Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham and I'm so glad you decided to join me for today's lesson.

Today we're going to be starting a brand new unit where we're going to be learning lots about the world's polar regions and working towards writing an essay about them.

I think you're gonna really enjoy it, so let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called understanding the structure, features and purpose of an essay and that comes with our unit called "Polar Regions: Essay Writing." By the end of today's lesson, you'll have identified the logical argument of an essay and identified an essay's linguistic features in a model.

For this lesson, you may want to have access to the example essay you can find in the additional materials for this lesson, although I will be reading it to you as part of this video.

Let's make a start.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

An essay is a piece of writing that explores arguments about a particular issue.

And a logical argument is an argument that follows a series of steps that lead clearly towards a conclusion.

Evidence is informational facts to show something is true and linguistic features are language structures that are used within a text.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by looking at the structure of an essay and identifying the logical argument within one, and then we'll move on to looking at the linguistic features of an essay.

So as we said, an essay is a piece of writing that explores arguments about a particular issue.

So that's its purpose, what it's aiming to do.

Now, it's a non-fiction text.

We're exploring a real-life issue and we're looking at the real evidence around it.

So this doesn't come from our imagination, it comes from facts.

And sometimes an essay will aim to discuss both sides of an argument, weighing up the for and the against before deciding which is right, coming to a conclusion about which is right.

But other times, an essay will only give one side of an argument.

It's trying to persuade us that something is true.

And an essay will almost always have a formal tone.

So it's going to use serious factual language.

So the way an essay is written depends very much on the issue that's being discussed and the title that's chosen for the essay.

So if we look at this title, it says, "Should we do more to protect our rivers?" Now, that title might suggest that we're going to give arguments on both sides before reaching a conclusion based on our own views.

So it says, "Should we?" So it's suggesting there might be some arguments to say we should do more.

There might be some arguments which say we don't need to do more, and then we as the author, the writer, are going to decide who is right.

Let's look at this example.

Explain why rivers should be protected.

Now, notice, this essay title is not a question.

This time the essay is going to just give one side of the argument, leading towards the conclusion and the title, the conclusion that rivers should be protected.

Notice this title's a command.

It's telling us the only thing I want you to do is to explain why the rivers should be protected.

You don't need to tell me any reasons they don't need to be protected.

Just tell me where they should be.

So that's telling us the conclusion of this essay has to be rivers need to be protected.

What about this one? It says, "Why should rivers be protected?" Now, that's a question, but it actually is asking the same thing, isn't it? Is explained why rivers should be protected.

This is asking us for just one side.

So watch out because sometimes the same essay title can be presented as a question or as a command.

We have to think carefully about whether it's asking us for both sides or for one side.

So have a look at these essay titles below.

For each of these essay titles, will the essay we write in response to it give just one side or both sides of the argument? Pause the video and decide.

Well done, great ideas.

So A says, should public transport be free for young people? That's suggesting both sides, isn't it? It's saying tell me why it should, tell me why it shouldn't.

And then your conclusion.

B says, why should public transport be free for young people? This one is asking for just one side.

We're being told only give the arguments for why it should be free.

C says, explain why playtime should be longer in order to improve children's health.

Again, this is going to be just one side, isn't it? The title is telling us, only tell me the reasons why playtime should be longer.

You don't need to tell me the reasons why they shouldn't.

And then D says, would having longer play times improve children's health? That's gonna be both sides.

It's asking us, give me some reasons why it would be better, give me some reasons why it wouldn't be better, and then make your own conclusion.

So we have to read these essay titles carefully to decide if we're being asked to write about both sides or one side of the argument.

So the essays we're going to read and write in this unit will focus on just one side of the argument.

So to illustrate that, we're now going to read the essay titled, "Why are Britain's woodlands important and why should we do more to protect them?" Can you see that that essay title is just giving one side of the argument, isn't it? Now, you might want to read that for yourself from the additional materials or if you continue in this video, you will see me read it to you.

Why are Britain's woodlands important and why should we do more to protect them? Britain has many woodlands, covering approximately 13% of its land area, about 3.

2 million hectares, and they are primarily found in the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District and Wales.

In addition, ancient forests, like Sherwood Forest and the New Forest can be found in England.

Interestingly, the UK tree cover is much lower than the average for European countries, 38%.

However, many of our forests are ancient.

Some woodlands in Scotland are over 8,000 years old.

During the mediaeval period, woodlands were essential for fuel, construction and hunting grounds.

Now they're more frequently used for recreation.

Britain's woodlands are important because they have an incredible variety of tree species, including oak, beech, ash, birch, and yew.

Moreover, these woodlands support hundreds of species of insects, birds and mammals.

In fact, woodlands contain over 60% of the UK's birds and 30% of its plant species, according to Forest Research.

As a consequence of this, Britain's woodlands are vital.

If they were not present, Britain's animal and plant life would be gravely threatened.

In addition to this, Britain's woodlands lock in huge quantities of carbon dioxide.

When woodlands are removed, this is released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

However, Britain's woodlands face numerous threats that endanger their existence.

The expansion of cities and farms, which has continued since the Industrial Revolution, has led to the loss of large areas of woodland.

As a result, the Woodland Trust reports that over half of the UK's ancient woodlands have been lost since the 1930s.

