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 your
stand.
5. Bandwagon occurs when someone tries to refute an
argument by attacking the character of a person instead
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?” In this case whichever your choice, you
have to defend it with reasonable arguments and factual evidences

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
presents his/her devote yourself to
argument as one of only company or you quit.
two options despite the
presence of multiple
possibilities
Appeal to Occurs when something Aliens must exist
Ignorance is instantly concluded to because no one has
be true just because it is proven that they
not proven to be false, don't.
and vice versa
 Fallacy Description Example
Slippery Occurs when a series of If we ban computer
Slope increasingly superficial and shops, then students will
unacceptable consequences not be able to do
is drawn research. And if they do
not have tools for
research, these students
will fail their subjects.
Complex Occurs when two or more “Have you stopped
Question points are rolled into one cheating on exams?”
and the reader 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 Arguing that something is true You can’t believe that
Consequences because it would lead to a colonialism is bad, because if
positive outcome if accepted. it were, then we would not be
civilized.
 Fallacy Description Example
Bandwagon Occurs when an argument is Most Filipinas want to
considered to be valid because it have fair skin because
is what the majority thinks they think they look
beautiful. Therefore,
having fair skin must be
the real standard of
beauty.
Attacking the Occurs when someone tries to I cannot accept your
Person refute an argument by attacking argument because, unlike
the character of a person instead me, you were not
of attacking the ideas of the educated at Harvard
argument University.

Appeal to Authority Occurs when the argument Bill Gates, the co-founder
quotes an expert who’s not of Microsoft, recommends
qualified in the particular subject the effective fabric
matter softening properties of
 Fallacy Description Example
Anonymous The authority in Experts claim that
Authority question is not eating peanuts causes
mentioned or named pimples.
Hasty Generalization Occurs when a sample Martha, the foreigner
is not significant from France is very
enough to support a impolite. French
generalization about a people are mean and
population rude.
False Analogy Occurs when a writer Drugs are like
assumes that two massages: they make
concepts that are you feel good.
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 id 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.
1. Of course, the mayor’s new tax plan is a
great idea. He’s been in politics for 30 years!
2. Either we cut all funding for the arts, or our
economy will collapse. There’s no middle
ground
3. I’ve read several articles online that say
eating chocolate every day can improve your
health, so it must be true.
4. You shouldn’t go to that new restaurant; I
heard it’s terrible from one person I know!
5. If we allow students to pick their own
6. You can’t trust Jim’s opinion on climate change;
he’s not a scientist.
7. Either we pass this law, or crime will keep
increasing in our city. There’s no other solution.
8. My grandfather smoked every day and lived to
be 92, so smoking can’t be that harmful.
9. You shouldn’t listen to Jennifer’s argument on
gun control. She’s only a teenager and doesn’t
understand the complexities of the issue.
10. Everyone says that movie is fantastic, so it
must be one of the best films of the year!
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
strengthen the author’s claims: Remember: Aside from
Evidence from surveys, library your claim/argument,
research and experiments you have to discuss
Evidence from informant counter arguments.
interviews (those who have These are the
direct experience related to the arguments opposing a
problem/issue Evidence from stand.
expert interviews Source:
Valdez, P. N. M. (2016). English
for the Globalized Classroom
Series: English for Academic
and Professional
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. Logical Fallacies Attacking the
Person Bandwagon False Dilemma Hasty
Generalization False Analogy Post Hoc
Complex Cause Wrong Direction Irrelevant
Conclusion www.shsph.blogspot.com 10
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!