Prepared By: Anthony P.

Lapuz, CASE Instructor- PLTCI

PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION

Finals

COMMUNICATION FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES

I. Explanation Essay

‘Why’ questions are very important. If people in ancient times or the recent past did not ask ‘why’
questions or attempt to answer these questions, we would have very limited knowledge about many
things in our world. If Isaac Newton, for example, did not ask why things fell down after throwing them
up, he would not have discovered the law of universal gravitation.

Addressing ‘why’ questions means providing explanations for phenomena. An explanation essay is one
such example of a written piece of work that addresses ‘why’ questions. It explains a particular topics to
its readers. Since it is meant to inform or educate the readers, the essay should present convincing and
adequate support for the explanations.

The following reading selection is an explanation essay which attempts to answer some “why”
questions. Note how the topic is presented, explained and supported. Note as well how the essay
ended.

A MANSION OF MANY LANGUAGES

By Danton Remoto (2017)

In 1977, my mentor, the National Artist for Literature and Theater Rolando S. Tinio, said: “It is too

simple-minded to suppose that enthusiasm for Filipino as lingua franca and national language of the

country necessarily involves the elimination of English usage or training for it in schools. Proficiency in

English provides us with all the advantages that champions of English say it does – access to the vast fund

of culture expressed in it, mobility in various spheres of the international scene, especially those

dominated by the English-speaking Americans, participation in a quality of modern life of which some

features may be assimilated by us with great advantage.”

Professor Tinio continues: “Linguistic nationalism does not imply cultural chauvinism. Nobody

wants to go back to the mountains. The essential Filipino is not the center of an onion one gets at by

peeling off layer after layer of vegetable skin. One’s experience with onions is quite telling: peel off

everything and you end up with a pinch of air.”

Written 40 years ago, these words still echo especially now, when some quirk of history and

economics, enrollment in English courses are rising because (a) there are many vacant positions for
 Prepared By: Anthony P. Lapuz, CASE Instructor- PLTCI

teachers of English and literature in the private and public schools, and (b) there are many vacancies, still,

for jobs in call centers with entry level pay of 18, 000 php plus signing bonus, and a career that will make

you earn twice your present salary in just a few years. With the opening of the doors of the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to everyone in the region, more and more Filipinos are being hired to

teach English in Indonesia, Thailand, and, yes, even our best friend, China.

Why? First, Filipino Teachers will accept a pay scale lower than that of their Western counterparts.

Second, they are conversant with American popular culture, a happy (or unhappy) result of decades of

American Colonialism and neo-colonialism. Third, they are still Southeast Asians beneath their skin, and

are thus familiar with Asian cultural practices, whether said or unsaid. One is the importance of saving

face, the meaning of “maybe” or “I will try” to an invitation means he or she does not want to hurt you, be

he or she will not show up. Another is primacy given to family. Already in his 50s, one is still called Totoy

or Baby or Blue Boy, and still lives with one’s parents and extended family. You can see that as well in the

other Southeast Asian countries, where families are nuclear and not split, where food is communal and not

eaten in siloed cubicles.

Three long decades of teaching English to students (together with four years of teaching Filipino)

have shown me that the best students in English are also the best students in Filipino. And how did they

master the two languages?

One, they had very good teachers in both languages. Two, they inhabited the worlds of both

languages. Three, they have gone beyond the false either-or mentality that hobbled their parents.

Let me explain.

My best students in English and Filipino were tutored by crème de la crème, many of them

teaching in private schools. At the Ateneo de Manila University, we have classes in Remedial English, since

renamed Basic English or English 1. These are six units of non-credit subjects. The enrollees are mostly

intelligent students from the public schools and the provinces. Lack of books and untrained teachers

prevent them from having a level playing field with the other freshmen. A year of catching up is necessary

for them to have the skills to have a mano-a-mano with the other students.

