Discussion Text ; Definition, Generic

Structures, Purposes, Language

Features
December 12, 2017 admin Explanation of Text Genre 0

Hallo everybody.
Do you ever discuss??? Huh, I’m sure my friends must be familiar with the discussion, and often do
it. We often discuss to find a solution of a problem faced. In the discussion, of course there are pros
and cons. Because the discussion is actually to get consensus or agreement from others. We do
discussion not only in the world of education, but we also often discuss for small things like asking
for opinions. Well, actually one of English genre of text that is Discussion Text brings the same
discourse as when we discuss something.

When we discuss about a matter, of course in our discussion there are various arguments / opinions.
Likewise in Discussion Text, this text has two different opinions; one, agreeable opinion and, two,
disagreeable opinions. Therefore we must have a broad view of a problem if we want to make a
discussion text.

For more details, let’s one by one discuss what we should understand in studying Discussion Text.

Definition of Discussion Text

Discussion is a process of finding common ground between two different thoughts, views or
opinions. And discussion text can be defined :

Discussion text is a text which presents a problematic discourse. This problem will be discussed from different
viewpoints. Discussion is commonly found in philosophical, historic, and social text. In other word, Discussion
is a kind of genre used to present (at least) two points of view about an issue.

General structure of Discussion Text

– Issue : stating the issue which is to discussed
– Argument pro : presenting the point in in supporting the presented issue
– Argument cons : presenting other points which disagree to the supporting point
– Conclusion / recommendation : stating the writer’ recommendation of the discourse

Purpose of Discussion text

– To present two points of view about issue or problem.
– To present arguments from differing points of view about issue or problem..
Language feature of Discussion text
– Introducing category or generic participant
– Using thinking verb; feel, hope, believe, etc
– Using contrastive conjunction; however, on the other hand, but, in other side, although, etc
– Using modalities; must, should, could, may, etc
– Using adverbial of manner; deliberately, hopefully, etc
– Simple present

Examples of Discussion text

Nuclear Energy : Advantage Or Disadvantage
Nuclear energy is commonly offered as an alternative to overcome the crisis of energy. The debate
whether the use of nuclear energy is an appropriate choice or not, has not come to an end. Some
people agree with the utilization of it because of its benefits. Some others, however, disagree
because of its risks to the environment.
Those who agree with the operation of nuclear reactors usually argue that nuclear energy is the only
feasible choice to answer the ever – increasing energy needs. In their opinion, the other sources of
energy: oil, coal, and liquid natural gas are not renewable and safe, while nuclear energy can be
sustainable when produced in a safe way.
However, people who disagree with the use of nuclear energy point out that the waste of nuclear
products can completely destroy the environment and human lives. A meltdown in reactor, for
example, usually results in the contamination of the surroundings soil and water. Take for example,
the blow up of the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in Russia twenty years
ago. The serious contamination imperiled people and the environment severely.
It is obvious that nuclear energy should be avoided because it really endangers the environment but
what about a less polluted energy instead of nuclear energy. Is there any alternative energy to
overcome the crisis of energy? In my opinion, nuclear energy is the best choice to overcome the
crisis of energy. However, government should make sure that nuclear reactor’s construction and
maintains are safe.

National Exam: Pro and Contra?

National exam becomes the hot topic in most of discussions among students, teachers, and parents.
Some people believe that national exam is not necessary for students as a requirement to be able
graduate from a school. In other hand, other people see national exam as an important indicator to
know whether students have mastered all school materials or not. The debate among society about
national examination goes on until now.
For people who agree, national exam is necessary for students as a requirement to graduate from a
school. People who support the national exam explain that the quality of the Indonesia education will
drop without the national exam, so they try to defend the current system. They also think that
national examination can motivate students to study harder.
However there are people who disagree with the opinion. Those who against this national exam kept
in school education say that it doesn’t need the national exams because the quality of education
does not just depend on the national exam. Further, the national exam only measures a small
portion of students’ competence in specific subjects, and does not measure students’ competences
throughout the semester.
In conclusion, national examination can still be useful as an instrument to evaluate or detect the level
of students’ cognitive competence in several subjects, on a national scale. However, it is not fair if
only national exam score that judge whether students pass or not. Government should make a
regulation that national exam is not the only requirement for students to graduate. There should be
other requirements added such as students’ daily score, behavior, and achievement.
Pro and con of Computers for Students
Do you know that most schools and colleges strongly recommend students to have computers to
help them achieve better results of learning. With computer connected to Internet, students can learn
English online. They can make reports easily by using word processing software. They can play
game to get of boredom. However, a computer can also give negative impacts for a student.
One thing that makes a computer useful is that students can use it to finish some assignments from
schools. By connecting to Internet, they can easily surf and find any materials related to their lessons
and assignments. They have unlimited resources from all over the worlds. Online libraries are open.
A lot of book are free to download and read online. Finding friends from related field of study is not
difficult anymore. They can work together to boost their best achievement. What more benefit is they
can do all of that just by sitting on the a chair of their rooms. What amazing world it is, isn’t?
Although a computer has many benefits, it should be considered deeply. A computer certainly does
not promote students to do and move more. A computes make students have less physical activities.
Even not few of them forget to have lunch while they are playing certain game. They just sit in front
of monitors. They are caught up in the mystique of the smart machines. In short, students who
usually work with computers tend to have a few physical activities and exercises.
So what should students do? Should they avoid using computers? Of course “No”. Computer will
make even greater benefits if physical activities are also promoted to done by the students.

