Genre of Argument and Discussion 1
Goals:
- Discuss the tone and purpose of argument and disucssion in essays
- Identify the discouse structures and organisation features
- Analyse how grammar contributes to organisation
Lesson Plan
Before this lesson, you may want to complete the lesson An Introduction to Genre, so that learners are familiar with the key terms discourse structure and register
Please check if there are any hand outs at the bottom of this page and print in advance.
NB: This lesson and lesson plan are divided into two parts!
Warmer
Explain that this lesson will focus on writing essays with arguments and discussions. For the warm-up questions, accept any reasonable answers and assure the learners that the lesson will cover any doubts. The main idea to elicit is that these types of essay are written with the purposes of providing factual information and persuading the reader.
Depending on the level of your group, this may be a good opportunity to discuss the vaccination programme and related issues.
Activity 1
Ask learners to read the text and then discuss these questions in small groups or in pairs. Use these questions to familiarise the learners with the text and to activate and discuss their prior-knowledge. If they are unsure about these questions, tell them that they will be answered through the rest of the lesson.
- The essay is about giving a vaccine for the Omicron virus to children. Accept any valid facts the learners can find in the text and use to check comprehension.
- The author is in favour of giving the vaccine to children. This view can be read in the introduction.
- The text is written as an essay with an introduction, main paragraphs and a conclusion. Accept any reasonable answers for the tone such as persuasive, convincing, informative, opinionated etc.
Next ask the learners to label each paragraph. This is simply to show they understand the structure of introduction, main body paragraphs, and conclusion. Then, learners complete the mix-and-match activity on the hand out, and check the answer throught the presentation. Match the section written in CAPITALS to the definition in lower-case. Drag the cards together to connect, and double-click to break apart.
Activity 2
Ask learners to reread the first paragraph and then discuss what makes a good introduction. Ask them to identify the background information and thesis statement, using the buttons in the presentation to reveal the correct answer. Accept any reasonable examples for background information. Make sure that they highlight or underline the thesis statement.
Activity 3
Ask the learners to look at the main body paragrahs (2, 3, 4 and 5). See if learners can identify the topic sentences independently and discuss with partners their purpose and how they are formed. Show the four topic sentences in the next slide, and ask learners to contribute their ideas. Learners can then check their understanding through the True/False questions below.
Activity 4
Learners discuss the questions to check their knowledge or fronted Adverbials. Please note:
- 'Adverbial' is a grammatical function label. This means several grammatical grammatical forms can function as Adverbial, such as adverb phrases, prepositon phrases, or subordinate clauses.
- These words can be referred to as connectives or connectors. This can be useful as a general categorisation, but (unlike adverb etc.) does not give us information on how these words work grammatically. The terms connectives and connectors are not used in the National Curriculum.
Discuss the explanation of fronted Adverbials in the next slide. The National Curriculum stipulates using a comma after a fronted Adverbial to separate it from the Subject. However, the comma is not always used, especially with one-word Adverbials before short sentences. With longer sentences, the comma is useful to avoid confusion.
The important job of fronted Adverbials is to connect and organise ideas. See how many fronted adverbials your learners can identify in the essay. Use the word selecting activity to demonstrate and consolidate this understanding.
In the final activity, learners categorise the adverbials to show the ways in which they connect or organise ideas. This activity does not have built-in feedback; in case it's needed, the solution is:
TIME: In December, Now
ORDER: Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly
EMPHASIS: Certainly, Moreover, Also
CONTRAST: Even if, Nevertheless, Also
As an extension, ask learners to add any other adverbials they spot in the text, or to add extra ones from their own knowledge
Activity 5
Ask learners to look at the two example sentences and discuss how they differ from the majority of others. Sentence 2 has been simplifed to make the grammatical structure clearer. Although and even if are subordinating conjunctions, making these multi-clause sentences which have more than one Subject and main verb. Note that a comma comes before the second Subject in both examples.
As an extension, learners could rewrite these sentences by reordering the subordinate clause.
Possible reformulations:
- A heart disease, myocarditis, is extremely rare although it may be caused by the vaccine.
- It is the correct decision to make jabs available to 5-11 year-olds even if this does not seem to make sense.
