ENGLISH FOR
ACADEMIC AND
PROFESSIONAL
PURPOSES
Quarter 2
DEFENDS A STAND ON AN ISSUE
BY PRESENTING REASONABLE
ARGUMENTS SUPPORTED BY
PROPERLY CITED FACTUAL
EVIDENCES
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
defend a stand on an issue by presenting
reasonable arguments supported by properly
cited factual evidences
● determine different kinds of logical fallacy
● identify factors on authenticity and validity
of evidences/information
● present reasonable arguments and factual
evidences to defend a stand
VOCABULARY LIST
Let’s enrich your vocabulary with these terms that you
will encounter throughout this lesson.
● Stand - viewpoint
● Claims - these are statements that support the
author’s stand; ARGUMENT
● Evidences - these are proofs or evidences to
strengthen the author’s claim
● Fallacy - an error in reasoning which weakens an
argument
● Counterclaims – arguments opposing a stand
PRE-TEST True or False
Instructions: Read the statement below. If it is true,
draw . If it is false, draw Write your answers in a
paper or in your notebook.
1. Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that
invalidates an argument.
2. Opinions are better than facts in supporting an
argument.
3. Statistics can be used as evidence to support an
argument.
4. Evidence from expert interviews can strengthen
Take a glance on the picture below. Then, answer the question: “Which
would you follow, the decision that your mind is saying or the choice
that your heart is dictating?”
Every now and then, we find the need to take a stand on an issue. How
do we defend this stand? How do we convince others about the
soundness of our position?
A.LOGICAL FALLACIES
What are these logical fallacies?
Why is there a need for you to be familiar with
it?
LOGICAL FALLACIES are ERRORS IN
REASONING that INVALIDATE AN
ARGUMENT. As a critical thinker you have to
identify and examine fallacies and
manipulative language. It is therefore
important that you know some of the common
Study the types of fallacy
and its
Fallacy example:
Description Example
False Dilemma Occurs when an arguer Either you fully devote
presents his/her argument yourself to company or
as one of only two options you quit.
despite the presence of
multiple possibilities
Appeal to Ignorance Occurs when something is The writer does not talk
instantly concluded to be about the connection
true just because it is not between the victim’s killer
proven to be false, and vice and his sister, so there
versa must be none
Fallacy Description Example
Slippery Slope Occurs when a series of If we ban computer shops,
increasingly superficial and then students will not be able
unacceptable consequences is to do research. And if they do
drawn not have tools for research,
these students will fail their
subjects.
Complex Occurs when two or more points “Have you stopped cheating
Question are rolled into one and the reader on exams?”
is expected to accept or reject
both at the same time, when one
point may be satisfactory while
the other is not
Fallacy Description Example
Appeal to Force Occurs when a threat, instead If you do not admit that
of reasoning is used to argue evolution is not real, we will
isolate you from the group.
Appeal to Pity Occurs when the element of Please do not fire me for
pity is used instead of logical being absent all month; I have
reasoning a sick mother and a special
child to support.
Appeal to Occurs when unpleasant You can’t believe that
Consequences consequences of believing colonialism is bad, because if
something are pointed out to it were, then we would not be
show that the belief is false civilized.
Fallacy Description Example
Bandwagon Occurs when an argument is considered Most Filipinas want to have fair
to be valid because it is what the majority skin because they think they
thinks look beautiful. Therefore, having
fair skin must be the real
standard of beauty.
Attacking the Person Occurs when someone tries to refute an I cannot accept your argument
argument by attacking the character of a because, unlike me, you were
person instead of attacking the ideas of not educated at Harvard
the argument University.
Appeal to Authority Occurs when the argument quotes an Bill Gates, the co-founder of
expert who’s not qualified in the Microsoft, recommends the
particular subject matter effective fabric softening
properties of Downy fabric
softener
Fallacy Description Example
Anonymous The authority in question Experts claim that eating
is not mentioned or named peanuts causes pimples.
Authority
Hasty Generalization Occurs when a sample is Martha, the foreigner from
not significant enough to France is very impolite.
support a generalization French people are mean
about a population and rude.
