ACADEMIC SPEAKING SKILLSPARAPHRASING, RETELLING, AND SUMMARIZING

What’s the difference?

BASIC DEFINITIONS

ParaphrasingSaying the same thing as someone else, but in different words.

RetellingTelling a story that you previously heard or read.

Summarizing

Telling the main ideas of a text.

THOSE SOUND THE SAME!HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT?

ParaphrasingSaying the same thing, but in different words.

Retelling

Telling a story that you previously heard or read.

Summarizing

Telling the important parts of a text.

You can choose how much to paraphrase.

Paraphrasing can be spoken or written.

Retelling preserves the sequence and important details of a story.

Retelling is spoken.

Summaries are shorter than the original, but must include certain ideas.

Summaries can be spoken or written.

How much to say:

How to say it:

PARAPHRASING

• In writing, we paraphrase to report information.

• The best way to paraphrase is to understand an idea, and then describe it.

• If you understand the idea, and describe it, you will naturally use different words.

(Copying the exact sentence and changing a few words is not paraphrasing!)

• In speaking, we paraphrase to make sure we understand someone’s idea.

“So, what you’re saying is that you can’t afford to go on a vacation.”

• We also paraphrase to relate information from one person to another.

“She said we’d be in trouble if we weren’t here on time every day.”

Writing Speaking

SUMMARIZING

• Summaries can be written or spoken.

• The purpose of a summary is to tell the most important parts of something.• The main ideas.• The most important details.

• A summary is always shorter than the original.

SUMMARIZING: EXAMPLES

SUMMARY 3:

Two friends decided to skip school and go fishing.

ORIGINAL:

Tom and Bill were walking to school. They passed over a bridge, as they did every day. But on this day, the river was full, the water was clear, and the sun was shining in a cloudless sky.

Tom said, “Let’s go fishing!”

Bill wasn’t so sure. “We have a test today. Shouldn’t we go to class?”

“Nonsense,” said Tom. “You only live once. A day like this won’t come along again.”

Bill wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but suddenly a fish jumped from the sparkling water. He decided Tom was right; they should definitely skip class on such a nice day!

SUMMARY 1:

Tom and Bill were walking to school on a beautiful day. Tom thought they should go fishing. Bill thought they should go to school, because they had a test. Tom thought it would be a shame to waste the day. Bill finally agreed.SUMMARY 2:

Walking to school on a nice day, Tom couldn’t resist skipping school and going fishing. Bill only agreed because of Tom’s persuasion and the nice day.

RETELLING

• Retelling a story comes naturally to some people.

• When we tell a joke we have heard, we are retelling.

• Retelling stories and events serves an important purpose in daily life.

Can you think of some reasons we retell stories?

ORAL TRADITION• The phrase “oral tradition” describes

a way to pass on culture and history without writing it down.

• Ancient history was kept in this way.

• Many cultures still value this way of keeping their stories and past alive.

Native Americans sitting in a circle, some playing drums Sept 29, 1903 Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0001533. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum.

Discussion• What stories are important in your

culture? How are they retold now?

• Which of these stories do you know?

SOME VOCABULARY FOR STORYTELLING

Folk talea traditional story ▪ West African folktales that continue to be passed from generation to generation through storytelling

Fairy tale1 : a simple children's story about magical creatures ▪ the fairy tale about the sleeping princess

2 : a false story that is meant to trick people ▪ Everything he told us about his happy marriage was just a fairy tale.

SOME VOCABULARY FOR STORYTELLING

Legendplural leg·ends

1 : a story from the past that is believed by many people but cannot be proved to be true

Myth1 : an idea or story that is believed by many people but that is not true

2: a story that was told in an ancient culture to explain a practice, belief, or natural occurrence

“legend." Learnersdictionary.com. 2013. http://www.learnersdictionary.com (21 May 2013).

“myth." Learnersdictionary.com. 2013. http://www.learnersdictionary.com (21 May 2013).

VOCABULARY FOR STORYTELLING

trickster

a cunning or deceptive character appearing in various forms in the folklore of many cultures

underworld

the place where dead people go in Greek myths

demigod

“underworld." Merriam-Webster.com. 2011. http://www.merriam-webster.com (21 May 2013).

a person in mythology who has some of the powers of a god …[or] who is part god and part human

“demigod." Merriam-Webster.com. 2011. http://www.merriam-webster.com (21 May 2013).“trickster." Merriam-Webster.com. 2011.

http://www.merriam-webster.com (21 May 2013).

A TRICKSTER TALE: HOW WILDCAT CAUGHT A TURKEY

http://www.npr.org/2010/06/06/127483926/native-american-folk-tales-take-a-graphic-turn (four minutes)

• Watch this video, and then read a traditional myth from another culture. • Present your myth to the rest of the class.