Paraphrasing strategies to improve nong cong II high school students paragraph writing skill in excellent student exams

DEPARTMENT OF THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING

NONG CONG II HIGH SCHOOL
----------------------------

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

PARAPHRASING STRATEGIES
TO IMPROVE NONG CONG II HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS’ PARAGRAPH WRITING SKILL IN
EXCELLENT STUDENT EXAMS

The writer: Mai Thị Kim Dung
Position: Teacher
Shool: Nong Cong II High School
Subject: English

THANH HOA, 2021


PART ONE : INTRODUCTION
Page
I. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY ..........................................................2
II. AIMS OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE ………………..............2
III. SCOPE OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE ……………..............3
IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ……………………………….........3
PART TWO : DEVELOPMENT
I. LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………….........4
II. THE PROBLEMS OF PARAPHRASING ORIGINAL
PARAGRAPH WRITING …………………………………………….5
1. Problems in using synonym words ………………………………….5

2. Problems in changing word order ………………………………. ......5
3. Problems in changing grammar or structure …………… ………......5
4. Problems in changing order of ideas ………………………………...5
III. STRAGERIES FOR IMPROVINGNOGN CONG II HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS’PARAPRASING SKILL ………………………….........6
1. Using synonym words …………………………………………… ….6
2. Changing parts of speech and word order ………………………......11
2.1. If the original sentence has two or more clauses, change the
order of the clauses. …………………………………………...11
2.2. If the original sentence has an adjective and noun, change
the adjective into a relative clause. …………………………….12
3. Changing sentence structure or grammar
3.1 . Changing Active to Passive or vice versa …………………….12
3.2. Using dummy subject with “ It” ……………………………....12
3.3. Some commonly suggested structures in writing ……………...12
4. Changing the order of ideas ………………………………………...13
5. Using different strategies at the same time ……………………........14
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT …………………………………….......16
PART THREE : CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL
I. CONCLUSION
1. Summary of the main findings ……………………………………..17
2 Implications for more effective writing ………………………........17
2.1. Implications
for
the
learners…………………………………...17
2.2. Implications
for
the
teachers

…………………………………..17
II. PROPOSAL …………...………………………………………..…...18
References …………….…………………………………………..19

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PART ONE:
INTRODUCTION
I. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Considering the importance of the language in the tendency of
integration of the global economy, politics, science, culture and education,
English is learnt as both a foreign language and a second language all over the
world. English lessons are not only taught with four skills as well as new
teaching methods but also supposed to be one of the score subjects in both
national and international exams. These really stimulate students’ spirit of
learning and using English in all fields. In addition to skills including
speaking, listening and reading, writing skill is regarded as a necessary factor
because learners are normally required to complete several types of
assignments such as research, report, essays and even examinations.
Responding to this, Vietnamese students participate numerous English
competitions such as IELTS tests, TOEFL tests, National or Provincial
excellent student contests to promote their interest in English. In such a
competition, writing skill is one of the most important skills to be completed
by candidates and is the most challenging because they lacked vocabulary,
ideas and tragedies to increase this skill. With high school students, especially
students at Nong Cong II High School , it is extremely confusing to writing a
paragraph in English tests.
One of the most important techniques in writing skill of English learners
is paraphrasing , which means restating other ideas, meaning and information

in own words. Most learners of English try to paraphrase correctly to
demonstrate their writing more effectively and it is obviously difficult for
them to rewrite the original language, change the original sentence structure.
From the fact above, my initiative has been researched in ways to
paraphrasing in academic writing in order to bring awareness not only to high
school students, especially excellent students at Nong Cong II High School
but also to teachers of English about how to teach English writing skill and
how to paraphrase the original sources more effectively. This reason leads to
the choice of studying about experience initiative in analyzing “
PARAPHRASING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE NONG CONG II
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PARAGRAPH WRITING SKILL IN
EXCELLENT STUDENT EXAMS ”
II. AIMS OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
The aims of the experience initiative are:
a. To investigate candidates’ difficulties in paraphrasing skill in paragraph
writing when they participate in exams.

