Newspaper Editorial Genre for Teaching Argumentative Writing

Putting Analysis to Classroom Application

Abstract

Teaching argumentative writing can be challenging for language teachers especially in situations where English is taught as a second language. The genre of newspaper editorials is among the best known argumentative genres with highly rich educational content. Based on the practical utility of genre analysis for academic purposes, this study makes use of the approach of genre-based pedagogy for teaching argumentative writing in general and argumentative essays specifically by making use of newspaper editorials as teaching material. Findings of so (2005) regarding the comparison between the two genres and suggestions for teaching argumentative essay have been utilized to provide some practical applications.  Based on the comparison, a structural analysis (from Masroor & Ahmad, 2013) is put to use for proposing an instructional model in four phases for teaching argumentative essays comprising of various exercises meant to lead learners from least genre knowledge to increased command on the genre for successful production of argumentative essays independently. The proposed model in four instructional stages, which can be used independently or together depending upon the purpose, show how newspaper editorials can be used to teach students organisational structure and various rhetorical strategies besides raising meta-linguistic awareness to perceive various functions of writing.