3 MAJOR STEPS

• Identify author’s
Skim the article tone, main points,
READ for an overview. support and
evidence

Examine all elements before giving your

ANALYSE opinion /agree or disagree

Organise your evaluative commentary

WRITE and start writing
GOOD EVALUATIVE COMMENTARY
CONTENT
 Overview, Author’s tone, main points ,
supporting details, strong evidence, personal
view, justification, restatement of own opinion

LANGUAGE
 Appropriate and accurate use of language

ORGANISATION
 Paragraphing and coherence (linking words/
discourse markers)
STRUCTURE OF THE COMMENTARY
INTRODUCTION
Paragraph 1 – overview of article , author’s tone
EVALUATION
Paragraph 2 - Paragraph 3, Paragraph 3( Main
point and summary)
YOUR PERSONAL VIEW
Paragraph 4 – Personal view , justification
CONCLUSION
Restatement of personal view / opinion , final
comments
INTRODUCTION
▪ Overview of the article
▪ Clear statement of the problem or topic
addressed
▪ Author’s tone
▪ Include a clear identification of the point
of view
▪ Positive/optimistic
▪ Objective / fair / impartial
▪ Negative /pessimistic/ sombre
▪ Biased / unfair /judgemental / critical
EVALUATION
Main points
• Summarises the arguments by the author

Supporting details
• The different details given to support

Strong evidence
• Should follow supporting detail , illustrate
main points clearly(statistics, expert
opinion, research finding )
YOUR PERSONAL VIEW
Agree – how far do you agree?
Disagree – how far do you disagree?
Agree and disagree – how far ?
Justification of personal view
 Need to give good reason to justify
 Expose the strength or weakness,
 Challenge the reliability or accuracy
 Provide additional arguments
CONCLUSION
❖ Restatement of personal view
❖Reaffirmation of your stand regarding
author’s point of view

❖ Final comments
❖Should highlight the importance of
examining the issue.
INTRODUCTION
The article illustrates the benefits we can
derive from having education. The author is
optimistic and advocates its importance
because education enables us to improve
ourselves and contribute to the betterment of
the country.

Overview
 Main point
EVALUATION
Firstly, education provides us with a solid base
of knowledge and skills to perform in our
career. In order to pursue professions like
engineers or doctors, it is mandatory to
acquire knowledge and skills in a formal
setting and earn the academic qualifications
related to the profession. Similarly, subjects
like Mathematics, Science and languages too
help us to perform various tasks effectively.

Strong evidence
EVALUATION (continued) Main point
Moreover, academic experience also gives us the
opportunity to meet people of different backgrounds and
cultural values. This in turn makes us holistic and civilised.
We can learn various values, such as morality, ethics, our
rights, as well as our freedom through the process of
education.
The author further highlights the importance of education
for national development. Education is the seed for a
knowledge-based economy and serves as a catalyst for
green technology information and communication
technology (ICT) and the nation’s economy. Besides,
educated citizens are also indicators of high literacy rate.
For example, Malaysia’s high literacy rate of 93.1% is proof
of its educated citizens.
Strong evidence
PERSONAL VIEW Stand Agree Disagree
I partially agree with the author that education is important
for personal success and economic growth, especially for
Generation Y citizens because this age of knowledge
economy and ICT has made education a necessity. However,
I feel that education alone is insufficient to savour success.
The author mentions prominent people, such as Bill Gates,
Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, who had landmark inventions
and discoveries that completely changed the course of human
advancement. None of them successfully completed formal
education with any academic qualification. The author is
correct that this fact cannot be generalised, but they attained
success due to their diligence and relentless spirit in pursuing
their dreams, which means that anyone who works hard can
be successful. These men toiled and followed the path which
others had not dared to pursue.
Argument
CONCLUSION
In summary, I reaffirm my stand that education
is important for our future success and for
progress. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that it is
not the only passport to success, as there are
many other contributing factors. Therefore,
education or academic qualifications are not the
only criteria for success.
REFERENCES
Joseph Raj (2017). Writing an evaluative commentary: Detailed review or critical
evaluation, Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/josephraj007/writing-an-
evaluative-commentary

Kaur, N & Noorazila (2014), Integrated Language Skills Writing, Oxford Fajar Sdn.
Bhd.: Selangor
THE END