120 hr. TEFL Course Module 6-Listening (Pt.9 Why Paraphrase?)

6.2.3 How paraphrasing helps students

We have already hinted at all the ways paraphrasing can help your students master the English language, but we should take some time to explicitly review the benefits of this activity.

• When you use oral text for this activity, it helps your students improve their ability to listen to and comprehend English. As we stated before, they need to be able to recognize the sounds they are hearing, identify the meaning of what they are hearing, and then turn that information into something new. Students need to be able to not only translate the language but also what is actually being said to re-create it.
• This activity also works on other skills even if they are not the focus. When you have your students read a text to each other, you also practice all of the skills involved in reading out loud, including decoding, pronunciation, and reading comprehension.

• Learning how to paraphrase naturally will help your students when they begin developing their conversational English. As they become more comfortable with the language, they will need to be able to take in what people are saying, process it, and respond appropriately. While this activity does not require the students to respond appropriately, it definitely helps them with the rest of the conversation.
• If you choose to have your students paraphrase with written text, then it does not really help them practice their listening skills, but it certainly would help them improve their reading skills.
• Paraphrasing text helps students make connections with their own knowledge. This happens in a few different ways:
  • Students make connections to their native language or cognates that helps them understand and relay the information that is given to them.
  • Students connect to what is being said on a personal level and are able to paraphrase the speech because they feel personally invested in it.
  • The activity takes on a much more interesting and less monotonous feel because you are no longer asking the students to simply echo back what they have heard; you are asking them to comprehend and create something of their own with it.