OISE), proofreading also means making sure that you have correct citations, font style and size, references list, etc.

How to Proofread your Paper

1. Find a sample APA paper

There are many minor formatting considerations to take into account with APA and very little room for creativity. In addition to the list above, there are also specific requirements for your cover page, headings, and paragraph spacing. The best way to apply and learn all these specifications is to access a sample APA paper online and then format your paper accordingly.

Make sure it is the correct edition (APA 7th Edition at the time of writing), as the American Psychological Association changes its formatting requirements every few years.

For more information about APA, check our Resource Page on Citations and APA Style.

2. Upgrade your punctuation

Beyond the period/full stop, many students struggle with comma, semi-colon, and colon usage. Take some time to learn the different ways of using the above punctuation, which will contribute to more varied sentence structures and more advanced writing overall. Also, become acquainted with major sentence structure errors so that you can avoid them.

Below are some common punctuation issues with examples.

Incomplete sentences

WRONG: Protests against immorality which became very strong by 1928.

Feedback: The use of ‘which’ means that another clause is needed after ‘1928’.

CORRECT: Protests against immorality became very strong by 1928,
CORRECT: Protests against immorality, which became very strong by 1928, divided the nation.

Run-on sentences & Comma splices

A run-on sentence combines two (or more) complete clauses without punctuation or linking words. This type of sentence is wrong and needs to be broken up.

Example: The results were tabulated they were statistically significant.

A comma splice combines two (or more) complete clauses with a comma. This type of sentence is wrong and needs to be broken up.

Example: The results were tabulated, they were statistically significant.

The sentences above need one of the following:

a “stronger” punctuation mark to break the two clauses (e.g., period/full stop, or semi-colon)
a conjunction (e.g., and) between ‘tabulated’ and ‘they’ to break up the two complete clauses

Correct Examples: The results were tabulated. They were statistically significant. (period / full stop)
The results were tabulated; they were statistically significant. (semi-colon)
The results were tabulated, and they were statistically significant. (conjunction)

Learn more about

Example Paper

Editing, revising and proofreading a paper (student sample) (91.3 KB, PDF)

This example with annotations shows how a student revised, edited and proofread the introduction paragraph of a paper on language policies in Beijing.

Our Tips

Keep the three steps separate. It can be difficult to focus on a paper’s global elements (Revising) and local elements (Editing, Proofreading) at the same time. Review your paper multiple times focusing on these elements separately.
Use technology for editing. AI applications or Grammarly are becoming increasingly effective in pointing out editing issues such as awkward wording, overly long or confusing sentences, or grammatical accuracy.
Use technology for proofreading. Use the spell/punctuation checkers on Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Basic errors on these levels can leave a bad impression on professors during the marking process.

Use vocabulary resources. On freecollocation.com you can search for collocations (i.e., high frequency word pairings), such as preposition combinations and noun-adjective combinations.
Think before you submit. Before submitting, re-read your paper one last time, zoom out, and reflect on your revising, editing, and proofreading processes. Is there anything you missed? Is there anything that could be improved?
Ask for help. Visit the OISE Student Success Center (OSSC) and book an appointment with an advisor to get help at any of the above stages. OSSC advisors don’t proofread your papers, but give you feedback on portions of it that you can apply to the rest of your written work.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Draft an Academic Paper

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 16:02:34 +0000

How to Draft an Academic Paper ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 07/16/2024 - 12:02

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Grammar, Literature reviews, Samples of written work, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Learn the steps in drafting an academic paper or standalone literature review.

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare a literature review or academic paper and indicating you are now in step 4, part 1, writing the draft.

Introduction

Note: the instructions on this page focus on the following types of academic papers: research papers and standalone literature reviews.

Drafting an academic paper involves three main steps:

Understanding the general structure of the text genre (e.g., research paper, literature review, etc.)
Creating an outline
Drafting/writing the paper

We will look at each of these stages in detail.

Step 1: Understand the Structure of Academic Papers

Research Papers

These papers typically focus on the results of original research. This is their structure:

Introduction

Here you give the background information on your topic, include a problem statement, briefly contextualize your topic in the literature, and outline your objective/thesis statement/research questions.

To learn more, check How to Write Introductions.

Literature Review

This is sometimes included in the Introduction for academic journal articles. Here you review the relevant literature on the topic before eventually identifying a gap that your study aims to fill.

To learn more, check What is a Literature Review? and How to Prepare a Literature Review.

Methods

Here you give details on your research design, participants, data collection procedures, data analysis techniques, etc. (i.e. how you conducted your research).

Findings/Results

This is where you share the findings of your research, often organized into themes. In more quantitative papers, you will find tables and charts in this section, while qualitative studies will have a lot of participants’ quotes in this section.

Discussion

In this section, you generally zoom out to discuss the meaning of the findings altogether, their connections to the previous literature, and the ultimate answers to your research questions. This section will take on a more narrative style than the numbers and charts found in the quantitative Results section and more analysis of participants' perspectives in qualitative texts.

Conclusion

Finally, you summarize the key points and then discuss larger implications in the Conclusion. This is where writers often include the study’s limitations, areas for future research, and recommendations for practice.

To learn more, check How to Write Conclusions.

Standalone Literature Reviews

These papers are based on secondary sources. The entire paper is a literature review and the data is the literature itself. This is their structure:

Introduction

Much like in Academic Papers, give the reader an overview of the topic and the rationale or objective of the Literature Review, ending with the research questions. If you need to give more background information than there is room for in the Intro, you can create separate background sections to follow the Intro.

To learn more, check How to Write Introductions.

Methods

Because the entire paper is a Literature Review, we don’t need a separate Literature Review section here. Thus, jump straight to the Methods, including information on the retrieval of relevant studies (databases, key words), inclusion and exclusion criteria (limits on date of publication, topic, text type, etc.), and then briefly introduce the studies that you did include and the categories that you will use to organize them in your Literature Review.

Findings/Results

This section looks like the Literature Review section of the Academic Paper, except here the literature IS your data. You can, again, organize this section by theme and outline the focus, methods, and results of each study before comparing, contrasting, integrating, and critiquing them.

Discussion

Zoom out and look at your ‘findings’ all together. How have they answered your research questions? What are the similarities that you found in the literature? Any unresolved debates? Any remaining gaps and areas for future research? You will continue to do comparison, contrast, synthesis and critique here, but now across all your themes instead of one-by-one.

Conclusion

Quickly highlight the key takeaways from your Literature Review before focusing on larger implications, recommendations, predictions, etc. You can also discuss the limitations of your own Literature Review here (as opposed to the limitations of the literature in general, which fits into the Discussion above).

To learn more, check How to Write Conclusions.

To learn more about Literature Reviews, check What is a Literature Review? and How to Prepare a Literature Review.

Other Types of Academic Papers

Here are some Resource Pages of other text types that you will probably find in your courses at OISE, so take a look for their specific organizational patterns:

Step 2: Create an Outline

Always start with an outline before drafting your paper – it will make your drafting and revising phases much easier.

Beyond just creating an outline for the main sections of your paper (described in the section above), try to develop a more detailed outline that shows different sub-headings, points, and supporting arguments within each section.

Consult your outline continually during the writing process and check it again at the completion of a rough draft to make sure you included all relevant and important points. At the same time, keep in mind that your outline will evolve during the writing process as you read more, come up with new ideas, and drop old ones, so some flexibility with your outline is also advised.

Here is an example of a detailed outline of a research paper.

Step 3: Draft / Write

In the drafting/writing process, the order that you write in depends on you.

Some people like to start at the beginning (Intro) and then write in the same order as the outline until the Conclusion. Others prefer starting with the main findings and then writing out from there, jumping around to write different sections and sometimes even ending with the Introduction once all the details are filled in. Try experimenting with different approaches to see which writing sequence works best for you.

The following Resource Pages give some guidance on the writing process, starting with the most basic level of the paragraph:

Next, these Resource Pages can help you draft different sections of your paper, from Introductions to Literature Reviews to Conclusions.

When zooming in on specific sections or paragraphs of your paper, these Resource Pages describe more mechanical aspects such as communicating directly to your readers, using transitions, attending to flow, and bringing out your own voice in the writing:

Beyond your own voice, these last Resource Pages give instruction on how to integrate other articles and texts into your writing as well as how to use APA style:

Example of a Standalone Literature Review

Literature Review (student sample) (366.38 KB, PDF)

This is a full literature review paper written by an OISE student on the topic of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) and Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) in Writing Centers (WC). Throughout the paper, you will find several annotations. Yellow annotations refer to the structure of the paper, its content and how ideas are developed. Purple annotations refer to writing elements and language elements (e.g., paragraphs, paraphrases, summaries, quotes, stance and voice, cohesion, etc.).

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

On Campus Services

How to Write Cohesively

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 21:18:34 +0000

How to Write Cohesively ana.lacerda@ma… Mon, 06/03/2024 - 17:18

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the significance of cohesion in academic writing
Write logical and smooth connections between ideas
Address your readers to guide them through your ideas
Improve the overall readability of your written work

What is Cohesion?

