FHEL 1012

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC STUDY

LECTURE 4
EXPLORING
PROBLEMS/ISSUES
 OUTCOME
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
• Identify root causes of issues/problems in
articles and news reports
• Distinguish immediate and remote causes and
effects
• Identify and evaluate solutions in articles and
news reports
• Justify possible solutions to problems/issues
• Make presentations by focusing on cause and
effect and suggestions to address specific
problems/issues
 What are Problems/Issues?

• How do you define problems/issues?

• Where do you encounter problems/issues
in daily life?
• How do you comprehend problems/issues
that you read in articles or news reports?
Headlines in local newspapers
 Distinguishing Problems/Issues
• However, it is important to distinguish
between problems and issues as they differ in
some aspects.
Problem Issue
A situation that we regard as A matter about which intelligent,
unacceptable. informed people disagree to some
extent.

Solving problem therefore means Resolving issues means deciding what

deciding what action will change the belief or viewpoint is the most
situation for the best. reasonable.
 How to explore a problem/issue?
Problems/Issues can be explored by :
• identifying root causes of problems/issues
• distinguishing immediate and remote causes
and effects
• identifying and evaluating solutions
• justifying possible solutions to problems

Now, let’s look at each of these in detail…..

 Identifying root causes of problems/issues

Firstly, it is important to define ‘cause’…

“A cause is what makes something happen or
WHY it happens”

Problem/Issue: Global Warming

WHY it happens?
 Now….
What are "root causes“?
• Root causes are the basic reasons behind the
problem or issue mentioned.
How to identify root causes?
• Using ‘Why’ technique to question the problem or
issue.
• ‘Why’ should be asked repeatedly to peel away the
layers of reasons which can lead to the root cause of
a problem or issue.
• Very often the perceived reason for a problem will
lead you to another question.
• One may find the need to ask the ‘Why’ question
fewer or more times than five (rule of thumb) before
finding the causes of certain issues or problems.
 Example Problem

W
H
Y
?

Root Cause
• Problem Statement:
You are on your way home from work and your
car stops in the middle of the road.
 How can you apply this technique in
academic reading?
• Read the following news article “SS2 traffic
jams getting out of hand” from The Star dated
Wednesday, April 17 2013.
• Instruction:
– Before reading the article, brainstorm the possible
content of the news using the title.
– After reading the article, identify the
problem/issue and the root cause/s.
SS2 traffic jams getting out of hand
http://www.thestar.com.my/Opinion/Letters/2013/04/17/SS2-traffic-jams-getting-out-of-hand.aspx

TRAFFIC congestion along Jalan SS2/67 is becoming a real

annoyance on weekdays and weekends as well. The problem
has a compounding effect, especially during peak hours of dining
and key business hours such as lunch.

Driving becomes a real chore compared to previous times when

the number of cars was lesser and parking alignment was more
sensible. The congestion became even worse after the local
authorities converted the parking spaces on the road from
parallel parking to slightly diagonal parking.

The conversion on both shoulders of the two-lane road to one

road shoulder utilising the diagonal parking has led to unintended
consequences of severe congestion.
This is due to the two-lane road in effect becoming a one-lane
road and the congestion spills over to other nearby roads such as
Jalan SS2/66.Previously, cars could travel simultaneously on both
lanes at one time. I reckon the rationale for this conversion of
parking is so that there will be a higher number of vehicles that
can be accommodated at any one time.

However, this presumption may not be sound because the small

increase in parking (due to the strange design of the diagonal car
parks) does not compensate for the additional hours spent on the
roads. The authorities should also remember that our way of life is
also affected now.

A simple trip to a restaurant for dinner last Friday took me about

30 minutes, due to the inability to find parking, adding to the traffic
jams. Solving this issue is important as the road is the main artery
connecting key roads to main business centres in the town centre.
Many come to SS2 to eat and buy their essential daily items.
Analysis: SS2 traffic jams getting out
of hand

Discuss with a partner on;

Question 1 : What do you understand from the
title?
Question 2: What is the problem/issue?
Question 3: What is/are the root cause/s?
 Distinguishing immediate and remote
causes and effects
Firstly, it is important to understand the
cause and effect relationship.

Cause-and-effect helps us understand WHY

things happen or what the results of events will
be.

• An effect is WHAT happened

• A contributing cause is WHY it happened.
 Immediate & Remote Causes
• Immediate(direct) causes occur near the time
of an event.
• Remote causes occur at a more distant time.

Consider ‘The Causes of Air Pollution in the city’

 An immediate cause - There are a lot of factories
and oil refineries.
A remote cause – Weak legislation exists for
antipollution devices in factories and refineries.
 Immediate & Remote Effect
• As with causes, Immediate(direct) effect will be
the direct results of events.
• Remote effects will be results in a more distant
time after the event took place.

Consider ‘The effects of watching too much

television’
An immediate effect – Interaction with others is
reduced.
A remote effect – There are more divorces.
 Try this…

• Using the same article, “SS2 traffic jams

getting out of hand” from The Star dated
Wednesday, April 17 2013, identify the
immediate and remote cause and effect.
 Identifying and evaluating solutions
• If there’s a problem , there usually is a solution
and even when there’s not a definite solution,
there are people arguing over which solution is
the best.
• Solution can be defined as ‘the answer to or
disposition of a problem.’

So, how do you identify possible

solutions?
 Justifying Solutions

Now, which solution is practical?

• No matter which solution your choice is, you
must be able to JUSTIFY the solution.
So, how can you JUSTIFY a solution?
• Using facts(research)
• Observation/personal experience
• Logical Explanation
 Summary

Problem/Issue

Cause and
Solution
Effect

Immediate and Identifying &

Justifying
Root causes remote cause Evaluating
Solution
and effect Solutions
 Class Activity: Presenting
Problems/Issues
• Get into groups of 5.
• The lecturer will assign a reading material to
each group.
• Then, analyse the reading material with
connection to possible cause/s or effect/s or
solutions.
• Write the answers on a Fishbone Diagram.
• Present the topic, problem/issue found and
the possible content to the class.
Fishbone Diagram
 References
• Leki, I.(1998) Academic Writing: Exploring
Processes And Strategies(2nd Ed.) New York:
Cambridge University Press
• Leonhard, B.H.(2002) Discoveries In Academic
Writing. Singapore: Thomson Heinle
• Smalley, R.L., Ruetten, M.K., & Kozyrev,
J.R.(2012) Refining Composition Skills:
Academic Writing and Grammar(6th
ed.)Boston:Heinle Cengage Learning