EXPLANATION-ESSAY-REPORT IN PURPOSIVE COMMS..pptx

Explanation essay by Donna May Mamalias and Rilljen Maghanoy.

1. “ Why are plants green?”

2. EXPLANATION: Green plants are green because they contain a pigment called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll absorbs certain wavelengths of light within the visible light spectrum. As shown in detail in the absorption spectra, chlorophyll absorbs light in the red (long wavelength) and the blue (short wavelength) regions of the visible light spectrum. Green light is not absorbed but reflected, making the plant appear green.

3. “Why can’t man become pregnant?”

4. People who are born male and living as men cannot get pregnant. A transgender man or non- binary person may be able to, however. It is only possible for a person to be pregnant if they have a uterus. The uterus is the womb, which is where the fetus develops. Male reproductive organs include testicles and a penis but no uterus. EXPLANATION:

5. “ Why can't we drink while breathing ?”

6. EXPLANATION: We can’t drink while breathing because the swallow temporarily interrupts breathing. The moment you swallow, you must momentarily hold your breath to close the airway (this prevents any food or fluid from entering the lungs ). For this process to occur well, the body must also co-ordinate the breathing cycle with the swallow .

7. The usual cycle is: Swallowing is a highly complex process involving the coordination of more than 26 muscles and 6 nerves. We swallow around 600 times a day and the normal pattern of swallowing happens quickly and should only take a few seconds to complete.

8. The Explanation Essay Writing A n Explanation Essay

9. LEARNING OUTCOME At the end of 90 minutes discussion, the students are expected to : a. demonstrate an understanding of the conventions of the explanation essay; b. write an explanation essay of at least 500 words on a topic of your choice ; and c. reflect the value of clearly explaining a phenomenon.

10. ‘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.

11. 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.

12. It explains a particular topic to its readers. Since it is meant to inform or adequate the readers, the essay should present convincing and adequate support for the explanations.

13. F eed Your Vocabulary! Lingua franca - a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different . Linguistic nationalism - a dominant culture's use of language to exercise its dominance . Cultural chauvinism - the belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.

14. Conversant - having the quality of conserving or preserving or able to talk in a foreign language. Siloed cubicles - A functional or divisional unit that operates by its own rules and guidelines and does not openly share information with other units. Crème de la crème - the best person or thing of a particular kind .

15. Mano-a- mano – n. an intense confrontation, contest, or fight between two adversaries. Bourgeois stories - The term bourgeoisie refers to the social order that is dominated by the so-called middle class. Batting an eyelash - To display a subtle emotional reaction, such as consternation, annoyance, sadness, joy, etc.

16. GUIDE QUESTIONS: How does the author introduce the topic of his essay? What are the explanations he provides for the phenomenon you identified in no. 2 above? Give three answers. In paragraph 4, the author asks the question “Why?” This signals that e is explaining something. What exactly is the phenomenon he is explaining ? 4. What are the explanations he provides for the phenomenon you identified in no. 4 above? Give three answers. 5 . In paragraph 7, the author writes, “Let me explain.” What exactly is the phenomenon he is explaining? 6 . How does the author end his essay?

17. “ A mansion of Many Languages”, by : Danton Remoto (2017 ).

18. (1.) In 1977, my mentor, the poet and 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 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.

19. It gives us access to the vast fund of culture expressed in it and mobility in various spheres of the international scene. This is especially true in those spheres dominated by the English-speaking Americans. It also helps us to participate in a quality of modern life of which some features may be assimilated with great advantage.”

20. (2). 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.” English enrolment rising

21. (3). Written 40 years ago, these words still echo especially now. By some quirk of history and economics, enrolment in English courses are rising. This is so because there are many vacant positions for teachers of English and literature in private and public schools.

22. Moreover, there are many vacancies, still, for jobs in callcenter with entry-level pay of P18,000 plus a signing bonus. It is also 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), more Filipinos are being hired to teach English in the region.

23. (4). Why? First, Filipino teachers will accept a pay scale lower than their Western counterparts, a pay scale that is still higher than what they would get in the Philippines. Second, they are conversant with American popular culture, a happy (or unhappy) result of colonialism and neo-colonialism.

