PPT for English for Academic Purposes Program

1. WRITING A POSITION PAPER
AND DEFENDING A STANCE
ON AN ISSUE

2. Your goal as the writer is to convince the audience that
your opinion or stand or claim is valid and worth
listening to. It is essential to support your argument or
reason with evidence to ensure the validity of your claims.
The best way to defend your stand is to provide supporting
evidence which includes the following:

3. • Factual Knowledge – information that is verifiable and
agreed upon by almost everyone
• Statistical Inferences – interpretation and examples of
an accumulation of facts
• Informed Opinion – opinion developed through
research and/or expertise of the claim
• Personal Testimony-personal experience related by a
knowledgeable party.

4. In every claim, there is always a counterclaim, which is
just the opposite of a claim. When your claim says, “I
want a new cellphone.” But then your Mother said, “No,
you don’t.” This is your mom’s counterclaim.
Counterclaims are also provable and supportable by
reasons and evidence. Just when your Mother proves by
saying, “Your current situation does not require a new
cell phone.”

5. All of these vital parts play an important role
in writing a position paper. The outline
below will help you to organize your ideas in
one coherent composition.

6. Position Paper Outline
I. Introduction
A. Introduce the issue.
B. Provide background on the issue.
C. Provide thesis statement on your stand of
the issue.

7. II. Body (the arguments/reasons)
A. Argument #1 of your claims
1. Give your opinion
2. Provide supporting evidence
B. Argument #2 of your claims
1. Give your opinion.
2. Provide support evidence.

8. C. Argument #3 of your claims
1. Give your opinion.
2. Provide support evidence.
D. Provide counterarguments against
possible weaknesses of your arguments.
IV. Conclusion
A. Restate your argument.
B. Provide a plan of action.

9. A few reminders before writing a position paper!
• Choose an issue that is debatable, current and relevant.
• Conduct an in-depth research on the issue.
• Explain the issue and analyze it objectively.
• Reflect on your position and identify its weaknesses.
• Cite valid and reliable source.

10. • Limit your position paper to 2 pages.
• Analyze your target audience and align your
arguments to their beliefs, needs, interest and
motivation.
• Use active voice as much as possible to achieve
a dynamic and firm tone.

11. Writing a Position Paper or a
Manifesto

12. Position Paper or a Manifesto
• A position paper presents the writer’s stand or
viewpoint on a particular issue.
• Writing a position paper entails outlining
arguments and proposing the course of action.

13. • In the same manner, Munro (2019) defines
manifesto as a document or letter publicly
declaring the position or program of its issuer.
• It is posted or distributed to the public that
announces information such as the motive,
reasoning, or demands of a person or group.

14. • Topics of position papers or manifestoes are:
political, artistic, scientific and educational,
professional, and technology.
• The main objective of writing a position paper
is to take part in a larger debate by stating your
arguments and proposed course of action.

15. A position paper has the following parts:
Introduction:
• Introduces the issue, provides history or
background of the issue on hand.
• Provides general statement of the writer’s stand
through a thesis statement.

16. Body:
• States the arguments on the writer’s stand about
the issue.
• Provides strong evidence (statistics,
interviewswith experts, testimonies).
• Provides counterarguments against possible
weaknesses of your arguments.

17. Conclusion:
• Restates the claim or stand of an issue.
• Suggests a course of action.
• Ends with a powerful call for action
(quotation, challenge or question).

18. Moreover, the parts of a position paper are best
understood if you have background knowledge
on the following terms which are commonly
used for this purpose.

19. • Issue – refers to the important topic or
problem discussed in the paper.
• Argument – refers to the set of reasons
given with the aim of persuading others.

20. • Evidence – refers to the facts or information
indicating whether a belief is true or valid.
• Claim or stand – refers to a demand or
requestfor something

21. THANK YOU!