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b. To give students some strategies to reduce candidates’ pressure and
enhance paragraph writing ability to have higher marks in paragraph writing
in exams.
III. SCOPE OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
The writer attempt not only to introduce some paraphrasing strategies to
relieve candidates’ difficulties but also focus on paraphrasing words,
sentences to make them more self-confident and motivated in writing a
paragraph in exams. The author chose the most 09 excellent students at grade
11 at Nong Cong II High School, Thanh Hoa.
IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Reading reference books
Discussing with other teachers
Applying in teaching
Observing and drawing out experiences.
Applying in teaching.

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PART TWO:

DEVELOPMENT

I. LITERATURE REVIEW
Writing has been clearly seen to be the most important skill which is
highly required to reinforce students’ achievement. Academic writing ability
can lead to academic success . However, learners of English often have
troubles writing skills, especially paraphrasing in academic writing.
According to Jan Frodesen, University of California- Santa Barbara, in his
work “ a pre-paraphrasing mini-lesson” to develop paraphrasing skills in high
school [7], writers learn how to integrate ideas from sources into their own
writing, but they often have difficulties in putting these ideas into their own
words. Developing paraphrasing skills is especially challenging for nonnative speakers of English who tend to have fewer vocabulary resources and
less knowledge of complex grammatical structures than their native English
speaking students. In academic writing, students need to learn how to
paraphrase effectively by restating ideas or restating sentences, ideas in
students’ own words to clarify the meaning. A definition given by Dung
(2020) is that paraphrasing is a writing skill in which students will “ rephrase”
( rewrite) the information from an outside source in their own words without
changing its meaning [2]. According to Irmadamayanti, skill in a standard

academic writing, paraphrasing, just like direct quotations, must be cited.
While the words may be from the students, but the ideas are still borrowed,
and this borrowing must be acknowledged. It means, although the students are
representing the author’s ideas using their own words, they need to reference
the sources from which they gathered the material. In fact, this is an essential
skill for every student to improve writing skill [3]. Paraphrasing is a valuable
skill because paraphrase focuses on the ideas, not the writer’s style . In this
cases, the ideas will be used to support the writing and students could rewrite
the original paragraph in another way or style by changing the words, the
sentence structure or the order of ideas to help their readers understand the
original more easily.
Skills for finishing paragraph writing with the highest scores in a
short time are not easy for candidates taking an exam. There are different
types of learning strategies which assist students to sort out their problems.
Paraphrasing strategies as actions make candidates’ task enjoyable, effective
and self-directed. Paraphrasing strategy has the added benefit of fitting more
neatly into students ‘style of writing and increases their writing achievement
[4]. Paraphrasing strategies refer to techniques that give students integral tips
to maximize their scores in writing paragraphs in English tests.

4


II. THE PROBLEMS OF PARAPHRASING ORIGINAL PARAGRAPH
WRITING.
The most difficult problems that many students in other places as well
as at Nong Cong II High School have when they complete their paragraph
writing are the limitation of vocabulary; the methods of changing word order ;
the technique to change grammar or structure and order of ideas.
1. Problems in using synonym words

Using different vocabulary with the same meaning is the first method
most students try to use , but actually it can be difficult to use. The reason is
that although English has many synonyms such as “ large” or “ big”, it is
unusual for these words to have exactly the same meaning. Therefore, if
students try to use a lot of synonyms when they paraphrase, they might
produce sentences that are not natural English. Unusual sentences are likely to
reduce their score more than small mistakes because the readers may not
understand what they are trying to say.
2. Problems in changing word order
Changing the order of words is the second method most candidates try
to use [8]. Changing the word order of a phrase or sentence is usually safer
than using synonyms because the words are the same, so the meaning must be
the same. However, it is not always easy to decide which words to move or to
decide to which position the words should be moved. Also, when students
move a word, they might need to change some other words, add some other
words or cut some other words to ensure that the new sentence is
grammatically correct. This has an positive influence on scores of the test
they do in exams.
3. Problems in changing grammar or structure
Using different grammar is the third method most students try to use
[47]. It sounds very difficult to use different grammar, but actually it is easier
than changing vocabulary. They change the grammar and make an error, the
reader will not understand what they mean.
4. Problems in changing order of ideas
In paraphrasing, students may have to change the organization of ideas
in the source material, (in order) to emphasize the points that are most related
to their paper. However, they may make mistakes by keeping the same words
or structure and as a result, they lapse into plagiarism.
Basing on these views, an action research is to improve scores at
paragraph writing skill in English tests at Nong Cong II High School as well

as to reduce these difficulties.