Moreover, I introduce them to the worlds of the language they are studying – be it in the formal

realm of the textbook or the popular ones of film, graphic novel, or anime. I encourage them to keep a

journal as well, which is not a diary where you write what time you woke up and why. A journal, or its

postmodern cousin, the web log or blog, aims to capture impressions or moods on the wing. If at the
 Prepared By: Anthony P. Lapuz, CASE Instructor- PLTCI

same time it sharpens the students’ knowledge of English, then that is already hallelujah for the English

teacher.

And the third is that today’s generation of students is no longer burdened by the guilt of learning

English – and mastering it. I still remember those writing workshops I took in the 1980s, when I was asked

why I wrote bourgeois stories in the colonizer’s language. The panelists said I should write about workers

and peasants – and that I should write in Filipino. Without batting a false eyelash, I answered that I don’t

know anything about workers and peasants, and to write about something I don’t know would be to

misrepresent them. To the charge that I write only in English, I showed them my poems in Filipino,

because the modern Filipino writer is not only a writer in either English or Filipino, but a writer in both

languages, like colorful balls that he juggles with the dexterity of a seasoned circus performer.

So it’s not a choice between English or Filipino, but rather, English and Filipino, plus the language

of one’s grandmother, be it Bikolano, Waray, or Tausug. And in college, another language of one’s choice,

be it Bahasa Indonesia, German, or French – the better to view the world from many windows, since to

learn a new language is to see the world from another angle of vision. In short, one no longer has to live

between two languages, but to live in a mansion of many languages.

To end in a full circle, we must return to Rolando S. Tinio, who said: “Only the mastery of a first

language enables one to master a second and a third. For one can think and feel only in one’s first

language, then encode those thoughts and feelings into a second and a third.”

In short, as a friend and fellow professor has put it, “The Philippines is a multi-lingual paradise.”

The earlier we know we live in a paradise of many languages, the better we can savor its fruits ripened by

the sun.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

The reading selection is an example of explanation essay. Sharpen your understanding of the text by

answering the following questions.

1. How does the author introduce the topic of his essay?

2. In paragraph 4, the author asks the question, “Why?” This signals that he is explaining something.

What exactly is the phenomenon he is explaining?

3. What are the explanations he provides for the phenomenon you identified in no. 2? Give three

answers.

4. In paragraph 7, the author writes “Let me explain.” What exactly is the phenomenon he is

explaining?

5. What are the explanations he provides for the phenomenon you identified in no. 4? Give three

answers.

6. How does the author end his essay?

II. THE BLOG

Today, with the easy access to computers and the Internet, people write their diaries differently.
From hand written entries on a piece of paper or a notebook page, diaries in contemporary times
come in the form of online journals which are called blogs.

The term “blog” was first used in the 1990s. It is a short version of “weblog,” or an individualized
piece of written work found on the web.

Blogs, like diary entries, are individual accounts of a writer’s experience and emotions. Thus, the
viewpoint is usually personal and subjective. However, blogs are different from the traditional
journal or diary entry in the sense that blogs are uploaded to online platforms that make it easier for
bloggers (those who write blogs) to include visual features, as well as links to other sites on the net.
Unlike diary entries, blogs are in public nature. This means that bloggers, even if they write personal
issues, must present these issues in a way that would interest the general public. Blogs, compared to
diary entries, are more concerned with communicating a message, rather than simply expressing or
documenting an idea or emotion.

How does one create a blog? Go to wikihow.com and look up “How to start a blog?” the site
provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a blog from coming up with a concept, starting a
blog at blogger.com, launching a blog on WordPress, to promoting your blog.

III. RESEARCH-BASED ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

Research is one element that distinguishes the argumentative essay from the explanation essay and
the blog. The research-based argumentative essay is the end product of a research process that you
must undertake. This includes the following pre-writing tasks:

A. Formulating the Research Question

The essay you are writing is argumentative. This means that you are expected to present a clear
stand on an issue that has at least two different or opposing sides. Some example of contentious
 Prepared By: Anthony P. Lapuz, CASE Instructor- PLTCI

issues include legalizing divorce and legalizing same-sex marriage in the Philippines. You can also
choose topics that do not deal with legalizing practices such as those that concern your school,
province, city, town, barangay, or even those that relate to the environment in general, and other
nations and regions. For instance, you may want to take position concerning waste segregation in
your barangay. You may also opt to look into the benefits of eco-tourism in your town.

