Use TEEL and Check the Progression with Questions

This is arguably the hardest part in a persuasive or discussion piece. It is the part where you will gain the bulk of your score but it’s also the part where many people unknowingly lose marks because they’re unaware of how difficult it is.

The thing is that this section is less about writing skills/expression and more about:

• critical thinking skills
• logical progression

It’s about making conscious decisions about what to include in your writing and what to exclude in your writing.

Let’s see how to make your discussion points and arguments solid.

4-Sentence Progression

Solid points build on the previous sentence and answer questions so that at the end, there is no question left unanswered.

Let’s try it out on this claim:

“Smoking should be banned because it is bad for a person’s health.”

Why?

“Because it has been shown to contribute to a range of diseases such as heart disease and lung cancer.”

Really? What’s your proof?

“A side-by-side comparison study by a renowned leading higher education institution found that the lungs and arteries of smokers were clogged with fat and grime compared to those of non-smokers.”

Mmm, that’s a good point. But what’s the point of this again?

“Therefore, smoking should be banned if we want to protect the health of citizens.”

Ahhh, I see now. Good point!

When you’re writing your paragraphs, apply this simple test. Read one sentence, then as the ‘reader’, think about the question you’d have next. Common question prompts are:

• Why?
• What?
• How?

And, that will prompt you for the next sentence etc…

The progression of this is really important in making your piece solid and it requires thinking through the steps. Not just ‘somewhat related’ sentences.

TEEL

Another method you can use to build solid discussion points and arguments is TEEL.

Topic –> Explanation –> Example / Evidence –> Link back

It’s the same as the above but with clear designated headings.

Let’s try it now for a discussion point.

Learning online has the benefit of convenience.

• Topic: One common reason why people flock to online learning is the convenience that it affords to many.
• Explanation: No longer does someone need to travel, lug around heavy text books and sit in a classroom—instead, with a click of a button, they can join a virtual classroom from the safety and comfort of their own home.
• Example/evidence: It’s also not just a minority these days, it’s huge—there are hundreds of thousands of online learning providers who support learners every single day.
• Link bank: And it’s all down to convenience—a benefit unique to online learning such that it is expected to be a billion-dollar industry within a decade.

Templates

Below are sample paragraphs that you can use as templates and adapt.

Bullying can take many forms such as online, in person, through phone. Some people who have been bullied in the past say that it has helped them to be a stronger person. Schools nowadays have policies against bullying. Do you think that schools can totally prevent bullying? Argue your point.

Schools have limited resources and cannot check on everyone and see whether or not they are being bullied. Bullying can happen anywhere, in person and on the Internet. Schools simply do not have the financial and human resources to police every social media channel for bullying. As such, they are not able to prevent bullying.

Schools should use computers to grade students’ essays instead of teachers. Do you agree or disagree? Argue your point.

Firstly, computers should be used for grading students’ work instead of teachers because computers are more accurate than humans. If a human corrected a piece of work, they may miss mistakes such as spelling and grammar that require strong attention to detail. However, a computer would not miss these mistakes because they can scan and cross check the spelling of each individual word. Greater accuracy is why schools should leave the grading of essays to computers.

What to avoid

• Including sentences that aren't important.
• Including sentences that are off-topic.
• Writing too much.
• Repeating the same sentence but using different words.

Key Rules to remember

• Good arguments or discussion points need to be consciously thought out clearly in a logical structure.
• Use questions to prompt or TEEL

Practice time!

Now, it's your turn to practice.

The questions in this checkpoint are provided to help you develop your writing skills.

To do your practice questions, click on the below to download your question paper. You can print it out or work from the electronic version. We do recommend that you write your answers by hand in a notebook or on paper.

PDW-CP8-Questions.pdf

Once you have completed your questions, review the suggested solutions. You can download (and print if you wish) the PDF suggested solutions and/or watch the suggested solutions video (all below).

Once you're done with reviewing the practice question suggested solutions, move on to the next checkpoint.

PDW-CP8-Answers.pdf

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