Developing academic writing and reading skills of less-able learners in Grade 10 by techniques of paraphrasing and summarizing

Abstract

There are real challenges teachers face in implementing changes into their practice to move towards quality education standards, particularly in teaching a second or third language. This encourages them to investigate classroom cases in developing academic skills by researching their lessons. The purpose of this study is to study what information analysis techniques would enhance the skills of Grade 10 students to paraphrase sentences and paragraphs as well as summarize texts in Academic reading and writing tasks.  The research supposes that teacher reflective practice and timely set interventions would improve low-achieving students' academic performance by developing their practical skills.  Some of the techniques used in lesson planning were aimed at the learning objectives requiring the paraphrasing and summarizing abilities of students. The analysis of the monitoring results and formative assessment reveals that some of the students experienced difficulties in rewarding, changing the structure of sentences and paragraphs, and deducing the main points in the text.  Therefore, this research indicates specific tools and teaching strategies with their effects on the development of rephrasing, rewarding, and simplifying information. The research concludes with an examination of how the applied techniques may influence learners' performance and avoid plagiarism in writing.