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ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies
Unit 3 The Reasoning Process
Unit 3
The Reasoning Process
Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
x respond critically to feedback from classmates and instructor to revise a draft
x evaluate arguments and create a logical argument using an appropriate tone
x write a conclusion to an academic position argument essay

This unit will help you to respond critically to feedback on the first draft of your research-driven
position argument essay and to edit and extend your draft by building on your argument using sound
logic and an appropriate tone. In your final essay (Assessment 2), you are expected to submit an
introduction, main body paragraphs and a conclusion based on your evaluation of 2-6 arguments
from academic literature. You should include a reference list with at least 6 English language
academic sources. Your research question should be debateable and arguments should come from at
least two different perspectives. In total, the length of your final draft should be approximately 1,200
words, not including end-of-text references. You are recommended to use APA referencing style, 6th
edition, as introduced in Unit 2, but other recognised styles are accepted. You must not copy
language from the original sources or the example essays provided in this unit, which are examples,
not templates. You may quote from your sources but the total amount of quotation should not
exceed 5% (60 words) of the essay. Once completed, you should upload your final essay to the
ePortfolio so that your group mates may read it in preparation for Assessment 3, the Oral Defence.

This unit is divided into eight parts and includes 23 activities:
Part I
Forming groups and recommending reading
Part II
Responding critically to feedback
Part III
The basics of argumentation
Part IV
Hedging and appropriate tone
Part V
Writing a conclusion for a research driven position argument essay
Part VI
Common logical fallacies
Part VII
Position argument essay evaluation exercise
Part VIII
Proofreading your final essay

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Part I Forming groups and recommending reading

It is important at this stage of the course to form a research group with two or three of your
classmates. If possible, these classmates should have written an essay on a similar issue to you, but
this is not absolutely necessary. The purpose of the research group is to help provide feedback on
your essay draft and to prepare for the Oral Defence, which you will take part in together as a group
of three or four students at the end of the semester, after submitting your final essays.

Activity 1
1. Form a research group. Write the name of the members of your group and their main argument
below. Ask your instructor for assistance if you have difficulties finding a group.

(English) Name
Main argument of essay

2. If possible, think of a creative and professional name for your group that relates to your essay
topics (e.g. edugration for education + immigration) and write it below.

In the Oral Defence, you will discuss your own topic and your group mates topics around a table.
Once you have submitted your final essay, you will share it with your group mates, but it is a good
idea to do some background reading on their topics now while you are waiting for feedback on your
first essay draft. Your aim is to gain a general understanding of their topics and to note down any
new vocabulary that relates specifically to that topic; you do not have to read the articles in detail.

3. Ask your group mates to recommend two articles with different perspectives for you to read as an
introduction to their essay and enter bibliographic information about the articles in the table below.

Information on the source (source type, author/s,
Argument
title, year of publication)
Source 1:
Source 1:

Source 2:
Source 2:

Source 1:
Source 1:

Source 2:
Source 2:

Source 1:
Source 1:

Source 2:
Source 2:

Part II Responding critically to feedback
How you respond to feedback will determine how much you improve on your first draft.

Activity 2
Fill in the gaps using the words provided in the box

opinion
community
oppose
areas
forward
critical

Feedback and argumentation
Responding to feedback is similar to responding to an argument. Once you have created and put
___________ (or published) an argument, other members of the academic ________________ will
respond. Whether they support or _______________ your argument, their viewpoint will help you
to adapt and strengthen your argument, and to develop as a ___________________ thinker.
Feedback is a readers _________________ on your writing. Feedback comments are provided to
help you to identify _____________ of your essay that need strengthening, and to help you to
develop as a reflective writer.
Responding actively to feedback

Before evaluating an argument, you must first understand it. For example, you can ask a group mate
to explain their argument, or to provide evidence to support the argument. Similarly, feedback must
first be understood. You can actively respond to a feedback comment by asking the feedback
provider to explain or provide evidence to support their feedback comments. For example, you may
understand the meaning of a comment but you may find it too general or vague to be useful.
Activity 3
Complete the table below with appropriate responses to the vague feedback comments.

Vague Feedback Comment
Active Response
Your writing style is inappropriate for an

academic essay.
Excuse me. Could I just ask what specifically you

found inappropriate about my writing style?
Your essay structure needs to be clearer.
Excuse me, may I ask which part of my essay

you found difficult to follow?

Your coverage of the topic lacks depth.

You have some problems with collocations.

Feedback as dialogue
Activity 4
Answer the following questions by choosing one of the options.
1. Feedback is
a). an ongoing process until you submit your final essay.
b). a one-time event that occurs when you receive your comments on your first draft.


2. The feedback comments provided on your first draft are not
a). designed to be the start of an ongoing feedback dialogue until you submit your final essay.
b). designed to raise your awareness of where you can improve in your research and writing.
c). a final judgement on your ability as a writer, provided to make you feel helpless and
incompetent.

3. Your instructors job is to
a). comment and help you to take action to improve your draft so that you can develop as a
writer.
b). correct all your mistakes for you so that you have a perfect piece of writing.

4. When opening a feedback dialogue with your instructor you should try not to place excessive
demands on your instructors time because
a). your instructor is available at all times to respond to you.
b). your instructor is one person responsible for providing feedback on a large number of essays,
as well as having a balanced life (time with family and friends outside of work).

5. Your instructor is
a). the only channel of feedback available to you.
b). one of many channels of feedback available to you (and the most limited in terms of time
available).

Channels of Feedback
Classmates - Your classmates may provide valuable comments to you by reading (parts of) your
essay and helping you to interpret your feedback comments.

Websites - There are online language forums (www.wordreference.com), dictionaries
(www.dictionary.com), thesauruses (www.thesaurus.com), concordancers
(http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk), referencing guides (http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/referencing), writing labs
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/), phrasebanks (http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/)
and language resources (http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/) all at your disposal.

Search engines - You can type the name of a grammar problem into a search engine. For example,
if you type comma splice into the search bar on www.google.com you will find this helpful
resource, which includes an explanation and activities to test your understanding:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm.
You can also type a word or phrase into a search engine to see whether it is commonly used (by
observing the number of exact matches) and see how it is used in example sentences. For
example, if you are not sure which preposition, on or to, comes after pay attention, you can
type pay attention on/to into Google and you will find language forums and example sentences
telling you that the correct usage is pay attention to + noun phrase. You can ask your classmates
and instructor to share useful resources with you or recommend key words for you to search.