In academic writing, ideas must stick together logically (cohesion) and make sense as a whole (coherence).

Coherence (i.e., “how ideas make sense as a whole”) is related to logic and flow in the text and facilitates the overall understanding of your writing.

Cohesion (i.e., “how ideas stick together”) refers to the interrelatedness of sentences in a text to create a sense of unity. Cohesion is essential because it affects how the text and the ideas are structured and ultimately understood.

Check the following example. Text A is cohesive; Text B is the same text without any cohesive elements.

Text A

This research argues against the effectiveness of a particular model of understanding teaching. The model is criticized for being limited by an intellectualist bias in its conceptualization of the mind and for having a narrow definition of excellence, particularly in the context of actual classrooms. The text suggests that excellent teachers, dealing with real-time challenges, are too immersed in the immediate classroom situation to engage in critical reflection on their beliefs. The act of stepping back and critically evaluating one's choices is seen as potentially disruptive to the flow of the classroom, missing valuable teaching opportunities. The text further describes the peculiar phenomenology of the teacher experience, emphasizing the quick and intuitive decision-making process without a reliance on consciously held beliefs. The argument concludes that teacher education programs focusing on reflective models may overlook the fundamental importance of teachers' intuitive responsiveness to classroom dynamics.

Taken from: García, J. & Lewis, T. (2014). Getting a Grip on the Classroom: From Psychological to Phenomenological Curriculum Development in Teacher Education Programs. Curriculum Inquiry, 44(2), 141-168, DOI: 10.1111/curi.12042

Text B

This research argues against the effectiveness of a particular model of understanding teaching. It is criticized for being limited by an intellectualist bias in its conceptualization of the mind and for having a narrow definition of excellence, particularly in the context of actual classrooms. Excellent teachers, dealing with real-time challenges, are too immersed in the immediate classroom situation to engage in critical reflection on their beliefs. The act of stepping back and critically evaluating one's choices is seen as potentially disruptive to the flow of the classroom, missing valuable teaching opportunities. The peculiar phenomenology of the teacher experience includes a quick and intuitive decision-making process without a reliance on consciously held beliefs. Teacher education programs focusing on reflective models may overlook the fundamental importance of teachers' intuitive responsiveness to classroom dynamics.

Text B lacks connective devices/transition phrases to guide the reader through the logical order of the arguments, so the text is disjointed and difficult to follow. Also, the second sentence uses an unclear pronoun (it) rather than repeating the key noun (the model). When you read Text B, it may sound fragmented and lacking flow, with unclear connections between sentences.

Cohesion plays an important role in guiding your readers through your writing and ideas by connecting ideas and maintaining a smooth narrative. Without cohesive devices, the text loses its structure and becomes inaccessible to the readers.

How to Write Cohesively?

Writing cohesive and coherent texts means using linguistic and structural techniques to link ideas, sentences, and paragraphs to ensure the writing is easy to follow. Effective cohesion strategies include:

Repeating key nouns
Using pronouns consistently
Using transitions to link ideas
Arranging your ideas in a logical order

1. Repeat key nouns

Repeating key nouns frequently in your paragraphs is a common strategy to make the sentences flow smoothly. Have a look at the following example and feedback:

Example + Feedback

Example: However, Mateo underlined the relation of self-transformation to social transformation, as self-love grows into collective liberation. Because Mateo expressed excitement for a world of love and joy for queer and trans people of color, mediated by the Queer Eye X Lizzo video, I asked him if he saw himself in the video now or felt that it represented a future he could be a part of someday. Mateo emphasized, “I can see myself being a part of it in the future, but right now, I’m at the beginning, the start of the line.” Mateo shared that being at the beginning, “feels like I’m more comfortable just being around myself.” He theorized that the future he imagined alongside the video “has to start with me, so I can kind of, in a way, spread it to others.”

Taken from: Shrodes, A. (2023) “The word ‘getting over’ is really weird”: Storying disability in desired futures. Curriculum Inquiry, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2023.2206932

Feedback: The key noun (Mateo) is consistently employed throughout the text to maintain sentence coherence.

2. Use pronouns consistently

In academic writing, using consistent pronouns is key for a clear and cohesive text. Since pronouns do not denote meaning by themselves, they need referents, i.e., a topic or a noun elsewhere in the text they refer to.

Example + Feedback

Example: Our experiences as white teacher educators—in our work in classrooms often filled with white women future teachers, as well as in our work with white practicing teachers, community members, and university colleagues—have taught us about the ubiquity and potency of stereotypes in the white racial imagination. As Zeus Leonardo (2005) reminded us, “Critical work on race does not only study its real manifestations and deem everything else ghosts of the real; it must critically understand … how people imagine race in their daily lives” (p. 404). We believe that our teacher education efforts are haunted and undermined by the workings and power of racist stereotypes. Our hope is that attending to Mammy and Brute Negro stereotypes with more sophistication and insight might help us, ultimately, more effectively work with white women in teacher education, particularly related to concepts of culturally relevant pedagogies. In our conclusion, we frame crucial questions and challenges that confront us, given our retelling and analysis of Danielle’s and Lily’s stories.

Taken from: Taken from: Miller, E. & Lensmire, T. (2020). Mammies, brute Negroes, and white femininity in teacher education, Curriculum Inquiry, 50(5), 400-418, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2020.1860643

Feedback: In this example, the authors refer to themselves as they examine two stories about white femininity. Pronouns are crucial in referencing earlier noun phrases (referents), as seen in the example where ‘our,’ ‘us,’ and ‘we’ refer to the authors and their involvement in the academic narrative. This enhancement in readability stems from the precision and cohesion achieved in every sentence.

3. Use transitions to link ideas

In academic writing, transition words are helpful to achieve cohesion by linking ideas and providing a sense of movement that will help your readers understand the connections you wish to convey in your text. Some transition words can be helpful to

start a paragraph
link secondary sentences within a paragraph
conclude and/or bridge ideas in a paragraph to move on to the following one.

Check below different categories of transition words, their purposes and examples.

Addition

Purpose: To add extra information

Linking word examples: also, too, as well, above all, in addition, similarly, correspondingly (formal), equally, likewise, in the same way, by the same token, and. More emphatic: actually, besides, moreover, furthermore, in fact, what is more, as a matter of fact

Written sentences examples: Additionally, this study engages the AsianCrit tenet of story, theory, and praxis. CRT recognizes stories as an essential tool for the survival and liberation of oppressed groups; within CRT, stories are often used as a means of psychic self-preservation and/or to lessen members of oppressed groups’ own subordination. Furthermore, when members of oppressed groups share their stories, such storytelling may shatter complacency, challenge the status quo, and engage conscience (Delgado, 1989).

Naseem, N. (2020). “Invisibility is not a natural state for anyone”: (Re)constructing narratives of Japanese American incarceration in elementary classrooms, Curriculum Inquiry, 50(4), 309-329, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2020.1831369

Time

Purpose: To sequence, to situate in time, to order chronologically

Linking word examples: first, second, third, then, meanwhile, in the meantime, originally, first of all, afterwards, next, eventually, subsequently, finally, at last, in the end

Written sentences examples: The language chosen to speak on behalf of the five billion inhabitants of the globe is English. Meanwhile, back on the surface of the earth, from a small radio in a township shack in Soweto, come tumbling the words of a song by Johnny Clegg and Savuka.

Pennycook, A. (2017). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Routledge.

Comparison

Purpose: To compare points

Linking word examples: similarly, in the same way, likewise

Written sentences examples: However, the metapragmatic evaluation “this is not an English class” raised by Valentina earlier, can easily cross over between sectors. Similarly, a negative student evaluation of a pedagogical interaction based on relevance to a specific objective, such as gaining fluency to improve employment prospects, can easily be complemented by an evaluation based on moral objectionability.

Windle, J.A. & de Araujo Rosa, J. (2023). Navigating Critical Language Education at the Crossroads of Neonationalism and Neoliberalism: The Role of Border Talk. TESOL J, 57. 752-774.

Contrast

Purpose: To show differences

Linking word examples: however, on the contrary, by contrast, in contrast, on the other hand, instead, in fact, conversely, yet.

Written sentences examples: According to the JD-R model, job demands comprise job characteristics that require effort and are linked to higher strain and burnout (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Yet, empirical studies have shown that not all job demands have direct and solely negative effects (Crawford et al., 2010); Van den Broeck et al., 2010).

Jörg, V., Hartmann, U., Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2023). Teachers' proactive behaviour: Interactions with job characteristics and professional competence in a longitudinal study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 00, e12642. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12642

Exclusion

Purpose: to show options.

