Week 4 Paraphrasing and Summary

Is paraphrasing and summarizing the same thing?

Well, not quite the same. Spot the difference!

Paraphrasing Exercise

In this short excerpt from David Crystal’s English as a Global Language, take note of

the way that power relationships rather than the number of speakers influenced Latin   

language use. 

“Latin became an international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not 

because the Romans were more numerous than the peoples they subjugated. They were 

simply more powerful.” 

My Paraphrase:

Crystal (1997) suggests that Latin became a dominant language in the Roman Empire 

as the Romans were more influential than the people they ruled and not because of 

their numbers

Summary Exercise

“Why a language becomes a global language has little to do with the number of 

people who speak it. It is much more to do with who those speakers are. Latin became 

an international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not because the 

Romans were more numerous than the peoples they subjugated. They were simply 

more powerful. And later, when Roman military power declined, Latin remained for a 

millennium as the international language of education, thanks to a different sort of power –

the ecclesiastical power of Roman Catholicism.”

Source: Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University 

My Summary:

The dominance of a language is often dependent on the influences of those who spoke speak the 

language and not their numbers.

A paraphrase does not need to be shorter than the original text! However, a summary clearly has to be shorter than the original text.

Cheers,

Joan (: