CRT LEARNING MODULE

Course Code
Course Title ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND
PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
Units 3
Module Title Writing a Position Paper

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 College for Research & Technology of Cabanatuan
HOW TO USE THIS DIGITIZED LEARNING MODULE
Welcome to the module in English for Academic and Professional Purposes.
This module contains training materials and activities for you to complete this
module.
The Unit of Competency “The development of communication skills in English
for Academic and Professional Purposes” covers the knowledge, skills and attitudes
required as part of the competencies.
You are required to go through a series of learning activities in order to
complete each learning outcome of the module. Each of the learning outcomes is
provided with Modules. Follow these activities on your own and answer the self-
check at the end of each learning outcome. You may remove a blank answer sheet
at the end of each module (or get the answer sheets from the online facilitator) to
write the answers for each self-check. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask
your facilitator for assistance.
This will be the source of Information for you to acquire knowledge and skill in
this particular trade independently and at your own pace, with minimum supervision
of help from your instructor.
 Talk to your online facilitator and agree on how you will both organize the
Training of this unit. Read each through the module carefully. It is divided
into sections, which cover all the skills and knowledge you need to
successfully complete this module.
 Work through all the information and complete the activities in each section.
Read Modules and complete self-check. Suggested references are included to
supplement the materials provided in this module.
 Most probably your facilitator will be your supervisor or manager. Your online
facilitator will support and correct you.
 Your online facilitator will tell you about the important things you need
consider when you are completing activities and it is important that you listen
and take notes.
 You will be given plenty of opportunity to ask questions and practice on the
job. Make sure you practice new skills during regular work shifts. This way
you will improve both your speed and memory and also your confidence.
 Talk to more experienced workmates and ask for their guidance.
 Kindly the self-check questions at the LMS (EDMODO) to test your own
progress.
 When you are ready, ask your online facilitator to watch you online via Zoom
or Google Meet to perform the activities outlined in this module.

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 Ask your online facilitator work through the activities: ask for written feedback
on your progress. Your online facilitator keeps feedback/pre-assessment
reports for this reason. When you have successfully completed each element,
ask the facilitator to mark on the reports that you are ready for assessment.
 When you have completed this module, and feel confident that you have
sufficient practice, your online facilitator will arrange an appointment with
registered assessor’s to assess you. The results of your assessment will be
recorded in your competency Achievement Record.

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ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
Contents of this Learning Module

No. Module Title Topic Code

1 Writing a Position Lesson 1: Module 10.1

Paper Position Paper

Lesson 2:
Doubts of Doublespeak Module 10.2
Lesson 3:
On the other side of Email Module 10.3

Lesson 4:

Module 10.4

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 MODULE CONTENT

MODULE TITLE : Writing a Position Paper

MODULE DESCRIPTOR:
This module covers the knowledge, skills, and attitudes in reading academic
texts, writing a reaction paper/ review/ critique, and writing a concept paper.

Number of Hours:
80 hours

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of this module you MUST be able to:
a. define what a position paper is;
b. gathers manifestoes and analyzes the arguments used by the writer/s;
and
c. writes various kinds of position papers

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LEARNING OUTCOME # 1: Writing a Concept Paper

Contents:

1. Writing a Position Paper

2. “Doubts of doublespeak”
3. “The other side of Email”
4. “Women Talk Too Much”
Conditions
The students/trainees must be provided with the following:

1. Pen
2. Paper
3. Learning Materials

Assessment Method:
1. Written Examination
2. Observation

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 MODULE 10.1

Writing a Position Paper

Learning Objective: After reading this MODULE, you should

be able to:
a. explain a position paper;
b. identify the guidelines in writing a position paper; and
c. defend a stand on an issue by presenting reasonable
arguments supported by properly-cited 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?

This section trains the students to write an effective position

paper.

Guidelines for Writing Position Paper

1. Values Communicated
a. Logical thinking
b. objective expression of ideas
c. balanced assignments of conflicting opinions
2. Modes of Reasoning
a.inductive
Inductive reasoning derives a generalization
from specific examples and situations. Through an
organized presentation of factual evidence and
prods, the reader is convinced of the soundness of
the arguments that lead to a well-founded general
conclusion.
b. Deductive

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 Deductive reasoning proceeds from a general statement
that leads to particular or specific inferences
3. Qualities of a Convincing Position Paper
a.contains a clear proposition or statement that must be
defended
b. assesses conflicting opinions or opposing views on the issue
c. takes a film stand on the issue
d. lists a film stand on the issue
e.lists arguments in an organized manner to defend the stand

Language is arbitrary and writers choose words freely. Writers

become more impressive when they use highfalutin, ornate,
polysyllabic words, and complicated syntax. Simple language
and have greater impact on the audience, according to some
scholars.

Dictionary or thesaurus is used for looking for appropriate

words.

“Ullyses”
by Alfred Lord Tennyson

“ Made weak by time and fate

But strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find,
and not to yield”

The same idea can be expressed through similar expessions:

Alternative Expression Original Text

Weakened Made weak
Strong-willed Strong in will
Struggle Strive
Discover Find
unyielding Not to yield
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  Rhythm – a strong, regular, repeated pattern of
movement or sound.
 Brevity - concise and exact use of words in writing or
speech.

Here is the last two lines of William Shakespear’s “Sonnet

XVIII”

So long as men can breathe and eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Independent Work
Based on the sonnet given. Answer the following questions:
1. What is the proposition of this selection?
2. Prepare a list of the reasons given in the selection for
using short words
3. Express yourself on the issue of using short words
whenever possible.

Concluding Activities:
a. Write your initial position on one of the following issues:
a. School Uniforms should no longer be required
b. Terror bill shouldn’t be legalized in our country
c. Oust Duterte today
1. Look for evidence to support your position.
2. Include your evidences
To support your reasons.
3. Cite your sources properly.

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 MODULE 10.2
“Doubts of doublespeak”

Learning Objective: After reading this MODULE, you should

be able to:

a. explain what is doublespeak;

b. differentiate kinds of doublespeak; and
c. write the author’s argument of the position paper.

Motivating Introduction
Have you heard of people who work as “sanitation engineers”
or as “governesses?”
Or have you probably encountered expressions such as
“persons who are chronologically advanced in age” or “those
who are “vertically or horizontally challenged”

Make a list of ten expressions similar to the ones given above.

1. Ask the students what they think of these expressions.
2. Ask the students if they have used doublespeak at home
or in school. Let them cite examples.

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Lesson Proper
Read the selection below.
Reading Response: Doubts About Doublespeak
Summary:

In the reading, “Doubts about Doublespeak”, William Lutz

explains how the government and society is trying to alter the
way people react to words or phrases through a new way of re-
phrasing called doublespeak. Doublespeak can be split up into
four different ways according to Lutz. These four kinds of
doublespeak are stated as euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook
or bureaucratese, and inflated language. Lutz explains that
these forms of doublespeak were created to deceive the
population and either make a situation appear less harmful,
more exciting and innovative, more intelligent, etc.
Response:
When reading this piece, I was extremely enthralled with
what Lutz had to say about doublespeak because I had never
really thought about it in that sense. Although I did realize that
the government and society tended to be deceiving in what
they said, I never quite fully grasped how much this
“doublespeak” affected me on a day to day basis. My mind
was fully opened to a whole new way of viewing how I am
communicated to through media and society. The examples
that Lutz gave about doublespeak shocked me in a sense
because I had always just gone with my life never seeing how
words and phrases could change the way I view a whole
situation.
Also, as I was interpreting how I may use doublespeak
in my life, I recalled how often when I write poetry, I do not
take the easy way out and just write simple words on a piece
of paper. Many times I look up words in the thesaurus to
sound lofty or more experienced and am constantly finding
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phrases and metaphors to explain simple situations. With this,
I realized that my poetic voice is almost like a form of
doublespeak because it changes the way people view a simple
situation and draws out an instance that could possibly be
described in one word.

Independent Work:
1. What is doublespeak?

2. What are the uses of doublespeak?

3. What are the different kinds of doublespeak?

4. Does the author favor the use of doublespeak? Present

the author’s arguments for his position.

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 MODULE 10.3
“ The Other side of E-mail”

Learning Objective: After reading this MODULE, you should

be able to:
a. explain the purpose of the given selection;
b. identify the advantages and disadvantages of the
position paper; and
c. identify the good and bad effects of social medias

Motivating Introduction
1. Find out from students if they have an email or a facebook
account.
2. What is the purpose of your email?
3. How many messages do you usually receive/send in one
day?
4. How they took care of their communication needs before
the email was invented?

Lesson Proper

The Other Side of Email

Electronic communication has become a part of every

aspect of our society and is recognized as being one of the
most important and influential aspects of the way we carry out
business. The days of anxiously waiting by the mailbox for
news from a long distance relative or lover are over. We no
longer send cute, labor intensive, hand written letters to
relatives, and close ones. Instead, they are sent via e-mails.
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Email-type technology has made it much easier to contact
other people in the same city, and even others around the
world.

In other words, instead of actually taking the time to write

a letter to a friend through the mail, one can send an e-mail
that takes about three seconds opposed to three or more days.
In the article “The Other Side of E-Mail,” author Robert Kuttner
explains the other side of email and technology, the dark side.
Kuttner says that although, technology offers us many
conveniences, such as being able to send and receive
messages instantly, it brings along many drawbacks, such as
privacy infringement. I agree with Kuttner’s thoughts on these
downsides of technology.

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Comprehension questions:

1. for Part 2, sentence 2 which says: “Like all new media, e-

mail has a dark side.” What purpose does this sentence
serve?”

2. Prepare an outline that will list down both advantages and

disadvantages of the e-mail based on the arguments
presented in the selection.

