ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC

AND PROFESSIONAL
PURPOSES-12
1st Quarter
Week 3

Development and Quality Assurance Team

Developer: Janice P. Ronquillo
Evaluators: Elaine Grace P. Plaza
Jecel Marie A. Consigna
Learning Area Supervisor: Camela G. Lerio
Illustration Credits:
Title Page: Marieto Cleben V. Lozada
Title Page Graphics: Bryan L. Arreo Visual
Cues: Ivin Mae M. Ambos
Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self profit, for educational use and constitutes fair use. All Rights
Reserved.

-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides

released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-
 Competency:
o Uses various techniques in summarizing a variety of academic texts.
(CS_EN11/12A-EAPP-Id-f-18)

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the learners must have:

o identified the various techniques in summarizing academic texts;
o summarized a text; and
o expressed appreciation on the importance of summarizing various
academic texts in real-life setting.

Learner’s Tasks

Lesson Overview

It is interesting to know that an essay with 1500 words can be easily read and
understood if there is an available summary of it. Like in telling your life story, it would
take you days to retell it right? But, if you write a summary of it, people will come to
know you through a more efficient and less time-consuming way.

In this lesson, you will not only identify and differentiate the basic rules in summarizing,
but you will also use different techniques in summarizing an academic text. You will
be acquainted with the importance of summarizing and will be able to use
appropriate techniques in summarizing academic text.

Let us start by reviewing important concepts we will use in this Learning Activity Sheet.

Definition of Summarizing

- It refers to providing an abridged version of the narrative.

- Summarizing is also defined as taking a lot of information and creating a
condensed version that covers the main points.

Summary

- Summary or a precis is a synopsis or gist of an entire text.

- A summary is a synthesis of the key ideas of a piece of writing, restated in
your own words – i.e., paraphrased. You may write a summary as a stand-
alone assignment or as part of a longer paper. Whenever you summarize,
you must be careful not to copy the exact wording of the original source.

Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
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 Definition, Purpose, Rules and Techniques in Summarizing Academic Texts

Buckley (2004), in her popular writing text Fit to Print, defines summarizing as reducing
text to one-third or one-quarter its original size, clearly articulating the author’s
meaning, and retaining main ideas.

Diane Hacker (2008), in A Canadian Writer’s Reference, explains that summarizing

involves stating a work’s thesis and main ideas “simply, briefly, and accurately” (p.
62).

Summarizing is also an essential skill that is needed in the workplace and in the
community. In some cases, writing a summary is an excellent learning strategy that
allows students to monitor their own progress in learning course material.

Basic Rules:

A. Erase things that don’t matter.

Delete trivial material that is unnecessary to understanding.

B. Only write down important points.

If it is not something that will help you understand or remember, then don’t
write it down. Think of it this way . . . If you had to pay money for every
word you write down, which words would you choose to include in your
notes?

C. Erase things that repeat.

Delete redundant material. In note taking, time and space are precious. If
a word or phrase says basically the same thing you have already written
down, then don’t write it again!

D. Trade general terms for specific names.

Substitute superordinate terms for lists (e.g., flowers for daisies, tulips for
roses). Focus on the big picture. Long, technical lists are hard to remember.
If one word will give you the meaning, then less is more.

E. Use your own words to write the summary.

Do not just copy the sentences from the original text. However, do not inject
your opinion in your summary.

Techniques in Summarizing Academic Texts

1. Read the work first to understand the author’s intent. This is a crucial step
because an incomplete reading could lead to an inaccurate summary.

Note: Inaccurate summary is plagiarism.

Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
1
 2. Present information through facts, skills, and concepts in visual formats. You can
provide the cause and effects charts, timeline, and Venn diagrams, templates
for outlines, use flow charts or infographics.
3. Know the main points and the supporting details. You can exclude any
illustrations, examples, or explanations.
4. Analyze text to save time in thinking what you will do.
5. Think what information you will put in your summary. Be sure to cover the main
points and arguments of the document.
6. Restating the words into different one. You should avoid using the original words
of the author instead; use your own vocabulary but be sure to retain the
information.
7. Organize all the idea.
8. Write down all the information in a coherent and precise form. Keep in mind
that a summary is a condensed version of the original paper, so avoid making
it long.
9. Represent information through using dimensional constructions in representing
concepts, skills or facts.
10. Paraphrase the sentences. Do not use the same words with the author.