Social media academic writing resources are often shared on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com)
using the hashtag #acwri, which stands for academic writing. You may find it helpful to interact
with a community of academic writers through social media. The Centre for Independent
Language Learning has a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/hongkongpolyucill.
Activity 5
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of the feedback channels described on the
previous page. Note down your ideas in the table below.

Feedback channel
Advantages
Disadvantages

- English language professional.
Instructor

- Has read many research-driven

position argument essays.
Classmates
- Available at any time.
Internet

Read the student reflection on feedback channels below and match each paragraph with a feedback
channel from the table above by filling in the gaps.

As a university student, I use the ______________ as my primary feedback channel. My reason for
doing so is that I do not want to disturb my friends or instructor unless it is absolutely necessary.
Developing a list of useful online resources makes me more independent as I will be able to use these
resources at any time in my future university writing assignments. While I might lose touch with my
classmates and instructor several years after the course, these online resources will always be
available to me.

My secondary feedback channel is my __________________. It is easy to feel helpless and alone as a

writer, but as we are all learning the same subject together, we can share our knowledge and
experience (both positive and negative) with each other so that we can grow together as writers and
researchers. I often find that my classmates are the ones who can best understand my worries and
concerns as we are all going through a similar learning experience together.

My final feedback channel is my _________________. If there is something I am still not sure about
after using the other two feedback channels, I send him/her a polite email, or approach him/her
politely. Talking to my instructor is enjoyable as s/he likes to learn from me about my topic, while I
can learn about academic research and writing from him/her. Although s/he is happy to help me, I
am careful not to take up too much of his/her time as I know s/he is very busy.

Editing and extending your draft

There may be some good material in your first draft that you wish to retain in your second draft, but
there are probably parts of the first draft that will need to be significantly modified or completely
rewritten. You should base your decision on what to change and what to keep from your first draft on
the following:

Your criteria-based grade for your first draft this will help you to focus on content,
organization, language or referencing when editing.

Your feedback comments and ongoing feedback dialogue.

Your own growing understanding of research-driven academic writing from your classes and
these units.

After deciding what to keep and what to delete or modify, you should focus on sentence-level errors,
such as grammar, vocabulary, style and referencing mistakes. Finally, you should plan to extend your
essay draft to 1,200 words. You can do this by evaluating additional arguments from other sources
(there should be at least 6 academic sources cited in your essay), or by adding more details to the
arguments you have already included or your evaluation of these arguments.

Activity 6

Write a reflection/progress report (at least 170 words) in your ePortfolio (see
Unit 1 for instructions on using ePortfolio) entitled Editing and extending my
first draft about how you plan to edit and extend your first draft. Once you

have done this, read and comment on the reflections/progress reports of the

other members of your research group.
Part III The basics of argumentation

Since you are required to create an argument based on your evaluation of other arguments, this part
of the unit explores the concept of an argument.

Activity 7
Watch the following YouTube mini-lecture and complete the explanation below using the terms in the
box. You may use a term more than once and you can choose to use the singular or plural form so
that it fits into the sentence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq8-w2BAJkU&list=UUFLCAm7HCyw6DEY9jvOMTvA

claim argument premise question conclusion form

An _______________ does not mean an emotional conflict or confrontation. In its most basic form,
an ____________________ is a set of ______________. We can define a ____________ as anything
that is a statement (not a _____________ or a command), which can be true or false. The main
____________ in an ___________________ is called the ____________________. The
________________ is supported by other _______________ called ________________________.
You can analyse an argument more easily by putting it into standard ___________. When a
______________ is not written but is necessary in order to reach the conclusion, we call it an
assumption, or a background ________________.

Write a logical conclusion to the following premises, assuming that these premises are true.

Argument 1:

Premises:

Conclusion:

Argument 2:
A computer is a machine. Machines need to be maintained.

Premises:

Conclusion:

Argument 3:
China is a country. China is in Asia.
Therefore, __________________________________________________
Therefore, __________________________________________________

Premises:
John is a musician. All musicians can read music.

Conclusion:
Therefore, __________________________________________________

Now read the premises of the three arguments above carefully and decide whether you think they
are strong or weak. If they are strong, and the conclusion follows from the premises, the argument is
strong. If they are weak, or the argument does not follow from the premises, the argument is weak.

List the above arguments in order of strength and explain your choice.

strongest
weakest
[argument _____]

[argument ____]
[argument ____]
The reasoning behind your choice: _____________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

A basic definition of strong and weak arguments

There are two criteria that strong arguments generally satisfy:

1). All of the premises (both stated premises and background premises) are strong.
2). The conclusion follows logically from the premises.
9 If it satisfies both criteria, the argument is likely to be strong.
8
If it does not satisfy both of these criteria, the argument is likely to be weak.

Activity 8
Look at the following arguments. State whether you think they are strong or weak and explain your
choice.

Argument 1
Premises:
Nick is a British male. All British males like football.
Conclusion:
Therefore, Nick likes football.
Is this a strong argument? _______________________

Why/Why not? _____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Argument 2
Premises:
Juliana lives in Hong Kong. Sha Tin is in Hong Kong.
Conclusion:
Therefore, Juliana lives in Sha Tin.
Is this a strong argument? _______________________

Why/Why not? _____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Part IV Hedging and appropriate tone

If you were to state the arguments above in an essay or in a discussion, it is likely that informed
readers or listeners would point out the flaws (weaknesses) in your argument as you have done in
the examples above. Since your assignment this semester (research-driven position argument essay
and oral defence) focuses on debateable issues, you will put forward the strongest possible
argument, but not a 100% strong argument. If there were a 100% strong argument, the different
perspectives you have read in academic sources would not exist. In order to gain the trust of your
informed readers and listeners, you should acknowledge the limitations of your argument. You can
do this by adopting a cautious tone.
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For example:
Premises: John is a musician. Most musicians seem to be able to read music.
Conclusion: Therefore, it is quite possible that John can read music.

Note how the conclusion now uses a cautious tone because the second premise is not 100% strong.
Even though this argument does not lead to certainty, the cautious tone you use will convince an
informed listener/reader that you are aware of the limitations of the argument, and that you are able
to reason in an objective and unbiased way.

