Test your knowledge of facts by answering the

following trivia questions:

1. Why are plants green?
2. Why is traffic heavy in cities?
THE EXPLANATION ESSAY 3. Why can't a man become pregnant?
4. Why do we celebrate the coming of a new year?
5. Why does Swiss cheese have holes?

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I{IBITING AN EXPLANATION ESSAY

'Why' questions are very important. If people in ancient times

rl tht: recent past did not ask 'why' questions or attempt to answer
tlrrrt'questions, we would have very limited knowledge about many
tlrlrlis in our world. If Isaac Newton, for example, did not ask
why things fell down after throwing them up, he would not have
,liq, ,,ve red the law of universal gravitation.

Arklressing'why' questions means providing explanations for

l,lr,'rr,,rnena. An explanation essay is one such example of a written
lrtrr l of work that addresses'why' questions. It explains a particular
tl1r11 11y its readers. Since it is meant to inform or educate the
rr,r,lt'rs, the essay should present convincing and adequate support
flr t lrt' t:xplanations.
l'lrc following reading selection is an explanation essay which
4ttrml)ts to answer some "why" questions similar to those in the

169
t
opening activity above. Note how the topic is presented, explrrrrr, ,l
and supported. Note as well how the essay ended.
rlrc rrrountains. The essential Filipino is not the ienter of an
Before reading the text, look up the meanings of the foll.*,,,,1,
,,rrirrn one gets at by peeling otflayer afterlayer o{vegetable
words and phrases that are used in the selection
'.l,.rrr. One's e"peii.nce with onions iS quite telling: Peeloff
r Lingua f.ranca , r t'r'ything and you end up with a pinch of air.l'
a Linguistic nationalism i)
( Written 40 years ago, these'words still echo especially
a Cultural chauvinism *rrv, whefl by some quirk of hist<lry and econr:mics,
a Conversant
' rr'ollment
in English iourses are lising becalrse (a) there
a Siloed cubicles ,uc many vacant positions for teachers of English and
a Crdme de la crdme lircrature in the private and public schools, and (b) there
.rrrr rnany vacancies, still, for jobs in call centers with entry-
a Mano-a-mano
It'vel pay of F18,000 plus signing bonus, and a career that
a Bourgeois stories
r'r,ill make you earn twice your present salary in iust a few
a Batting an eyelash verars" \Vith the opening of the doors of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nationsl(ASEAN) to everyone in the
region, more and more Filipinos are being hired to feach
tinglish in Indonesia; Thailand, and, yes, even our best
A MANSI(}N t}F MANY LANOUAOES- .
friend, China.
By Danton Remoto t2017)
(4) \0hy? First, Filipino teachers will accept a pay scale
(1) ' In T97 7; m.1,,r,nenror, the National Artist forititeiature lower than that o{ their \festern counterparts. Second, they
and Theater Rolando S. T'inio, saidr ,'k is too simple-minded are conveisant with Arnerican popular culture, a happy
to suppose thaq snlhusiasm,for Filipino as lingua iranca and (or unhappy) resuli of decadei of Americanrcolonialism
national language o{ the country necessarily lnvolves the and neo-colonialism. Third, they are '5ti1l Southeast Asians
e-lirnination of Engiish usage or training for it in schonls. beneath their skin' and are thus ftmiliai with Asian cultural
Proficiency in English'provides us with:all the advantages prailiceg, whether saidioi unsaid, One is the imporlance of
that champions ofrEnglish say it does*,-access to the vast saving face, the meaning of "may.be'l or lil wili try" to an
fund of culrure expressed in it, mobility in various spheres inviiation'means he or she does not want to hurt you, be
of the internalional sdener:especially those dominated by the he or she will not show'up. Another is the plimaci given to
English-speaking Amerlcans, and pa_rticipation in a quality, family: Already inihis 50s; one is still called Totoy'o1 Baby
of modern life of which some features may be assimilatecl or Blue Boy, and stil! livesrwith'orre's parents and extended
family, You can see that as well in the other Southeast Asian
(2) countriesl where families are nuclear and not'sPllt, where
Professor Tinio.contin.ues:'ilinguistic narionalismrdoes
fooJ is communal and'not eaten in siloed cubicles.
not imply cultural chauvinism. Irtrobody wants to go back to
(5) Three long decades of teaching English and Journ'rlrsrrr
I -Adapted from the original
essay found in http://www.philstar.comlopinion/2o17/o1
to studenrs (together with four years of teaching Filipirr.r)
/ 21 /166 4651/ rna ns io n- la n g ua ges
.