Linking word examples: alternatively, on the one hand-on the other hand, rather, Or (else)

Written sentences examples: Both positions have their limitations. On the one hand, identity politics’ inclination towards essentialism threatens to naturalize difference and reproduce dominant cultural assumptions. On the other hand, the idea that “gender” or “race” are fictions threatens to invisibilize difference altogether, along with the power relationships that create it (Alcoff, 1988, 2006).

Tien, J. (2019). Teaching identity vs. positionality: Dilemmas in social justice education, Curriculum Inquiry, 49(5), 526-550, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2019.1696150

Concession

Purpose: To concede information

Linking word examples: still, however, all the same, even so, that said, nevertheless. More formally: nonetheless, notwithstanding. More informally: anyhow, anyway, only, though, but, yet

Written sentences examples: In other words, Mock Spanish invokes stigmatizing stereotypes about Latinas/os without making such stereotypes explicit. The most profound aspect of this process, however, is not that it frames “Spanish speakers” (regardless of national background and ethnoracial identity) in particular ways, but that it specifically produces “Latina/o” as a U.S. racial category.

Rosa, J. (2016). 'From Mock Spanish to Inverted Spanglish: Language Ideologies and the Racialization of Mexican and Puerto Rican Youth in the United States', in H. Samy Alim, John R. Rickford, and Arnetha F. Ball (eds), Raciolinguistics: How Language Shapes Our Ideas About Race. Oxford Academic.

Reason

Purpose: To explain points.

Linking word examples: Therefore, for that matter, accordingly, on account of this, that is why.

Written sentences examples: New perspectives conveyed through shared dialogue result in complex understandings. Therefore, dialectical constructivist theory privileges a social nexus that is facilitated (Vygotsky, 1986) by an instructor rather controlled by one.

Lahey, T. (2023). From college to classroom: Using virtual collaborative inquiry to support first-year teachers with classroom management. Journal of Education, 0(0). DOI: 10.1177/00220574231166014

Result

Purpose: To demonstrate results

Linking word examples: as a result, therefore, accordingly, consequently, in consequence, of course, hence. Formal: as a consequence, in consequence, thus.

Written sentences examples: As a result, students themselves began identifying as “people with privilege” and using the frameworks of “privileged” vs. “unprivileged” people. For example, in his final reflection on the course, Peter wrote that, “I am learning that as a person of privilege, I need to find ways to give up some power, while stewarding those things that I cannot give up.”

Tien, J. (2019). Teaching identity vs. positionality: Dilemmas in social justice education, Curriculum Inquiry, 49(5), 526-550, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2019.1696150

Purpose

Purpose: To indicate directions

Linking word examples: thus, for this purpose, therefore, with this in mind

Written sentences examples: The importance of a research article is routinely measured by counting how many times it has been cited. However, treating all citations with equal weight ignores the wide variety of functions that citations perform. We want to automatically identify the subset of references in a bibliography that have a central academic influence on the citing paper. For this purpose, we examine the effectiveness of a variety of features for determining the academic influence of a citation.

Zhu, X., Turney, P., Lemire, D., & Vellino, A. (2015). Measuring academic influence: Not all citations are equal. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66(2), 408-427.

Condition

Purpose: To indicate conditions

Linking word examples: if so, if not, in that case, that being so, in such an event, Then, Under such circumstances

Written sentences examples: If we accept that colonialism is varied and operates in different contexts, then our responses have to be multiple, and we are obliged to acknowledge the inherent tensions between competing visions of anti-colonialism.

Dei, G. S. & Lordan, M. (2016). Anti-colonial theory and decolonial praxis. Peter Lang.

Enumeration

Purpose: To sequence multiple points

Linking word examples: for one thing (... for another thing), In the first place, Secondly, next, then (again), finally, in the first/second place, first of all, to begin with, to start with; Especially in formal and technical use: we find a.... b .... c...., one ... two .... three....

Written sentences examples: First, and in the most obvious sense, English is worldly by dint of its vast global expansion. Second, English is worldly in the sense that a person may be called worldly: it has been and is constantly in the process of being changed by its position in the world. And third, it is in the world, it is part of the world; to use English is to engage in social action which produces and reproduces social and cultural relations.

Pennycook, A. (2017). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Routledge.

Summative

Purpose: To summarize and synthesize information

Linking word examples: all in all, altogether, overall, thus, in conclusion, in sum, to sum up, to conclude, to summarise, in short, after all

Written sentences examples: This code definition connects, albeit broadly, to the wider construct of autonomy referenced above but is also grounded in our data capturing teachers’ perceptions and reported actions of autonomy both in response to interview questions about the pacing guide and beyond. Thus, we conceptually aligned the notion of having autonomy with deviating from the pacing guide and approached the excerpts coded for Deviating with the goal of compiling evidence of teacher autonomy.

Exemplification

Purpose: To provide examples

Linking word examples: for example, namely, e.g. , for instance, to illustrate, as an example

Written sentences examples: Race is also a point of connection to the English language for critical teachers who seek to reposition English as a language of protest and solidarity, for example, through discussions of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Windle, J.A. & de Araujo Rosa, J. (2023). Navigating Critical Language Education at the Crossroads of Neonationalism and Neoliberalism: The Role of Border Talk. TESOL J, 57. 752-774.

Clarification

Purpose: To explain points

Linking word examples: In other words, put differently, namely, thus, that is (to say), i.e. , (I mean), in fact.

Written sentences examples: Yet, the racializing effects of Mock Spanish do not apply to a large number of the individuals who would seem to fit into this category, namely many Spaniards and other “historically Spanish-speaking populations” that are not racialized as non-White in the ways that millions of U.S. Latinas/os are.

Identification

Purpose: To identify specific information

Linking word examples: namely, specifically, especially, in particular

Written sentences examples: We did not observe any differences in the level of teachers' personal initiative with regard to their gender, age, years of professional experience, school track or full-time versus part-time positions. Regarding the job characteristics and aspects of professional competence, only one factor, namely, personal initiative of the team, showed a significant difference between teachers of different school tracks: Higher track teachers reported significantly lower values (M = 2.72, SD = .99) than lower track teachers (M = 3.50, SD = .90, t(105) = 2.44, p = .016, d = .48).

Inference

Purpose: To deduce and infer implicit information

Linking word examples: In that case, in other words, then, otherwise, else, more accurately, more precisely

Written sentences examples: “Even if [classroom management] preparation was sufficient, teacher education would need to be explicit about how classroom management could be adapted, integrated, or reconceptualized towards shifting classroom demographics” (p. 207). In other words, the SEL must be culturally compatible.

Lahey, T. (2023). From college to classroom: Using virtual collaborative inquiry to support first-year teachers with classroom management. Journal of Education, 0(0). https://doi-org.myaccess.

Digression

Purpose: To introduce new points not mentioned before

Linking word examples: incidentally, as a matter of fact, at any rate

Written sentences examples: Decolonial epistemic reconstitutions, and the politics of decolonial investigations, aim to overcome the hegemony of the “European paradigm of modernity/rationality” and take the first two trajectories (deWesternization and reWesternization) as a field of investigation. As a matter of fact, setting up the current world order as the conflict between the rise of de- Westernization and the counterrevolution of reWesternization is a decolonial conceptualization of epistemic reconstitutions to understand the current world order emerging from five hundred years of Westernization.

Mignolo, W. (2021). The politics of decolonial investigations. Duke University Press.

4. Arrange ideas in a logical order

Another method to enhance cohesion involves organizing sentences in a specific order. Your choice will depend on your topic and writing purpose. Two common forms include chronological order and logical division of ideas.

Chronological Order

Chronological order concerns the organization of ideas representing a sequence of events or steps within a process. In the example, the authors provide a sequence of steps where they establish cohesion through strategic use of sequence markers like first, second, third, finally.

Example: First, drawing on her own experiences and critical consciousness calls as a Chicana Spanish-speaker, Andrea immediately noticed the low number of Spanish speakers in her program and the imbalanced requirements in the teacher qualification policy (Freire, 2021). In turn, Andrea and her colleagues engaged in four additional critical consciousness actions (see Palmer et al., 2019). Together they committed to developing similar habits of continuously interrogating power during regularly scheduled PLC gatherings where they reviewed DLBE policy information on program aspects whose fairness they questioned. Second, the group historicized schools in DLBE by looking backward at the history of bilingual education to have a larger sense of the possibilities for focusing on the civil rights era issues still at play in the current DLBE climate. Third, the group engaged in critical listening as they encouraged one another to be courageous and calmly express disagreement when necessary as they made different arguments for what constituted fairness. Finally, teachers got better at engaging with discomfort.

From: Valdéz, V., Delavan, G., & Freire, J. (2023). Using critical policy analysis in collaborative professional learning communities to enhance dual language bilingual educators’ critical consciousness in Lisa M. Dorner, Deborah Palmer, Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon, Dan Heiman, and Emily R. Crawford (Eds.) Critical consciousness in dual language bilingual education: Case studies on policy and practice (First Edition). Routledge.