5


III. SUGGESTED STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE NONG CONG II
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PARAGRAPH WRITING SKILL
In this part, some strategies for paraphrasing paragraph writing in
English tests are presented to reduce the students’ difficulties and motivate
them getting higher marks at Nong Cong II High School. The author’s own
experience suggests that these techniques make candidates more confident to
take English tests.
1. Using synonym words.
A synonym is a word, morpheme or phrase that means exactly or
nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in the same language
[9].
Example: beautiful (adj) ≈ attractive (adj) ≈ pretty ( adj)
She is beautiful ≈ she is attractive ≈ she is pretty
Using different words with a similar meaning shows the examiner a
range of vocabulary which you need to get good marks. Here is an example of
how a sentence can be re-write by using synonyms:
Original sentence:
The reasons for increasing levels of pollution are the development of
industry and air travel.
Paraphrase:
The causes of rising levels of pollution are the growth and expansion
of industry as well as the number of people travelling by air.
Here is a list of how the sentence was altered using synonyms.
• causes ≈ reasons
• increasing ≈ rising

• the development of ≈ the growth and expansion of
• and ≈ as well as
Notice: we can see the words “levels of pollution” and “ industry” have not be
changed. This is fine. Not all words need to be changed. In fact, the word “
pollution” is best not changed.
Therefore, when students learn vocabulary, they should be encouraged to
remember synonyms for each word.
Example:
In English 12 [1]
Unit
Unit 1

Vocabulary
- Join hand
- Secure (a)

Synonyms
- Work together
- Safe (a)

- Curriculum (n)

- Study program

Unit 4

6


- Upper secondary school

- High school

- Incredible ( a)
- Contribute (v)
- Derive from
- Reserve

-

- Appeal (v)
- Dedicate (v)
- Initiate (v)
- Advocate (v)
- Neglect (v)

-

Unit 8
Unit
10
Unit
14
Unit
15

Unbelievable (a)
Donate (v)
Stem from
Preserve

Call upon
Devote(v)
Start (v)
Agree (v)
- Ignore (v)

Using synonym words is one of the most effective and popular methods
to improve the quality of the writing. However, this strategy drives students to
get troubles choosing proper words so as to replace others in certain contexts
because one English word has a variety of different synonym ones. Therefore,
to write good English paragraphs, students need to obey some following
rules:
Rule 1: Avoiding wrong words or vocabulary with meaning not
relating to the context of the sentence.
Example:
Original sentence: Levels of crime among teenagers are rising rapidly in
most cities around the world.
Paraphrase: Crime rates between young people are increasing quickly in
most towns worldwide.
The bold words are rewritten by synonym words. Some words are
precisely and suitably used in proper context such as:
• Levels of crime ≈ crime rate
• Rising ≈ increasing
• Rapidly ≈ quickly
• Around the world ≈ worldwide
However, there are some mistakes in using the synonyms such as the
word “ among” ; “ teenagers” and “ cities”
The word “ teenagers” and “ young people” are different. “ teenager” is a
young person between 13 and 19 years old. “ young people” are the young
usually between the ages of 12 and 24, which refers to both “ teenagers” and

“ children” leading to misunderstanding the original sentence. In the case, “
adolescents” or “ young people between the ages of 13 – 19” can replace the
word “ teenagers”

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The word “ among” cannot be replaced by the word “ between” because
the word “ among” is surrounded by more than two people or things.
Meanwhile, “ between” is in or into the space separating two objects or
people.
The word “ cities” and “ towns” are not the same meaning. “ Town” is
usually larger than a village but smaller than a “ city”.
Rule 2: It is not necessary to replace all words in students’ writing.
Using different vocabulary with the same meaning is the first method
students try to use but actually in some cases, words, especially topic
vocabulary, are difficult for students to work out their synonyms. If students
try to use a lot of synonyms when they paraphrase, they might produce
sentences that not natural English. Unnatural sentences are likely to reduce
their score more than small mistakes because the reader may not understand
what they are trying to say.
Rule 3: Quantifiers, verbs, adjectives or adverbs should be replaced
more by synonyms.
Example:
A lot of / A large number of/ many people think / believe that
educational activities should be added / included in children’s free time /
leisure time / spare time.
• Quantifiers: A lot of ≈ a large number of ≈ many
• Verbs: Think ≈ believe; added ≈ included
• Nouns: Free time ≈ leisure time ≈ spare time