r70 111
have shown me thaf the best students in English are also the
I should write about workers and peasants*and that
,'ricl
best students in Filipino. And how did they master the two
I 'hould wrire in Filipino. Withotrt batring an eyelash,
I .rrrswered that I don't know anything about workers and
languages?
l)('asants, and to write about solnething I don't know wou[d
{61 One, they had very good teachers in both languages. be to rnisrepresent them. To the charge that I write only
Two, they inhahited the worlds of both languages. Three, rrr English. I showed them my poems in Filipino, hecause
they have gone beyond the false either-or mentality that th. ,rld.rn Filipino writer is not only a writer in either
hobbled their parents.
trnglish or Filipino, but a writer in both languages, or in
(7) Let me explain. llisaya or Bikolano or Ilocano or Waray, larrguages that are
(8) My best students in English and Filipino were tutored like colorful balls he or she iuggles with the dexterity of a
seasoned circus performer.
by the crBme de la crdme, many of them teaching in private
schools. The enrollees in the university where I taught are rll) So it's nor a choice betweert E.nglish and Filipino,
mostly intelligent students from the public schools and the but rather, English and Filipino, plus the language of one's
'WaraR or Tausug. And in
provinces. Lack of books and untrained teachers prevent grandmother, be it Bikolano,
them from having level playing field with the other ,ollege, another language of one's choice, be it Bahasa
-a
freshmen. A year of catching up is necessary for rhem to trndonesia, German, or French-the better to view the world
have the sl<ills to have a mano-a-mano with the other Itrom many windows, since to learn a nelv language is to
students. see the world from another angle of vision. In short, one no

(9) Moreover, I introduce them,to the worlds of the longer has to iive between two languages, but to live in a
language they are studying*be it in the formal realm of mansion of many languages.
the te:<tbook or the popular ones of film, graphic novel, (12) To end in a full circle, we must return to Rolando S.
YouTube or anime. I encourage them tt-r keep a iournal as 'Tinio, who said: "Only the mastery of a first language
well, which is not a diary where you write what time you enables one to master a second and a third. For one can
woke up and why. A journal, or its postmodern cousin, the think and feel only in one's first language, encode those
'Web 1og or blog, aims to capture irnpressions or moods fel
thoughts and feelings into a second and a third."
on the wing. If at the same time it sharpens the students' (13) In short, as a friend and fellow professor has put it,
knowledge of English, then that is already hallelujah for the
F l' I I
"The Philippines is a multi-lingual paradise." The e.arlier we
know we live in a paradise of many languages, the better we
,: (10) And the third is that today's generation of students can savor its fruits ripened hy the sun.
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 lmote
- bouqgeois stories in the coloni2er's language. The'panelis-ts
:;;.
t,::

173
172
COMPREHENSION TASK 4.1.1
OUESTIONS Understanding the EssaY
The reading selection above is an example of an
essay. Sharpen your understanding of the text by
Score:
following questions.
Date:
7. How does the author inuoduce the topic of his essayl ,

2. ln paragraph 4, the aurhor asks the question ..I[hylI

signals that he is explaining somerhing. SThat exactly Based on your of the essay by Remoto, answer the
phenomenon he is explaining? tollowing questions:
Iril '$7hat 1. The author asserts that the Philippines is a "multi-lingual
{r rl 3. are the explanations he provides for the
$le
you identified in no. 2 above? Give three answers. paradise." He believes that having many languages is an
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advantage for the Philippines and to Filipinos. Do you agree
[I1i 4. In paragraph 7, the author writes, .,tet me explain.,,
tl l' with the author? Discuss your agreement or disagreement
exactly is the phenomenon he is explaining?
with a partner.
fr1; 5. What are the explanations he provides for the
'lr you identified in no.4 above? Give three answers.
l

5. How does the author end his essay?

2. Was the author able to fully explain the phenomenon he chose

to explain? Discuss your answer with a partner. Make sure
to provide support for your answer with specific strategies
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4 used by the author in making his explanation.
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174 175
TASK 4.1.2
Writing an Explanation Essay

Pre-writing
Before you write your explanation essay, fill in the table below.

What is the
phenomenon you
are explaining?

What explanations
are you
providing for the
phenomenon
above?
Give at least three.

117
ItrTriting
How do you plan
to introduce your explanation essay on any topic of your choice. You
Write anr expl
topic? may need do some research about the topic in order to better
d to d<
Tht essay must be at least 500 words long and is
explain it. The
d as fc
organized follows:
. Introduction - one or two paragraphs
Introd
. Body_- at least three paragraphs
Body

How do you
' Conclt
Conclusion - one or two paragraphs

plirn to end the essay will be marked using the following rubric:
Yourr essay
explanation essay?
CONTENT
Have you substantially explained the
phenomenon you chose to explain? Did you 10 points
provide convincing and adequate support for
your explanations?

ORGANIZATION
Did you do
research for your Have you arranged the main points of your
explanation essay? essay clearly and logically? Are there order 7 points
and logic in the ideas you presented in each
lf you did research, paragraph and in the entire essay?
what specific ideas
in your essay are
generated through LANGUAGE AND MECHANICS
research? Did you observe proper use of language forms 3 points
(grammar) and mechanics (punctuation,
lf you did research, capitalization, etc.)?
what are your
sources? TOTAL 20 points
List all your
o sources. Use the
G citation format
- recommended
= by the American -q
G E
Psychological m
&
o
Association (APA). x
t
You may find this
2
o
; format in http:// -
www.apa.org/
:
O
z pubs/software/
-
= o
@
= index.aspx
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178 179