24. 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 the invited does not want to hurt you by giving a vague answer.

25. Another is the 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 in the warm cocoon of home. Meals are shared, stories swapped, Netflix passwords given away, to kin who live just an arms’ length away from you.

26. You can see that, as well, in the other Southeast Asian countries. In these places, families are nuclear and not split. Food is communal and not eaten in siloed cubicles. I have lived in Singapore and Malaysia, and food is one good way of keeping friends. Mastery of two languages?

27. (5). Three long decades of teaching English and Filipino to students have shown me that the best students in English are also the best students in Filipino. And how did they master the two languages?

28. (6). One, they had good teachers in both languages in their early years. Two, they have inhabited the worlds of both languages—English in school; They spoke English in social media, Tagalog at home, and Taglish with friends. Three, they have gone beyond the false either-or mentality that hobbled their parents’ generation. This either-or mentality was a product of weak critical thinking.

29. (7). Let me explain . (8). My best students in English and Filipino were taught by the  crème de la crème , many of them teaching in the private schools in Metro Manila and the regions. At the Ateneo de Manila University, we used to have classes in Remedial English, since renamed Basic English or English 1.

30. These were six units of non-credit subjects. These were intelligent students from the public schools and the provinces. Lack of books and untrained teachers hindered them from having a level playing field with the other freshmen. A year of catching up was necessary for them to have the skills to put them at par with the other students.

31. (9). Moreover, I introduced them to the worlds of the language they were studying. This can be in the formal realm of the textbook. It can also be found in films, documentaries, graphic novels, YouTube video clips or  animes . I encourage them to keep a journal as well, which was not a diary where you wrote what time you woke up and why.

32. A journal, or its cyberspace cousin, the Web log or blog, aims to capture vivid impressions or moods on the wing. If at the same time it sharpens the students’ knowledge of English, then the English teacher is ready to sing hallelujah. Bilingual students

33. (10). And the third is that today’s generation is no longer burdened by the guilt of learning English – and mastering it. I still remember the writing workshops I took in the 1980s, when I was asked why I wrote “petit-bourgeois” poems and stories in the colonizer’s language. The panelists said I should write about workers and peasants – and that I should write in Filipino.

34. Without batting a false eyelash, I answered that unfortunately, I grew up in a military base and knew nothing about the lives of workers and peasants. I added that to write about something I don’t know would be to misrepresent them. I could write about the lives of young soldiers and retirees fading into the sunset. I could write about the lives of the brave soldiers’ wives and their children. That I know only too well.

35. To the charge that I write only in English, I showed them my poems in Filipino. The modern Filipino writer is not only a writer in either English or Filipino. He or she writes in both languages, or in Cebuano or Bikolano or Ilocano or Waray . These languages are like colorful balls he juggles with the dexterity of a seasoned circus performer.

36. (11). So it’s no longer choice between English and Filipino. Rather, it is now 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 Malaysia, German, or French.

37. Learning other languages is good. It gives you a better way to view the world from many windows. 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.

38. (12). To end in a full circle, we must return to Professor 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 .”

39. This, then, is the gist of the mother-tongue approach to language learning, which the Department of Education has finally adopted for our elementary schools nationwide.

40. (13). In short, as Dr. Isabel Pefianco Martin, my friend and fellow professor at the Ateneo de Manila University has put it: “The Philippines is a multi-lingual paradise.” The earlier we know that we live in a paradise of many languages, the better we can savor its fruits ripened by the sun.

41. Instructions . Write an explanation essay on any topic of your choice. You may need to do some research about the topic in order to better explain it. The essay must be at least 500 words long and is organized as follows: Introduction – one or two paragraphs. Body – at least three paragraphs. Conclusion – one or two paragraphs.

42. Your essay will be marked using the following rubric: CONTENT Have you substantially explained the phenomenon you chose to explain? Did you provide convincing and adequate support for your explanations?     10 points ORGANIZATION Have you arranged the main points of your essay clearly and logically? Are there order and logic in the ideas you presented in each paragraph and in the entire essay?     5 points LANGAUGE AND MECHANICS Did you observe proper use of language forms (grammar) and mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, etc.)?   5 points TOTAL 20 points