A general rule of appropriate tone

For your reasoning to be accepted by informed readers and listeners, the tone of your conclusion
should never be stronger than any of the premises (both stated and unstated) that support it.

In your research-driven position argument essay, this means that the tone of your main argument
should not be more certain than your evaluation of the arguments you have read. Because there is
an element of subjectivity in determining whether premises are strong or weak, different opinions
and schools of thought exist in academic communities. You are aiming to put forward an argument
that you find stronger than other arguments, not an argument that is 100% strong (which would be
non-debateable).

Modal Verbs
Activity 9
Put the following modal verbs into the correct row of the table below according to the degree of
certainty they express. The first one has been entered for you.

must will

can (possibility)

could should might

may
can (ability) had better*
ought to* has/have to* has/have got to*
*Note that these three modal verbs are informal and are rarely used in academic writing.

Certainty
Modal Verbs
must
80-100% (used only if certain)

50% (used for logical predictions)

30% (used for cautious/limited arguments)

Now watch the explanation in the video below and check your answers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq5tW8Bj9lQ
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Use appropriately cautious modal verbs to improve the reasoning of the following arguments.

1. Premises: Nick is a British male. Many British males like football.
Conclusion: Therefore, Nick ________________________ football.

2. Premises: Juliana lives in Hong Kong. Sha Tin is in Hong Kong.
Conclusion: Therefore, Juliana ___________________________ in Sha Tin.

3. Premises:
Juliana lives in Sha Tin. Sha Tin is in Hong Kong.
Conclusion: Therefore, Juliana ______________________ in Hong Kong.

4. Premise: Lucy is wearing a Rolex watch.
Conclusion: Lucy ____________ rich.

Acknowledging limitations of an argument through hedging

The phrases on the left-hand side of the table below are overly-certain and do not reflect the
strength of the premises supporting the argument that has been put forward. The right-hand column
contains some possible alternative phrases using an appropriately cautious tone. You should check
your essay draft for similarly certain phrases and aim to use an appropriately cautious tone. Ask your
instructor or classmates (informed readers) if you are not sure whether your tone is appropriate.

Certain
Cautious
actually / certainly / definitely / clearly
probably / possibly
absolutely (e.g. absolutely necessary)
highly (e.g. highly recommended / desirable)
all... / every...
a majority of / a large number of / most
a lot of / lots of..
some / a number of...
always
frequently / often / generally (speaking)
as we [all] know / as you [all] know
there is evidence to show that (Jones, 2008) /
according to Jones (2008)
everybody / everyone knows that.
some researchers (Jones, 2008; Riley, 2010;
as everybody knows
Whitworth, 2011) think / believe / are of the
opinion that
everybody / everyone / people
some researchers (Jones, 2008; Riley, 2010;
Whitworth, 2011)
facts show that
research results seem to indicate / point out/
suggest that (Turner, 2012; Peterson, 2005)
huge amounts / numbers
significant / sizeable amounts
complete (e.g. complete collapse of the
gradual / partial (e.g. gradual collapse of the
system)
system)
does / do
tend(s) to / sometimes / may
immediately / now
soon / in the near future
impossible
highly unlikely
Im sure
it appears that
is
seems to be/ may be
it is certain / it is clear that
it is possible that / it might / may be argued
that
necessary / essential / vital / crucial
needed / recommended / desirable
proof
supporting data / a representative sample
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never (e.g. This policy will never succeed)

there is no doubt that / it is beyond a shadow
of a doubt that / undeniably, /
undoubtedly, / certainly
the reason for is
totally
rarely, seldom, unlikely (e.g. This policy is

unlikely to succeed)
it may be the case that / there may be reason
to believe that
it may be true that / studies appear to show
that (Bower, 2009; Johnson, 2010)
one of the (main) reasons for may be
fairly / partly / to some extent / to some degree

Critical thinking and avoiding false assumptions

It is human nature to make assumptions, to act on inclination or gut feeling rather than sound logical
reasoning, and to jump to overly certain conclusions before waiting for enough evidence to justify
these conclusions. It happens around you on a daily basis. However, the goal of academic study is
essentially to pursue pure truth (or to come as close as possible) in order to deepen human
knowledge and understanding. The skill of recognising our own assumptions and personal biases (as
well as those of others) and how they may interfere with this pursuit has been called critical
thinking.

A valuable argument: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSZ3BUru59A)

Recent definitions of critical thinking include this one by Dr. Richard Paul:

A definition of critical thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLyUHbexz04

and this quote by Alec Fisher:

Critical thinking is that mode of thinking about any subject content or problem in which
the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skilfully taking charge of the
structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them (Fisher,
2001).

13
To find out more about critical thinking and its importance in academic study and beyond, you can
watch the introduction video on this website: http://www.criticalthinkeracademy.com/, or refer to
the list of sources below.

Critical thinking reading list

Ennis, R. (1991). Critical thinking: A streamlined conception. Teaching Philosophy, 14(1), 5-24.

Fisher, A. (2001). Critical thinking. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved online from
http://assets.cambridge.org/052100/9847/sample/0521009847ws.pdf

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2001). The miniature guide to critical thinking: Concepts & tools (Vol. 2).
Foundation Critical Thinking.

Activity 10
The following video suggests a critical thinking checklist. Watch the video and answer the questions
below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-85-j7Nr9i4

1. Fill in the gaps in the checklist:

C__________________
A__________________
P__________________
R__________________
D__________________
B__________________

2. Which of the following arguments is expressed more clearly?

a. It is not uncommon to encounter sentences which, though they contain a great number of words
and are constructed in a highly complex way, nonetheless turn out on inspection to convey very
little meaningful substance of any kind.

b. Complex sentences do not necessarily contain complex ideas.

3. Which of the following statements is more accurate?

a. The Diaoyu/Senkaku islands are an uninhabited cluster of islands in the East China Sea.

b. The Diaoyu/Senkaku islands are an uninhabited cluster of islands in the South China Sea.

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4. Which of the following statements is more precise?

a. Nowadays, some students are taking online courses.

b. According to data released by Coursera at the end of 2012, although 31% of students in California
enrolled on a massive open online course (MOOC) during the academic year, only 5% of those
students successfully completed the course (Coursera, 2012, cited in Nanfito, 2013).

