Course Name: English Professional

Effective date: 01 Sept 2022

Week – 7
Discussion Essay
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this course, students will be able
to:
LO 4: demonstrate the upper intermediate English writing
skills both academically and professionally.
 OUTLINE

Grammar: Present vs Past Tense

Writing Skill: Writing a discussion essay (recommendation)

Present vs past tenses
Seven Parts
 English Tenses

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 Present simple
The Present Simple tense is a tense which says about something
that was true in the past, is true in the present, and will be true in
the future. It is used for general statements of facts. Another use
of Present Simple is to express habitual or everyday activity.

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 Present continuous tense
The Present Continuous tense is a tense which expresses an
activity that is in progress at the moment of speaking. It began in
the past but still continuing in the present and will probably end
at future. Another use of Present Continuous is to tell about an
activity or plan for the future.

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 Future simple
The Future Simple tense is a tense which says about something or
an activity that will happen or not happen in the future. Besides
that, the future simple tense can also be used to express
prediction, a prior plan, and willingness. For the usage of
expressing prediction, we can make a sentence using will or be
going to.

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 Present perfect
The Present Perfect tense is a tense which expresses the idea
that something happened (or never happened) before now, at
an unspecified time in the past but still have some impact or
effect in the present. The exact time it happened is not important
which is different in past simple tense.

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 Past simple
The Past Simple tense is a tense which says about something or
an activity that began in the past and also ended at a particular
time in the past. Another use of Past Simple is to express past
activities in sequence. This applies if there is a sentence using
“when” and has both past simple in each clauses. For this type of
sentence, the activity in the “when” happens first.

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 Past continuous tense
The Past Continuous tense is a tense which expresses an activity
which began earlier and was in progress when the other action
occured. Sometimes the past continuous tense is used as a
background detail in story-telling.

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Writing discussion essay (recommendation)
Six Parts
 Discussion essay definition
Many essay titles require you to
examine both sides of a
situation and to conclude by
saying which side you favour.
These are known
as discussion or for and
against essays.
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 Discussion essay organization
Structural component Purpose

General Statements To introduce the reader to the subject of the essay.

Position To give the opinion of the writer (not always possible).

Definition(s) (optional) To explain any important technical words to the reader.

Thesis To tell the reader what parts of the topic will be included in the essay.

Arguments for To explain to the reader the evidence for the positive side of the issue, with support. The
most important ideas usually come first. This may be covered in one or more paragraphs.

Arguments against To explain to the reader the evidence for the negative side of the issue, with support. The
most important ideas usually come first. This may be covered in one or more paragraphs.

Summary To give the reader a brief reminder of the main ideas, while restating the issue. Sometimes
also says which ideas the writer believes have the strongest evidence.

Opinion & To give your opinion and tell the reader what the writer believes is the best action to take,
Recommendation considering the evidence in the essay.
 Four vs Five Paragraphs Discussion
Essay Outlines
 Aspects Four-paragraph essay Five-paragraph essay
Introduction Introduce the main idea State Introduce the main idea State
your opinion your opinion

Body paragraph 1 Discuss the first point of view Discuss the first point of view
Body paragraph 2 Discuss the second point of view Discuss the second point of view
Body paragraph 3 - Give your opinion
Conclusion Summarise the issue and reaffirm Summarise the issue and reaffirm
position position
 Longer Essay Organization
In a longer scientific discussion essay, there are six aspects that should be considered starting
from the introduction until the references.

1. Introduction

2. Background Paragraph

3. Supporting evidence paragraphs

4. Counterargument paragraph

5. Conclusion

6. References
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 Discussion essay common
vocabulary
Mark the order
Ex: First..., First of all..., The
most important...
Opinion introduction

Ex: There is no doubt that...

Synonym
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Ex: advantage: benefit, a

positive aspect/feature, pro
(informal)
 Discussion essay examples

1. https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-discussion-essay-model-answer/
2. https://www.eapfoundation.com/writing/essays/discussion/
3. https://www.ieltsadvantage.com/2015/03/18/writing-task-2-
discussion-essay-lesson/

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 REFERENCES
• Mable Chan. (2020). English for Business Communication. 1st Routledge, Taylor et Francis
Group. London. ISBN: 97811384816881.

• https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-discussion-essay-model-answer/

• https://www.eapfoundation.com/writing/essays/discussion/

• https://www.ieltsadvantage.com/2015/03/18/writing-task-2-discussion-essay-lesson/

• https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/self-help-resources/grammar/present-
vs-past-tense

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7sVe5z1qIY

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1LKzp2ozVM