READING AND WRITING SKILLS

LESSON 5: CRITICAL READING AS

REASONING
Learning
Competnecies
⊹ Formulate evaluative statements about a
text read.
⊹ Determine textual evidence to validate
assertions and counterclaims made in a text
read

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 What is Reasoning?
? Reasoning is an act of giving statements
for justification and explanation. It is the
ability of someone to defend something
by giving out reasons.
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Formulating evaluative
statements 13
 What is an evaluative
statement?
1 It is a way of giving a better explanation
to show the strength and the
weaknesses of something through
writing
 What is an evaluative
statement?
2 It presents a value judgement based on
a set of criteria.
 What is an evaluative
statement?
3 It is used in giving a sound judgement –
a judgement that can be backed up or
supported by valid reasons of proofs.
 What is an evaluative
statement?
4 It is the writer’s way of explaining why a
strength and a weakness based on the
evidences gathered.
 How to Formulate an
evaluative statement? 18
Evaluative statements
about a text are
formulated after having
read the text carefully
and critically, grasping
the essence of the text
and checking for
possible fallacies in the
argument.
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The formulation of the
evaluative statements is
done in the same way
you do any other writing
except that the statement
is about your judgement
of the text’s content and
property.

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You may compose your evaluative
statements in two steps:

STEP
Formulating assertions about
1 the content and the properties
of a text read.
You may compose your evaluative
statements in two steps:

STEP Formulating a Meaningful

2 counterclaim in response to a
claim made in a text read.
ASSERTIONS
⊹ Are statements declared to express someone’s side
or belief on a certain idea and are backed up by
evidence to be more solid.
⊹ Assertion may state truths or opinions, and are
typically made to express a reader’s personal
understanding of the text read.
⊹ These statements may come in four types

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 ASSERTION OF FACT
Is a type of assertion that can be easily verified through various sources such as
direct experience, testimonies of witness, verified observations, and results of
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research.
“ ⊹ There are about 175 spoken language
Ex.

in the Philippines.

⊹ The largest country in Western

Europe is France.

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 ASSERTION OF CONVENTION
Is a type of assertion that is socially accepted at a certain place during a certain period of
time. This depends on existing laws, rules usage, customs, traditions, and norms. I t cannot
be easily verified as it may have different interpretations from one place to another. 26
“ ⊹ To show respect to the elderly,
Ex.

Filipinos hold the hand of the elderly

and press their forehead on it while
saying “Mano po.”

⊹ In Japan, bowing is used to express

respect, gratitude or apology.

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 ASSERTION OF OPINION
Is a type of assertion that must have facts as its foundation. It is commonly open to
arguments since it is harder to verify as compared to facts.
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“ ⊹ It is not that fun anymore in the
Ex.

Philippines due to the recent increase

in crime rate.

⊹ Some people are scared to go to Japan

because of the existence of yakuza.

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 ASSERTION OF PREFERENCE
Is a type of assertion that is very subjective in nature. It is entirely based on the choice on a
certain person or a group of people. It does not require any evidence or proof as it may vary
from one person to another. 30
“ ⊹ There is no better place to spend your
Ex.

vacation at than the Philippines.

⊹ French cuisine is the best in the world.

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To formulate assertions, the following
steps must be observed:

1 Examine which ideas are facts

and which are opinions.
To formulate assertions, the following
steps must be observed:

2 Make inferences or
conclusions.
To formulate assertions, the following
steps must be observed:

3 Assess the overall quality of

the text.
 counterclaims
⊹ Counterclaim is the opposition you make about the
claim of a writer.
⊹ You must recognize the value of hedges when you
state your counterclaims.

Refers to a word or a phase that serves the purpose of

minimizing the negative impact of a criticism stated in a
counterclaim. Hedges may come in the form of modals,
adverbs of frequency, and adverbs of probability. 35
 Modals
⊹ are helping verbs, used to indicate permission,
possibility, advice, ability, prohibition, requests, and
preference
⊹ Ex. Can, Could, May, Might, Must, Ought to, Shall,
Should, Will, Would

Adverbs of Frequency
⊹ describes how often an action happens: always,
usually or normally, often, sometimes, rarely, and
never. 36
Adverbs of Probability
⊹ are used to show how sure we are about a
situation or event; definitely, certainly, clearly,
obviously, possibly, perhaps, probably, maybe.

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“ Some examples of counterclaims are shown in the
following table along with the corresponding claim being
opposed by each one.

Claim Counterclaim
Cow is considered as a How could an animal who only chew its own cud
sacred animal in India. all day be considered sacred in a certain country?

Loving someone is the Loving someone could only be the best feeling
best feeling everyone that everyone would want to experience if there
wants to experience. would be no arguments, infidelity , disloyalty, and
doubts involved.

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To formulate counterclaims, the
following steps mist be observed:

Identify the possible major

1 points of disagreement
between you and the writer.
 Determine the writer’s
strongest argument as well as
2 his or her defense to the
position he/she has taken.
 Research about the merits of
3 the writer’s views.
 Look for the weaknesses or
4 shortcomings in the writer’s
argument.
 Check if there are hidden
5 assumptions.
 Determine which lines from
6 the text best support the
counterclaim you aim to
formulate.
Textual evidence
⊹ Evidence - Is a set of information that is true and
serves as grounds for belief to prove something.
⊹ It comes from valid and reliable sources of
references. Determining textual evidence validate
assertions and counterclaims made about a text
read.
⊹ Citing textual evidence is essential in texts as it
ensures the credibility of the message being
relayed.
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Statistical evidence
⊹ Includes data that present numbers to prove a
point. These pieces of evidence are usually the
results of surveys. This type of evidence is the
strongest among the rest as it contains factual
statements.

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Ex.
⊹ The current population of the Philippines is 108,
371, 679 as of Tuesday, September 3, 2019, based
on the latest United Nations estimates.

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testimonial evidence
⊹ Includes data that present authorized and
professional testimonies about a certain topic from
the people who are experts on the related field of
the subject.

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Ex.
⊹ According to Dr. Allison A. Buskirk-Cohen, an
associate professor in the Counseling Psychology
Department of Liberal Arts at Delaware Valley
College in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, the best way
to approach learning is to realize that it is an active
process which involves asking questions, making
personal connections to the material and reviewing
information.

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Anecdotal evidence
⊹ Includes data that present a person’s experience or
observation. These pieces of evidence are used
with another type of evidence to support the
observation stated.

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Ex.
⊹ Most of the foreigners I have lived with during my
two years of missionary service do not take a bath
on a daily basis.

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 analogical evidence
⊹ Includes data that present a comparison of two different
things to prove a certain point. These pieces of evidence
are commonly used when the other types of textual
evidence are not available. This type of evidence is the
weakest among the rest as it only shows a parallel
between the two things being compared but does not
usually serve as a hard proof and can be misinterpreted
when it is poorly presented. With this type of evidence, a
situation may be compared to another from which an
analogy may be made.
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Ex.
⊹ Depression is more than being deeply sad and
lonely. It is like being in a prison without bars and
you are trapped by invisible weights tied around
your arms and legs that prevent you from being
happy; and like any prisoner, a depressed person
wants nothing but freedom from that kind of
situation and struggles to find a way out.

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Recap
⊹ Reasoning
⊹ Evaluative Statements
⊹ Counterclaims
⊹ Textual Evidence

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Thank you for
listening!
Any questions?

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