5. Which response to the following statement is most relevant?

Arguments in research driven position argument essays are built upon the foundation of thorough
research from a range of academic sources.

a) Harry Potter is the best-selling novel of all time.

b) Paper generally bursts into flames at 232 degrees Celsius.

c) This process requires both perseverance and higher-order thinking in order to evaluate the
existing arguments.

d) Hardware and software problems often lead to electronic files being lost so it is always advisable
to create a backup file.

6. Which of the following statements about obesity has appropriate depth / shows an awareness of
the complexity of the issue?

a) There are many physical and psychological factors that can lead to an individual becoming
clinically overweight.

b) People who are obese need to just eat less.

7. Which of the following statements about a murder case has appropriate breadth / takes all
perspectives into account?

a) Men are often jealous and insecure about their relationships. The accused is a man; therefore he
must have murdered his girlfriend out of jealousy as he thought she was going to leave him.

b) It would be wise to wait for further details to emerge and to consider the evidence on all sides
before arriving at a verdict of guilt or innocence.

15
Avoiding assumptions

Activity 11
Attempt to solve the following puzzle using a pencil, without breaking any of the rules below.

1. Your lines must go through each of the dots.
2. You must draw no more than four lines.
3. You must only use straight lines.
4. Your pencil must touch the paper at all times when you are drawing (you must not lift your pen
from the paper).

Hint: The reason this activity is difficult is because people make false assumptions.

What assumptions did you make during this exercise?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Imagine that you are a detective looking to explain a scenario based on some limited information
available to you. Read the instructions and then try to come up with possible explanations for the
four mysteries.

Instructions:
- There is a real explanation for each case but it may not be the only possible explanation.
- This real explanation will be given to one member of the group.
- The other members of the group should provide possible explanations (theories) based on the
information provided for each scenario.
- Each group member should remember to use a cautious tone to make suggestions. For example:
One possibility could be .

- The person who has the real explanation may provide one of the following three answers and
award points to group members accordingly.

1). Your suggestion is not possible. (0 points)
2). Your suggestion is possible, but not the real explanation. (1 point)*
3). Your suggestion is the real explanation. (2 points)*

*Points may only be allocated if you have used an appropriately cautious tone to make your
suggestion.

1 bonus point should be allocated to anyone in the group who can identify the assumption that is
commonly made in each case, preventing people from explaining the case immediately. For example:
people often assume that / it is often assumed that
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The four mysteries

a) A boy who has had an accident and suffered serious injuries is brought into a hospital. The
doctor, however, takes one look at the patient and refuses to operate on him. When asked
why, the doctor simply says, He is my son. I cant operate on him. Who is the doctor?

Assumption:
_____________ _____________________________________________________________________

b) A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator to go down to
the ground floor to go to work or to go shopping. When he returns he takes the elevator to
the seventh floor and walks up the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth floor. He hates
walking so why does he do it?

Assumption:
__________________________________________________________________________________

c) There is a large wooden barn which is completely empty except for a dead man hanging from
the middle of the central rafter. The rope around his neck is ten feet long and his feet are
three feet off the ground. The nearest wall is 20 feet away from the man. It is not possible to
climb up the walls or along the rafters. The man hanged himself. How did he do it?

Assumption:
__________________________________________________________________________________

d) Five pieces of coal, a carrot and a scarf are lying on the lawn. There is a perfectly good reason
why they are there. What is it?
Assumption:
__________________________________________________________________________________

Evaluating complex arguments

Arguments are not always obvious. As suggested earlier, we can convert written arguments into basic
form (premises and conclusion) to help us to understand and evaluate them. The arguments in
Example Essay A in Unit 2 can be analysed as follows:

Main body paragraph 1
The argument for political factors causing the dispute is based on the premise that the events of the Second
World War still cast a shadow over contemporary East Asian politics. Tan (2006) recalls the Japanese invasion of
China and points out that this has yet to be fully resolved from the perspective of the Chinese government. Pan
17
(2007) expands on this argument by claiming that each government perceives a connection between
possession of the islands, the legitimacy of its own interpretation of historical events, and its right to govern its
people. This argument seems valid because recognition of the historical events that preceded the dispute is
necessary in order to understand it in its full context. However, in terms of evaluating the importance of the
political factors, the potential loss of face in surrendering ownership of the islands may be seen more as a
prospect that adds further fuel to the dispute, rather than as its primary cause, since nations are often
prepared to put historical differences behind them when it is in their mutual economic interest.
First reported argument from academic sources (in basic form):

Premises:
Japan invaded China in the past. Governments see possession of the islands as a
political symbol of legitimacy.
Conclusion: Political factors are the main cause of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Island dispute.

Authors evaluation of first reported argument (in basic form):

Premises:
It seems that these issues exist. Nations often seem to prioritise mutual economic
interest over past differences.
Conclusion: Political factors exist, but may not be the main cause of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Island
dispute.

The economic explanation for the dispute over the ownership of the islands is predicated on a growing global
demand for natural energy resources. Both Lee (2002) and Pan (2009), proponents of an economic rationale for
the conflict, trace the origins of the dispute back to the theory that there may be a substantial presence of
hydrocarbon (oil and gas) resources in the vicinity of the islands. Pan (2009) emphasises the significance of
these resources by referring to a UNESCO document comparing the potential of these resources to the supply
found in the Persian Gulf (ECAFE/UNESCO, 1969, as cited in Pan, 2009). The strongest justification for an
economic motive is put forward by Lee (2002), who points out that neither China nor Taiwan raised the issue of
ownership of the islands before the possible existence of a potential natural energy source was brought to
light. This suggests that the publication of the UNESCO findings suggesting that the islands might have real
value, as opposed to symbolic value, triggered the current claims of the three governments since each state
having full sovereignty over the islands could potentially result in major economic benefits.

Second reported argument from academic sources (in basic form):

Premises:
A document found a potential supply of oil and gas near the islands. The quantity of
these resources could compare to those in the Persian Gulf. China and Taiwans claim
originally came after the emergence of this possible natural energy supply.

Conclusion: Economic factors (natural resources) are the main cause of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Island
dispute.

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Authors evaluation of second reported argument (in basic form):

Premises:
The evidence that China and Taiwan laid claim to the islands after the revelation of
the possibility of a natural energy supply is strong evidence that the dispute is mainly
caused by economic factors (natural resources). These islands would probably
represent potential wealth to the three governments, not just symbolic value.