Rule 4 : Students should learn more and more collocations.
A collocation is a series of words or terms that co-occur more often
than would be expected by chance. In phraseology, collocation is a sub-type
of phraseme [10] . Collocation knowledge helps learners to create more
native-like sentence. In other words, to develop students ‘writing ability,
they need to use collocation in their writing.
Some English collocations with the word “ big” “ great” “ large” “
deep” “ strong” and “ heavy” [11]
Big
Great
A big accomplishment/ - Great admiration /
decision/
anger / enjoyment /
disappointment
fun / happiness / joy/
/ failure / mistake/
power / pride / skill /
surprise / improvement
wealth/
- In great detail.
Strong
- Strong argument

Large
A large amount /
collection / number /
quantity / proportion /
population / scale

Deep

Heavy
/ - In deep thought / - Heavy rain/ snow / fog
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emphasis / contrast / trouble / sleep
evident / feeling / - Deep depression
resistance
devotion
- A strong smell / taste

- A heavy drinker /
/ smoker / drug user
- Heavy traffic / taxes

Suggested collocations: [11]

Some suggested synonym collocations for common topics:
• Education:
University graduates ~ people who graduate from university
~ people with a university qualification
University education ~ tertiary education
~ third-level education
- To get higher grades ~ To achieve better academic results
- To study abroad ~ study overseas ~ study in another country
To take a gap year ~ take a year off before university
~ to spend a year working or travelling before going to university
- Online courses ~ distance learning programs ~ internet-based learning
- Have access to more and better job opportunities to get a well – paid job.
- Learn problem-solving skills ~ learn how to deal with difficult situations

more effectively
- Curriculum ~ learning programmes

9


- To be better prepared for their future career ~ facilitate their future career
preparation
- Tuition fees ~ education costs
- To be free ~ to be free of charge ~ to be provided for free
• Family and children
- Children who are spoilt ~ overindulged children
- To rely entirely on the help of their parents ~ to rely heavily on the support
of their parents
- To take care of children ~ to look after their offspring
- To have children later in life ~ to delay parenthood ~ to postpone
parenthood ~ to decide to give birth later in life.
- To have better education opportunities ~ to have the chance to study
abroad / enter a prestigious university.
- To have a negative effect on family relationships ~ to weaken family bonds
~ to lead to arguments and conflicts between parents and their
offspring.
To have a positive impact on family relationships ~ to strengthen
family bonds.
- Parental monitoring ~ parental
- To be better prepared to deal with the problems of adult life ~ to be better
prepared for their futures.
- To become more independent ~ to have to learn how to cook, clean, pay
bills and make their own decisions.
- Poor children ~ children who come from poor family backgrounds

- To spend less time with their children ~ to devote a large amount of time to
their work and seem to leave no time for their offspring.
- To have the most powerful influence on a child’s development ~ to have a
profound impact on their offspring’s development
- To feel lonely and isolated ~ to experience feelings of loneness and
isolation
- Parents ~ mums and dads
- Should be required to do something ~ It is compulsory to do something.
•
-

Environment
Cause severe damage to ~ pose a serious threat to
Extreme weather events ~ natural disasters ~ blizzards, prolonged,
droughts .
Environmental damage environmental degradation ~environmental
deterioration
Carbon emissions ~ heat-trapping gases ~ greenhouse gases ~ toxic gases
Fossil fuels ~ petrol, oil and natural gas ~ non-renewable energy sources.
Renewable energy sources ~ environmentally – friendly energy sources ~
solar, wind or water power

10


- The world’s most threatened and endangered animals ~ animal species
which are on the verge of extinction
- Impose stricter punishments on ~ impose more stringent regulations
- Environmental problems / issues / damage / degradation / destruction
- Global warming = rising global temperatures = heading up the Earth

- Climate changing = changing weather patterns = changing in
temperature and rainfall = the current climate crisis
- Deforestation = illegal logging and forest clearance = the conversion of
land for
- Toxic = harmful = hazardous
- Be released from industrial sites / landfill sites
- To have a variety of detrimental / fur – reaching / devastating effects on …
- To have significant / serious / catastrophic consequences for …
- To pose serious / major threats to …= to threaten = put st in great danger
In conclusion, select words carefully when students write. Develop the
habit of choosing words that are precise and appropriate for their purpose.
2.