Activity 6
Ask learners to look again at the essay and to find the main arguments and ideas in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4. This is an opportunity to practise skim and scan reading since the answers can be easily found in the topic sentences.
Ask learners to re-read paragraph 5, which starts with however. Learners discuss what makes this paragraph distinct from the other main body ones and why the author might include one like this. Use the buttons to reveal suggested answers to the questions.
The final activity is to simply recall the main ideas and terminology from the lesson. Learners will build on this knowlege in part 2, which focusses more on language and register features.
Acknowledgment
This series of resources explores how genre relates to grammar. The content of the lessons was devised and kindly provided by Prof. Andrew Goatly. You can find some of his publications for purchase on the Amazon website here.
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Genre of Argument and Discussion 1
Warm-up
What kind of text is an argument or discussion?
What is its purpose?
What makes it different from other texts?
Activity 1
Read the essay on the hand out.
1. What is the topic of the essay? What facts do you learn?
2. What is the author's perspective? How can you tell?
3. How is this text written? What is the tone? Why is it written in this way?
Today, we will look at how the author presents information and shapes their argument. First, let's look at the discourse structure, or (in other words) how the text is organised.
How would you label each paragraph? What is the job of each one?
We typically organise essays like this into three parts:
1. Introduction (Paragraph 1)
2. Main body (Paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5)
3. Conclusion (Paragraph 6)
In the next activity, mix and match each section with what the elements it contains. Drag the cards together to connect, and double-click to break them apart.
Answers
Activity 2
Re-read the introduction paragraph.
Discuss: What should a well-written introduction contain?
Introductions should contain background information and a thesis statement.
1. What background information is given in the introduction?
Omicron was spreading quickly, scientists were worried, the government decided healthy children should not be vaccinated, Omicron is known to be less dangerous, the government have changed their mind
What does thesis statement mean? What is the purpose of a thesis statement?
The thesis statement gives an overview of the writer's point of view or position. All the other topic sentences and paragraphs are written to back up this opinion.
2. Underline or highlight the thesis statement (hint: it is a clause in a sentence, not a full sentence itself!)
it is the correct decision to make jabs available to 5-11 year olds.
Activity 3
After the introduction, we see the main body paragraphs (2, 3, 4, 5). Each main body paragraph contains a topic sentence.
1. What is the job of a topic sentence?
2. Highlight or underline the four topic sentences in this essay.
Here are the four topic sentences:
- Firstly, the spread of the disease has disrupted education and brought chaos to schools.
- Secondly, the vaccine is very safe.
- Thirdly, vaccines reduce the risks to health for both children and adults.
- However, there are some arguments against vaccination for 5-11 year-olds.
What features do they all share in common? Test your knowledge in the next slide.
Read the three statements about topic sentences below. Are they true or false?
Answers
Activity 4
Topic sentences: are the first sentence of a main body paragraph, give an overview of the argument, are usually single-clause sentences, and have an adverbial placed at the start to guide the reader.
What is the grammatical term for placing a word or short phrase at the start of a sentence (before the Subject)?
fronted adverbial
A fronted adverbial is a word or phrase that comes before the Subject. Usually, a comma is used between the fronted adverbial and the Subject. In an argument or discussion essay, these fronted adverbials are useful for connecting and organising ideas.
You might hear the terms connector or connective to describe these words since they are used to join together ideas and guide the reader.
1. Highlight or underline any other fronted adverbials you can spot in the text.
2. What is the job of each one? How are they connecting or organising the ideas?
Let's check if you can spot the fronted adverbials!
Identify the fronted adverbials in each example. They could be adverbs or preposition phrases. To select a sequence of words, click on the first and last words.
Answers
In an essay like this, the important job for fronted adverbials is to organise the writer's ideas and arguments. In the table below, match the words to the way they are organising ideas.
Activity 5
Some of the sentences behave a little differently from the others. Look at the two examples below which start with Although and Even if. What is special about these two sentences?
- Although a heart disease, myocarditis, may be caused by the vaccine, it is extremely rare.
- Even if this does not seem to make sense, (...) it is the correct decision to make jabs available to 5-11 year-olds.
Look carefully at the structure of the sentences. How many Subjects and main verbs are there in each one?
