AGONCILLO COLLEGE INC.

Poblacion, Agoncillo, Batangas

Tel: (043) 2102228 / (043) 2102905
email: agoncillocollege_inc.@yahoo.com

GRADE 12- ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

Quarter 1
Module No. 1
Week 1
In This Module:

Content Standard: Performance Standard:

The learner acquires knowledge of The learner produces a detailed

appropriate reading strategies for a abstract of information gathered from
better understanding of academic the various academic texts read.
texts.

Most Essential Learning Competency:

Differentiates language used in academic texts from various disciplines

How many times have you been asked to write about your summer vacation or your Christmas
vacation? How many times have you been assigned to do a book review or a reaction paper? Maybe, at some
point, you were also asked to write poems, skits, letters, etc. You have had different writing assignments.
But have you really pondered on the differences of the various writing assignments that you have done?
Would you know the difference between an academic essay and a personal narrative? Can you distinguish a
news report from an editorial?

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

 Define academic writing and distinguish it from other kind of writing.

INTRODUCTION
III. PROCEDURES

MOTIVATIONAL ACTIVITY:

1. What is the easiest writing assignment you have done so far?

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 2. How about the most difficult writing assignment you have done?
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3. What do you think made the writing assignment difficult or easy?
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DEVELOPMENT
ACTIVITY 1

Based on your answers, what do you think is academic writing and its differences from other kind of
writings? Let’s find out in the activity we are going to do. Read and evaluate these four texts and answer the
following questions after reading them.

1. In your opinion, which of the texts is an academic text?

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2. Why did you consider it/them an academic text?

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Text A

Why Do They Say That Our English Is Bad?