Conclusion: Economic factors, more than political factors, seem to have triggered the dispute.

Creating a main argument

We can combine the authors evaluation of the two arguments in the two main body paragraphs of
the essay to show the premises for his/her main argument. It is important that the author develops a
clear line of reasoning by linking his/her evaluation of other arguments to his/her main argument.

Authors main argument / thesis statement (in basic form):

Premises:
Political factors exist, but may not be the main cause of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Island
dispute. Economic factors, more than political factors, seem to have triggered the
dispute.

Conclusion / Thesis statement: While acknowledging that political tension has played a role in
escalating the dispute, this essay argues that the reasons behind
the dispute are primarily economic

We can now evaluate the authors argument by stating our opinion on the strength of his/her
premises, and whether the conclusion follows from the premises. We can choose to:

a. accept/support the authors argument
b. challenge the authors argument
c. withhold judgement (look for more information about the issue before supporting or challenging
the authors argument.

Activity 12
Re-read the second example essay (The Atkins Diet) from Unit 2 and convert the argument into basic
form as in the example above.

Researchers have found little evidence of ill effects that could be directly attributed to the diet in patients who
have followed the programme over a period of less than six months. The interviewees in a recent study by
Westman et al. (2002) reported that it took them approximately one month to adjust to the diet but that they
felt an increase in energy and a decrease in appetite after this initial period. Medical tests revealed that the
participants in the study who followed the diet for up to six months experienced a decrease in their blood-
cholesterol level. According to Bilsborough and Crowe (2003, p.400), following such a diet will elicit a
favourable response on blood lipid parameters, which means the chances of suffering from a heart condition
or suffering cardiac arrest may decrease. While these arguments are supported by research findings, the
sample size was limited to only fifty patients and the time period, six months, was not sufficient to conclude
that the diet causes no ill-effects when sustained over a long period of time.
19
First reported argument from academic sources (in basic form):

Premises: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion: ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Authors evaluation of first reported argument (in basic form):
Premises: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion: ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

One of the major criticisms of the Atkins diet is a perceived conflict of interest between its commercial aims
and its health benefits. It has been noted in recent articles that the diet targets a potentially lucrative market
that has a thirst for quick and easy solutions to weight loss (Astrup et al., 2004). Due to this possible conflict of
interest, it is necessary to remain sceptical about findings from research that relies on funding from Atkins,
which might be set up to serve a commercial, rather than a scientific purpose. However, it cannot be claimed
based on this argument alone that the diet is harmful in the long-term as this argument does not deal directly
with the issue of whether or not the diet is physically harmful or beneficial. In other words, it is an ad hominem
argument based on the credibility of Atkins rather than the long-term health implications of the proposed diet.

Second reported argument from academic sources (in basic form):
Premises: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion: ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

20

Authors evaluation of second reported argument (in basic form):
Premises: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion: ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

A more convincing criticism of the diet is related to the long-term sustainability of a calorie imbalance and
possible health-related consequences. Sondike et al. (2003) calculate that the average calorie intake on an
Atkins diet among two hundred participants was 1,450 calories per day, while the average calorie expenditure
was 2,000 calories per day. The researchers argue that, should an individual persevere with such a diet over a
long period of time, the discrepancy between calorie input and calorie output would certainly lead not only to
impairment of physical activity, but potential serious medical issues such as kidney damage and lipid
abnormalities. While the causal link of such health complications to the diet itself is difficult to determine, the
risk and the severity of these effects is great enough that it should not be overlooked.

Third reported argument from academic sources (in basic form):
Premises: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion: ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Authors evaluation of third reported argument (in basic form):
Premises: _________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion: ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

21
Authors main argument (in basic form):

Premises: __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion / Thesis statement : ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Activity 13
Analyse your line of reasoning in your essay draft by writing the arguments in basic form in the space
below as in the examples above.

Now explain your basic argument to other members of the group and ask them to state their opinion
on the strength of your argument and whether you have used an appropriate tone. If they come up
with limitations to your argument which you consider to be valid, you should acknowledge these in
your essay and use a more cautious tone.
22
Part V Writing a conclusion for a research driven position argument essay

The diagram below shows the focus of your essay. While the introduction goes from general
(definition of issue) to specific (your main argument), your conclusion goes in the opposite
direction, from specific (your main argument) to general (implications of your argument). The
introduction and conclusion are connected by your line of reasoning, which is your evaluation of
each argument in the main body.

Activity 14
Label the following diagram to show the structure of the introduction, main body and conclusion,
using the terms highlighted in bold in the passage above.

Introduction

Main
Body

Conclusion

Activity 15
Read the paragraph below and work together with a classmate to write notes on the dos and
donts of writing a conclusion for a research-driven position argument essay in the table on the
following page.

The length of a conclusion to a 1,200 word essay may typically be 150-200 words. You can begin the
conclusion with a transition phrase (e.g. in conclusion), but avoid overly informal or inaccurate
phrases such as finally, at last and last but not least. The beginning of your conclusion should
match the end of your introduction in terms of content, but not language. In other words, you should
restate your main argument and summarise the main supporting premises using different words. You
should remember the importance of using an appropriate tone so that an informed reader will
accept your reasoning and know that you are aware of the limitations of your argument. You should
not introduce any new arguments or supporting premises in your conclusion so there should not be
any citations. You can finish your conclusion by discussing what the implications (consequences) of
your argument might be, both in the real world, and in the academic/research community (what
action/further research should be undertaken in the future?).

23

Do

Dont

Example Conclusion

The example conclusion below is from a research-driven position argument essay entitled
Classrooms in the Digital Age: Evaluating the Feasibility of IPad Classrooms.

Activity 16
Find and label the following features of the conclusion:

Summary of supporting premises
Transition phrase(s)
Real-world implications of main argument
Restatement of main argument
Implications of main argument for academic/research community

Based on the arguments and evaluations above, my analysis leads me to conclude that iPads
classrooms can be integrated partly into education, but their ability to replace traditional classrooms
in the long run is questionable. While there is evidence to show that digital devices can stimulate
students interest and build interactive communications within and beyond the classroom, the cost
of investing in state of the art IPad classrooms for a product which has a notably brief shelf-life at the
current time is likely to be unsustainable for many educational institutions. Consequently,
educational institutions are advised to proceed with caution when investing in such technology and
support for traditional teaching patterns should remain firmly in place. Although reasonable
evidence of successful use of IPad classrooms has been presented in the limited number of individual
studies in academic journals, further and more comprehensive research is needed in the future to
determine the how iPad classrooms might correspond with learning objectives across a range of
academic disciplines and class types.