Contoh Discussion Text – The Impact of the Internet for Students

Internet has helped many people in all elements of life that the internet has contributed fully in social
life. With internet, we can do anything, both the positive and negative things. As a medium of
communication, internet can be used to communicate with other users worldwide.

Internet presence provides positive benefits for the world of information, but it also has many
negative influences. Many students gain knowledge with the help of internet. In fact, school
assignments are now noticeably easier to find on the internet. It is undeniable that internet gives
effect to students. There is a positive effect, but there is also a negative influence of internet. It is just
like a coin with two sides, depending on how we deal with it.

Many positive benefits that can be obtained by students from the internet if it is used wisely.
However, there are also negative effects caused by internet. Here are some of the negative
influences of the internet. Some news, both television and newspapers spread their child abduction
or runaway cases of minors who are started from friendship or social networking sites on the
internet. The nature of a child who easily trusts anyone allows that to happen.

Pornography is the negative influence of other internet. Not only adults who visit forbidden sites, but
many students are considered frequent visitors to sites that contain pornographic images or stories.
This of course is a very unfortunate situation. Addiction to online games that hit the students is also
a negative influence of the internet. Addiction and dependency can make the students run out of
time and energy to play. As a result, students’ achievement will decrease.

To counteract the negative effects of internet on the students, there are some things that must be
done. One of them is parents have to always accompany their children when they’re accessing the
internet. This is to ensure that children have access to the right site. Do not let children engrossed in
playing internet, while the parents do not know the whereabouts of the children. If the internet facility
is available at home, place the facility in a shared room. This is to facilitate parents supervising the
children. If you have to use the facilities at the internet cafe, help the children to choose the “healthy”
cafe. It would be wise, if you know the owner and the clerk there. This is to make it easier to
supervise the children. The last, give the children a good understanding about the positive and
negative effects of the Internet for them. Thus, you are already complete with castle defense.
It is hoped all parties, including parents, teachers, government and students jointly prevent negative
impacts arising from the internet. The government is expected to block sites that are not good.
Parents are also expected to pay more attention to their children so that children can continue to be
monitored and not fall into things that are not good.

Artinya:
Dampak Internet bagi Siswa

Internet telah membantu banyak orang di seluruh elemen kehidupan bahwa internet telah
memberikan kontribusi penuh dalam kehidupan sosial. Dengan internet, kita bisa melakukan apa
saja, baik hal-hal positif dan negatif. Sebagai media komunikasi, internet dapat digunakan untuk
berkomunikasi dengan pengguna lainnya di seluruh dunia.

Kehadiran internet memberikan manfaat positif bagi dunia informasi, tetapi juga memiliki banyak
pengaruh negatif. Banyak siswa mendapatkan pengetahuan dengan bantuan internet. Bahkan,
tugas-tugas sekolah sekarang terasa lebih mudah untuk ditemukan di internet. Tak bisa dipungkiri
bahwa internet memberikan efek positif kepada siswa. Akan tetapi, ada juga pengaruh negatif dari
internet. Hal tersebut seperti koin dengan dua sisi, tergantung bagaimana kita menghadapinya.

Banyak manfaat positif yang bisa diperoleh siswa dari internet jika digunakan dengan bijaksana.
Namun, ada juga efek negatif yang disebabkan oleh internet. Berikut adalah beberapa pengaruh
negatif dari internet. Beberapa berita, baik televisi dan surat kabar menyebar penculikan anak
mereka atau kasus pelarian anak di bawah umur yang dimulai dari persahabatan atau situs jejaring
sosial di internet. Sifat anak yang mudah mempercayai siapa pun memungkinkan itu terjadi.