Decide on an issue you would like to work on. Then, read about this issue. Check that the issue has
two opposing viewpoints. If this issue interests you, pick this as your topic for the essay. Then
formulate a research question similar to the examples that follow:

Why should divorce be legalized in the Philippines?

Why should same-sex marriage be legalized in the Philippines?

Why should the practice of proper waste segregation be instituted in my barangay?

Why should eco-tourism be promoted in my province?

B. Finding the Answers to the Research Question

After formulating the research question, plan the next steps for finding answers to your question.
This requires the preparation of an annotated research bibliography, which is a list of sources with a
brief description on the content of each source. Your sources must be acceptable. Is the source
relevant? Does it provide the latest facts and figures? Is it reliable? Given this criteria for deciding on
acceptability of sources, the following are usually not considered:

 Any holy book (.e., Bible) or inspirational writing (e.g., self-help books)
 Any works of literature (e.g., novels, short stories, plays, poems)
 The dictionary
 Personal blogs or journal, diary entries
 Wikipedia

C. Doing Research

This means that you will read each of the sources you identified in step 2 and take research notes. If
you do not find answers you need from the sources you identified, you may have to look for other
sources.

There are three types of notes, namely paraphrases, summaries, and direct quotation. Paraphrasing
is done when you use your own words in taking down notes. If the information provided in the
source is long, it is best to summarize. You may also copy the note verbatim or exactly as it is
presented in the source if you wish to preserve the source. For whatever type of note you make, it is
expected that you cite the source. This means that you must jot down the complete bibliographical
information of your source.
 Prepared By: Anthony P. Lapuz, CASE Instructor- PLTCI

D. Preparing to Write the Paper

a. The Thesis Statement

At this point is the pre-writing stage, you should be ready to formulate a thesis statement for your
essay. The thesis statement is the main point or central argument of your paper. It expresses your
stand on the issue you chose to do research on. In order to formulate a good thesis statement, make
sure that it does the following:

 present a strong position that is supported by convincing evidence; and

Consider the thesis stamen below:

Despite the growing number of broken families in the country, divorce should not be legalized in the
Philippines.

What are the characteristics of the thesis statement above? First, it clearly argues that a divorce law
in the Philippines is not desirable. Second, with the use of the word ‘despite,’ it can be predicted
that the writer of the essay will present contrasting scenarios for a country with divorce law on the
one hand, and a country without a divorce law on the other hand.

Here is another example of thesis statement.

Because of the economic and environmental benefits it brings, eco-tourism should be promoted in
my community.

Here are the characteristics, first, it clearly argues that eco-tourism is more desirable that traditional
tourism because of the benefits that former brings. Second, with the use of word ‘because,’ it can be
predicted that the writer will introduce a cause-and-effect dimension to the essay.

b. The Outline

After having done research about your topic, choose one side that you agree with. This side is your
argument or your position. Then, list all the factual support for your argument. Do the same for the
other side, which is the opposing position. List all the factual support you have gathered for that
position. When all these are complete, you are ready to write an outline of your essay. This outline
gives your paper a general shape. It is some sort of a written plan for your essay. If the outline is
well-done, then half the work of writing the paper is also done.

Your outline must be complete. It must contain all the main points of your research-based
argumentative paper. This means that the outline should have the following parts:

 Your thesis statement

c. The Essay

After you have completed all the pre-writing tasks, you are ready to write your essay. In writing the
paper, observe the citation convention. Make sure that you practice intellectual honesty by
acknowledging all your sources. Any fact, figure, idea, or concept that is not yours must be
acknowledged in the paper using the proper citation format. Otherwise, you will be accused
plagiarism.

Activity:

Make a research-based argumentative essay about the legalization of death penalty for heinous crimes
in the Philippines.