Writing for academic purposes often involves using information from books, articles and websites. It is important to acknowledge these sources both in the text when you quote or paraphrase them and in a list of references at the end of your writing. 

There are three main reasons for giving references:

1) to avoid the charge of plagiarism, which is using another person's ideas or research without acknowledgment

2) the reference can give more authority to your writing, as it shows you are familiar with other research on the topic

3) the reader can find the original source by using the reference section which will list the full publishing details

When quoting or paraphrasing, you need to make the transition between your own voice and the quote/paraphrase smooth. You can get some inspiration about how to do that in the following examples:

X states, “__________.” 

As the world-famous scholar X explains it, “________.” 

As claimed by X, “______.” 

In her article _______, X suggests that “_________.”

Now that once you’ve successfully used the quotation in your sentence, it’s time to explain what that quotation means—either in a general sense or in the context of your argument. Here are some templates for explaining quotations: 

In other words, X asserts __________. 

In arguing this claim, X argues that __________. 

What X really means is that ____________. 

The basis of X’s argument is that ___________.

(Introducing and Explaining Quotes from the OWL at Purdue:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/teacher_and_tutor_resources/preventing_plagiarism/avoiding_plagiarism/handout_quoting_others.html

When you are making use of another writer's ideas or data in your writing, you need to acknowledge it both in the text directly after you quote or paraphrase, and then you give more detailed information about the source in a Works Cited list.

There are various styles and conventions. Most common are MLA style, APA style and Chicago style. All the examples below follow MLA style. 

In-text citation

When you quote or paraphrase, you need to mention the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quote or paraphrase is taken. When you quote directy from a source, you must use quotation marks:

Example: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263). 

Example: Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

When you quote indirecty, that means when you paraphrase, you re-write information from the source in your own words without changing the original meaning. Again, you need to mention the author's last name and the page number(s):

Example: Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work or a title of the website instead of an author name and provide a page number if it is available.

Example: We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has "more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change " ("Impact of Global Warming").

Works Cited list

It is important to acknowledge all the sources you used in your writing in a Works Cited list at the end of your article/ essay.

Books:

• Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
• Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. Penguin, 1987.

Journal articles:

• Author. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical,  volume, issue, Day Month Year, pages.
• Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping,  vol. 15, no. 1,  Mar. 2006, pp. 143-48.

Websites:

• Author or alias if known. "Title of Article."  Title of the website. Date you accessed the material.
• Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow. Accessed 6 July 2015.

 

Online tools

There are several online citation tools you can use when you need to create in-text citation and references for Works Cited list. I am using Citation Machine:

https://www.citationmachine.net/

Writing task 4: quoting and paraphrasing (8 points)

Peer assessment of writing task 4 (2 points)

If you have submitted the writing task for this session, you can assess someone else’s writing. Go to Writing task 4, choose one contribution, read it (at least twice) and provide feedback as a reply to a particular forum entry. Please choose a contribution that hasn't been assessed by anyone else yet (if possible). Here are some criteria you can take into consideration:

• Does the text meet all the requirements (2 paragraphs, quoting and/or paraphrasing, works cited list)?
• Is the paragraph unified? (that means that the paragraph deal with one topic only)
• Are the ideas presented in the paragraph logically organized?
• Are all quotations and paraphrasing properly cited and referenced?
• Is it clear where the quotation/paraphrase starts and finishes, and which part is the writer's own voice?
• Are the quotations/paraphrases introduced properly, so that the transition is smooth?
• Are there transitional words or phrases to help the reader understand the text?
• Is the language/style used appropriate?
• Is the text revised so as to correct grammatical, spelling and punctuation mistakes? 
• Do you have any suggestions for improvement?

To get points for the feedback, you need to write at least 5 sentences. 

Comments on writing task 4

In-text quotations and Works Cited list:

All sources that are listed in Works Cited must also be mentioned in the main text, that means you must indicate when you paraphrase or quote from them. 

In-text quotations:

In the brackets, you write down the first information about the source that is mentioned in the entry of Works Cited. If you know the author, then it is the name of the author. If the author is unknown, then it is the title of the article/book. 

Works Cited:

Include the heading Works Cited at the end of your text, here's a good example:

Works Cited

Mitsigkas, Neophytos. "Four tips for learning language through film and TV." The Conversation. Accessed 14 October 2021.

Paraphrase or quote?

It is better to paraphrase than quote because the paraphrase includes also your understanding of the secondary source. You quote directly when the exact wording of the original is important and must be preserved in order to avoid misunderstanding.

It can be more demanding to indicate the beginning of a paraphrase if the author is unknown. This, however, shouldn't be a problem when you write an academic essay or a bachelor/ diploma thesis: when you write for academic purposes, you use scholarly secondary sources and these are not published anonymously.

Online tools

There are online tools that will help you create the right entry for your Works Cited list. 

I am using Citace Pro  (available for Masaryk University students and teachers after logging in with their IS identification number) and Citationmachine:

https://www.citacepro.com/

http://www.citationmachine.net/mla/

In both cases, however, I always need to fix some mistakes manually. 

Some examples from your writing:

You need to incorporate the quotes into your text smoothly so that it reads as one grammatically correct sentence. 

Good xamples:

"Learners are provided with a visual context, which supports your learning by providing a visual framework the language can cling to," Mitsigkas states. (Antonín Kadlec)

Mitsigkas suggests that "by captivating your attention and arousing your curiosity, these formats can instil a positive attitude towards learning."

Sometimes you need to change the original words a bit, in that case, you can use square brackets for the words you changed.

The original text:

They can also help you be a more active participant and keep you motivated to spend more time on language-related tasks.

The above text incorporated into your article:

Mitsigkas suggests that "[films and TV shows] can also help you be a more active participant and keep you motivated to spend more time on language-related tasks". (Hana Hudziecová)

Also, after quoting someone’s text, it is appropriate to explain your understanding of the quote:

Learning a foreign language can be difficult. As claimed by Mitsigkas, "It can be easier said, than done. " In other words, Mitsigkas asserts that It takes a lot of time, practice, and focus, but it's not impossible. (Eliška Čechová)

Many of you wrote very good introductory paragraphs, here are some of them:

A plethora of scientific research has proven that the most effective way to learn a language is by putting it into context, and what better way to do this than through a thrilling tv-show or a fervent film. (Deisy Nhatuve)

Nowadays it may be hard to live without a bit of knowledge of any language. The most popular and used worldwide language is probably English. The thing is before you start using any language properly you must learn it first. Learning something new especially a language can be difficult at the beginning, therefore, you might appreciate some tips and tricks to make your effort to learn a new language successfully. (Kateřina Smětáková)

There is no doubt that anyone learning foreign language wants to speak fluently. There are many ways how to reach this goal and one of the most efficient method is watching films and TV shows. (Julie Secová)

In today’s society, knowing a foreign language is no longer seen as an advantage but more so a necessity. Therefore, many people want to acquire knowledge of a foreign language but not everyone has the opportunity to visit a language course or online classes, for example. But there are some great and easy ways to practise your knowledge on foreign languages.
My favorite way to learn or practise is to simply watch a film undubbed and add subtitles. (Theresa Poppová)

Please use this forum to ask any questions you have about this course, to share your tips, to brainstorm about tasks