These two are both multi-clause sentences, meaning they have more than one Subject and main verb. Words like Although and Even if are subordinating conjunctions. In both sentences, the second Subject is the pronoun it followed by the verb is.
- Although a heart disease, myocarditis, may be caused by the vaccine, it is extremely rare.
- Even if this does not seem to make sense, (...) it is the correct decision to make jabs available to 5-11 year-olds.
Extension: Can you rewrite both the sentences by moving the subordinating conjunction to the middle?
Activity 6
Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 provide distinct arguments that back up the thesis statement. What is the main argument or idea of each paragraph? The topic sentence should tell you!
Thesis: It is correct to use the vaccine on children because of:
Disruption to education
The safety of the vaccine
Reduction of health risks
Read paragraph 5 again. What is the job of this paragraph? Why does it start with the word However?
To show counter-arguments which go against the thesis statement
Why would the author include a paragraph like this?
To show the writer has considered both sides of the argument and to critique the counter-arguments.
So far, we have looked at how discourse structure is used to make a well-organised and convincing essay
What were the main discourse features we looked at in this lesson?
Introduction, main body & conclusion paragraphs, Thesis statement, Topic sentence with adverbials, Counter-argument paragraph
In the next part of this lesson, we will look at register and language features and see how the author uses language to write a persuasive and informative essay.
Genre of Argument and Discussion 2
Goals:
- Identify and analsye how nominalisations are used in essays
- Identify and analsye how the passiv voice is used in essays
- Apply these features in a writing task
Lesson Plan
This is Part 2 of the lesson on Argument and Discussion.
Make sure you have the handout from Part 1.
In the first lesson, you looked at how information is organised through discourse structure. In this lesson, you will examine choices of language and register.
Activity 1
Ask learners to re-read paragraph 3 and give them five minutes to find any examples of the same word being used for a different grammatical form or function (don't worry if they struggle with this, as they will be given examples in the next task).
Look at the two example sentences in the next slide. Ask the learners how the word 'jab' is used differently. Use the buttons to give feedback on their answers. Ask the learners to explain how they knew (try discusisng in paris or groups first), and then give feedback through the answers on the next slide. Check to see if any learners are already familiar with the term nominalisation.
In the next few slides, the learners are exposed to another example to consolidate their understanding. Check to see if learners can explain how they can tell when the word is used as a noun or verb. The criteria in the glossary may be useful here.
Next, look at the final example. This is to demonstrate that some words change through suffixes when they become a noun.
Activity 2
Ask the learners to do Activtiy 2 independently. They re-read the text and look for more examples of words that are nominalised and used more than once in the text. Leave the buttons as clues to help. Once the learners have finished, ask them to compare answers and then click the buttons to reveal.
Extension:the two words used as adjectives first and nouns later are dangerous (line 2)/dangers (line 11), and healthy (line 2)/health (line 15).
Activity 3
In Activity 3, the learners move on to a different feature: the passive voice. Ask the learners to read the two example sentences and use the bullet-points to discuss the differences. Use the next two slides to demonstrate and discuss how the passive is formed and when it's used.
In the next slide, learners work independently to find the four other examples of the passive voice. Leave the buttons as hints as learners look for the examples, and then share their answers. Press the buttons to reveal the answers.
Finally, look at the example sentence, and discuss why the author might chose to use the passive voice instead of the active. Use the next slide to feedback on answers.
Activity 4
Finally, ask the learners to try a writing task to demonstrate their knowledge. Help the learners choose a topic, and then use the bullet-points and writing hand out to help them plan. Once finished, they can use the criteria to swap and evaluate each other's work.
Genre of Argument and Discussion 2
This is Part 2 of the lesson on Argument and Discussion.
Make sure you have the handout from Part 1.
In the first lesson, you looked at how information is organised through discourse structure. In this lesson, you will examine choices of language and register.
Activity 1
Re-read paragraph 3. Can you find an example of the same word being used in different grammatical roles?
Show the next slide to see the answer.
What word is used in both sentences? How is it used for a different grammatical form?
- There is now more data on any possible dangers of the jab in younger children.
- Many other countries [...] have jabbed million of under-11s...
'the jab' is a Noun phrase
'have jabbed' is the present perfect (Verb)
How can you tell what the different grammatical forms are?