Logical Division

Logical division consists of the categorization of ideas into parts for clarity, with each part discussed separately.

Example: The chapters in the teaching and teacher learning section, like the previous sections, span a broad range of contexts and experiences. Taken together, they illustrate how the overlapping actions of critical consciousness can be embodied in schools through classroom practice and teacher learning.
The first two chapters provide an intersectional lens that actively aims to interrogate binaries, to critically listen to current problems in DLBE spaces, and to accompany Black and LGBTQ+ students.
The final four chapters in the teaching and teacher learning section demonstrate the need to interrogate white-stream conceptualizations of academic achievement, bilingualism/biliteracy, and intercultural competence, the three traditional goals of DLBE (Howard et al., 2018).

From: Dorner, L. M., Palmer, D. K., Cervantes-Soon, C. G., Heiman, D., & Crawford, E. R. (Eds.). (2023). Critical consciousness in dual language bilingual education: Case studies on policy and practice (First Edition). Routledge.

Types of Transitions

Transitions in an academic text can be written using a single word, a phrase, a sentence, or even an entire paragraph. In this way, you provide your readers with signals about how to read through your text. Transitions are generally used for three purposes: linking sections, linking paragraphs and linking ideas within paragraphs.

1. Transitions between sections

This type of transition is frequent in longer texts (e.g., book chapters and scholarly papers) to link information in one section to what follows in the next. These links are necessary to ensure the continuity of the text. Note that these are larger shifts between topics than the transitions between paragraphs below.

Example

Despite the benefits of social interaction with host-nationals, many international students experienced only superficial contact with Americans, and give up hope of establishing deep cross-cultural relationships (Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992).

Taken from: MICUSP International Students in the United States: Developing Interpersonal Relationships for Cross-cultural Adjustment and Intercultural Maturity

Explanation

This writer uses a contrastive device (Despite) to transition from the topic of the previous section (benefits) to the focus of the current section (barriers to interaction). This is the topic sentence of the first paragraph in this section.

2. Transitions between paragraphs

Transitions between paragraphs are similar to transitions between sections as their purpose is to let the readers know that the upcoming content will experience a shift (contrast, addition, further explanation, etc.) from the content of the previous paragraph. As paragraphs contain a single controlling idea, the change or shift to new arguments, ideas, and information should happen in the following paragraph. These shifts are generally still on the same topic, as opposed to the shifts between sections (new topics) outlined above. For instance, a shift between sections might be benefits -> challenges while a shift between paragraphs may look like benefit 1 -> benefit 2.

As with section transitions, paragraph transitions can be strategically positioned in different locations within the text. Oftentimes, they are located at the end of the first paragraph, the beginning of the second paragraph, or at both junctures.

Example

Another argument for avoidance is that histories like the Holocaust are too horrific and complex for children to adequately understand, so they should not be introduced at all (Totten, 1999).

In contrast, supporters of teaching difficult histories to children have often argued for their instructive nature: to learn lessons from the past, so that we do not forget and do not repeat our mistakes (Rodríguez, 2019).

Naseem, N. (2020). “Invisibility is not a natural state for anyone”: (Re)constructing narratives of Japanese American incarceration in elementary classrooms. Curriculum Inquiry, 50(4), 309-329, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2020.1831369

Explanation

The author uses a single expression (in contrast) to signal a shift in perspective in her argumentation. She introduces a new line of thought, presenting the opposing stance of supporters who argue for the educational value of teaching difficult histories to children. This signals a shift in the narrative, emphasizing the instructive nature of difficult histories and the potential lessons that can be learned to avoid repeating mistakes.

3. Transitions within paragraphs

As with transitions between sections and paragraphs, transitions within paragraphs act as cues to help readers anticipate what is coming next as well as understand the types of logical relationships between sentences (contrast, addition, etc.). Within paragraphs, transitions tend to be single words or short phrases.

Example

Virtually every definition of culture (e.g., Hofstede 1980, Mead 1955) suggests that it represents a coalescence of discrete behavioral norms and cognitions shared by individuals within some definable population that are distinct from those shared within other populations. These normative beliefs and behaviors provide resources for realizing individual and collective goals, and so are often institutionalized in a variety of formal and informal ways. Moreover, there exist means for transmitting beliefs and behaviors to new members of the cultural population, so that the norms defining a culture may persist over very long periods of time.

Taken from: https://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~schaller/LehmanChiuSchaller2004.pdf

Explanation

The use of ‘Moreover’ adds another point to the main idea of cultural norms.

Our Tips

Achieving cohesion takes time, so be patient and practice your writing. While you write your assignments, ensure that you make conscious decisions about connecting ideas and establishing relationships among ideas and paragraphs.
Avoid excessive use of linking words as it may overload the text, diminishing their effectiveness in maintaining flow and reader comprehension. Also, avoid only placing linking words at the beginning of the sentence (vary their usage).
Read out loud or have a computer read your writing. Listen to your assignment and think if, first, it makes sense to you and if it will make sense to somebody else. You will be able to notice important gaps when you listen to your own writing.
Show your paper to somebody else. Remember that cohesion concerns your readers and how they understand and react to your ideas.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

On Campus Services

How to Talk to your Readers: Signposting

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 17:01:08 +0000

How to Talk to your Readers: Signposting ana.lacerda@ma… Mon, 06/03/2024 - 13:01

How to Talk to your Readers: Signposting

Introduction
Signposting Order
Signposting Relations
Help & Additional Resources

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

learn what signposting is and what it's used for
learn how to effectively use signposting vocabulary

Introduction

Academic writing can be understood as a type of formal conversation where you need to effectively engage your readers, and signposting is a very common strategy for this purpose.

Signposting means telling your reader what you will do in your paper and its sections, how you will organize the content, and what you have done in previous sections. Signposting is like a “road map” that guides your readers through the content and organization of your paper.

In this Resource Page, you will learn two types of signposting that are frequent in academic writing: Order and Relations.

Signposting Order

These signposting phrases direct readers through your writing, provide a ‘roadmap’ for the order in which you will talk about things, help readers stay on track throughout, and remind them of key information.

Signposting order can be especially useful for introductions, conclusions, transitioning from one significant idea to another, or discussing methods and procedures.

Here are six common types of signposting order:

Listing
Foreshadowing
Changing Topic
Going Backward
Progress
Summary

1. Listing

Listing signposting consists of phrases that will facilitate the reader’s understanding of the logic and sequence of the text.

In the example below, the author uses a typical listing strategy to sequence the arguments.

Let me identify what I take to be the potential dangers here. In the first place, one finds that Levinas’s work is understood and used within a discourse of multiculturalism. There are indeed rich resources in Levinas that can con- tribute to enquiry of this kind, but things go wrong, for example, where his understanding of the Other is assimilated to a politics of recognition. Second, there is the tendency to enlist his work in something like a psychology of dialogical relations, perhaps of student-teacher relations, where the aim is better communication. This may seem close to Levinas’s concerns, but the problem is that such communication is understood as a matter of personal relations and, it should be added, with a relative indifference to the content of what is communicated. Sometimes, a third point, Levinas’s work has been interpreted in a way that relies excessively on a vocabulary of transcendence, causing it to be rarefied and detached from the quotidian circumstances of human lives. That vocabulary easily becomes incantatory, and its reiteration stands in the way of a more exact realization of the practical significance of ideas in question. Finally, the reception of Levinas’s thought suffers from a more general problem, regarding the understanding of poststructuralism.

Standish, P. (2008). Levinas and the language of curriculum in Egéa-Kuehne (Ed.), Levinas and education at the intersection of faith and reason. Routledge.

More Listing Phrases:

The first section of this paper will examine ...
This paper begins by ... It will then go on to ...
The essay has been organised in the following way: ...
The remaining part of the paper proceeds as follows: ...
The main issues addressed in this paper are a), b) and c).
This paper first gives a brief overview of the recent history of X.
This paper has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with ...
This topic can best be treated under three headings: X, Y, and Z.
The key aspects of (topic) can be listed as follows: X, Y, and Z.
There are three reasons why X. These are ...
This section has been included for several reasons: X ...; Y ...; and Z...
The disadvantages of the new approach can be discussed under three headings, which are ...

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

2. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing phrases anticipate what will happen in the upcoming parts of the text. They typically open the writing and are a central part of introductions. The main function of foreshadowing signposting is to preview the content to come, as opposed to the organization of the text (as in listing signposting above).

In the example below, the author previews upcoming content with the phrase “In the next section”.

In the next section, I will examine some of the implications of Goals 2000 and No Child Left Behind on the educational situation of immigrant children, the roles of state and federal legislatures in passing legislation, as well as the role of the courts in deciding issues of contention - in essence, issues of federalism. I argue that this ground-breaking trend toward a convergence of federal power in directing educational policies is unlikely to be successful without more input from states, especially in meeting the needs of immigrant groups within states.

Taken from MICUSP: National Identity and Language Education Policy.

