120 hr. TEFL Course Module 6-Listening (Pt.7 Paraphrase)

Module 6: Listening

6.2 Paraphrase what you hear

People tend to think that paraphrasing someone is easier than quoting them directly, but that just isn’t true. To effectively paraphrase, you need to understand what the person has said enough to put their words into your own words. That is why this is a great skill for your students to practice; it will test their ability to listen to someone speak, process the words, and then rewrite them in their own words. In many ways, this task is much more difficult than transcription. Since paraphrasing is such a difficult skill for your students to master, let’s take a closer look at how you can help them develop their skills.

6.2.1 Teaching students to paraphrase

There are many different ways that you can teach your students to paraphrase more effectively, and it is definitely an important skill to practice with them.

1. Start out slowly and informally. Have your students pair up (or get into small groups) and practice paraphrasing. You can even have them start in their native language if you want to practice the process. Give the students a simple question, such as “What did you do this weekend?” Have the students interview each other and then try to paraphrase what their partner tells them. This helps them work on both speaking and listening skills.
2. Do it with them. When you are starting to teach the skill and process of paraphrasing, model the activity by participating in it with them. Start by asking a student a question and then paraphrasing his or her answer for the class. Then do the same thing, but ask the class to help you paraphrase. By initiating the process together, you will make your students feel more comfortable, and you will show them how it should be done.
3. As you are modeling the process with the students, help them understand how to paraphrase better by introducing four strategies they can use:
   • Reword: The student replaces words with synonyms whenever he or she can.
   • Rearrange: The student rearranges a sentence so that it sounds different but conveys the same message. You will have to model this for them directly.
   • Accept: Let the students know they will not be able to change every word (nor should they), so they need to learn to make decisions on what needs to be changed and what should stay the same.
   • Recheck: Have the students read over the paraphrased version they have written and evaluate it based on how accurate it is to the original message. If you have the students working together, have the student who delivered the speech check the student who paraphrased for accuracy. You can also use this as an assessment tool and evaluate it yourself.