(167 words)
24
Part VI Common logical fallacies

A fallacy is a type of argument that is generally recognised as weak. Not all weak arguments are
fallacies. Fallacies are certain classified types of weak argument.

Below is a list of eight basic general rules of logic with the name of the corresponding fallacy if these
rules are broken in brackets. The names of the fallacies are mostly borrowed from Latin. It is useful to
learn the names of some of these fallacies so that you can identify them in your essay and when
responding to your classmates arguments in the oral defence.

1. You should not assume that a conclusion follows a premise when there is no logical connection
(non-sequitur).

2. You should not use small numbers/samples to represent the whole (overgeneralisation).

3. You should not reduce a complex argument down to two possibilities (false dichotomy).

4. You should not assume that just because something occurred before, it must be the cause of what
happened afterwards (post hoc).

5. You should not attack a persons character instead of his/her argument (ad hominem).

6. You should not claim that because a premise is popular, it must be true (ad populum or
bandwagon fallacy).

7. You should not claim that a small consequence will lead to a series of consequences, culminating
in a significant effect (slippery slope).*

8. You should not claim that because something has always been done in a certain way, it must be
the best way to do it (appeal to tradition).

9. You should not misrepresent or exaggerate a persons argument in order to make it easier to refute
(straw man).

* For an entertaining example of a slippery slope fallacy from a television advertising campaign, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtdBe4ILXyM.
25
Activity 17
Match the names of the fallacies on the previous page to the arguments below.

Example:
Objects made of iron are attracted to magnets. This object is attracted to magnets. Therefore, this
object is made of iron.

Type of fallacy: non-sequitur (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZk62QNOsM)

1. Foreigners cannot be trusted to abide by the law. They come from countries where stealing and
lying are commonplace.

Type of fallacy: _________________________________

2. Everyone is buying baby formula so it must be more nutritious than breast-feeding.

Type of fallacy: _________________________________

3. Hong Kong parents should avoid a strict parenting style and adopt the only alternative: a relaxed
Western style of parenting.

Type of fallacy: _________________________________

4. Hilary Clinton is a woman with no self-respect who refused to leave her husband even after his
affair; therefore I cannot support her stance on same-sex marriage.

Type of fallacy: _________________________________

5. There was a full moon last night and I saw a black cat. No wonder I performed badly in the
assessment this morning.

Type of fallacy: _________________________________

6. The company has always rewarded its employees based on the number of years they have been
employed rather than quality of their work; it should therefore continue to do so.

Type of fallacy: __________________________________

7. If our constitution allows same-sex marriage, we will be taking a small step towards a broken
society in which people will be allowed to marry their relatives and their pets.

Type of fallacy: __________________________________

8. Speaker A: IPads may be a useful tool in some classes.

Speaker B: Speaker A seems to think that there is absolutely no need for textbooks in any modern
classroom, which is a dangerous viewpoint to hold considering the number of educational
institutions that teach effectively with textbooks and cannot afford to invest in IPad classrooms

Type of fallacy: __________________________________

26
Activity 18

Instructions
1. Work together in a group.
2. Choose three of the types of fallacy mentioned on the previous page and think of an
example.
3. Read out/perform your fallacy to other groups without telling them what type of fallacy it is.
4. If other groups are able to correctly guess the type of fallacy, both your group and their
group earn a point.
5. The team with the most points at the end is the winning team.

Example 1: _________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Example 2: _________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Example 3: _________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Number of points:

Activity 19
A ghostly sighting
The image below was reportedly seen by Polly, a resident of Peng Chau Island:

You have been summoned as a detective to investigate this paranormal sighting and interview
other residents about the event. Given the limited evidence, it is very difficult to draw a certain
conclusion about what happened.

27
Decide whether you think the five explanations provided by the residents (below) are strong
arguments and identify any fallacies that they make.

Argument A: Polly saw a strange reflection in her mirror when the lights were low one dark evening.
Then she heard a weird noise, rather like a dog whining. Therefore the dog must have been in the
room at that time.

Type of fallacy: _____________________________________________________________________

Argument B: The two girls (Amy and Michele) saw Richard Less stealing away from the house about
five minutes after Polly said she had seen the ghost. So it was Richard all the time.

Type of fallacy: ________________________________________________________________

Argument C: Jeffrey Manning is the expert author on ghostly visitations in that village. So you can
believe him when he says that this was the ghost of a previous dog who lived there.

Type of fallacy: ________________________________________________________________

Argument D: Adam Southern often gets drunk and beats his wife, children and cats; so his claim in
his interview that the ghost was an optical illusion can be safely disregarded.

Type of fallacy: ________________________________________________________________

Argument E: Peter Oakes says that the explanation is quite simple: either someone from next door
was playing a trick to frighten Polly, or the dog was whining in the next room.

Type of fallacy: ________________________________________________________________

Rewrite the following sentences in a more appropriate tone according to the strength of the premises
and the logic of the conclusion:

1. So it was Richard all the time.

__________________________________________________________________________________

2. either someone from next door was playing a trick to frighten Polly, or the dog was whining in
the next room.

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

28
Part VII Position argument essay evaluation exercise

During this session, you will read two authentic example research-driven position argument essays.

Activity 20
In your research group, read the essays and discuss the quality of the essay according to the grading
criteria. Make notes in the table below, not on the essays. Agree on a grade for each criterion with
your group and then calculate your overall grade for each essay.

Content (30%)
Organisation (20%) Language (30%)
Referencing (20%)
Essay 1
Comments + grade: Comments + grade: Comments + grade: Comments + grade:

Essay 2
Comments + grade: Comments + grade: Comments + grade: Comments + grade:

Overall grade for Essay 1:

Overall grade for Essay 2:
29
Part VIII Proofreading your final draft

Activity 21
Decide whether the following sentences from real position argument essays are correct, or
need to be edited. You may compare the sentence with another set of sentences provided by
your instructor, and decide which one is correct.

