ACADEMIA SYSTEM GLOBAL COLLEGES

Brgy. Tabunok, City of Talisay, Cebu, Philippines

Subject Code: APLD06 Subject Title: English for Academic and
Professional Purposes
Module No: 6 Topic: Writing The Reaction Paper/
Review/ critique
Teacher:

I. OVERVIEW

In our everyday life, reviews about the product is what we read first before
buying it. Example to this is ordering a product online. Nowadays, many people
checked on reviews than buying it with haste. Reviews are of great help for us
consumers. In this module, you will learn on how to effectively write reviews or
critique about the products and the guidelines and techniques on writing it.

A. Learning Competency

Learners will be able to:

 Write an objective/balanced review or critique of a work of art, an event or a
program

B. Specific Learning Objectives

The learners will be able to:

1. write a critique based on their strand.

II. LET’S BEGIN

Reviewing a product or service can be useful

in a variety of situations, from books and
movies to plumbers and hotels. Consumers
can share their thoughts on a product or
service through reviews, and others can use
that information to make an informed
decision about whether or not to check it
out.

III. LET’S DIG DEEPER

Critiques are an important rhetorical pattern in academic writing as they present a

balanced view of things. Critiques, however are based not only on personal perspective
but should be grounded on actual observations. Here are some tips in developing your
critique.

1. Remember that the critique should be accessible to the audience. Therefore, providing
background information for the readers will be helpful. Including the central ideas of the
book, the concept, the event, or the movie to be critiqued is necessary.
2. Relating your critique to greater realities will also help as you ground your critique on
the wider scheme of things. For instance, what subject/theme does the movie, concept,
book, or event address? Are there questions that people constantly ask that this
particular subject / theme you are reviewing can answer?

In general, the critique should be organized in the following manner:

1. The first part should provide readers a sense of the ideas you want to tackle.

(What are some problems people face in their daily lives? What are some healthy
debated topics discussed among groups concerning the community?)

The critique should provide background information for the reader to grasp the issue you
raised in your piece. For instance, to introduce a topic, include current problems or
information that will be helpful in making your critique accessible to your readers. Read
the sample and answer the questions that follow.

Examples:

News discourse is a rich area in language studies that has attracted attention among
scholars both old and new. Departing from merely examining printed texts, the present
era of globalized technologies poses serious challenges for the analysis of news discourse,
given that producers of new employ different modalities to deliver their message. In
addition, the growing mobillities of individuals (geographical, virtual and social) raise
interesting questions on the suitable frameworks available for researchers to fully
understanding different aspects of news discourse. Given the present scenario, this book
elucidates the challenges of studying news discourse.
l

Presented in the nine chapters, the book conveniently deals with specific aspects of
the topic, giving readers a manageable resource of study. Chapter 1 overviews the
book, starting with definitions of news discourse, then outlining the different approaches
(sociolinguistic , corpus linguistic, critical discourse analytic , to name a few ) and
methods of collecting data. Included in this section is the importance of studying
discourse, which may spark interest among beginning scholars and readers unfamiliar
with the are ( Valdez, 2014 )

2. The next part should provide a summary of the concept.

A major part of a critique is a brief summary of the event, book, concept, or object being
critiqued. In this part, specific descriptions are needed for the reader to have an overview
of the central features of the topic.

Aside from providing an overview, it is important to provide informed insights on these

features. For instance, weakness or strengths should be based on what is observable and
comparable to other items of the same class.

3. Strengths and weaknesses should be part of the critique. Remember that this is
challenging and requires tact.

Some expressions such as the ones below will help.

 ILLUSTRATING STRENGTHS
Given its features, X may be the best among the competition…
X does not only provide (enumerate common features found in their counterparts)
but also (enumerate unique features)…

ILLUSTRATING WEAKNESSES
However, X may not be a wise choice if you intend to… ( Cite specific activities or
features needed by a specific user or audience )
In certain cases, X lacks some interesting points such as… ( Cite specific features
qualities.)
X may not appeal to certain users or audiences as it…( Cite specific features or
qualities )
In certain cases, X may not be a good investment of your time as it.. ( Cite specific
features.)
Though there are positive points for X, certain improvements can be made.

Sample 1

The smartphone has an eight megapixel camera supported by both Bluetooth

technology and wireless applications. These features are standards among modern
phones, so that the higher price is not justified.

Sample 2

The movie is worth seeing because it features not only talented actors but also tells an
excellent story filled with unexpected twists.