Changing Parts of Speech and word order.
Changing word form or part of speech is considered as an extremely
effective strategy to paraphrase in writing skill. It means that if the sentence
uses a noun, students can rewrite the sentence to use the verb or adjective
form of the word.
Example 1:
Some people think that environmental protection is the responsibility of
politicians, not individuals as individuals can do too little.
• Protection (n)  protect (v)
• Environmental (a)  the environment (n)
• Responsibility (n)  (be) responsible (a)
 Some people think that politicians are responsible for protecting the
environment, not individuals as individuals can do too little.
In this example, changing word form leads to changing word order. The
noun “ politicians” is used as a subject of a clause instead of an object after “
of”
Example 2:

Using a computer everyday can negatively affect
 Using a computer everyday can have negative effects on children.
In the second example, “ affect” is a verb and used “ effect” – a noun in a
paraphrasing sentence. “ negatively” is changed into “ negative”
Here are two suggestions for how to change the word order

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2.1. If the original sentence has two or more clauses, change the order of
the clauses.
Example:
Original: If they have some help, most people can paraphrase effectively.
However, practice is important because paraphrasing is difficult.
Paraphrase: Most people can paraphrase effectively if they have some help.
Paraphrasing is difficult, however, so practice is important.
2.2. If the original sentence has an adjective and noun, change the
adjective into a relative clause.
Example:
Original:
Writing essays can be a challenging task.
Paraphrasing: Writing essays can be a task which is challenging.
In short, there are two ways students can use to change the order of
words in a paraphrased paragraph writing. They are changing the order of
clauses and changing part of speech of words.
3. Changing sentence structure or grammar
Changing structure and grammar of the original texts can be done by
the followings:
3.1. Changing Active to Passive or vice versa
It is the method of changing an active voice sentence into its passive

form.
Example:
Original sentence: The Government should spend money on saving
languages that are used by few speakers.
Paraphrase: Money should be spent on saving languages that few speakers
use.
3.2. Using dummy subject with “ It”
A dummy subject conveys no meaning of its own but simply fill the
position of subject in a sentence. The subject is the person or thing performing
an action or whom or what a state or event refers to. “ It” usually precedes the
verb. A sentence must have a subject. When one is not available, the pronoun
“ it” fill this position [12]. Using the dummy subject “ It” is regarded as a
way to paraphrase students’ writing. Students can use “ it” with passive
reporting verbs to express opinions or facts.
Example 1:
Giving opinions
Some people think the government should ban dangerous sports.
 It is thought / believed / argued that government should ban
dangerous sports.
Example 2:
Giving facts
Many animal species are becoming extinct due to human activities
both on land and in the sea.

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 It is true that many animal species are becoming extinct due to
human activities both on land and in the sea.
3.3. Some commonly suggested structures in writing

• Opinion [5]

•
•

•

•

I personally believe/ think that…
I would argue that…
In my opinion,…
From my point of view,…
It is my opinion that…
I am of the opinion that…
Advantages / disadvantages [14]
Advantages:
……….has + a wide range of / many/ a variety of/ a lot of
+ benefits/ advantages/ beneficial effects.
Disadvantages:
………. has + a wide range of / many/ a variety of/ a lot of
+ drawbacks/ disadvantages/ negative effects
Agree / disagree [13]
It is thought / believed….that ….
While/ Although I agree that …..
I strongly disagree that …..
There is no shadow of …..
It is undeniable that …..
Solutions
The government/ people/… + should + V

It is important for + the government/ people/.. + to + V
It is necessary for + the government/ people/.. + to + V
One solution would be for + the government/ people/.. + to + V
Reasons / causes [6]
…… causes ……..
…….. leads to ……..
…….. is caused by ……...
…….. is a result of ……….
One of the primary causes of …… is ……..

