• Learn to identify relevant information or key ideas; • Combine details or examples that support the main ideas/s; • Concentrate on the gist or main idea and key words presented in the text; and, • Capture the key ideas in the text and put them together clearly and concisely. NOT SUMMARIZING? • Write down everything; • Write down ideas from the text word-to- word; • Write down incoherent and irrelevant ideas; • Write down ideas that are not stated in the text; or • Write down a summary that has the same length or is longer than the original text. GUIDELINES IN SUMMARIZING 1. Clarify your purpose before you read. 2. Read the text and understand the meaning. Do not stop reading until you understand the message conveyed by the author. Locate the gist or main idea of the text, which can usually be found either at the beginning, in middle, or in the end. 3. Select and underline or circle the key ideas and phrases while reading: another strategy is to annotate key GUIDELINES IN SUMMARIZING 4. Write all the key ideas and phrases you identified on the margins or on your notebook in a bullet or outline form. 5. Without looking at the text, identify the connections of these key ideas and phrases using a concept map. 6. List your ideas in sentences form in a concept GUIDELINES IN SUMMARIZING 7. Combine the sentences into paragraph. Use appropriate transitional devices to improve cohesion. 8. Ensure that you do not copy a single sentence from original text. 9. Refrain from adding comments about the GUIDELINES IN SUMMARIZING 10. Edit the draft of your summary by eliminating redundant ideas. 11. Compare your output with the original text to ensure accuracy. 12.Record the details of the original source (author’s name/s, date of publication, title, publisher; place of publishing and URL(if online). It is not necessary to indicate the page number/s GUIDELINES IN SUMMARIZING 13. Format your summary properly. When you combine your summaries in a paragraph, use different formats to show variety in writing. FORMATS IN SUMMARIZING • Idea Heading Format - The summarize idea comes before the citation Example: Bench marking is a useful strategy that has the potential to help public officials improve the performance of local services (Folz, 2004; Ammons, 2001). Once the practice of a particular city is benchmarked, it can be a guidepost and the basis for the other counterparts to improve its own FORMATS IN SUMMARIZING • Author Heading Format - The summarize idea comes after the citation. The author’s name/s is/are connected by an appropriate reporting verb. Example: The considerable number of users of FB has led educators to utilize FB for communicating with their students (Grant, 2008; as cited in Donmus, 2010). The study of Kabilan, Ahmad and Abidin (2010) shows that the students perceived FB as an online environment to expedite language learning specifically English. Donmus (2010) asserts that educational games on FB fecundate learning process and make students’ learning environment more engaging. As regards literacy, this notion reveals that FB could be used as a tool to aid individuals execute a range of social acts through social literacy implementation(ibid). Blackstone and Hardwood (2012) suggest the facilitative strength of FB as it either elicits greater engagement on collaboration among students. FORMATS IN SUMMARIZING • Date Heading Format - The summarized idea comes after the date when the material was published Example: On the other hand, active participation of the citizens in development contributes to a sound and reasonable government decisions. In their 2004 study on the impact of participatory development approach, Irvin and Stansbury argue that participants can be valuable to the participants and the government in terms of the process and outcomes of decision making. USING REPORTING VERBS • A reporting verb is a word used to discuss another person’s writings or assertions. • They are generally used to incorporate the source to the discussion in the text. Having a syntactically, correct sentence is not enough to create meaning. As Noam Chomsky pointed out, a sentence can be perfect in terms of syntax and still not make sense. He showed this by coming up with the famous sentence, “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously” (Chomsky, 1957) USING REPORTING VERBS • Hyland (1999) lists a frequency of reporting verbs used according to discipline. Discipline Reporting Verbs from left to right, most common to least common
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