- 'the jab' is a noun because it has a determiner before it (the) and it's part of a preposition phrase 'of the jab'.
- 'have jabbed' is in the present perfect because it comes after the Subject (Many other countries), has the auxililary verb 'have' before it, and ends with the -ed inflection.
This is one example of using the same word in different grammatical forms. It's very common to do this in formal writing, especially through changing verbs and adjectives into nouns.
- What is this technique called?
- Why do we use it in formal writing?
This process is called nominalisation, and is used in formal writing to:
- discuss topics in the abstract (not personal or narrated experiences)
- avoid repetition
- refer back to ideas that have already been explained in detail earlier
Look again at paragraphs 1 and 2. Can you spot a verb that is later used as a noun?
Here are the examples from line 1 and line 6:
- In December, Omicron was spreading quickly...
- Firstly, the spread of the disease has disrupted education...
How can you tell that the first sentence uses 'spread' as a verb, but the second as a noun?
- 'the spread' is a noun phrase which also functions as the Subject of the sentence (the spread of the disease) and uses a determiner (the).
- 'was spreading' is the Verb: Omicron is the Subject, 'was' is an auxilary verb, and 'spreading' is the past progressive form. The verb is modified by the adverb 'quickly'.
Remember: 'In December' and 'Firstly' are adverbials that are fronted (placed in front of the Subject).
Some words, like 'spread' or 'jab' don't change much between noun and verb. They only gain inflectional endings like -ed or -ing. Let's look at some other examples!
Some words change more between being a noun and a verb. Look at these two examples from lines 2 and 5 of paragraph 1:
- The government decided healthy young children should be vaccinated.
- ...on balance, it is the correct decision to make jabs available to 5-11 year olds.
The verb 'decide' becomes 'decided' in the past tense. However, the noun also changes: 'decide' has a suffix added and becomes 'decision'.
Activity 2
There are many more examples of verbs and adjectives that are nominalised with suffixes. Match the verb or adjective to its noun version and see how suffixes are used to change their role. Click the button to reveal the answer.
Verb line 10 to noun line 27: Isolate/Isolation
Verb line 6 to noun line 33: has disrupted/disruption
Verb line 20 to noun line 33: Infect/infection
Verb line 2 to noun line 23: Vaccinated/vaccination
Adjective line 11 to noun line 31: Safe/safety
Extension: Can you find two examples of words that are used as adjectives earlier in the text, and then nouns later?
Activity 3
Now let's look at another register feature. What's different about these two sentences?
- The government is likely to drop isolation rules soon.
- Isolation rules are likely to be dropped soon.
- What information is present in each sentence?
- How is the syntax of each sentence ordered?
The first sentence is written in the active voice (Subject + Verb + Object).
- The government is likely to drop isolation rules soon.
The second is written in the passive voice. The Subject in the active voice is removed in the passive voice version, and the Object is moved to the start of the sentence. This construction is formed by using the verb 'be' plus a past participle.
- Isolation rules are likely to be dropped soon.
Like nominalisations, the passive voice is used more in formal texts. Why do you think that is?
The passive voice is used more in formal texts because it:
- creates a more neutral tone
- can change the order information is presented in
- allows the writer to leave out information that would be repeated
- can avoid assinging blame or when the Subject is unknown
Read the text again. How many examples of the passive voice can you find?
The next slide will give you some hints!
To find examples of the passive, look for clauses which don't mention who performed the action, and which use the verb 'be' (in whatever tense or aspect!) with a past participle (which normally end with -ed).
Here are where to find some examples of the passive voice:
Paragraph 1, line 2: ...healthy young children should not be vaccinated.
Paragraph 2, line 9-10: ...whole classes or bubbles have been sent home to isolate.
Paragraph 3, line 14-15: ...a hear disease, myocarditis, may be caused by the vaccine...
Paragraph 6, line 31: The safety of the jab has been proved.
Look at these two sentences. The second sentence in the passive voice appears in paragraph 6. Why do you think the author chose the passive voice in this paragraph? Re-read the paragraph and consider where it appears in the overall order.
- The government has proved the safety of the jab.
- The safety of the jab has been proved.
