ENGLISH LANGUAGE SYLLABUS 2020

UPPER SEC E UNIT 2

Let’s Learn… the Features and Organisation

of Arguments
The organisational structure and language features of Arguments are summarised below.
Keep these in mind when you are trying to understand or produce Arguments.

Organisation of Arguments

Issue/ Background
 What issue is the speaker or writer addressing?
 What background information does the audience need to know about
the issue?
Position/ Proposed action
 What is the speaker’s or writer’s position on the issue? What is the
speaker’s or writer’s proposed action (if any)?

Points
 What key points of view does the speaker or writer use to support his or
her position/ proposed action?
 What counterargument(s) does the speaker or writer anticipate?
Elaboration
 How is each point developed and supported with explanations (e.g.,
reasons, evidence, examples), expert opinion or emotional appeals?
 How does the speaker or writer evaluate each counterargument
objectively to explain, justify and maintain his or her position/ proposed
action?

Restatement of position and/ or key points (optional)

 How does the speaker or writer reinforce his or her position/ proposed
action and/ or key points?

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Features of Arguments
Now, let’s learn more about why the language features you noticed have been used in
Arguments like “Why Singapore Needs Disability Legislation”, “Voluntourism: Who are the
Real Beneficiaries?” and “Help Migrant Workers Stand Up for their Own Safety”. For each
language feature, at least one example from one text has been given – find more!

The features are:

 Phrases to connect with the audience;
 Modals to hedge and moderate a point of view;
 Nominalisation to convey information concisely and structure arguments;
 Rhetorical questions to interact with the audience;
 Imperatives to encourage the audience to take action;
 Repetition of sentence patterns to reinforce ideas;
 Connectors to give reasons and support a point of view, address opposing
viewpoints, show cause and effect, and state conditions or qualifications; and
 Complex sentences to show cause-effect relationships between ideas or link
evidence to the main argument.

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Phrases to connect with the audience

When we are presenting one side of the issue in Arguments, we may use certain phrases,
such as “As some may think likewise…”, or “Others may similarly agree…” to connect with
our audience, who may hold a different opinion from us. Using “we” can prompt the
audience to feel a sense of connection with us and persuade them to see our ideas
positively. Using “you” can help us to address the audience directly and thus better connect
with them. We can also use certain phrases to create a conversational tone so as to draw in
and engage the audience.

Examples from “Why Singapore Needs Disability Legislation”:

 “First, some feel such legislation is impractical because it impinges on the realm of
moral and ethical values. And this is true – kindness and compassion cannot be
legislated.” (paragraph 7)

Now it’s your turn: What other examples can you find from the other texts in this unit?

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UPPER SEC E UNIT 2

Modals to hedge and moderate a point of view

When making claims in Arguments, we need to avoid over-generalising, or applying a claim
to too many individuals, groups or situations. We may also need to make the claims or
conclusions we draw less absolute by softening our language. To do this, we can use modals
to hedge and moderate our point of view. In addition to modals, we can moderate our
point of view by choosing and using the right nouns (e.g., “possibility”, “probability”) and
adjectives (e.g., “possible”, “probable”).

Example from “Why Singapore Needs Disability Legislation”:

 “What might be less apparent to most people is that passing such laws is not a
seamless or inevitable, much less immediate, development.” (paragraph 6)

Now it’s your turn: What other examples can you find from the other texts in this unit?

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UPPER SEC E UNIT 2

Nominalisation to convey information concisely and structure

arguments
Nominalisation is the process of forming a noun or noun phrase from another word class,
such as verbs or adjectives. We use nominalisation in Arguments to summarise explanations
and convey information concisely. Nominalisation can help us appear more objective as we
focus on an action and its results, rather than on the person(s) performing the action.

Examples from “Voluntourism: Who are the Real Beneficiaries?”:

 “Building houses and schools and digging wells are common projects that many
voluntourists enjoy participating in.” (paragraph 4)

We can also use nominalisation to focus on an idea stated in a previous sentence. Doing so
helps us to organise our ideas and build on the points we have made.

Example from “Voluntourism: Who are the Real Beneficiaries?”:

 “Eventually, the local communities will believe that they are incapable of helping
themselves. This belief is exacerbated by the failure of voluntourists to equip the
local communities with the necessary skills to ensure the sustainability of the
solutions provided.” (paragraph 5)

Now it’s your turn: What other examples can you find from the other texts in this unit?

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Rhetorical questions to interact with the audience

Rhetorical questions are questions asked as a way of emphasising a point instead of actually
expecting an answer, the latter of which tends to be obvious anyway. Through asking
rhetorical questions, we interact with and engage our audience by appealing to a shared
belief, urging them to think about an issue or even challenging them to question their
existing beliefs.

