1. Strategies for Clear Communication
Rephrasing
Strategies for Clear
Communication

2. Review Strategies we’ve learned so far for the final group discussion:
(1) Checking Comprehension
(2) Asking For Clarification

3. Last Week
Last week, we looked at asking for clarification as a strategy for avoiding misunderstandings.
When we ask for clarification we followed three steps:
Step (1) Interrupt
Step (2) State the problem.
Step (3) Ask speaker to clarify.

4. Last Week Step (1) We interrupted the speaker. I’m sorry. Excuse me.
Hang on a minute.
Just a minute.
Wait a minute.

5. I didn’t hear what you said.
Last Week
Step 2: We stated the problem:
If you didn’t hear:
I didn’t catch that.
I didn’t hear you
I didn’t hear what you said.
I missed that.

6. I didn’t understand that.
Last Week
If you didn’t understand
I don’t follow you.
I don’t understand.
I didn’t understand that.
I don’t get it.
I’m not clear.
You lost me.

7. Last Week Step 3: We asked the speaker to clarify.
You can ask the speaker to clarify everything again:
Can you repeat that?
Can you say that again?
Can you explain that again?
Can you rephrase that?
Can you clarify that for me?

8. You can ask your partner to clarify details:
He did what?
He went where?
He left when?
He did it because why?
He talked to who?

9. Rephrasing What You Say
This Week
We are going to look at another good strategy for maintaining clear communication:
Rephrasing What You Say

10. Rephrasing means ‘to say something again
Rephrasing means ‘to say something again.’ When you rephrase, you say what you said again but you change the way you say it. Rephrasing will help your partner understand you because it gives your partner a second chance to catch your drift.

11. We usually rephrase in two steps (though adding comprehension check is also a good option):
Step 1: Indicate You Are About to Rephrase
Step 2: Rephrase
Step 3 Optional: Check Comprehension

12. Step 1: Indicate You Are About to Rephrase
Indicating you are about to rephrase is an important step. It allows your partner to prepare for what you are about to say. You can use the following phrases: In other words, . . To put it another way What I am saying is What I am trying to say is What I mean is . . .

13. Let me explain that another way. Let me explain that again.
You can also use phrases like the following, which are a little more formal:
Let me rephrase that.
Let me explain that another way.
Let me explain that again.
Let me put that (to you) differently.
Let me put that another way.

14. Step 2: Rephrase
Exactly what the title says! Rephrase what you said. But here are some things that can help you simplify your argument. (1) Change/simplify Vocabulary (2) Change/simply Sentence Structure

15. Changing Structure: Negative to Positive
Some things you can do to change structure is to change form negative sentences to positive sentences.
Smoking is not allowed in the bathrooms. 
Smoking is prohibited in the bathrooms.

16. Changing Structure: Passive to Active
You can also change passive voice sentences to active voice sentences.
Stronger laws are needed to reduce the crime rate.
We need tougher laws to cut down the amount of crime.

17. Changing Structure: Stripping Modals and Difficult Tenses
Among ESL learners the nuance of modals is often difficult to understand. We can strip them from sentences when we rephrase:
He could have committed the crime. 
Maybe, he did it.

18. Here’s an example rephrasal:

20. Exercise
Complete the rephrasal writing exercise on the handout. In the next hour we will practice rephrasing in a communication activity.