SKKN 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 II AIMS OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE ……………… III SCOPE OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE …………… IV RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ……………………………… .3 PART TWO : DEVELOPMENT I LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………… .4 II THE PROBLEMS OF PARAPHRASING ORIGINAL PARAGRAPH WRITING …………………………………………….5 Problems in using synonym words ………………………………….5 Problems in changing word order ……………………………… Problems in changing grammar or structure …………… ……… Problems in changing order of ideas ……………………………… III STRAGERIES FOR IMPROVINGNOGN CONG II HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’PARAPRASING SKILL ………………………… .6 Using synonym words …………………………………………… ….6 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 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 Changing the order of ideas ……………………………………… 13 Using different strategies at the same time …………………… 14 IV EXPERIMENTAL RESULT …………………………………… .16 PART THREE : CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL I CONCLUSION Summary of the main findings …………………………………… 17 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 in exams 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 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 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 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 Vocabulary - Join hand - Secure (a) Synonyms - Work together - Safe (a) - Curriculum (n) - Study program Unit - Upper secondary school - High school - Incredible ( a) - Contribute (v) - Derive from - Reserve - - Appeal (v) - Dedicate (v) - Initiate (v) - Advocate (v) - Neglect (v) - Unit 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” 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 : 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 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 - 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 something ~ It is compulsory to 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 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 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 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 11 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 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 12  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 …… 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 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 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 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 15 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 After applying strategies in class (Reading tests at the end of the school year) Excellent Good Fair Poor Excellent good Fair Poor (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) 33 44 23 22 55 23 16 PART THREE: CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL I CONCLUSION 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 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 17 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 18 lớp 10 11 12 13 14 15 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 http://tienganh365.vn/san-pham/writing-an-opinion-paragraph-viet-doanvan-neu-y-kien/ http://tienganh365.vn/san-pham/writing-a-cause-and-effect-paragraph/ http://www.ucop.edu/dws/lounge/dws_ml_pre_paraphrasing.pdf] http://www.higherscore.ca/downloads/Higher%20Score%20Free %20Advice %202%20-%20Paraphrasing.pdf] Synonym – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Synonym Wikipedia https://www.aland.edu.vn/tin-tuc/collocations-37878.html https://editorsmanual.com/articles/it-there-dummy-subjects-grammar https://bereadyielts.com/ielts-writing/huong-dan-viet-writing-task-2/358lesson-6-huong-dan-viet-agree-or-disagree-essay.html https://bereadyielts.com/luyen-thi-ielts-online/hoc-ielts-writing-onlinemien-phi/1045-bai-8-ielts-writing-task-2-advantage-disadvantage.html http://thanhhoa.edu.vn/menu/tai-nguyen-download/de-thi-hoc-sinh-gioi 19 ... 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... Nong Cong II High School as well as to reduce these difficulties III SUGGESTED STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE NONG CONG II HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS? ?? PARAGRAPH WRITING SKILL In this part, some strategies for paraphrasing. .. 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