What is Paraphrasing in IELTS writing and speaking?

Effective Paraphrasing

• In IELTS, if you are unable to paraphrase you’ll receive a low Band Score, because you won’t have demonstrated your level of language ability to the examiner.

One of the first things to do in any IELTS writing is to paraphrase the Task 2 IELTS question or the title of the IELTS Task 1 report

• In Academic writing too, Effective paraphrasing is a key academic skill needed to avoid the risk of plagiarism and it demonstrates your understanding of source material.

A good paraphrase usually:

• Has a different structure to the original
• Has mainly different vocabulary
• Keeps some phrases from the original that are in common use or can’t be changed

Techniques for paraphrasing

1.Changing the vocabulary by using synonyms:

One simple way to paraphrase is to replace words with a similar word equivalent. This is called using synonyms or substitution and is perhaps the easiest way to paraphrase.

Using synonyms is also a feature of the IELTS Band scores, so the sooner you start doing this the better.

Here are some examples

Adults in developing countries are having far fewer kids than before due to the increasing prosperity of some developing countries. 

Adults in developing countries are having far fewer children than before due to the increasing prosperity of some developing countries. 

The chart clearly present………      The two pie chart shows………

Locals are often a victims of petty crime in poorer neighbourhoods. 

People are often a victims of petty crime in poorer neighbourhoods. 

2.Changing the word class:

Another common method of paraphrasing is changing the word class of an important or keyword.

This often requires you to use or to change some aspect of the sentence grammar, but it is an effective paraphrasing tool.

3. Changing the word order:

A further technique used to paraphrase is to change the word order. Doing this will often mean that you need to combine the word group and grammar of the sentence.

This can easily be done in the IELTS speaking test but is more time consuming and difficult in the writing test.

It often requires you to redraft and rewrite your work so might be the most difficult type of paraphrasing to carry out in the IELTS writing test.

4. Active to Passive or Passive to Active:

Finally, a method that is often used in some Task 1 IELTS tasks is to use passive sentences.

More…..

He was arrested by a policeman.

A dog was responsible for the accident.

These are only the basic techniques required to paraphrase.

Paraphrasing is an important skill to master, and the best way to improve is through practice.

Of course, practice can be difficult but the good news is, the more you practice paraphrasing, the better you will become. 🙂

Ways to begin practicing paraphrasing 

One way to start paraphrasing is study examples of real IELTS paraphrased questions and then start  applying similar principles to your own writing.

I’m Jonathan

I’ve taught IELTS and University English in more than a dozen universities and schools around the world.

I’m a parent, traveller and passionate about language teaching and helping students achieve their dreams.

Whilst living in Austria or working in Asia, I run IELTS courses to help students get to where they want to be.

If you are serious about IELTS, connect with me to see how I can help you.

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