academic writing

QUESTION
Write brief notes on the following reading and writing interface skills:
a) Summarising
b) Paraphrasing
c) Synthesising
How can a Commerce student make use of these skills in compiling material for an assignment?

One of the most important aspects of academic writing is making use of the ideas of other people. This is important as one need to show that he or she has understood the material and that one can use their ideas and findings in their own way. Spack (1988, p. 42) has pointed out that the most important skill a student can engage in is "the complex activity to write from other texts", which is "a major part of their academic experience." The writer must not use another person 's words or ideas as if they were his or her own: this is Plagiarism and plagiarism is regarded as a very serious offence. http://www.uefap.com/writing/report/repfram.htm defines summarising as getting the main ideas from a given text, passage or chapter and rewriting them in one’s own words. Normally the summary is shorter than the original passage or chapter and it gives an overview. It also highlights the stages useful in summarising which include reading and understanding the text carefully, thinking about the purpose of the text, selecting relevant information, finding the main ideas, changing the structure of the text and rewriting the main ideas in complete sentences. A good summary shows that one has understood the text but excludes all examples, illustrations, comparatives and superlatives.
A paraphrase is a personal version of the given passage. According to http://grandmotherstories.blogspot.com/2006/03/paraphrasing-and-synthesizing.html there are six steps of paraphrasing. Firstly rereading the original passage until the reader has understood its full meaning. Secondly, setting the original aside and writing one’s own paraphrase on a note card then jotting down a few words below the paraphrase. Also, checking rendition with the original to make sure that the writer’s version accurately expresses all essential information in a new form then using quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology which has been borrowed exactly from the source. Lastly when paraphrasing one has to record the source including the page. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage.
According to http://www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz/study-with-us/study-resources-for-students/assignments/how-to-quote-paraphrase-and-summarise/ synthesising means combining information and ideas from a number of different sources and rewriting them in one’s own words. A good synthesis accurately reports information from sources and from the author of the paper. It is organized in a manner that allows readers to quickly see points of agreement and divergence among the sources, untangles the relationships between the sources and helps the reader understand them and the topic in greater depth.
When a commerce student is compiling material for an assignment it is wise to use summarising, paraphrasing and synthesising. This is because the work of other writers can provide information, evidence and ideas. http://www.uefap.com/writing/report/repfram.htm states that the object of academic writing is for the writer to say something for his or herself using the ideas of the subject, in order to present ideas he or she have learned in their own way. The writer can do this by reporting the works of others in his or her own words. The writer can either paraphrase to keep the length the same, summarise to make the text shorter or synthesise if he or she needs to use information from several sources. In all cases one needs to acknowledge other people 's work. When paraphrasing, summarising or synthesising original texts, the writer should ensure that he or she retains the original meaning and also that the writer’s version is not too similar to the original text.

REFERENCES http://www.uefap.com/writing/report/repfram.htm accessed 14/10/13 http://grandmotherstories.blogspot.com/2006/03/paraphrasing-and-synthesizing.html accessed 14/10/13 http://www.slideshare.net/l2teacher23/summary-paraphrase-synthesis accessed 14/10/13 http://www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz/study-with-us/study-resources-for-students/assignments/how-to-quote-paraphrase-and-summarise/ accessed 14/10/13
Spack (1988, p. 42)

References: http://www.uefap.com/writing/report/repfram.htm accessed 14/10/13 http://grandmotherstories.blogspot.com/2006/03/paraphrasing-and-synthesizing.html accessed 14/10/13 http://www.slideshare.net/l2teacher23/summary-paraphrase-synthesis accessed 14/10/13 http://www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz/study-with-us/study-resources-for-students/assignments/how-to-quote-paraphrase-and-summarise/ accessed 14/10/13 Spack (1988, p. 42)