More Foreshadowing Phrases:

This study set out to explore...
The aim of the chapter is to introduce …
This chapter seeks to assess the impact of …
This chapter is subdivided into three sections. The first section will attempt to assess whether …
The second part highlights the key theoretical concepts which …
This chapter contextualises the research by providing background information on …
This chapter discusses the specific methods by which the research and analyses were conducted.
The next chapter describes synthesis and evaluation of ...
A summary of the main findings, together with …, is provided in the next chapter.
The next chapter describes the procedures and methods used in this investigation …
In the next section, I will present the principal findings of the current investigation ...
These analytical procedures and the results obtained from them are described in the next chapter.

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

3. Changing Topic

This type of signposting is a straightforward way to tell your readers that you have stopped developing specific topics in your discussion. Rather than simply previewing the next topic, as in foreshadowing signposting, changing topic signposting mentions the previous focus and then announces the shift.

In the example below, the writer accomplishes this with the phrases “Now that we have considered” (previous topic) and “let us move to” (new topic).

Now that we have considered the treatment of multiple hedging in the research literature, let us move to a brief overview of some textbooks used for teaching academic writing, which will not only give examples of the different extents to which hedging is covered in textbooks (which is explained in much more detail by Hyland 1994) but will also give an indication of whether or not textbooks devote time or focus to multiple hedging and the question of its acceptability or to underhedging and overhedging as potential problem areas for students.

Taken from MICUSP: Attitudes towards and Frequency of Multiple Hedging in Written Academic English

4. Going Backward

Backward signposting is helpful when you need to remind your readers about points you have made previously in your text which are useful to provide continuity to your arguments.

In the example below, the author reminds the reader of a point made earlier in the text with the phrase “As previously stated”.

As previously stated, there are many different ways in which so can be used. Many of these uses cannot be placed into the anaphoric, discourse marker or deictic categories. Because of this we have created this other examples section where we will explain some of the other types of so.

More Phrases to Go Backward:

As discussed above, …
As explained earlier, …
As previously stated, …
As indicated previously, …
As described on the previous page, …
As was mentioned in the previous chapter, …
Returning (briefly) to the (subject/issue) of X, …
As explained in the introduction, it is clear that …
As was pointed out in the introduction to this paper, …
As mentioned in the literature review, ...

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

5. Progress

Progress signposting is helpful to let the readers know where they are in the discussion, or as a reminder, such as drawing the reader’s attention to previously stated information, especially when your writing is lengthy. Progress signposting also signals to the readers that there is more material to come.

In the example below, the writer reminds the reader of their progress through the text up to this point (“So far, we discussed”) and then adds additional information (“We showed that”). In the final sentence, “However” is used to signal that the discussion will now more on to a new focus.

So far, we discussed the implication of considering different forms of knowledge according to their nature (i.e. modal vs. amodal) or their level of abstractness for explaining conceptual activities (i.e. categorization or generalization effects). We showed that conceptual activities could be explained thanks to a global-matching process that occurred on modal exemplars instead of using multiple forms of memory representation. However, it might still be possible that we use different forms of knowledge depending on the nature of the activity (i.e. memory activities vs. perceptual activities).

More Phrases to Indicate Progress:

The studies presented thus far provide evidence that ...
Two important themes emerge from the studies discussed so far:
In view of all that has been mentioned so far, one may suppose that ...
Thus far, the thesis has argued that …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

6. Summary

Summary signposting is helpful to conclude a paper or specific section and highlight the central takeaways.

In the example below, the author employs “In sum” and “This chapter addressed” to draw attention to the “evidence reviewed in the chapter,” which reinforces the key findings.

In sum, evidence exists for the mental simulation of space, speed and time in the comprehension of both word and sentences. Importantly, the relationship between language and perception appears to be bidirectional (language affects perception and vice versa)…
This chapter addressed the embodiment of language about space, speed and time. These three domains may less obviously be grounded in our perceptual processes for two reasons…
The evidence reviewed in this chapter has shown that space, speed and time are in fact dimensions that are included in mental simulations, or situation models, built during discourse comprehension.

More Phrases to Summarize Literature:

Together, these studies indicate that ...
Overall, these studies highlight the need for ...
Considering all of this evidence, it seems that ...
Collectively, these studies outline …
In all the studies reviewed here, X is recognised as …
The evidence presented in this section suggests that ...
Taken together, these studies support the notion that …
Overall, there seems to be some evidence to indicate that ...
Together these studies provide important insights into the ...
All of the studies reviewed here support the hypothesis that …
These research findings reported here consistently point towards …
The evidence reviewed here seems to suggest a pertinent role for …
These studies clearly indicate that there is a relationship between …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

More Phrases to Summarize Sections of your Paper:

The previous section has shown that …
To conclude this section, the literature identifies …
This section has reviewed the three key aspects of …
In summary, it has been shown from this review that …
This chapter has described the methods used in this investigation and it has …
This section has attempted to provide a brief summary of the literature relating to …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

More Phrases to Summarize Findings and Conclusions:

This study has identified …
The research has also shown that …
The second major finding was that …
These experiments confirmed that...
This study has found that generally …
The investigation of X has shown that …
The results of this investigation show that …
The most obvious finding to emerge from this study is that …
One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

Signposting Relations

You can use this type of signposting to show that you are constructing logical steps in your writing, show the relationship between your ideas, and make them clear to the reader.

Here are five common types of signposting relations:

Explaining
Similarity
Contrast
Cause-effect
Emphasis

1. Explaining

In academic writing, clarity is fundamental. Explaining expressions guide your readers through your ideas to enhance their understanding.

In the following example, the writer proposes a redefinition/reclassification of key terms in their paper, using explaining expressions to make sure this is clear to the reader.

The terms citizenship education and civic education have typically been used interchangeably to refer to aspects of the school curriculum- whether formal or informal- that prepare young people for their roles as citizens. However, I would like to propose that we consider these terms in a more nuanced manner and to think of them as distinct entities.

Adapted from MICUSP: Schools and the development of national identity in young children: A justification for comparison.

More phrases to clarify concepts, theories or processes:

Throughout this paper, the term ‘X’ will refer to ...
The term ‘X’ will be used in this thesis to refer to …
Historically, the term ‘X’ has been used to describe …
It is necessary here to clarify exactly what is meant by ...
The phrase ‘X’ will be used in this study to describe the …
According to Smith (2002), X can be defined as follows: ‘ ... ’
In this article, the abbreviation XYZ will be used to refer to ...
Throughout this dissertation, the term ‘X’ will be used to refer to ...
The term ‘X’ is a relatively new name for ..., commonly referred to as ...
In this essay, the term ‘X’ will be used in its broadest sense to refer to all ...
In this dissertation, the terms ‘X’ and ‘Y’ are used interchangeably to mean ...

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

2. Similarity

Drawing parallels between ideas is a crucial signposting strategy. Establishing similarities fosters cohesion and aids in illustrating associations between concepts or other texts, enriching the depth of your discussion.

In the following example, the writer draws parallels between anti-immigration sentiment in the United States at different time periods.

There are many similarities between the immigration debates that occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century and those that are occurring now, almost one hundred years later... In the mid-nineteenth century, many Irish Catholics immigrants were also vilified and looked upon with mistrust. Even earlier, Native Americans cannot have been happy at the arrival of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants who took over their land. Hopefully, the understanding that no matter who we are, those who were here before us looked upon our arrival with suspicion will help us change our attitude towards immigration, and to realize that each new wave of immigrants has brought positive changes to the United States. The current new wave will too, if we only give them the opportunity.

Taken from MICUSP: Immigration and Americanization: Then and Now.

More phrases to establish similarity:

Both X and Y share a number of key features.
There are a number of similarities between X and Y.
The effects of X on Y are similar to those of Z.
Both X and Y generally take place in .
These results are similar to those reported by (Smith et al. 1999).
This definition is similar to that found in (Smith, 2001) who writes:
The X is similar to that of comparable studies (e.g. Smith et al. 1999).
The approach used in this investigation is similar to that used by other researchers.
Studies have compared Xs in Ys and found that they are essentially identical.

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

3. Contrast

In academic writing, signaling contrast is essential to clearly delineating differences between concepts, theories, or perspectives, either your own or among other thinkers, time periods, etc.

In the following passage, the writer contrasts Dewey’s educational ideas with those of traditional schooling through the use of signposting language, such as "rather than," "unlike," and "whereas,".

Dewey’s new educational ideas were centered around a classroom in which children would be active participants, exploring the world around them, guided by a teacher, rather than the traditional schooling where they were required to memorize facts given by the teacher. Unlike traditional schooling, which was set up to teach a large group of children the same information, Dewey’s ideal school would individualize instruction, and students would learn at their own rates. In short, the traditional method of schooling was centered on the teacher and the textbook, whereas Dewey’s method focused on the individual student.