Pornografi adalah pengaruh negatif internet lainnya. Tidak hanya orang dewasa yang mengunjungi
situs terlarang, namun banyak siswa yang dianggap sering mengunjungi situs yang berisi gambar
atau cerita porno. Hal ini tentu saja merupakan situasi yang sangat tidak menguntungkan.
Kecanduan game online yang melanda siswa juga pengaruh negatif dari internet. Kecanduan dan
ketergantungan dapat membuat siswa kehabisan waktu dan energi untuk bermain. Akibatnya,
prestasi siswa akan menurun.

Untuk melawan efek negatif dari internet pada siswa, ada beberapa hal yang harus dilakukan. Salah
satunya adalah orang tua harus selalu menemani anak-anak mereka ketika mereka mengakses
internet. Hal ini untuk memastikan bahwa anak-anak memiliki akses ke situs yang tepat. Jangan
biarkan anak-anak asyik bermain internet, sementara orang tua tidak mengetahui keberadaan anak-
anak mereka. Jika fasilitas internet yang tersedia di rumah, tempatkan fasilitas tersebut di ruang
bersama. Hal ini untuk memudahkan orang tua untuk mengawasi anak-anak. Jika harus
menggunakan fasilitas di warnet, bantulah anak-anak untuk memilih warnet yang “sehat”. Akan
bijaksana jika Anda tahu pemilik dan petugas di sana. Hal ini untuk memudahkan untuk mengawasi
anak-anak. Yang terakhir, berikanlah anak-anak pemahaman yang baik tentang dampak positif dan
negatif dari internet bagi mereka. Dengan demikian, Anda telah lengkap untuk melindungi anak-
anak Anda dari dampak negatif internet..

Diharapkan semua pihak, termasuk orang tua, guru, pemerintah dan siswa bersama-sama
mencegah dampak negatif yang timbul dari internet. Pemerintah diharapkan untuk memblokir situs
yang tidak baik. Orang tua juga diharapkan untuk lebih memperhatikan anak-anak mereka sehingga
anak-anak dapat terus dipantau dan tidak jatuh ke dalam hal-hal yang tidak baik.

Contoh Discussion Text – Social Network Influence on Youth

Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites are now technological applications that are
popular among teenagers as well as children. With this website, we can expand either of kinship or
friendship with the wider community, not only in the scope of the neighborhood itself, but from
different walks of life, environmental and social status. It becomes a necessity for young people to
have it.

Therefore, social networking sites have resulted in both positive and negative impacts. The positive
impacts of social networks are we are able to have many friends, able to bring together the kinship
that has not seen or has dropped out, able to share the information, able to find out a place to vent,
able tobe a plave to deliver our hobby such as writing, to make promotion, and able to avoid stress.

The negative impact of social networks for teens and children are the social networking sites they
have. They will feel addicted and do not care about time, do not care about the surroundings, lack of
socialization with the environment, waste of money and credit, prone to dispute or misunderstanding,
often social media can be a place that the fraud can be occured, and social media can damage the
health of the eye of children or people who use them.

The conclusion that can be drawn is that social networking does have many benefits, but it can not
be denied that social networks also have a wide range of hazards and other consequences like
many boys and girls open social networking sites during school hours.

Therefore, the teens and the children should use social networks wisely and be able to sort the time
between learning and opening the social networking sites so they will not regret the impacts later. At
school, the students should have a training or socialization from adolescents, such as the teachers,
so that later they are able to understand how the devastating impact of social networks on an
ongoing basis so that it might be expected that the teens can be aware of and understand their
obligations or duties as the students.

Artinya:
Jaringan Sosial dan Pengaruhnya pada Kalangan Muda

Facebook, Twitter, dan situs jejaring sosial lainnya merupakan aplikasi teknologi yang sekarang
populer di kalangan remaja maupun anak-anak. Dengan adanya website atau jejaring sosial seperti
ini, kita dapat memperluas beberapa hal, baik memperluas kekerabatan atau persahabatan dengan
masyarakat luas, tidak hanya dalam lingkup lingkungan itu sendiri, tetapi juga dalam berbagai
lapisan masyarakat, lingkungan dan status sosial. Jejaring sosial sekarang menjadi suatu keharusan
bagi orang-orang muda untuk memilikinya.