1. As far as laws are concerned, euthanasia is implemented according to the patient, their family
and the doctors will, therefore, it is an end to the patients suffering rather than sacrifice.
2. Taking the implementation of class-size reduction in Florida as an example, the authorities have
spent an extra US$20 billion over eight years to impose the policy.
3. Believing the effects of using an iPad is absolutely positive does not logically follow from the
evidence.
4. This essay closely examines these perspectives in the following and states the view that
government should slow the step towards single-sex education and pay more attention on the
operations and allocations for this policy in the United States.
5. This may give rise to a conflict over resource allocation.
6. The expense of cloning which is a serious barrier to using cloning to medical treatment will be
significantly reduced as well for smaller and simpler machines can be used (Vajta, 2007).
7. Relieving or subsidizing the manufacturing sectors, as Liang, Fan and Wei (2007) assert, is
conducive to alleviating the adverse economic effect of this tax and maintaining steady long-term
GDP growth.
8. Some researchers have argued that marriage is a human right, and that everyone should make
an effort to protect it, regardless of whether it is heterosexual or homosexual marriage.
9. Seeking for beauty and healthy seems to be natural for every human beings.
10. One logical reason for euthanasia to be legalised is that treating terminally ill patients may waste
a vast amount of resources as it is nearly impossible for these patients to recover.
11. The Premier of China Li Keqiang (2012) claims that there is huge potential of Chinas
urbanization(p.5) compared with developed country such as UK and USA.
30
12. Allow active euthanasia requested by patient is like letting him/her to take medicine which lead
to his/her death, while passive euthanasia is similar to stop prolong patient's life so do their pain.
13. Though China is experiencing a remarkable growth in its economy, the disposal of industrial
waste currently lacks control, which has resulted in water pollution.
14. A research conducted by Kamburog and Ozgur (2007) suggest that
15. One of the major reasons that transgenic organisms have received support is that the
widespread use of genetic engineering for genetic improvement of crops can contribute to
higher grain yield.
16. This article will analyse the effect of brain circulation in China from different perspectives.
17. Compulsory legislation of paternity leave may positively affect sexual equity and family division.
18. Billy (2011) points out the reason for the accident happened in Fukushima, which is because the
plant was flooded and the reactors overheated.
19. It could be concluded that implementing baby hatches does more harm than good to society.
20. After Japan went through the path of pollution first, treatment after, it was estimated that if
protective measures had been done earlier before pollution, the cost that had to be paid would
have been 10 times less (Jia, 2006).
21. This essay will examine these arguments in order to determine is the Kyoto Protocol beneficial.
22. There is some new technology to reduce the amount of pollutants emitted, such as wet milling.
23. The cleanliness I point out here is not relate to the outlook of the vehicle, but to its emission.
24. In this way, people are not necessary to carry any other alternative device to store the
information.
25. This essay holds the view that China is recommended to use biofuel as a power supply for
economic and environmental reasons.
26. It means that retirement age of non-civil servants are decided by their working companies.
31
27. While this argument is supported by research findings, the sample size is limited to only
adolescents from Spanish families, and is therefore not sufficient to conclude that authoritative
parenting leads to a negative worldview among adolescents.
28. According to the study by Letchumanan (2001), who has done research on twelve academic E-
books used by students, studying with e-reader devices could be beneficial to both the teaching
and learning of students and teachers.
29. Nuclear power generation cost less than two cents per kilowatt-hour for operations,
maintenance, and fuel, which is considered very cheap. (Moniz & Ernest, 2011, pp.90).
30. The tablet can be described as an intermediate version of traditional papers and desktop
computers, which contains all the functions of a computer while remaining compact in size and
portable.
31. The first reason is that the cost of electric cars is way too high, it was recently about two times
higher than conventional cars.
32. According to the research conducted by Fjortoft (2003), it implies that the main reason that the
students skip lesson is boring and waste time.
33. Essay question: Should expectant mothers from Mainland China be banned from giving birth in
Hong Kong?
34. Several researches conducted by Kamburog and Ozgur (2007; 2008; 2010) suggests that
35. This essay argues that a waste charging scheme in Hong Kong is an effective means to resolve the
waste disposal problem in the scope of sustainable development.
36. The essay concludes that despite there being some barriers for learning English through online
chat rooms, the benefits of using them for learning outweigh the downsides.
37. With a population of more than 1.3 billon people, it is hard for China to subsidise all the families
who are in need.
32
38. Although the above research strongly proved that the preschool education can benefits majority,
the factors like childrens personality, psychological status and developmental problem also
needs to be considered whether a children is suitable for the early education.
39. Studies are now done with objective facts (like how children behave in school) rather than by
interviewing the parents themselves. (Harper, 2001)
40. Some, like Spencer (2012), believe that the process of globalization harks back to more than
5000 years ago.
41. Genetically modified food, known as a facilitative technological product, has made a significant
contribution to human civilization.
42. In the short run, immediate health impacts on people are likely to be skin-burning. In some case,
some people may get lifelong blind or paralysed, and their life will be adversely disturbed.
(Fred,2011)
43. The legalization of homosexual marriage offers gay and lesbian couples an acceptance in legal
and political terms, as well as financially.
44. Having a good appearance may means more opportunities in obtaining a good job.
45. According to a study conducted by McLean (2006), students studied in a coeducation school feel
more confident express their opinions in front of the opposite sex.
46. Taking breast implants as an example, the complicated procedures involved may result in the
need to redo the surgery (Morgan, 2013).
47. According to Colston et al. (2004), the major goal of MRSDT is to deter student from substance
abuse by providing them a reason declining their peers offer of drugs.
48. Roberts et al. (2014, p.131) found that there were 8.5 injuries and 10.5 crashes per million
bicycle-km in the city of Montreal last year.
49. As the aforementioned study by Chou (2006) found, mothers from immigrant families are less
likely to work.
33
50. Today, I would like to discuss the more controversial part of cosmetic surgery, which is using the
unnatural method to enhance their exterior by self purpose.
51. Laukkanen et al. (2014) suggest the more mothers govern efforts, both psychologically and
behaviorally, the more negative emotionality a child is exposed to.
52. The influence of Internet should never be overlooked as cyberbullying often undergoes by the
the power of share and thousands of malicious comment in the social network.
53. As globalization facilitates the improvements of logistics and transport channels, business and
trading industries in China has an exponential growth and consequently being the second largest
economy in the world.
54. Gao (2012) argues that life is equal and nobody has the power to deprive others of their life or
their health.
55. According to Emanuel (1991), there are approximately 5,000 to 25,000 people out the 2.3 million
American decedents, have a strong desire of euthanasia during the long-term treatment.
56. This essay first refutes the main arguments for promoting genetically modified (GM) food that
have been discussed in recent academic literature, and then moves on to evaluate and support
the main arguments against promoting GM food.
57. Over the course of the last century, global energy consumption has increased rapidly.
58. In recent years, North Korea has been actively involved in the development of nuclear weapons.
59. While internet has become an essential resource for information (Shahriza et. al.,2007). Some
scholars advocate that traditional schools and teachers can be replaced by internet, some
oppose (Kinengyere ,2007).
60. Essay title: Should China continue to develop nuclear power?
34
Activity 22
There is one mistake in each reference. Proofread the reference list carefully and correct the mistake.

