Discussion Text

Defined as a text that present a problematic discourse. The problem

will be discussed from different view points. There are some
supporting arguments as well as against arguments.

To present to the audience different opinions on

Purposes a topic and, at the end, thewriter/speaker‘s own
opinion.

A Discussion Text is intended by the writer/speaker to

Social present (at least) two points of view about issue or
Function problem; to present arguments from differing points of
view about issue or problem.
 Generic Structures of
Discussion Text

General
statement
Introduces the topic being discussed

Argument
One or more, with supporting evidence or
elaboration/details

Sums up the discussion and gives a

Conclusion
recommendation or opinion.
 Example

Video Games
Nowadays, the video games industry is developing rapidly. It becomes a multi-billion
dollar industry. Video games have become an important part not only in the children
life, but also in the adults’ life. Nevertheless, there is an argument whether video
games bring good or bad influences on children.
People who have a pro argument claim that video games give a lot of benefits, playing
video games is a good way to kill children’s boredom. It can refresh the children’s
mind after a tiring school day. Moreover, they also argue that video games can trigger
children to be more creative because the games provide challenging ways to win. In
other words, they believe that the video games can actually sharpen a human’s brain.
Conversely, some people believe that video games make children lazy. They argue that
playing video games is addictive. As a consequence, most of the children prefer
playing video games to studying. These children find it hard to concentrate on their
study because they always think about how to spend more time playing video games.
In fact, there are also some children who skip their extracurricular lessons, just
because they want to play video games. In addition, most of the video games often
expose too much violence. Two years ago in the USA, for example, a student shot his
teacher and some of his friends. Newspapers said that the boy was deeply influenced
by the actions in the video games he used to play with. It is obvious that video games
have more disadvantages than advantages. Therefore, parents should be very careful in
selecting the appropriate games for their children.
 After reading the text,
discuss with your
friends:

 Identify the generic structure of the text!

 Do you agree with the reader’s opinions?

Thanks