Here’s another useful Easy Techniques in Summarizing Academic Texts:

1. Somebody Wanted But So Then. Each word represents a key question related
to a text’s essential elements:
Somebody—Who is involved?
Wanted—What did he/she want?
But—What was the problem encountered?
So—How did he/she do to solve the problem?
Then—How did it end?
Example:
• Somebody: Carlos Yulo
• Wanted: He wanted to win in the Gymnastics World Championships.
• But: He almost gave on the respective sport after he got homesick during
his first few months in Japan where he trained.
• So: His mother convinced him to stay in the sport.
• Then: He continued in gymnastics and eventually bagged gold medal in
the world championships of men’s gymnastics.

2. SAAC Method. This method is particularly helpful in learning the format of a

summary. This includes the title and author’s name.

State— The name of the article, book, movie

Assign—The name of the author
Action—What the author is doing (ex. tells, explains)
Complete—Complete the sentence or summary with keywords and important
details.

Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
2
 Here is an example of SAAC in action:
• State: Managing Covid-19 related Health care Waste
• Assign: Dr. Esperanza Cabral & Paeng Lopez
• Action: Tells
• Complete: Segregating waste should always be observed since there is
no established waste treatment process yet for waste generated in
response to COVID-19 virus.

3. 5W’s, 1 H. This technique relies on six crucial questions: Who, What, When,
Where, Why, How. These questions make it easy to identify important details
and main idea. Your summary may not necessarily follow this order as long as
it contains all of this information.

Who is being talked about in the text?

What did he/she do?
When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
Why did he/she do it?
How did he/she do what he/she did?

Example: This is from a research study titled Writing Difficulties and Quality of
Academic Essays of Senior High School Students conducted by Jim Christzer I.
Pablo and Ronald Candy S. Lasaten (Ph.D).

• Who? Senior High School students

• What? The difficulties of Senior High School students in writing academic
essays and the overall quality of the academic essays.
• When? 2018
• Where? Schools Division of Laoag City
• Why? To determine and analyze the difficulties of Senior High School
students in writing academic essays and to compare the quality of the
academic essays of the students from public and private schools.
• How? The study used a research her-made checklist patterned after the
criteria set by Jacobs (1981) in evaluating academic essays and the
Standardized Rubric in Evaluating Academic Essay of Jacobs (1981)
enriched by Valdez (2016).

4. First Then Finally. This technique helps summarize events or steps in

chronological order or in sequence.

First– What happened first?

Then– What key details took place during the event/action?
Finally– What were the results of the event/action?
First, everyone panicked upon the government’s announcement on
lockdown. Then, people stayed at home and many lost their jobs. Finally, a lot
of non-government organizations protested against the government to lift the
lockdown.

Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
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 5. Give Me The Gist
When someone asks for "the gist" of a story, they want to know what the
story is about. In other words, they want a summary—not a retelling of every
detail. The gist method is just like giving a friend the gist of a story. You can use
the gist method as a fun, quick way to practice summarizing on a regular basis.

Helpful Tips in Summarizing

1. Read the text you are about to summarize over and over again.
2. Identify the main idea of the text you are planning to summarize.
3. Put your feet into your readers’ shoes.
4. Ensure a smooth flow of ideas.
5. Limit your summary to few sentences.
6. Do not forget to proofread your work.

There are time times when we find summarizing similar with paraphrasing and
retelling. Though they sound the same, they are different.
Summaries can be written or spoken where the main purpose is to tell the most
important parts like the main ideas and important details. And it is always shorter than
the original.
Retelling stories and events serve as an important purpose in our daily life, and it
comes naturally to some.
E.g.: When we tell the jokes we have heard, we are retelling.
Paraphrasing can be done both in writing and in speaking.
In speaking, we paraphrase to make sure we understand someone’s idea.
E.g.: “So, what you’re saying is that, you can’t afford to go on a vacation.”
We also paraphrase to relate information from one person to another.
E.g.: “She said we’d be in trouble if we weren’t here on time every day.”
In writing, we paraphrase to report the information and the best way to do it is
to understand the idea and then describe it. With this, different words will naturally
come out. Copying the exact sentence and changing few words is not paraphrasing.

Sounds the Same! How are they Different?

Summarizing Paraphrasing Retelling

Telling the important part Saying the same thing, Telling a story that you
of the text. but in different words. previously heard or read.

Summaries are shorter You can choose how Retelling preserves the
than the original text, but much to paraphrase. sequence and important
must include certain details of a story.
ideas.
Summaries can be written Paraphrasing can be Retelling is spoken.
or spoken. written or spoken.

Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
4