Activity 4
Here are some possible reasons why the author chose the passive voice:
- The sentence appears in the conclusion. The author does not need to explain who proved the safety of the jab since that is already clear from previous sections.
- The author does not want the reader to focus on who proved the safety (the government? doctors? researchers?), but instead only on the fact that they are safe.
- The shorter sentence has a stronger impact, especially in the conclusion where the author is restating the most important points.
Activity 5
Now it's time to try writing an article yourself!
- Choose an interesting topic: something from your school, personal life, or happening in your local area.
- Plan and write the article, using the discourse and register features you've seen in the two lessons.
- Use the Writing an Article hand out to help!
- Include any other features you've identified during this lesson or think would be useful.
- When you've finished, share and evaluate with a partner.
Genre of Newspaper Articles
Goals:
- Identify and analsye the discourse features of newspaper articles
- Identify and analsye the register features of newspaper articles
- Apply these features in writing
Lesson Plan
Before this lesson, you may want to complete the lesson An Introduction to Genre, so that learners are familiar with the key terms discourse structure and register
Please check if there are any hand outs at the bottom of this page and print in advance.
Warmer
Use the bulletpoints to introduce the topic and activate the pupils' prior learning. Circulate to monitor the discussion. You could use mini-whiteboards to share/check their answers for the third point.
Activity 1
Explain that learners must work in pairs or small groups. Hand out the printed articles. Learners read Article A and then discuss the bulletpoints. Again, try using mini-whiteboards to share answers. Hopefully, learners will start to notice language and structural features as these are the focus of the rest of the lesson.
Activity 2
Ask learners to recall the meaning of discourse structure and register features. They should be familiar with these terms from the introductory lesson.
Ask learners what are the main elements they exepect to see in a newspaper article. They should be able to come up with a list of several features such as headlines etc., and to discuss what order they appear on the page.
Next, try the mix and match activity as a whole class. First, put the capitalised elements in order from top to bottom i.e. HEADLINE, DATE & BYLINE etc. Then, match the element to what it contains i.e. HEADLINE - (Announces topic). Drag and drop the cards next to each other to connect. Double click to break apart.
A typical order could be HEADLINE, DATE & BYLINE, LEAD, MAIN EVENT, BACKGROUND, CONSEQUENCES and COMMENT. The last three elements can appear in different orders or be repeated depending on the article.
After this, have the learners look back at Article A and label the elements of discourse structure. Use the Labelled Articles handout, so learners can check their answers.
To finish, pose the question: why are newspapers articles organised in this way? Accept any equivalent answers.
Activity 3
Now, change the focus to the register features of the text. Ask learners to read the text again, this time highlighting or underlining any words or phrases that seem important to communicate to the reader. Give learners time to attempt this and to discuss the bullet-points. If time allows, share any interesting points the learners have found.
Show the learners the two examples in the next slide. Ask them what is unusual about the grammar of each. Use the hints to help after a few minutes.
Each of these examples are missing typical elements of grammar we would expect in complete sentences written in Standard English. For each example, learners try rewriting as full sentences, and then explain why the newspaper is written in the original style.
Activity 4
Learners now look at Article B and answers questions 1-3 in pairs or groups. Based on their analysis of Article A, they should be able to complete these activities more independently. Learners can check their answers by comparing with other groups and/or as a whole class. Use the Labelled Articles handout to check discourse features.
In the same way as Activity 3, learners rewrite Article B's Headline and Lead to demonstrate how these are more examples of incomplete sentences used in newspaper articles.
Activity 5
Finally, students can apply this new knowledge in their own writing. Follow the instructions and use the Writing an Article handout.
Genre of Newspaper Articles
Warmer
Discuss with a partner:
- What was the last newspaper article you read? What was it about?
- Why do people read newspapers and news websites?
- What features do we expect to see in a newspaper article? Why are they used?
Activity 1
Read Article A. Discuss the following questions:
- What is the main event?
- What facts are given?
- What do you learn about Big Sur?
- What people or groups give their reactions?
Activity 2
How is genre created?
Through 1) discourse structure and 2) register features.
First let's look at discourse structure: the elements of the text structured in a predictable order.
What are the main elements you expect to see in a newspaper? What order do they come in?
For example, a newspaper article starts with a headline. What comes after that?