Taken from MICUSP: Curriculum Changes in the Progressive Era and Great Depression

More phrases to establish contrast:

Unlike Smith, Jones (2014) has argued …
In contrast to Smith, Jones (2014) maintains …
Despite this, little progress has been made in the ...
However, this system also has a number of serious drawbacks.
On the other hand, in spite of these recent findings about the role of ...,
X is different from Y in a number of respects.
X differs from Y in a number of important ways.
There are a number of important differences between X and Y.
Areas where significant differences have been found include X and Y.
In contrast to earlier findings, however, no evidence of X was detected.
A descriptive case study differs from an exploratory study in that it uses …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

4. Cause-effect

In academic writing, using clear markers of cause-effect allow you as a writer to show the connections between actions and outcomes,

In the following example, the writer frames the research questions around causes and effects.

A handful of scholars have focused on this issue and have used a variety of methods to research the following types of questions: What has caused the growing use of part-time faculty at community colleges? Should it be a concern? What are its effects? How should it be addressed?

Taken from MICUSP: Growing Trend of Part-Time Faculty at Community Colleges.

More phrases to establish cause-effect relations:

X may have been an important factor in ...
X may have contributed to the increase in ...
X may have been caused by an increase in ...
X may have played a vital role in bringing about ...
In the literature, X has been associated with Y.
X in many cases may be associated with ...
There is some evidence that X may affect Y.
It is not yet clear whether X is made worse by Y.
This suggests a weak link may exist between X and Y.
The use of X may be linked to ...

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

5. Emphasis

In academic writing, emphasis is often key to conveying the significance of specific ideas. Emphasizing expressions through careful word choice or repetition ensures that crucial points stand out, enhancing readers' comprehension of your main arguments.

In the following text, the writer emphasizes one particular finding that they want the reader to pay attention to, possibly because this is where their topic leads next.

This increasing population of international students, especially from Asia, in the United States faces special challenges in terms of adaptation to a new living and learning environment at host universities and colleges (Perrucci & Hu, 1995). In addition to academic pressures, many international students tend to experience a variety of adjustment concerns, including language difficulties, insufficient financial resources, social integration, challenges in daily life tasks, homesickness, and role conflicts (Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992). Interestingly, several studies suggest that students from Asia have more difficulty adjusting to life in the United States than international students from non-Asian countries (Abe, Talbot & Geelhoed, 1998).

Taken from MICUSP: International Student Adjustment.

More phrases to demonstrate emphasis:

Most significantly...
Interestingly...
Notably...
Most importantly...
It is well known that …
It is a well-known fact that …
Smith’s well-known argument that …
It is well known among educational researchers that …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

Book a writing consultation (OSSC)

How to Write Paragraphs

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 19:17:19 +0000

How to Write Paragraphs ana.lacerda@ma… Fri, 03/15/2024 - 15:17

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Learn strategies to organize ideas and write effective paragraphs.

There are several strategies for writing paragraphs. They depend on the writing purposes, the type of text, and the writer's preferences. In this resource page you will find some frequently used strategies to organize ideas and draft paragraphs. This resource page will explore five strategies:

Sentence Sorting
Clustering
Funnel
Brainstorming
Sandwich

Sentence Sorting

Getting started on paragraph writing isn’t always easy. When this happens, a good idea is to start brainstorming ideas as sentences. Here are some practical tips:

Clustering

Clustering is a flexible strategy for organizing ideas and points when constructing a paragraph. There is not a single way to use it. The choices will depend on your needs and purposes in your writing. You can define your own categories, hierarchies and relationships among the concepts and ideas, combining and presenting them as you deem pertinent. You can even discard some of them. It is an exercise of choices that allows you to craft your paragraph content according to your intentions.

Have a look at the following example where the process is illustrated.

Funnel

A funnel is a cone-shaped object that is broad at the top and narrows down at the bottom. It looks like an inverted triangle, as depicted in the image on the right.

In academic writing, the funnel strategy is used to organize information within paragraphs from broader ideas to narrower ideas. In other words, it helps place information containing broad ideas at the top, and as you continue downward, the paragraph gradually narrows its focus to more specific information.

Usually, the broader information at the top includes statements, contextual information, and rhetorical elements like quotes, questions, or topic identification. As we move through the funnel to the narrow part, the information incorporates arguments, underpinning points for the argumentation, examples, and more specific and detailed data.

In the example below, the information of the paragraph on the left follows the funnel strategy (from broad to narrow), as shown in the picture on the right.

American higher education is becoming more diverse now than at any previous time (Zhao, Kuh & Carini, 2005). Behind this trend are international students who constitute an increasingly relevant and important source of diversity on college campuses. During the past decade, American colleges and universities have witnessed a steady increase in international studying abroad is an overwhelming transition there are specific adjustment problems. One problem is English language proficiency. Specific evidence of this problem student enrollments. From 1958 to 2005, the population of international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions increased from 43,000 to over 560,000 (Open Doors, 2005). Among that population, Asian students comprise the largest proportion, approximately 58 percent, of all international enrollments (Open Doors, 2005).

Brainstorm Supporting Sentences

Brainstorming and jotting down supporting sentences is helpful when the main idea for your paragraph is clear but you are unsure about how to expand it. This strategy requires you to

write your main idea in a topic sentence format (which can change and be improved as drafts evolve)
brainstorm a list of ideas you think support and expand the main idea.

This strategy also helps you identify “weak” areas where you may need to do more reading to ensure you build a strong argument.

Supporting sentences require as much attention as topic sentences to ensure unity, coherence and clarity. Crafting supporting sentences might not be easy – weaving ideas together may require several attempts until your produce a clear outcome that is logically and organically connected to the topic sentence.

Have a look at the following example where the process is illustrated.

Instructions: Click on the arrows below the progress bar to go to the next page or the previous page.

Sandwich

The “sandwich" strategy helps organize ideas, hierarchies, and roles within the paragraph. The word sandwich is helpful to visualize the structure of the paragraph, having a bun on top representing the topic sentence, the filling as the collection of examples, evidence, and concrete supporting ideas, and the lower bun as the concluding/transition sentence.

Check the example below showing the structure of a paragraph using the sandwich strategy.

You can also check the examples above in the document below:

Paragraph Structure using Sandwich Strategy (example) (61.78 KB, PDF)

For users with accessibility needs: this example shows the structure of a paragraph using the sandwich strategy.

Our Tips

If you find yourself saying or wondering any of the following when crafting paragraphs or longer pieces of writing, these tips are for you!

“But I have so much to say!”

Break down your ideas in small chunks. Avoid writing overly long paragraphs, as they might be more confusing to your readers. Try to be as consistent as possible, ranging from 4 to 6 sentences in a paragraph. Although paragraphs can be longer, you may run the risk of adding unnecessary information.

“I thought my ideas were clear. Weren’t they?”

Don’t assume that your readers are already familiar with the information you are conveying. While you might have a thorough understanding of your subject matter, it is important to recognize that your readers might not share the same level of knowledge. To guide your readers through your content, use clarifications, definitions, and cues to walk your readers through the arguments you present within paragraphs. To learn more about guiding your readers through using specific vocabulary, check our resource page on signposting.

“But I said it in so many ways!”

Redundancy may be a sign that the ideas you are trying to convey are still unclear and need further thinking. Redundancy can be a helpful resource in longer papers or in some academic writing types like dissertations; however, within paragraphs it can be a problem against clarity, as it obscures the main points of your paragraphs. Repeating the same information gives readers the impression that not much is being said. Instead, focus on elaborating solid and simple topic sentences and provide enough and different evidence that can make your ideas clear and on target.

“I thought the language I used was clear. Wasn’t it?”

Paragraphs require proofreading. While proofreading can be time-consuming, it is an essential step. Make sure you set your draft aside for a while, then start the proofreading phase with fresh eyes. Go through your paragraphs one by one so you will perceive your own draft as a reader would. For more proofreading strategies, check our resource page on Revising, Editing & Proofreading.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Summarize

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 16:45:54 +0000

How to Summarize ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 01/23/2024 - 11:45

Skills Categories:

Academic writing

Skills Keywords:

Citations, Grammar, Plagiarism, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:   

Understand the importance of summarization
Differentiate summarization techniques
Create concise and coherent summaries
Avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity
Understand how to use summarization in your research and academic writing

What is Summarizing?

Summarizing is the process of condensing a longer piece of text, such as an article, book, or presentation, into a shorter version while retaining its essential meaning and main points. The purpose of summarizing is to capture the core ideas, key details, and significant arguments or findings of the original content in a more concise and digestible form. Summaries provide readers with a quick overview of the source material, allowing them to grasp the main message without having to read the entire document.

In academic and professional settings, summarizing is a valuable skill that helps you effectively communicate complex information, facilitate understanding, and save time for both the writer and the reader.

Summaries can take various forms, including written summaries, abstracts, executive summaries, and oral presentations, depending on the context and purpose.

To learn more about the definition and purpose of summarizing, check this resource from eCampusOntario.