(An Expert)
Grace m. Saqueton

1. English teachers in the Philippines often find themselves in a very frustrating situation—no matter
how hard they try to teach the rules of written English to their students still commit error in word
order, word choice, subject-verb agreement, tenses, prepositions, articles., punctuations, and the like.
Teachers get frustrated when they hear or read sentences such as “They decided to get married,”
“What did the students watched?” or “Ana go to the canteen.” It is also alarming because the rules
that apply to these sentences are supposedly simple rules that the students should have learned in
grade school. Yet, here they are in college, still committing those same errors.
2. Teachers and linguists alike have sought and (probably) are still seeking for ways and strategies to
teach English effectively especially in the light of teaching English as a second language or as a
foreign language. Different research studies have been conducted and different theories have been
used to address the situation. One of the topics that the researchers have explored is the recurring
errors in phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and discourse of second language learners. They
believe that studying these recurring errors is necessary to address the supposed grammar problem of
the Filipino college students.
3. In a paper titled, “Why Does They Say That Our Sentences Is Wrong When We Knows English? An
Analysis of the ‘Common Errors’ of Freshmen Compositions,” Saqueton (2008) identified some of
the common errors found in the essays of first year college students. She provided explanations, using
error analysis, language acquisition theories, and Fairclough’s paradigm on the appropriacy of
“appropriateness,” as to what caused the “errors” This is in the hope of helping English teachers
develop teaching materials and device teaching strategies that are appropriate for Filipino first year
college students of different linguistic backgrounds.
4. Saqueton found out that among the students’ essays, errors in the use of verbs are the most common,
followed by errors in the use of prepositions, problems in word choice, and problems in subject-verb
agreement. There are also errors in the use of articles, conjuctions, pronouns; spelling problems are
also evident.
5. These “errors” are considered errors because of certain standards that language teachers want their
students to follow. These standards are the ones prescribed by grammarians. Educators want their
student to master Standard English as second language learners of English. The problem here lies in
the definition of “Standard” English. Is there really a common standard? If there is, who uses it?
Whose standard should be followed?
6. Answering the question would entail a lot of problems. First, there should be a clear definition of
what standard is. What kind of English is Standard English? Dr. Andrew Moody, when asked during
the International Conference on World Englishes and Second Language Teaching on how to maintain
correctness and consistency when teaching English in the Philippines, said that it would be dishonest
to teach Standard English as if it exist.
7. That answer alone could raise a lot of issues. It only shows that the concept of standard is
problematic. According to Faircough (1995), there is a need for a particular standard in order to
rationalize policies on the teaching of Standard English. He further stated that appropriateness figures
within dominant conceptions of language variations (234).
8. Is there an implied claim then that students of English as a second language or as a foreign language
speak a substandard kind of English because they do not follow the standards of General American
variety? What if they (Filipinos, for example) have accepted English and appropriated it to fit their
needs and the context of situation in their own places?
9. Andrew Gonzalez (1985), in his paper, “When Does an Error Become a Feature of Philippine
English?” pointed out that until Philippine English is really creolized, English is still a second
language, and one must accept a standard. However, he also stressed that no matter how hard the
English teacher tries, a local variety will continue to develop (168).
10. There will always be different perspectives on this matter, especially that language issues seem to be
a highly emotional matter. Should language education then go for mutual intelligibility rather than
subscribe to a certain standard? Educators and language policy planners could go back to Faircough’s
model pf language learning. They have to decide how relevant English is to their students, and from
there they have to decide what to teach and how to teach it.
Text B
Mother Tongue
(An Expert)
Amy Tan
1. I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on
the English language and its variations in this country or others.
2. I am a writer. And by that definition, I am someone who has always loved language. I am fascinated
by language in daily life. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language -- the
way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool
of my trade. And I use them all -- all the Englishes I grew up with.
3. Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use. I was giving a talk to a large
group of people, the same talk I had already given to half a dozen other groups. The nature of the talk
was about my writing, my life, and my book, The Joy Luck Club. The talk was going along well
enough, until I remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. My mother
was in the room. And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech, using the
kind of English I have never used with her. I was saying things like, "The intersection of memory
upon imagination" and "There is an aspect of my fiction that relates to thus-and-thus'--a speech filled
with carefully wrought grammatical phrases, burdened, it suddenly seemed to me, with nominalized
forms, past perfect tenses, conditional phrases, all the forms of standard English that I had learned in
school and through books, the forms of English I did not use at home with my mother.
4. Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of
the English I was using, the English I do use with her. We were talking about the price of new and
used furniture and I heard myself saying this: "Not waste money that way." My husband was with us
as well, and he didn't notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It's because over the
twenty years we've been together I've often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes
he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that
relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.…
5. Lately, I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have
described it to people as 'broken" or "fractured" English. But I wince when I say that. It has always
bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than "broken," as if it were damaged and
needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. I've heard other terms used,
"limited English," for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including
people's perceptions of the limited English speaker.
6. I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother's "limited" English limited my
perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of
what she had to say that is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect.
And I had plenty of empirical evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at
banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to
understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
7. My mother has long realized the limitations of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to
have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she. In this guise, I was forced to ask for
information or even to complain and yell at people who had been rude to her. One time it was a call
to her stockbroker in New York. She had cashed out her small portfolio and it just so happened we
were going to go to New York the next week, our very first trip outside California. I had to get on the
phone and say in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, "This is Mrs. Tan."
8. And my mother was standing in the back whispering loudly, "Why he don't send me check, already
two weeks late. So mad he lie to me, losing me money.
9. And then I said in perfect English, "Yes, I'm getting rather concerned. You had agreed to send the
check two weeks ago, but it hasn't arrived
10. "Then she began to talk more loudly.”What he want, I come to New York tell him front of his boss,
you cheating me?" And I was trying to calm her down, make her be quiet, while telling the
stockbroker, "I can't tolerate any more excuses. If I don't receive the check immediately, I am going
to have to speak to your manager when I'm in New York next week." And sure enough, the following
week there we were in front of this astonished stock broker, and I was sitting there red- faced and
quiet, and my mother, the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting at his boss in her impeccable broken English.
Text C

Dear Prof. Lanuza:

Congratulations for being chosen as one of the recipients of the ASEAN Educational Program Award. You
are invited to the 5th Annual ASEAN English Teacher’s Conference. Our sponsors value the important
work done by English language teachers and they are willing to support your professional endeavors by
giving financial aid in the conference.

The conference organizers and sponsors want to know more about your work and how the ASEAN English
Teachers’ Conference will be able to help you. May we ask you to complete the attached questionnaires to
help us provide that information? Also, we would appreciate the opportunity for members of our
Sponsorship Profile team to talk with you about your work and the challenges and opportunities that you
have identified in your study. If you have questions, just send me an email or check this link to the
conference website. Thank you and we look forward to meeting you.

Best regards,

Prof. Hannah Lee

Text D

Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
_________Judicial Region
Branch_____,__________City

EX-PARTE MOTION FOR EXTENSION

TO SUBMIT COMPROMISE AGREEMENT

Defendants, by the undersigned counsel and unto the Honorable Court, respectfully state that:

(1) On 5 January 2015, the Honorable Court, in open court, directed the Parties to submit their Compromise
Agreement within ten (10) days therefrom, or on 15 January 2015. Said day being a Sunday, the Parties have
until the next working day, 16 January 2015, to submit said Compromise Agreement.
(2) Defendant Hannah Dy is presently abroad and needs to execute a Special Power of Attorney authorizing
her brother and Co-Defendant Roland Dy to sign the Compromise Agreement on her behalf.
(3) Thus, the Defendants respectfully pray that the Parties be given additional fifteen (15) days from today,
or until 30 January 2015, within which to submit their Compromise Agreement.
(4) This Motion is not intended to delay the instant proceeding but filed solely by reason of the foregoing.
Moreover, the filing of the same will not result in any injustice or prejudice to any of the parties herein.