Oleh karena itu, situs jejaring sosial telah memberikan dampak positif maupun negatif bagi orang –
orang yang memilikinya. Dampak positif dari jejaring sosial yaitu kita dapat memiliki banyak teman,
dapat menyatukan kekerabatan yang belum terlihat atau telah putus, dapat berbagi informasi, dapat
menjadi tempat curhat, dapat menjadi tempat untuk menyalurkan hobi kita seperti menulis, dapat
membuat promosi, dan dapat menghindari stres.

Dampak negatif dari jejaring sosial untuk para remaja dan anak-anak adalah situs jejaring sosial
yang mereka miliki itu sendiri. Mereka akan merasa ketagihan dan tidak peduli tentang waktu, tidak
peduli dengan lingkungan di sekitar mereka, kurangnya sosialisasi dengan lingkungan, jejaring
sosial hanya membuang-buang uang dan kredit, jejaring sosial dapat menjadi tempat yang rawan
sengketa atau kesalahpahaman, sering terjadinya penipuan di jejaring sosial, dan dapat merusak
kesehatan mata anak – anak atau siapa pun yang menggunakannya.
Kesimpulan yang dapat diambil adalah bahwa situs jejaring sosial memang memiliki banyak
manfaat, tetapi tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa jaringan sosial juga memiliki berbagai bahaya dan
konsekuensi lain seperti banyak anak laki-laki dan perempuan yang membuka situs jejaring sosial
selama jam sekolah masih berlangsung.

Oleh karena itu, para remaja atau anak – anak harus menggunakan situs jejaring sosial secara
bijaksana dan mampu memilah waktu antara belajar dan membuka situs jejaring sosial yang mereka
miliki sehingga mereka tidak akan menyesali dampaknya di kemudian hari. Di sekolah, para siswa
harus mendapatkan pelatihan atau sosialisasi dari orang yang lebih dewasa seperti para guru
sehingga nantinya mereka dapat memahami bagaimana dampak buruk dari jejaring sosial secara
berkelanjutan sehingga mungkin diharapkan bahwa para remaja dapat menyadari dan memahami
kewajiban atau tugas-tugas mereka sebagai siswa.

Oke. I think that’s all my explanation about Discussion text. I hope it will be useful for us. And I hope
you are never bored to visit this site. Don’t forget to visit this site if you need English reference in
your study. See you next time..

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There are many reasons for both sides of the question, "Should we have printed advertisement'?" Many
people have strong views and feel that ads are nothing more than useless junk mail, while other people
feel it is important source information.

There are some reasons why we should have advertisement in newspaper and magazines. One reason is
ads give us information about what is available. Looking at ads we can find out what is on sale and what
is new in the market. This is an easy way of shopping. Another reason is that advertisement promotes
business. When shop owners compete against each other the buyer saves money, more people come to
their shops and they sell more goods.

On the other hand, some people argue that ads should not be put in newspapers and magazines for
these various reasons. Firstly, ads cost the shopkeepers a lot of money to print onto paper. Also some
people don't like finding junk mail in their letter boxes. Ads also influence people to buy items they don't
need and can't really afford. Ads use up a lot of space and a lot of effort has to be made the ads eye-
catching.

After looking at both sides of issue, I think we should not have advertisements because they cost a lot of
money and take up a lot of room in the papers. I don't think I find some of them interesting. I mainly
disagree because it's junk mail.

1. Why does the writer present two sides of opinions of advertisements?

A. She/he wants to take side

B. She/he wants to be in the affirmative side
C. She/he uses the opinions to emphasize her own stance
 D. She/he wants the readers know the opinion about the issue
E. She/he wants the readers to understand her stance

2. The writer influences the readers by repeatedly saying that ....

A. The ads are only garbage

B. The ads contain unimportant business information
C. The ads promote unnecessary service products
D. The ads inform us tips of easy shopping
E. The ads become the source of information

3. "Ads use up a lot of space and a lot of effort has to be made the ads eye-catching. The underlined
word is closest in meaning to ....

A. Newsworthy
B. Subtle
C. Plain
D. Impressive
E. Delicate

4. What is the generic structure of the text?

A. Arguments-Recommendation-Thesis
B. Recommendation-Issue-Arguments-Thesis
C. Issue-Supporting Points-Contrasting Points-Conclusion
 D. Thesis-Supporting Points-Contrasting Points-Reiteration
E. Reiteration-Arguments-Thesis

5. "... their shops and they sell more goods." (paragraph 2) The underlined word refers to ....

A. Buyer
B. Shop owners
C. Readers
D. Writer
E. Advertiser