Lecture Communication skill: Chapter 2 - Tracey Bretag, Joanna Crossman, Sarbari Bordia

Chapter 2 - Note-taking, paraphrasing and summarising. On completion of this chapter students will know how to: take notes from oral and written sources, summarise written text, paraphrase relevant information from references and use quotations.

Chapter 2

Note-taking, paraphrasing and

summarising

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Learning objectives

On completion of this chapter students will

know how to:

• take notes from oral and written sources

• summarise written text

• paraphrase relevant information from

references

• use quotations

• Note-taking is an essential skill for retaining information from:

– lectures – readings – oral presentations and discussions.

• Eunson (2005) states that the process of

prioritising relevant information from a whole mass of information is called ‘tactile

thinking’

• Tactile thinking is used for efficient

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• Use any method or a combination of

methods but be consistent for efficient recovery of notes

Note-taking from lectures

• Less time for note-taking at lectures than

from reading materials

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Note-taking from written

sources

• Maintaining careful notes from your

resources is a key skill in writing a research essay

• Develop your own style (e.g note cards,

indexed files, software such as Endnote)

• Be meticulous!

Key referencing

information

• If the notes are from a book write down:

– Author name(s) – Year of publication – Page number

– Title of book – Place of publication – Publisher’s name

• If the notes are from a journal write down:

– Author name(s) – Title of article – Page numbers – Year of publication – Name of journal – Volume and issue numbers

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Key referencing information

Electronic note-taking

• Different from note-taking from electronic

sources

• Many software programs (e.g OneNote,

Internet clipboards, PasteHere) assist electronic note-taking

• Software primarily operates on a copy/paste method

• Notes taken in this way must be

paraphrased before insertion into written

documents to avoid plagiarism

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Electronic reference storage

• Software programs such as Endnote

accurately store information for the generation of reference lists but students will not gain practice in writing the lists manually

• Use them to store a large number of

references

• Practise writing the list by hand according to styles such as Harvard, APA and MLA

• Three components:

– Equal coverage of all parts of the text

• Follow the headings and subheadings

– Objective presentation of the text (not your opinion)

– Your own words

• Be brief but thorough

• Most useful for noting large slabs of

information

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– Write main points in your own words.

– Write important material in relation to the main points.

– Re-draft summary, adding or deleting materials if necessary.

• See examples on next slide and also in

Chapter 4: Academic conventions,

pp 74–76

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p 40)

customers, portray itself as being different from other brands selling similar services or products and provide a future vision of the company (Aker & Joachimsthaler, 2000)

• Longer, new structure, and synonyms used where appropriate

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• Most key words are unchanged and the

structure of the original has been kept

Six steps in paraphrasing

1 Read original passage and understand the

meaning fully (several readings)

2 Find synonyms for the information words.

3 Make notes from the original passage.

4 Write the paraphrase from your notes.

5 Check your paraphrase to see if all the

information from the original is included and you are not plagiarising the passage

6 Reference the source appropriately in-text

as well as in the reference list

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Quoting from sources

• Use quotations only when the original words add to your argument

• Ask yourself:

– Does the quotation support my argument?

– Is it memorable?

– Does it add the weight of an authority?

– Is the quotation necessary because it provides the specific details of a law or regulation?

Quoting from sources

• Show quotation marks and the full

reference, including the page number

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Summary: Note-taking

• Helps students prioritise and remember

material

• Uses shortened forms of words or phrases

• Places details under subheadings

• Can be done in any method the student is comfortable with

Summary: Summarising

• Shorter version of the original

• Three main components:

– equal coverage – unbiased

– rewritten in your own words.

• Five steps:

– skim reading – detailed reading – writing of main points – writing of essential elements of main points – redrafting.

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– writing a paraphrase – revising the paraphrase – referencing.

Summary: Quoting

• Should be done only if it is memorable or the paraphrase leads to loss of essence or

meaning

• Includes the words, grammar and

punctuation of the original writing

• Material that is added to or deleted from the original text should be inserted in

parentheses