READING AND WRITING STRATEGIES FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL TEXTS

PLAGIARISM

It is a serious form of academic dishonesty and is frowned upon in the academe. It is defines as the copying verbatim of language and ideas of other writers and taking the credit for them.

Two types of Plagiarism

• Plagiarism of ideas

• Plagiarism of language

Plagiarism of Ideas

Occurs when credit for a work is ascribed to oneself untruthfully.

Example:

If one writes a paper on the theory or relativity of physics and no mention of Einstein given, the writer explicitly or implicitly claims that this theory is his or hers. Plagiarism of ideas has been committed.

Author-oriented citation

It start with the surname of the author, followed by the year of publication in parenthesis. Verbs of statement such as argues, posits, and emphasizes at the start of paragraph or sentence may be used.

Author-oriented citation example

Pulido (2012) believes that language in an online environment can be understood if other modes of online communication are further analyzed to provide a full account of interaction in virtual worlds.

Text-oriented citation

A paragraph or sentence from a source is followed with the surname of the author of the work and year of publication. The citation must be enclosed in parentheses.

Text-oriented citation example

Unless educators realize the importance of reading and writing across subject areas, problems in comprehension of subject matter will be a prominent issue in the teaching learning process (Estacio, 2010).

Another way of citation

Start the sentence or paragraph by using the phrase “According to…” followed by the surname of the author and the year of publication enclosed in parentheses.

Another way of citation example

According to Mendoza (1990), by the end of the century, our fuel reserves will be reduced to half, the scarcity of energy supplies will be a big problem.

Citation for images

1. Luna’s Spoliarium (1884) inspired several artists in music and creative writing to produce works related to this powerful painting.

2. In 1884, Luna’s Spoliarium presented the different aspects of Philippine life.

Citation for video

1. Spencer’s (2009) “The Matchmaker” shows the different experiences of artists when they struggle with stardom and deal with the

consequences of fame and fortune.

2. “The Matchmaker” (Spencer, 2009) accurately captures the trials and tribulations of fame and fortune or artists making it big in show business.

Citation for music

1. The Beatles’ song “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) features John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s genius that will influence generations of musicians to create songs that challenge the norm.

2. John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) which is considered as one of the Beatles’ greatest hits in their illustrious career.

Plagiarism of Language

happens when an author uses the language of another writer and claims it as his or her own.

Using direct quotations

It is employed for statements that are so closely associated that altering the words may lose its rhetorical impact. For instance, the statement of Ninoy Aquino, “ The Filipino is worth dying for” is too short to be summarized and the rhetorical impact of the work is lessened if the statement is paraphrased.

quotations

1. Using direct quotations means o lift text and enclose them in quotations included.

Example:

“Globalization is just a covert term for colonization” (Reyes, 1994, p.2)

three dots

If text is too long, you may omit certain parts and replace them with an ellipsis (three dots), If the words omitted are at the end of the statement, another dots is added, making it four.

Interpolation

Interpolation may be done to insert notes within the directly quoted passage to help readers understand the context of the statement. Interpolation is marked by open and closed brackets.

Summarizing

Summarizing is a short restatement of the main idea of the text. Ideally, it is a third of the original text of your paper.

Tips for developing your summary.

1. Make sure to read the text thoroughly and highlight the important details in the text. Bear in mind that certain details have relationships (cause and effect for example) and these need to be noted as well.

2. After getting the main idea/s, use your own words in your summary. Make sure to check if the relationship between ideas are established.

3.When done with your summary, recheck your output with the original to see if your outputs does not stray from the original text. You may seek your teacher or peer’s feedback.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is a statement in your own words of the main idea and the supporting details of the text. A paraphrase may match the length of the original work. Though paraphrasing may be considered more challenging that summarizing, paraphrasing allows little opportunities for misinterpretation on the part of the reader as you account for both major and minor points.

Tips for paraphrasing

1. Read the text thoroughly, nothing both main ideas and supporting details. If confronted with a long text, you may outline these ideas to distinguish the major points from the minor ones.

2. After identifying these, carefully state the major and minor points in your own words, making sure that the relationship between and among these ideas are observed.

3. Finally, when the paraphrase is done, compare your work with the original to make sure that the original intensions of the author are not change.

Several ways of paraphrasing

1. Literal paraphrasing:

- This type only replaces vocabulary terms from the original text.

2. Structural paraphrasing:

- This type changes the sentence structure as well as word class of key words of the original text.

3. Alternative paraphrasing:

- In this type, the writer first poses questions about the text such as what the text is about, how the main idea is supported and the stand of the author about the topic. Then, the writer answers these question using his/her own words after reading the text; making sure that all ideas are connected.