(1) Chapter 1 explains the use of digital media and how they enhance oral and written
language. The readers become aware of the new delivery of language. This clarifies the
idea that both oral and written language can be interactive. (2) Chapter 2 gives the
definition of language and elaborates on the strengths and weaknesses of oral and
written discourse. Here the author emphasizes that though oral language is important;
other modes of communication were developed to enhance the message

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What are the essential features?

2. What are the strengths of these features?

3. What are the weaknesses of these features?

4. The final section of the critique should include the final recommendations of the author.
For instance, is the movie, book, gadget, event, or concept a good investment of time,
effort and money? What background knowledge does one need to see or use them?
Will other activities help to appreciate these?
 The evaluation of the final section should summarize the strengths and weaknesses of
the subject to be critiqued. This includes points of for readers to consider before reading
the book, watching the film, attending the event or purchasing the item.

Among the different sections of the critique, two important points should stand out. First,
recommendations must be backed up with sources to strengthen your claims. Second,
a negative appraisal must be expressed with tact. Consider the following concluding
paragraph.

Taken as a whole, the book can be a helpful resource for teachers planning to integrate
technology in their classrooms. In addition, the sample lessons provided in the
appendices consider the different material conditions of schools which may be a reality
in some settings. Since Estacio (2009) views that technology use in education may
depend on the conditions of educational institutions, the lessons in the book are a
welcome addition to the growing number of resources in different contexts for teachers.

In this sample, the underlined citation helps strengthen the positive appraisal of the book.
This also serves as means for the reviewer to relate the book to other sources that deal
with the same topic.

Claim: The movie is good for younger audiences.

Cited Information: Torres (1990) emphasized positive values as an indicator of favorable

viewership for younger audiences.

Revised sentence: Torres (1990) emphasized positive values as an indicator of favorable

viewership for younger audiences are taken from watching the movie.

News discourse is a rich area in language studies that has attracted attention among
scholars both old and new. Departing from merely examining printed texts, the present
era of globalized technologies poses serious challenges for the analysis of news discourse,
given that producers of new employ different modalities to deliver their message. In
addition, the growing mobillities of individuals (geographical, virtual and social) raise
interesting questions on the suitable frameworks available for researchers to fully
understanding different aspects of news discourse. Given the present scenario, this book
elucidates the challenges of studying news discourse.

Presented in the nine chapters, the book conveniently deals with specific aspects of
the topic, giving readers a manageable resource of study. Chapter 1 overviews the
book, starting with definitions of news discourse, then outlining the different approaches
(sociolinguistic , corpus linguistic, critical discourse analytic , to name a few ) and
methods of collecting data. Included in this section is the importance of studying
discourse, which may spark interest among beginning scholars and readers unfamiliar
with the are ( Valdez, 2014 )

(1) Chapter 1 explains the use of digital media and how they enhance oral and
written language. The readers become aware of the new delivery of language. This
clarifies the idea that both oral and written language can be interactive. (2) Chapter 2
gives the definition of language and elaborates on the strengths and weaknesses of oral
and written discourse. Here the author emphasizes that though oral language is
important; other modes of communication were developed to enhance the message.

Taken as a whole, the book can be a helpful resource for teachers planning to
integrate technology in their classrooms. In addition, the sample lessons provided in the
appendices consider the different material conditions of schools which may be a reality
in some settings. Since Estacio (2009) views that technology use in education may
depend on the conditions of educational institutions, the lessons in the book are a
welcome addition to the growing number of resources in different contexts for teachers

IV. WE’RE ON OUR WAY

A. TRUE OR FALSE.

1. The evaluation of the final section should summarize the strengths and weaknesses of
the subject to be critiqued.

2. Negative appraisal must be backed up with opinions.

3. Critiquing is looking for the negative areas of the product or an event.

4. A critique helps the writer or the author to improve their work.

5. Summarizing is a big no no in writing a critique because it doesn’t completely support

the idea.

V. HOW FAR HAVE WE GONE

Directions: Choose 2 things that are related to your strand ( example ICT- application
software ) and give your critique about it.

VII. REFERENCES
Tiongson, M. T., & Rodriguez, M. R. (2019). Reading and writing skills (2nd ed., Vol. 2). Rexbook store.

Valdez, P. N. M. (2016). English for the globalized classroom series - English for Academic and
Professional Purposes (1st ed.). Phoenix Publishing House