What is the Difference between Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Direct Quoting?

Summarizing involves condensing the main ideas of a source into a shorter version, capturing the essential points while omitting minor details. Summaries provide an overview of the source's key arguments.

Paraphrasing allows you to rephrase the source's content in your own words, maintaining the original meaning but altering the sentence structure and vocabulary. It requires a deeper engagement with the material and demonstrates your grasp of its nuances. To learn more about paraphrasing, check our resource page on how to paraphrase.

Direct Quoting involves using the exact words from another source and placing them within quotation marks. Direct quotes are valuable when you want to emphasize the author's specific wording, particularly when it's a unique or influential phrasing. To learn more about how and when to use direct quotes, check our resource page on direct quotes.

For more information on the difference between paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing, check this video from St. Michael’s College Library.

Why Do We Summarize in Academic Writing?

Summarizing benefits both writers and readers in various ways. Here you will learn about the purposes and benefits of summarizing.

Improve Understanding: To distill essential information, you must engage actively with source materials, i.e., comprehend the content thoroughly, thus enhancing your overall understanding of the subject matter.
Identify Key Arguments: Summarizing requires you to identify and articulate the key arguments or central points in a source. This process sharpens your critical thinking skills by discerning the most significant aspects of a text.
Evaluate Evidence: When summarizing, you must assess the quality and relevance of the evidence presented in the source. This critical evaluation helps you distinguish between reliable and weak information, fostering a more discerning approach to academic sources.
Write Effective Notes: When you extract the main ideas and supporting details from sources, you create a condensed version that helps you quickly understand and review the material.

Avoid Plagiarism. By condensing source material into your own words, you ensure that your work remains original while still drawing from authoritative sources.
Demonstrate Synthesis Skills: By summarizing various viewpoints and findings from multiple sources, you showcase your ability to integrate diverse perspectives and construct a well-rounded argument.
Maintain Focus and Relevance: By summarizing only pertinent information, you ensure that your writing remains focused on your research question or thesis, avoiding unnecessary digressions.
Integrate Source Material: You can integrate summaries into your writing (e.g., literature review section of your paper) to provide context or support your arguments. This integration enhances the clarity of your writing, making it more persuasive and informative.

What are the Key Components of an Effective Summary?

Main Ideas

At the heart of every summary are the main ideas or key points. These are the central concepts, arguments, or findings that the original text seeks to convey. To identify and convey the main ideas in your summary:

Pay close attention to the introduction and conclusion of the source, as they often contain the central message.
Look for topic sentences in paragraphs, as they frequently introduce key ideas. To learn what topic sentences are, check The Basics of Paragraphs resource.
Identify and emphasize keywords or phrases that encapsulate the main concepts.

Supporting Details

While the main ideas are crucial, effective summaries should also include key supporting details. These details help provide context and evidence for the main points. When incorporating supporting details into your summary:

Be selective: Choose the most relevant and essential supporting details that bolster the main ideas.
Paraphrase: Rephrase and condense the details, maintaining their accuracy and integrity.
Maintain Balance: Ensure that the summary strikes a balance between brevity and completeness by including enough details to support the main ideas.

Conciseness

Conciseness is a hallmark of effective summaries. In academic writing, where clarity and brevity are prized, a summary should distill complex information into a concise format. To achieve conciseness:

Avoid redundancy, i.e., restating the same idea in different words.
Remove unnecessary information such as irrelevant or tangential details.
Use clear and precise language to express ideas succinctly.

Objectivity

Objectivity is a critical component of academic writing and extends to summaries as well. An effective summary should present the information in an unbiased and neutral manner. To ensure objectivity in your summary:

Avoid Personal Opinions: Do not insert your personal opinions, biases, or judgments into the summary.
Maintain the Author's Voice: Preserve the author's tone and perspective from the original text.
Accurate Representation: Strive for an accurate representation of the source material, even if you disagree with it.

For more tips on effective techniques to summarize in academic writing, check this resource from Trent University.

Summary Example

Read the example below and click on the hotspots that illustrate the main elements of this summary.

Original text

America has changed dramatically during recent years. Not only has the number of graduates in traditional engineering disciplines such as mechanical, civil, electrical, chemical, and aeronautical engineering declined, but in most of the premier American universities engineering curricula now concentrate on and encourage largely the study of engineering science. As a result, there are declining offerings in engineering subjects dealing with infrastructure, the environment, and related issues, and greater concentration on high technology subjects, largely supporting increasingly complex scientific developments. While the latter is important, it should not be at the expense of more traditional engineering.

Rapidly developing economies such as China and India, as well as other industrial countries in Europe and Asia, continue to encourage and advance the teaching of engineering. Both China and India, respectively, graduate six and eight times as many traditional engineers as does the United States. Other industrial countries at minimum maintain their output, while America suffers an increasingly serious decline in the number of engineering graduates and a lack of well-educated engineers. (169 words)

(Source: Excerpted from Frankel, E.G. (2008, May/June) Change in education: The cost of sacrificing fundamentals. MIT Faculty Newsletter, XX, 5, 13.)

One-paragraph Summary

How to Write Effective Summaries

The video below shows you how to make summaries by using a sample text on Generative Artificial Intelligence. You can pause the video to read the text, notes and final summary more in detail.

iframe not supported

Adapted from: Keyhani, M., Hemmati, H., Arzuaga, L. S., & Conversation, T. (2023). Why student experiments with generative AI matter for our collective learning. Phys.org. Retrieved March 1, 2024, from https://phys.org/news/2023-11-student-generative-ai.html

Common Challenges in Summarizing

Check the presentation below to learn about common challenges students face when summarizing.

Instructions: Click on the arrows below the progress bar to go to the next page or the previous page.

Common Types of Summaries in Academic Writing With Samples

Click the left column to learn about each type of summary. Then click the right column to read an example.

Abstracts

Abstracts are concise summaries of research papers, articles, or other academic documents. They serve as a standalone representation of the main content, making it easier for readers to decide whether the full text is worth their time. Key elements of an abstract include:

Purpose: Clearly state the purpose and objectives of the study.
Methods: Briefly describe the research methods or approach used.
Results: Summarize the main findings or results of the study.
Conclusions: Present the conclusions or implications of the research.

Remember, an abstract should be brief, typically ranging from 150 to 250 words, and it should provide a clear overview of the entire paper.

Executive Summaries

Executive summaries are similar to abstracts but are more commonly used in business and technical writing. They condense lengthy reports or documents into a concise format for decision-makers or stakeholders. Key points to consider when writing an executive summary include:

Context: Provide a brief introduction to the document and its purpose.
Summary: Highlight the most important findings, recommendations, or actions.
Conciseness: Keep it brief, ideally no more than one page.
Audience: Tailor the language and content to the intended audience's level of expertise.

Critical Summaries

Critical summaries go beyond mere description and involve evaluating and analyzing a text's content. This type of summarization requires you to assess the strengths and weaknesses of an argument or piece of research. Here are some key elements to consider:

Main Argument: Identify the author's main argument or thesis.
Evidence: Evaluate the quality and relevance of supporting evidence.
Logic: Assess the logical flow and coherence of the argument.
Bias: Be aware of potential biases in the text and their implications.

Critical summaries are valuable for engaging with and critiquing academic literature, making them an essential component of literature reviews.

Abstract Sample

“During settlement, migrant youth negotiate between various transitional spaces, which include educational, mediated and transnational spaces. To what extent can critical media literacy education acknowledge and strengthen young migrants’ resilience? In this article, we evaluate the Netherlands-based participatory action research project Critical media literacy through making media. Gathered empirical data include participant observation in two classes, in-depth interviews with 3 teachers and 19 students, as well an 18-minute film reflection. The focus is on how understandings, procedures and affectivity shape young migrants’ mindful media literacy practice. In order to develop media literacy education which works for all, we need to move away from a one-sizefits-all model based on the norms of Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic societies. Drawing on our experiences of co-creating, practicing and evaluating a curriculum with teachers and migrant students, we demonstrate the urgency of situated, reflexive, flexible, culture and context-aware critical media literacy education.”

Source: “Practicing Critical Media Literacy Education With/For Young Migrants: Lessons Learned” Bruinenberg, Sprenger, Omerović, and Leurs, 2021.

Executive Summary Sample

The National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners

The 1989 Education Summit led to the adoption of six National Education Goals, later expanded to eight by Congress.2 Essentially, the Goals state that by the year 2000:

All children will start school ready to learn.
The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90%.
All students will become competent in challenging subject matter.
Teachers will have the knowledge and skills that they need.
U.S. students will be first in the world in mathematics and science achievement.
Every adult American will be literate.
Schools will be safe, disciplined, and free of guns, drugs, and alcohol.
Schools will promote parental involvement and participation.

The National Education Goals Panel was formed shortly after the Goals were announced in 1990. The Panel was charged with reporting national and state progress toward the Goals, identifying promising practices for improving education, and helping to build a nationwide, bipartisan consensus to achieve the Goals.