ACTIVITY 2

After answering the two initial questions, discuss your answers with your classmates via message,
messenger or any devices that you can use to communicate with you classmates, then compare and contrast
your answers. List down the similarities and differences and try to infer what distinguishes an academic text
from other texts.
 SIMILARITIES

A B C D

DIFFERENCES
A B C D

Did you choose the text that appears to be the most “serious” to you as the academic text? Are you one of
those students who think that academic texts are difficult to read?

LET’S EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE!

Academic writing is a process that starts with posing a question, problematizing a concept, evaluating
an opinion, and ends in answering the question or questions posed, clarifying the problem, and/or arguing
for a stand. Just like other kinds of writing, academic writing has a specific purpose, which inform, to argue
a specific point, and to persuade. It also addresses a specific audience; the audience is your teacher (for the
most part), your peers who will read and evaluate your work, and the academic community that may also
read your work. The assumption is that your audience is composed of people who are knowledgeable on the
subject that you are writing about; thus you have to demonstrate a thorough understanding of your subject at
hand.

Academic writing is thinking; you cannot just write anything that comes to your mind. You have to
abide by the set rules and practices in writing. You have to write in a language that is appropriate and formal
but not too pretentious. Writing academic papers requires deliberate, thorough, and careful though and that
is why it involves research.Some students think that academic essays are difficult because they are written in
long sentences that are mostly complex or compound- complex, and use words that are hard to understand,
for instance, peruse, stipulate, erudite.

What is the tex

What is the w
(purpose)
Who is target r
What is the po
person, second
How much doe
( writer’s know
How did the w
Did the writer
manner? (tone)
How did the
organize senten
informal, or ca
ACTIVITY 3

How then do you distinguish an academic text from a business letter or a personal essay? Below is a table
that will help you answer this question. Reread the four text and fill out this table based on your evaluation
of the text.

ENGAGEMENT

ACTIVITY 4

PONDER ON THIS:

It was mentioned in Text A “Why Do They Say That Our English is Bad?” that Filipino college
students encounter problems in grammar when they write papers. It would be interesting to find out if the
same scenario applies to you and your classmates, so why don’t you pair up with your classmate via
message, messenger or any other devices that you can use to communicate with your classmate and then do
a quick random survey on how your classmates write their essays? You may get the essays of your classmate
on your group chat. Use the following questions as your guide.

1. What do you think are some problems that you and your classmates encounter when you write academic
papers?
2. What language do they use at home? Is it English or Filipino or any other language (Chinese, Cebuano,
Bikolano, etc.)
3. Do you think they find it difficult to express their ideas in English if they don’t speak the English
language at home? How does this affect their language and style?
4. Can you identify some words that are direct translation from Filipino which may affect the meaning of
sentences? For example, saying “result to” instead of “result in” or saying “open the lights” instead of “turn
on the lights.”

ASSIMILATION

ACTIVITY 5

CARRY IT OUT:
Based on the result of your survey and on the discussion of the features, standards, and requirements
of academic writing, write a two-to three-page essay on what you think is the state of academic writing in
the Philippine context. Use your personal knowledge, what you hear from your teachers and on the news,
and what you have read from books to substantiate your opinion.

Consider the following areas as you write:

 Content: clarity of the purposes and the thesis statement, relevance of the supporting points to the
thesis statement, knowledge on the subject matter.
 Structure: coherence and logical sequence of the ideas.
 Language and style: word choice, sentence construction.
 Mechanics: grammar, punctuations, capitalization, formatting, documentation.

ASSESSMENT
Name: ____________________ Date: ____________________

Grade Level/Section: ____________________ Module #: ____________________

Subject: ____________________ Score: ____________________

Directions: Answer each of the following questions in one paragraph. Each paragraph is worth ten (10)
points.

1. What is academic writing? What are its features?

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2. What is the importance of academic writing?

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3. How is academic writing different from a letter? How about from a court order?
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4. Why is academic writing equated to thinking?
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5. If you use the first person point of view in writing academic papers, is it still considered academic?
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Prepared by:
FRECIL P. PEPITO
Teacher
Noted:
CHRISTOPHER C. DE LEON
Principal