This document provides guidance on expressing and justifying opinions in both spoken and written form. It outlines common expressions used to give personal opinions such as "In my opinion" and "I believe." It also provides examples of questions that elicit opinions, responses expressing opinions, and dialogues demonstrating the use of opinions. The document advises justifying opinions using logical reasons, explanations, factual information, and examples. It reminds readers not to present opinions as facts and to respect other perspectives.

1. Speaking
Giving Opinion

2. Below are common expressions used
to give personal opinion :
• In my opinion…
• I believe…
• I personally believe..
• I am sure…
• I don’t think …
• I guess…
• I suspect..

3. Examples: Statement expressing
opinions
• In my opinion, female students are more
disciplined than male students.
• I think all university students should undergo
military training in the first year of study.
• I don’t think that the defendant is guilty.
• I suspect that she’s not telling the truth.
• I think the test was quite difficult.

4. Asking for opinions
• It is quite easy to identify when a question elicits
a personal opinion. Such questions are usually
asked in the following way:
What do you think..?
What is your view..?
What is your opinion…?
What is your comment..?
How do you feel about…?

5. Examples: Questions that ask for
opinions
• What is your view on the government’s use of
credit control as a measure to curb currency
devaluation?
• What is your comment on the practice of family
planning by young couples today?
• What do you think is the best way to address the
problem of loafing among teenagers?
• What is your opinion about introducing a demerit
system to penalize reckless drivers?

6. Giving Opinions
• In response to ask for opinions, you may use
some of the following expressions:
Personally I think…
I strongly believe that..
I am quite certain..
I am convinced..
I think…

7. Examples: Statements expressing
opinions
• Personally, I’d prefer to study individually
rather than group.
• I strongly believe that every child should be
given the freedom to express his/herself.
• I think every student should be given a place
to stay at the hostel.
• I am convinced that Malaysia will recover from
the economic turmoil in no time.

8. Dialogue 1 :
• Camelia : Siti, What do you think about slimming
product? I’ve not tried many but I think the one
that I’m using right now is fantastic. It’s really
effective.
• Siti : Well, you may not agree with me, but I
personally believe that using such products can be
bad for the health.
• Camilia : I’m convinced that it’s good. According
to Dr. Alex who carried out a research on the
product, patients can lose up 5 kilogrammes in
just two weeks and I feel fine.
• Siti : No, I still believe in eating sensibly and
having regular exercise.

9. How to state and justify opinions:
• Use logical reasons
• Example :
In my opinion, taking LRT is the best way to get
to town. It may be a little expensive but it will
definitely save you a lot of time. You won’t be
caught in a traffic jam. Furthermore, you don’t
have to worry about parking.

10. Use explanations
• Example :
I think students who stay in the hostel are
more disciplined than those who stay
outside campus. This is because hostel
regulations help to instil dicipline in them.
With time these students become
accustomed to the regulations.

11. Use factual information
• Example :
I believe that everyone needs a healthy
level of stress. According to Dr. Hasraff, a
motivation expert, a healthy level of stress
not only helps people to be more alert but
also improves their level of performance.

12. Use examples:
• Example:
I think students who use motorcycle on campus
create a lot of trouble. For example, they make
a lot of noise when they enter and leave the
cycle park at the beginning and at the end of
every lesson. Sometimes they just ignore or
violate traffic rules and regulations on campus.
As a result, they sometimes cause road
accidents.

13. Remember :
In expressing opinions, you should not try
to sound like you know everything.
Remember, that you also have to respect
other people’s views. Very often people
who claim that they know the facts or truth
are later proved to be wrong.

14. Study the following topics. Work with your group
members and discuss one of the topic below. You are
encouraged to use suitable expressions to convey your
opinion.
1. There are more advantages than
disadvantages living in hostel.
2. Fast food is bad for your health.
3. Children spend too much time watching
television.
4. Road accidents are by far the number one
killer in Malaysia.