In the next slide, you will see some of the main elements of the discourse structure of a newspaper article.
Match the elements with their contents, showing the order you would expect to see on the page.
If you need help, take a look again at Article A.
Each element of the discourse structure does a different job.
The Summary includes the Headline, Lead, Attribution/Byline and Date.
The News Story includes the Main Event, Background, Consequences, and Comment.
Look at Article A. Label all the elements mentioned on this slide. Use the labelled Article A to check your answers.
Why is a newspaper article organised in this way? What effect does the writer want to have on the reader?
The reader can find the most important information at the top of the page, and then scan the rest to find details and less factual information i.e. opinions and speculation.
Activity 3
Genre is also created through register features: the distinctive language used in the text.
In pairs, look at Article A again. Discuss these questions:
1. What distinctive language features do you notice?
2. Why are they used? What does the writer want to achieve?
Look at these two examples from the Headline and Lead. What is unusal about the grammar in each? For example, they are both missing full stops. Click for hints!
- Big Sur wildfire destroys 15 homes and 500 acres of national forest
- Home of California town's fire chief among properties destroyed by blaze in Los Padres National Forest
When are the events taking place in the Headline?
What grammatical elements are missing in the Lead?
The headline is written in the present tense even thought it is describing a past event. It has also left out a determiner.
- Big Sur wildfire destroys 15 homes and 500 acres of national forest
Try rewriting the sentence in the past tense and adding a determiner; then, check the answer. Optional words are in brackets.
A Big Sur wildfire (has) destroyed 15 homes and 500 acres of national forest
Why do you think the headline was written this way?
Headlines need to grab the reader's attention and put across information quickly, so words are often missed out. The use of the present tense makes the events feel more immediate.
The Lead is missing many grammatical elements such as determiners and auxiliary verbs.
- Home of California town's fire chief among properties destroyed by blaze in Los Padres National Forest
Try rewriting the sentence, adding in the missing elements; then, check the answer. Optional words are in brackets.
The home of the California town's fire chief was among the properties which were destroyed by a blaze in (the) Los Padres National forest.
Why do you think the lead was written this way?
Like the headline, the lead is written to grab the reader's attention and put across information quickly, even if this means omitting grammatical words.
As we saw, the Headline and Lead are written as incomplete sentences that are missing certain grammatical elements.
Can you think of another reason why they are written in this style? This is a practical reason to do with the history of printing which is less relevant today!
Newspapers which are printed on paper need to save space in order to contain as many stories as possible, leading to truncated writing styles. With digital publishing, this issue is less important although newspapers still use this attention-grabbing style!
In what other types of texts and situations is it typical to use incomplete sentences?
Some examples are in spoken conversations and instant messaging and text messages.
Now take a look at Article B. Work with a partner or in small groups. Answer questions 1-3:
- Summarise the article with a partner. What is the main event? What details do you learn? What groups or people do you hear from?
- Label the discourse features: the Headline, Lead, Attribution/Byline, Date, the Main Event, Background, Consequences, and Comment. Is anything different from Article A?
- Find more examples of the register features: present tense used to describe a past event, and the omission of determiners or auxiliary verbs. Can you find any other interesting features?
Use the labelled Article B to check your answers to question 2.
The headline and lead are written to a similar way to Article A: using the present tense and missing grammatical words.
- 100 firefighters tackle blaze at mill used to film Peaky Blinders
- Crews were called to fire at Dalton Mills on Thursday lunchtime as whole of building affected
Rewrite both sentences, changing the unusual features.
- 100 firefighters tackle blaze at mill used to film Peaky Blinders
- Crews were called to fire at Dalton Mills on Thursday lunchtime as whole of building affected
100 firefighters tackled a blaze at a mill which is used to film Peaky Blinders
(The) Crews were called to the fire at Dalton Mills on Thursday lunchtime as the whole of the building was affected
Activity 5
Now it's time to try writing a newspaper article yourself!
- Choose a recent event: something from your school, personal life, or happening in your local area.
- Plan and write a newspaper article, using the discourse and register features you've seen today.
- Use the Writing an Article hand out to help!
- Include any other language features you identified during this lesson.
- When you've finished, share and evaluate with a partner.