3. Does the author of this article totally rejects the e-mail?

Independent Work
1. Assess their need for their e-mail or facebook account.

2. Comment on the good and bad effects of e-mail and

facebook on their own lives.

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 MODULE 10.4
“Women talk too much”

Learning Objective: After reading this MODULE, you should

be able to:
a. explain the important ideas in the given selection; and
b. identify the factors must be taken in determining
whether women or men talk too much

Motivating Introduction

1. Read a sample manisfesto on an issue concerning women

and children (e,g., birth control, human reproduction,
children’s welfare, women’s rights.)
2. Teacher will show how arguments are presented in the
manifesto. Begin with the statement of the strand on the
issue. Enumerate the arguments to defend this stand.
Assess the effectiveness of each arguments.

Use the following guide in assessing the document.

1. Is the proposition clearly stated? The proposition is the

statement to be explained or proved.
2. How are the arguments presented?
3. How the arguments are support the proposition
effectively?
4. Are the arguments logical and convincing?
5. Do they contain emotional words?
6. Are these enough proofs to support each argument?
Are the pieces of evidence based on reliable data?
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 7. Are the arguments sufficient to prove the proposition?

Lesson Proper

Women Talk Too Much

No, they don’t. Rather, they don’t in every situation. Social
context and relative power determine who talks more, men or
women. Janet Holmes sets the record straight and establishes
the reasons for the lingering myth of female chattiness. (The
research cited in this essay was first published in 1999.)
Do women talk more than men? Proverbs and sayings in
many languages express the view that women are always
talking:
Women’s tongues are like lambs’ tails – they are never still. –
English
The North Sea will sooner be found wanting in water than a
woman at a loss for words. –Jutlandic
The woman with active hands and feet, marry her, but the
woman with overactive mouth, leave well alone. –Maori
Some suggest that while women talk, men are silent
patient listeners.
When both husband and wife wear pants it is not difficult
to tell them apart – he is the one who is listening. –American
Nothing is so unnatural as a talkative man or a quiet woman. –
Scottish
Others indicate that women’s talk is not valued but is rather
considered noisy, irritating prattle:
Where there are women and geese, there’s noise. –Japanese.

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 Indeed, there is a Japanese character which consists of
three instances of the character for the concept ‘woman’ and
which translates as ‘noisy’! My favourite proverb, because it
attributes not noise but rather power to the woman speaker is
this Chinese one:
The tongue is the sword of a woman and she never lets it
become rusty.
So what are the facts? Do women dominate the talking
time? Do men struggle to get a word in edgewise, as the
stereotype suggests?
The Evidence
Despite the widespread belief that women talk more than
men, most of the available evidence suggests just the opposite.
When women and men are together, it is the men who talk
most. Two Canadian researchers, Deborah James and Janice
Drakich, reviewed sixty-three studies which examined the
amount of talk used by American women and men in different
contexts. Women talked more than men in only two studies.
In New Zealand research suggests men generally
dominate the talking time
In New Zealand, too, research suggests that men
generally dominate the talking time. Margaret Franken
compared the amount of talk used by female and male
‘experts’ assisting a female TV host to interview well-known
public figures. In a situation where each of three interviewers
was entitled to a third of the interviewers’ talking time, the men
took more than half on every occasion.
I found the same pattern analyzing the number of
questions asked by participants in one hundred public
seminars. In all but seven, men dominated the discussion time.
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Where the numbers of women and men present were about
the same, men asked almost two-thirds of the questions during
the discussion. Clearly women were not talking more than men
in these contexts.
Even when they hold influential positions, women
sometimes find it hard to contribute as much as men to a
discussion. A British company appointed four women and four
men to the eight most highly paid management positions. The
managing director commented that the men often patronized
the women and tended to dominate meetings.
I had a meeting with a [female] sales manager and three
of my [male] directors once…it took about two hours. She only
spoke once and one of my fellow directors cut across her and
said ‘What Anne is trying to say Roger is…’ and I think that
about sums it up. He knew better than Anne what she was
trying to say, and she never got anything said.
There is abundant evidence that this pattern starts early.
Many researchers have compared the relative amounts that
girls and boys contribute to classroom talk. In a wide range of
communities, from kindergarten through primary, secondary
and tertiary education, the same pattern recurs – males
dominate classroom talk. So on this evidence we must conclude
that the stereotype of the garrulous woman reflects sexist
prejudice rather than objective reality.
Looking for an Explanation
Why is the reality so different from the myth? To answer
this question, we need to go beyond broad generalizations and
look more carefully at the patterns identified. Although some
teachers claim that boys are ‘by nature more spirited and less
disciplined’, there is no evidence to suggest that males are

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biologically programmed to talk more than females. It is much
more likely that the explanation involves social factors.

Concluding Activities
1. Observe what happens in their own homes, in school, in
the community
2. Summarize the factors that affect the selection.

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