False Analogy Occurs when a writer Drugs are like massages:
assumes that two they make you feel good.
concepts that are similar in
some ways are also
similar in other ways
Fallacy Description Example
Accident Occurs when a general rule is Jaywalking is not allowed,
applied to a situation, even when so you should not have
it should be an exception done that even when you
were being chased by
terrorists
Post Hoc It is an informal fallacy that Dina saw cat when they
states: “Since event A followed went home. Along the
event B, event A must have been way, they crashed into a
caused by event B.” tree. The black cat must
be the reason why they
met an accident.
Wrong Direction Occurs when the direction Liver damage leads to
between cause and effect is alcoholism.
reversed
Fallacy Description Example
Complex Cause Occurs when the explanation for an We were not able to solve the
event is reduced to one thing when problem because of limited
there are other factors which also time, even if all the other
contributed to the event groups were able to do so.
Irrelevant Conclusion Occurs when an argument which is We must support the fight for
supposed to prove something gender equality between men
concludes something else instead and women. Women have
suffered enough violence at
home. Violence against women
must be stopped.
Straw Man Occurs when the position of the Opponent: We should relax the
opposition is twisted so that it is easier law governing the allowed
to refute smoking areas in the city.
Fallacy: We should not do so,
because the number of
smokers might increase.
Fallacy Description Example
Affirming the Consequent Any argument of the form: If you are drinking wine,
If A is true then B is true; If you have a problem.
B is true therefore A is true Therefore, if you have a
problem, you are drinking
wine.
Denying the Antecedent Any argument of the form: If you are drinking wine,
If A is true then B is true; If you have a problem.
A is not true then B is not Therefore, if you are not
true drinking wine, you do not
have a problem.
Inconsistency Occurs when arguments Frank is older than Jake,
contradict one another Jake is older than Noli and
Noli is older than Frank.
Warning: Do not use these kinds of
logical fallacies when you defend your
stand. It weakens your arguments.
So, what are the things that you have
to do in order to refrain from these
fallacies? Study the next topic.
B. FACTORS ON AUTHENTICITY AND
VALIDITY OF EVIDENCES/INFORMATION
The following are some of the criteria assessing whether
the source is suitable to use for academic purposes. The
criteria include relevance, authority, currency, contents
and location of sources.
1.Relevance of the Source
● How well does the source support your
stand?
● You can check the title, table of contents,
summary, introduction or headings of the
text to have a sense of its content.
2. Authority/Author’s Qualifications
● Is the author’s name identified?
● Is the author’s background, education or training
related to the topic?
● If the source does not have an author, think twice
before using it.
● Legitimate academic texts must include citations.
Citations demonstrate that the writer has thoroughly
researched the topic and is not plagiarizing the
material.
3. Currency/Date of Publication
● What is the date of the publication?
● In most fields, the data from the older
publications may no longer be valid. As
much as possible, the date pf publication
should be at most five years earlier.
4. Contents/Accuracy of Information
● Does the author have a lot of citations in
his or her text and/or bibliography or
works cited section?
● You do not want to use source that is
disputable, so make sure to verify your
findings with multiple sources.
5. Location of Sources
● Where was the source published? Was
it published digitally or in print?
● Is it a book, an academic journal or a
reputable news source as
www.nytimes.com or
www.economist.com?
● Does it provide complete publication
information such as author/s, editor/s,
title, date of publication and publisher?
● Avoid using blogs or personal
homepage and wiki sites (Wikipedia,
Wiktionary, Wikiquotes)
● If the URL includes the top-level
domain .edu, then that means that it has
been published by an academic institution
such as university
● Common URLs include .gov
(government), .org (organizations), .com
(commercial sites) and .net (network
infrastructures). In academic writing,
Add on: Pieces of evidence to Remember:
strengthen the author’s claims: Aside from your
Evidence from surveys, library
research and experiments claim/argument,
Evidence from informant
interviews (those who have you have to
direct experience related to the discuss counter
problem/issue Evidence from
expert interviews Source: arguments.