Examples from “Voluntourism: Who are the Real Beneficiaries?”:

 “But how many voluntourists can claim to be experts in constructing such buildings
and structures? And how many such projects have really improved the quality of life
for the local communities?” (paragraph 4)

Now it’s your turn: What other examples can you find from the other texts in this unit?

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Imperatives to encourage the audience to take action

When we produce Arguments, we often seek to persuade our audience to hold a particular
point of view or act in a certain way. This can include a call for action in the form of
imperatives, or verbs used as commands to perform particular actions.

Where directness or urgency is appropriate, imperatives are used to give an order or make a
request. To soften the directness of a point of view or call for action in a persuasive text,
the verb “let” is often used.

Example from “Why Singapore Needs Disability Legislation”:

 “Let us work together to ensure these signify the beginning of a new era for the local
community of people with disabilities.” (paragraph 22)

Now it’s your turn: What other examples can you find from the other texts in this unit?

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Repetition of sentence patterns to reinforce ideas

Although we usually try to vary our sentence structures and sentence lengths, we may
sometimes intentionally repeat certain sentence patterns to reinforce a point. If done
appropriately, such repetition can help our audience remember the ideas we are trying to
convey, and therefore strengthen our message.

In Secondary 2, we saw how short sentences or clauses and parallel sentence structures
can be repeated. In the examples below, the parallel sentence structures may include the
use of imperatives or take the form of rhetorical questions:

Example from “Why Singapore Needs Disability Legislation”:

 “Let us work together to ensure these signify the beginning of a new era for the local
community of people with disabilities. And let us quicken our pace, just that bit
more, towards a truly inclusive society. (paragraph 22)

Example from “Voluntourism: Who are the Real Beneficiaries?”:

 “But how many voluntourists can claim to be experts in constructing such buildings
and structures? And how many such projects have really improved the quality of life
for the local communities?” (paragraph 4)

In the example below, notice how the repetition of the word “or” reinforces the parallelism
of the sentence structure, allowing the writer to further emphasise his message.

Example from “Why Singapore Needs Disability Legislation”:

 “Now, say, I deny service to a blind person with a guide dog at my business, or
prevent access for a wheelchair user to my workplace, or refuse to sponsor my deaf
employee for a training course without valid reasons.” (paragraph 2)

Now it’s your turn: What other examples can you find from other texts you have read?

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Connectors to give reasons and support a point of view, address

opposing viewpoints, show cause and effect, and state conditions or
qualifications
When we produce Arguments, we often need to support our opinion with information such
as reasons or examples. Connectors like “because”, “as” and “therefore” allow us to
connect a point of view to the reasons we have in support of it. Furthermore, when we
elaborate on our points, we may need to explain cause and effect. Some connectors we can
use to do this include “consequently” and “as a result”.

Examples from “Voluntourism: Who are the Real Beneficiaries?”:

 “Because most voluntourists are looking for experiences which allow them to help
the needy, opportunistic tour operators will offer just that.” (paragraph 2)
 “Instead of helping these children become more confident and independent,
voluntourists contribute to separation anxiety in them. As a result, these children
tend to become more insecure and less trusting of adults.” (paragraph 3)

When we need to indicate a difference or contrast in viewpoint, we can also use connectors
like “but”, “although”, “however” and “on the other hand”.

Example from “Why Singapore Needs Disability Legislation”:

 “This view, however, fails to take into account the many practical measures, backed
by legislation or an authority, that can be undertaken to improve the lives of the
disabled.” (paragraph 8)

We may also have to state conditions (i.e., what needs to be in place before something else
can happen) or qualifications (i.e., information that limits the effects or impact of another
statement). To do this, we can use connectors like “otherwise”, “even if” and “unless”.

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Example from “Why Singapore Needs Disability Legislation”:

 “If I toss a piece of tissue paper on the ground and I am caught in the act, I could be
fined S$300 as a first-time offender.” (paragraph 1)

Now it’s your turn: What other examples can you find from the other texts in this unit?

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Complex sentences to show cause-effect relationships between ideas

or link evidence to the main argument
In Arguments, we often need to explain how a cause is linked to an effect. We can do this
through complex sentences, which can be created using connectors like “because”, “as” and
“hence”.

Example from “Voluntourism: Who are the Real Beneficiaries?”:

 "Because most voluntourists are looking for experiences which allow them to help
the needy, opportunistic tour operators will offer just that." (paragraph 2)

Now it’s your turn: What other examples can you find from the other texts in this unit?

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