This reference list is in APA 6th edition style. You can ask your instructor if you would prefer to
proofread a Harvard, Vancouver or IEEE reference list. For help with referencing, see
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/referencing/.

References

Baker, B. (2009a). IT innovation in the classroom. The ITML Quarterly, 7(1), 45-62.

Anderson, D. (2009). The impact of class size on learning with IT: a preliminary study. Journal of
Technology and School Learning, 2(2), 86-97.

Baker, B. (2009b). IT synergy in teaching and learning. Singapore: Lion Publishers

Choi, P. 2007. Youth and information highway. Plenary address. Youth Council Annual
Symposium. Hong Kong, January 2007.

Choi, P. and Dembski, I. (2008). Information, formation and transformation. Journal of
Breakthroughs in Education Practices, 18(3), 1-20.

Cohen, C. (2008). A Quantitative Study Of IT And Textbook Instructions. QSMA Journal, 13(1), 44-
57.

F. Kahn, (2006). Culture, philosophy and IT. Education and Computers, 16(3), 112-135.

Kim, J.E., & Lee, W.O. (2010). Computer simulation and test performance of medical students.
Journal of Life Support Studies, 8(4), 385-391.

Odell, K. (2009). Survey of computers in learning. Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning, 9(3),
pp. 40-51.

Riley, P. (2007). How good are computer learning resources? Journal of Technology and School
Learning, 3:1, 85-96.

Wang, A., Xue, Y., & Curtin, R. (2005). Develpments in computer-assisted learning. The ITML
Quarterly, 8(2), 97-109.

35
Activity 23
Read the checklist below and choose one of the three following options for each statement:

a. Yes, Ive done this -
b. I havent done this yet, but I know how to do it.
c. Help! I dont know how to do this!

Assessment 2 Checklist

ePortfolio
1. Ive reached 50% on the ePortfolio requirement.
2. I've written an ePortfolio reflection/progress report on my first draft feedback.

Assessment 2
3. Ive typed a full draft (1,200 words) of my essay.
4. I've read and understood the grading criteria for my essay in the Student Information Handout.
5. Ive checked my essay several times for grammar and spelling mistakes.
6. I have created my main argument and stated it in my introduction and conclusion.
7. Ive found a balance between reporting arguments from sources in my essay and evaluating them
from my own perspective.
8. I've included at least one argument/perspective that does not support my main argument, and
refuted it using my own perspective.
9. I've made sure the reader can follow my reasoning throughout the essay by asking a friend to read
each paragraph and explain my main argument.
10. I've used an appropriately formal/academic style of writing.
11. I've used an appropriately cautious tone throughout my essay according to the strength of the
premises of the arguments and the logic of the conclusions that have been drawn.
12. Ive suggested what researchers and real world stakeholders could do in relation to my argument
at the end of my conclusion.
13. Ive written a full reference list following a recognized referencing style.
14. Ive included at least six peer-reviewed journal articles/credible sources in my reference list.
15. Ive arranged my reference list in alphabetical order (A-Z) according to the family name of the
first author.
16. I've paraphrased arguments from sources, and I've not copied any phrases from other sources
into my essay without quoting.
17. Ive not exceeded the limit of 5% (60 words total) of quotation.
18. Ive submitted my essay through Turnitin and checked the report to see that there are no
highlighted phrases that are not common expressions, citations/bibliographic references, or quotes.

Bonus points
- Ive helped my group mates to know enough about my topic to prepare for the oral defence and I
am aware that I need to share my essay with my group mates.
- I've liked the CILL Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/HongKongPolyUCILL).

36
Sharing your essay with your classmates

Once you have submitted your final essay, you should share it with your group mates in preparation
for the oral defence. You may do this through http://eportfolio.elc.polyu.edu.hk.

Click on File Manager and select Upload a file.

Upload the file by clicking on Browse, fill in the title and description, and tick the box to
confirm that the file belongs to you.

37
Create a showcase entitled Final Essay.

Select text and the file that you have uploaded to your file manager.

Write a reflection on the essay if you wish.

Download and save your group mates essays to your computer and read them in
preparation for the oral defence.
38

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ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

Forming groups and recommending reading

Responding critically to feedback

The basics of argumentation

Hedging and appropriate tone

Writing a conclusion for a research driven position argument essay

Common logical fallacies

Position argument essay evaluation exercise

Proofreading your final essay

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

Part I Forming groups and recommending reading

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

Responding actively to feedback

Your writing style is inappropriate for an

Excuse me. Could I just ask what specifically you

Your essay structure needs to be clearer.

Excuse me, may I ask which part of my essay

Your coverage of the topic lacks depth.

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

- Has read many research-driven

- Available at any time.

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

My secondary feedback channel is my __________________. It is easy to feel helpless and alone as a

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

Part III The basics of argumentation

A computer is a machine. Machines need to be maintained.

China is a country. China is in Asia.

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

The reasoning behind your choice: _____________________________________________________

Nick is a British male. All British males like football.

Therefore, Nick likes football.

Is this a strong argument? _______________________

Juliana lives in Hong Kong. Sha Tin is in Hong Kong.

Therefore, Juliana lives in Sha Tin.

Is this a strong argument? _______________________

English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ELC1014 Advanced English for University Studies

Unit 3 The Reasoning Process

could should might

can (ability) had better*

ought to* has/have to* has/have got to*