Valdez, P. N. M. (2016). English
for the Globalized Classroom These are the
Series: English for Academic arguments
and Professional
opposing a
C. PRESENTATION OF REASONABLE
ARGUMENTS AND FACTUAL EVIDENCES TO
DEFEND A STAND
Guidelines in presentation of reasonable arguments and
factual evidences to defend a stand:
● C - ontains a clear proposition or statement that must be
defended
● A - ssesses conflicting opinions or opposing views on the issue
● T - akes a firm stand on the issue
● L - ists arguments in an organized manner to defend the
stand
● C -onsider your audience/reader
Instructions: Read each statement below and
identify what it describes by choosing the word
in the word pool. Write your answers in a
separate sheet of paper.
Logical Fallacies Attacking the Person
Bandwagon
False Dilemma Hasty Generalization
False Analogy
Post Hoc Complex Cause Wrong
Direction
Irrelevant Conclusion
1.These are errors in reasoning that invalidate
an argument.
2.It occurs when the direction between cause
and effect is reversed.
3.It occurs when an arguer presents his/her
argument as one of only two options despite
the presence of multiple possibilities.
4.We must support the clean and green
program of the government. Mountaineers
have suffered climbing on the mountains.
5. I cannot accept your argument because
unlike me, you were not educated at
Harvard University.
6. We were not able to solve the problem
because of limited time even if all the other
groups were able to do so.
7. It occurs when an argument is
considered to be valid because it is what
the majority thinks.
8. It occurs when a writer assumes that
9. Juan saw a black cat when they went home.
Along the way, they crashed into a tree. The
black cat must be the reason why they met an
accident.
10. It occurs when a sample is not significant
or enough to support a generalization about a
population.
Task 2: Modified True or False
Instructions: Write T if the
statement is true. If it is false
change the underlined word with
the correct one. Write your
answers in a separate sheet of
paper.
1.The criteria for assessing whether a source is
suitable to use for academic purposes are:
relevance, authority, currency contents and
references.
2.Sources not written by experts are not valid.
3.Sources published online should always be used as
reference.
4.Sources that are personal and editable such as
blogs and Wikipedia are acceptable.
5.Sources that have no relevance to your academic
paper should not be used.
6. Evidence from surveys, library
research and experiments can strengthen
your argument.
7. Evidence from informant interviews
(those who have direct experience related
to the problem/issue is acceptable.
8. Evidence from expert interviews is
credible.
9. Outdated sources should not be
Choose Who-One! Instructions: Fill out the box with the
needed information. Have a brief yet clear answer in a
separate sheet of paper.
Situation Your mother is in critical condition while laboring your
youngest sibling and according to the doctor only one has
the chance to survive. Because of this, the doctor is asking
you to decide as to who should be kept alive.
STAND/POSITION
EXPLANATION
EVIDENCE
CONCLUSION
D. Y. S. (Defend Your Stand)
Instructions: Given the issue, write
your stand. Defend it using your
claims/arguments. For each
argument, give an evidence. Write
your answers in a separate sheet of
paper
Example: Cycling to commute to work or school
Stand: In favor Argument: Health benefits,
environment-friendly Evidence: Cycling as a mode of
transport should be promoted since it has several
health benefits. It’s easy on the joints. When you sit
on a bike, you put your weight on a pair of bones in
the pelvis called the ischial tuberosities. “That makes
it good for anyone with joint pain or related
stiffness,” says Dr. Clare Safran-Norton, a physical
therapist at Harvard -affiliated Brigham and Women’s
Hospital. In addition, it can save nonrenewable
resources. According to the Encyclopedia of Energy,
bicycles can cover a given distance using one-
1. Issue: Use of Social Media Websites in school
Stand:______________________________
Argument: __________________________
Evidence: __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Issue: Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020
Stand: ______________________________
Argument: __________________________
Evidence: __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. Issue: Who is a better leader: Someone who is
loved or someone who is feared?
Stand: ______________________________
Argument: __________________________
Evidence:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________
Evaluate the output using the
rubric below.
Content: 15%
Organization: 10%
Grammar and Mechanics: 10%
=35%
THANK YOU!