Source: National Education Goals Panel. (1999). The National Education Goals report: Building a nation of learners, 1999. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Critical Summary Sample

Participants and their contexts - Survey

An online survey was developed to collect demographic, as well other data relevant to the focus of this study. The link to the survey was sent to the 45 Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) members who had responded to the invitation sent to all AECT members, indicating their interest to participate in the study. Of this group, only 26 people (57.8%) completed the online survey. Table 1 shows a breakdown of the demographic characteristics of this sample.

The majority who completed the survey were women (73.8%). The respondents were also mainly from the higher education sector (84.6%). Age wise, most of them (73.1%) were in the 30's to 50's age range. Eight of the 26 respondents (30.8%) were from institutions outside the United States with representation from almost every continent; Eurasia (Azerbaijan and Georgia), Africa (Nigeria), Asia (Indonesia), Europe (United Kingdom) and North America (Canada). In addition, the respondents also represent a myriad of perspectives, experiencing the impact of the global pandemic in a variety of roles. In higher education, among the respondents were doctoral students; instructional designers including those with administrative and academi c duties related to instructional design; full-time faculty, some of whom also served in academic administrative roles; adjuncts, as well as a librarian who also serves as a liaison to one of the colleges on campus. In the K-12 arena, there were a few teachers bringing their perspectives from the elementary, middle and high school contexts. Finally, there was also representation from one of the departments in government bringing the perspective of an instructional designer and training management advisor on the impact of the pandemic on the execution of training programs. (Nethi and Simonson, 2020)

Nethi, V., & Simonson, M. (2020). SUMMARY: Trends, Critical Issues, and Observations--Instructional Technology in a Time of Crisis. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 21(3).

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

Book a writing consultation (OSSC)

How to Paraphrase

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 15:52:35 +0000

How to Paraphrase ana.lacerda@ma… Thu, 08/31/2023 - 11:52

Skills Categories:

Academic writing

Skills Keywords:

Citations, Grammar, Plagiarism, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand what paraphrasing means and why it’s important in scholarly work
Learn the differences between paraphrasing, direct quoting and summarizing
Use strategies for effective paraphrasing
Understand the ethical considerations when paraphrasing others’ content

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing involves expressing the ideas, concepts, or arguments from a source text in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. The main focus of paraphrasing is content - not language. The ultimate goal is not to replace the words of a sentence with others, but to demonstrate your understanding of the source content and your ability to convey its core message using different words and structures.

What is the Difference between Paraphrasing, Direct Quoting and Summarizing?

While paraphrasing shares similarities with direct quoting and summarizing, it has a distinct purpose in academic writing. Paraphrasing allows you to rephrase the source's content in your own words, maintaining the original meaning but altering the sentence structure and vocabulary. It requires a deeper engagement with the material and demonstrates your grasp of its nuances.

Direct Quoting involves using the exact words from a source and placing them within quotation marks. Direct quotes are valuable when you want to emphasize the author's specific wording, particularly when it's a unique or influential phrasing. To learn more about how and when to use direct quotes, check our resource page on direct quotes.

For more information on the difference between paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing, check this video from St. Michael’s College Library and the Writing Advice page at the University of Toronto.

Why do we Paraphrase in Academic Writing?

Paraphrasing is more than just a writing exercise or manipulating words; it’s a strategic tool that offers many benefits to your academic work. Here you will learn about the purposes and advantages of paraphrasing.

Better Understanding

Paraphrasing requires you to think deeply about the content of source materials. In order to rephrase an idea, you need to process and digest it, leading to better comprehension of the idea itself and of how it relates to your own thoughts. Through paraphrasing, you demonstrate that you understand complex concepts and can connect them to your research goals.

Clarity

When you paraphrase, you can clarify complex ideas, ensuring your readers grasp the concepts without ambiguity.

Synthesis

By paraphrasing, you can tailor the paraphrased content to fit your context, eliminating redundancies or unnecessary details present in the original source.

Integration of Multiple Sources

When you paraphrase, you compare, contrast and synthesize ideas from multiple sources drawing connections between different perspectives.

Contextualization

Paraphrasing allows you to incorporate others’ ideas and show how they relate to your own topic and perspective.

Originality and Creativity

Paraphrasing helps you avoid the overuse of direct quotes, allowing you to express others' ideas in your own voice and showcasing your analytical and interpretive skills.

For more on the significance and advantages of paraphrasing, check these resources from The OWL at Purdue. and ecampusontario.

Strategies for Effective Paraphrasing

The following tips will help you rephrase others’ ideas while maintaining the essence of the original content.

Paraphrasing Examples

See below more examples of paraphrased content with feedback about their strengths and issues.

For more information and strategies to integrate others’ research and ideas into your own writing, check our resource page on how to write about others' research.

Avoiding Plagiarism when Paraphrasing

There are several ethical considerations when it comes to others’ work even when it’s expressed in your own words. Paraphrasing without proper credit can lead to plagiarism, misrepresenting the true source of ideas and damaging academic integrity and trust within the academic community. Maintaining academic integrity is thus paramount when paraphrasing.

Responsible paraphrasing involves not only rephrasing but providing proper citations, showcasing ethical integrity and respect for others' intellectual contributions.

Why cite paraphrased material?

Intellectual Theft: Paraphrasing without attribution is a form of intellectual theft, violating principles of fairness and respect by appropriating others' intellectual property.
Violation of Scholarly Norms: Ignoring proper attribution disrupts academia's collaborative nature and violates the fundamental scholarly norm of acknowledging sources.
Academic and Professional Consequences: Paraphrasing without proper attribution can result in academic and professional repercussions, potentially leading to disciplinary actions, damaged relationships, and missed opportunities.
Undermining Personal Growth: Failing to attribute sources limits personal growth opportunities, including learning from others, expanding knowledge, and enhancing critical thinking abilities.

Other strategies to avoid plagiarism when paraphrasing are:

Reference Checking: Compare your paraphrased version with the source to ensure accuracy. If you're uncertain, return to the source to clarify.
Mixing Sources: Avoid relying only on a single source for paraphrasing. Blend information from multiple sources to create a comprehensive understanding.
Quotation for Uniqueness: if a specific phrase or concept is exceptionally well-expressed in the source, consider using a direct quote within your paraphrased content.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

Book a writing consultation (OSSC)

Advice on Academic Writing

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Sat, 22 Apr 2023 20:29:32 +0000

Advice on Academic Writing ana.lacerda@ma… Sat, 04/22/2023 - 16:29

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Citations, Grammar, Plagiarism, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Navigate academic writing from a UofT perspective.

Introduction

Advice on Academic Writing is a website with practical tips and strategies on academic writing created by writing advisors at UofT. Resources are organized in the following categories: planning, researching, using sources, revising, types of writing, and English language.

You can access Advice on Academic Writing at Writing Advice | University of Toronto (utoronto.ca)

Our Tips

The resources on this website are directed to UofT students of any level and discipline. When checking a resource, determine whether it is suitable for your graduate-level writing and your discipline.
Check the Writer’s Block page whenever you are struggling with starting an assignment. This resource will help you understand assignment instructions, narrow down topics, and will provide tips to understand common reasons for having a writer’s block.
After you finish your assignment, start your editing process from the Hit Parade of Errors to check the most common grammatical, punctuation and style errors.

Grammar

Revising, Editing & Proofreading

Table of Contents

This Resource Page Will Help You:

Introduction

Step 1: Revising

What is Revising?

How to Revise your Paper: Reverse outlining

Step 2: Editing

What is Editing?

How to Edit your Paper

1. Sentence Structure

2. Clarity

3. Concision

4. Vocabulary usage

5. Grammatical accuracy

6. Tone and formality

7. Consider the audience

Step 3: Proofreading

What is Proofreading?

How to Proofread your Paper

1. Find a sample APA paper

2. Upgrade your punctuation

Example Paper

Our Tips

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Draft an Academic Paper

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

Step 1: Understand the Structure of Academic Papers

Research Papers

Standalone Literature Reviews

Other Types of Academic Papers

Step 2: Create an Outline

Step 3: Draft / Write

Example of a Standalone Literature Review

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

On Campus Services

How to Write Cohesively

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

What is Cohesion?

How to Write Cohesively?

1. Repeat key nouns

2. Use pronouns consistently

3. Use transitions to link ideas

4. Arrange ideas in a logical order

Types of Transitions

1. Transitions between sections

2. Transitions between paragraphs

3. Transitions within paragraphs

Our Tips

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

On Campus Services

How to Talk to your Readers: Signposting

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

Signposting Order

1. Listing

2. Foreshadowing

3. Changing Topic

4. Going Backward

5. Progress

6. Summary

Signposting Relations

1. Explaining

2. Similarity

3. Contrast

4. Cause-effect

5. Emphasis

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

This Resource Page will help you:   