4. Changing the order of ideas
In good paragraphs, sentences are arranged in logical order. There is no
one order that will work for every paragraph. But there are a few
organization patterns that paragraphs often follow. For example, sentences in
a paragraph may be arranged to show time or sequence of events. In other
paragraphs, sentences may be arranged in order of importance, moving from
most important point to least important point or from least important to most

13


important. In another common pattern, a paragraph’s sentences move from
the most general point to the most specific, or vice versa. It’s important that
all the sentences in a paragraph follow the pattern so that the paragraph is
clear and logical.
Example:
Original : Exercise is really good for one’s physical and mental health.
(1) Strength training is important for maintaining muscle mass and
improving bone density. Both muscle mass and bone density can decrease as
we age, so improving them through strength training is important. (2) All

kinds of exercise have been shown to relieve depression, anxiety, and stress.
(3) It is proven that aerobic exercise is good for the heart, which is very
important to overall health.
Paraphrase: Exercise is really good for one’s physical and mental
health. (3) First, it is proven that aerobic exercise is good for the heart,
which is very important to overall health. (1) Second, strength training is
important for maintaining muscle mass and improving bone density. Both
muscle mass and bone density can decrease as we age, so improving them
through strength training is important. (2) Finally, all kinds of exercise have
been shown to relieve depression, anxiety, and stress.
5. Using different strategies at the same time
One of the most popular methods students should use to improve their
writing is using synonym, dummy subjects, changing structures and using
word form at the same sentence.
Example 1:
Some people think that environmental protection is the
responsibility of politicians, not individuals as individuals can do too little.
It is believed that politicians should be responsible for protecting the
environment, not ordinary people because too little can be done by them.
•
Synonyms: individual  ordinary people
•
Word form: responsibility (n)  responsible (adj)
protection (n)  protecting
environmental (adj)  environment (n)
•
Dummy subjects: Some people think … It is believed …
•
Passive voice:
Individuals can do too little  too little can be done

Synonyms + word form + dummy subjects + passive voice are used to
paraphrase the sentence.
Example 2:
Many animal species are becoming extinct due to human activities
both on land and in the sea.
14


A large number of animal species are on the verge of extinction
because of human activities both on land and in the ocean.
•
Many ≈ a large number of
•
Due to ≈ because of
•
Sea ≈ ocean
•
Extinct (adj) → extinction (n) (be on the verge of extinction)
Synonyms + word form are used to paraphrase the sentence.
Example 3:
Some people think that the government should ban dangerous sports.
 A number of people believe that dangerous sports should be forbidden
by the authorities.
Or
 It is believed that a ban on dangerous sports should be imposed by the
authorities.
•
A number of ≈ some
•
Think ≈ believe

•
The government ≈ the authorities
•
Ban ≈ forbid
•
Ban (v) → ban (n) (impose/put a ban on something)
Synonyms + passive voice or Synonyms + word form + dummy subject +
passive voice are used to paraphrase the sentence.
Example 4:
Original:
Some people think that it is better to educate boys and girls in separate
schools.
more beneficial
It is thought
send boys and girls to single-sex
schools.
Paraphrase:
=> It is thought that it is more beneficial to send boys and girls to single-sex
schools.
Example:
Original:
As parents, they should be required to attend paring courses every year to
mums and dads

take parenting courses

should be compulsory for
bring up their children well and give them a better environment for growth.
taking good care of their offspring

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Paraphrase
=> One of parents’ most important responsibilities is perhaps taking good
care of their offspring. It is believed that it should be compulsory for all
mums and dads to take parenting courses so that they are better prepared
for parenthood.
The successful paraphrasing requires the use of multiple techniques
each time. Using various strategies plays an integral roles in improving
students ‘paragraph writing effectively.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT
In conclusion, students have clear improvement in their paragraph
writing ability in English tests comparison with their performances before.
They become more confident in taking English tests. be willing to read
without any fear of making mistakes.
Students have a considerable amount of vocabulary, collocations,
grammatical structures which relates to certain topics and they can use them
to write essays . Their writing skills in English tests are also improved.
After researching, the author found that applying paraphrasing strategy
was effective in increasing the writing ability of the students. The writing
score students before getting treatment by using paraphrasing was still in low
level. It was approved by the result of pre-test that conducted by the author. It
showed that there were not students obtaining excellent and good score from
the pre-test but there is greater chance to students to increase their writing
skill through the use of paraphrasing strategy.
Students’ improvement can be seen clearly in their writing tests. The
following chart is the result of class 11a6( 09 students):
Before applying strategies
(Reading test at the beginning

Class Total
of the school year)

11A6 9

After applying strategies in
class.
(Reading tests at the end of
the
school year)
Excellent Good Fair Poor Excellent good Fair Poor
(%)
(%) (%) (%)
(%)
(%) (%) (%)
0
33
44
23
22
55
23
0

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PART THREE:

CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL

I. CONCLUSION
1. Summary of the main findings
The time allowed for me to implement my strategies was limited
due to the fact that data collected over a longer time period produces results
that can be considered to be more reliable and valid. Nevertheless, conducting
this action research made me aware of the importance of using paraphrasing
strategy. The students ‘score in writing test before treating paraphrasing
strategy is low. It was different from the students from the students’ mastery
after using paraphrasing strategy in learning writing skill. I recommend that
teachers of language to young learners should use a variety of strategies that
encourage the students and make them more confident to take the exam with
higher marks. Additionally, I strongly recommend that teachers consider
implementing other strategies to promote students’ writing skills. Through
this research, I learnt about strategies that help to promote testing skills for
writing, and it gave me an opportunity to implement the use of different
motivational techniques to enhance students’ skills for taking English exams.
The data collected seem to support my assumptions that using strategies
would have a positive impact on students’ scores, and would increase
students’ confidence in their taking English exams.
The results also indicate that while teacher interaction and motivation
play positive roles in students’ attitudes toward self-access learning, they
make difference in the type of self-study activities students pursue. It is also
clear that students’ positive attitude becomes even stronger when the teacher
motivates them to learn strategies to improve their scores in English exams.
2. Implications for more effective writing
2.1.Implications for the learners
Paraphrasing is one of the most important techniques in academic
writing in English. Therefore, for Vietnamese students, how to master the
theories of paraphrasing skills and effectively apply them in academic writing

is indeed a master of great concern. From the findings of this, it is hoped that
students would grasp some essential information to enhance these skills.
Utilizing the paraphrasing strategies in writing essays or paragraphs and
practicing writing essays regularly will help students more confident and
improve their writing scores in excellent student exams. Moreover, students
have to enlarge their knowledge of vocabulary, collocations, structures and
idioms in order to apply paraphrasing strategies more effectively.
2.2. Implications for the teachers

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Paraphrasing strategies is considered one of the fundamental
techniques of academic writing and the most effective method for teachers of
English to assistant their students master writing skills as well as improve
their writing scores in exams . It is my hope that this study offers useful
suggestions on teaching paraphrasing skills. To make the students’ writing
performance with paraphrasing strategies better, the teacher should make sure
that the following things are done perfectly.
First of all, preparation is necessary for English teachers in writing
lessons with a list of activities related to vocabulary, collocations and idioms.
What is more, teachers should try to give common topics which students have
ideas and can use paraphrasing strategies to improve the level of their writing
and give some suggestions if necessary. One more thing is that teachers
always know how to motivate students to use paraphrasing strategies in
rewriting their own essays or paragraphs to improve their writing.
In short, students and teachers need to work together to improve
paraphrasing skills. With the intention and aim of helping students at Nong
Cong II High school in taking part in excellent student exams in writing
essays or paragraphs, I hope the above suggestions will be useful

II. PROPOSAL
With awareness of these limitations, it is suggested that further
research be extended to:
• Provide students with the sources of materials so that students can study
better
• Give more time for writing skill and skills for paragraph writing in English
exams in Provincial excellent student contests for students to practice.
• Further investigation into paraphrasing experienced by Vietnamese students
at high schools of English in Reading, Listening and Speaking subjects.
• Further investigation into the paraphrasing relationship across the four skills
of Writing, Reading, Listening and Speaking, to devise methods to help
Vietnamese learners of English improve this ability across the board.

Confirmation of the Head Master
of Nong Cong II High School

Thanh Hoa, May 10 th,2021
I declare that the work
contained in this initiative is result of
my own research.

Mai Thi Kim Dung

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REFERENCES
Hoàng Văn Vân ( chủ biên), Sách giáo khoa, sách giáo viên Tiếng Anh
10,11,12, NXB Giáo dục Việt Nam.
Dung, T. (2010). An investigation in paraphrasing experienced by
Vietnamese students of English in academic writing. Da Nang: Ministry
of education and training university of Da Nang.
Irmadamayanti. (2017). An Analysis of paraphrasing experienced by
English students in academic writing. Banda Aceh: UIN Ar-Raniry.
Pears, R., and Shields, G., Cite them Right: The Essential Referencing
Guide Adobe Digital Editions version, 1998. Retrieved
/> /> /> />%20Advice
%202%20-%20Paraphrasing.pdf].
Synonym – Wikipedia
› wiki › Synonym
Wikipedia
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