In addition to this, invasive species, both plant and animal, have damaged many woodlands, causing a loss of habitats.

Consequently, there has been a 60% decline in woodland bird populations between 1970 and 2018.

Climate change has also made it harder for native species to survive while pollution has damaged many trees.

Currently, a number of groups, including the Woodland Trust and the Royal Forestry Society are involved in planting trees, restoring habitats, and protecting existing woodlands.

In addition, the government's England Tree Strategy, which gives landowners money to plant trees, is helping to create new forests.

However, more needs to be done.

Projects should focus on connecting up fragmented pieces of woodland and policies to prevent building on forested land must also be strengthened.

According to conservation specialists, an additional 500 million pounds per year is needed for conservation efforts to be effective.

Well done, good listening.

So the purpose of that essay was to give a logical argument for why we should do more to protect rivers.

And a logical argument is one that goes step by step.

It's giving evidence at each point and it leads towards a conclusion.

In this case, the conclusion that the woodlands are important and we should do more to protect them.

So the layout of the essay, the way it's set out is based on that logical argument.

You might have noticed we had several paragraphs and each new paragraph gave the next logical step towards the conclusion that we need to do more to protect these woodlands.

So which are true of the essay you just read? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So hopefully you spotted that no, it didn't give both sides of the argument.

It only told us the reasons why the woodlands are important and we should protect them.

Did it focus on one side of the argument? Yes, it did.

Did it give all the arguments at the start of the essay? No.

Instead, it made a logical argument, going step by step, building the argument towards that conclusion that the woodlands need to be protected more.

Really well done.

So let's now look in detail the logical argument that's made in that example essay that we've read together.

Let's start with the essay title.

It says, "Why are Britain's woodlands special and why should we do more to protect them?" We're being asked two things, aren't we? Why are the woodlands special? Why should we do more to protect them? In order to answer that and to explain our argument properly, we need to follow some logical steps.

We need to start off by explaining what the woodlands are like to introduce our reader to the idea of these woodlands.

And we need to explain how they're important and special because that answers the first part of our essay title: why are they special? Then we need to explain how they're threatened because if we're saying we need to protect them, then they must be threatened, mustn't they, by something.

And then in order to respond to the final part of the essay title, we need to explain what's currently being done to protect them and what more needs to be done because the essay question says, why should we do more to protect them? So that suggests we're doing some things now, but we need to do more.

So we have to address both those points in the final logical step of our essay.

So can you put the steps of our essay's logical argument in order, starting with number one? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Good job.

Hopefully you remembered that we started off by explaining what Britain's woodlands are like.

Then we explained how these woodlands are special.

Then we explained how the woodlands are threatened and finally, we explained what's currently being done to protect the woodlands.

And of course, what more needs to be done.

It's crucial we say what more needs to be done because that was a key part of the essay title.

Why should we do more to protect them? Really well done.

Have you got those in order? So for each of the steps of the logical argument in the essay, we provide evidence to support it, to back it up to prove that what we are saying is true.

And that's about being persuasive, isn't it? We're trying to persuade our reader that we're correct by providing evidence.

So there are various different forms of evidence we can use.

We can give an explanation of how something happens.

We can give a fact, we can give a statistic, which is, of course, a numerical fact, a fact linking to a number.

We can give an expert opinion, maybe a scientist or someone who's an expert in the area has provided their own view or have provided some evidence to support what we're saying.

And we can give a reference.

We could refer to an official report or to a scientific study that proves that what we're saying is true.

And you can see that in order to make a logical argument, you obviously have to do some research first because you need to know the facts and statistics and expert opinions that support your argument.

So can you match each of these examples to the type of evidence it gives? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Great job.

So A says invasive species have disrupted the delicate ecosystems within these forests.

That is just an explanation, isn't it? It's saying the invasive species are what's responsible for the disruption to the ecosystems. B says these woodlands cover approximately 13% of the land area.

That's a numerical fact.

So it's a statistic.

Now, C says, according to the Woodland Trust, the UK has lost over half of its woodlands since the 1930s.

So that tells us that the Woodland Trust must have carried out some kind of investigation or research.

So we can call this one the reference to the scientific study.

The Woodland Trust must have done a scientific study in order to find out this data.

Now, we could also refer to that as an expert opinion.

Either way, it's giving us some detailed background from an organisation that really knows this area.

And then D says, Britain's woodlands are predominantly located in areas such as the Scottish Highlands.

That's just a statement of fact.

So there might be some overlap between these different types of evidence and that's okay.

Don't panic too much if you're not sure which category it falls in.

The main thing is to ensure we have a wide range of evidence based on research, which is factual to support our logical argument.

So let's do our first task for this lesson.

I want to look again at the example essay.

It'd be great if you have it with you, but if you need to rewind and re-watch the video, that is fine.

So I'd like you to identify the main point that's made in each paragraph and use this information to complete the summary of the essay's logical argument using the structure below.

Britain has blank.

They're important because blank, but they blank.

As a result blank.

So use the essay's logical argument to complete those gaps.

And if you need to change the odd word in the structure, that is absolutely fine.

So pause the video and have a go at rereading the essay to find the logical argument and to complete this passage.

Well done.

Fantastic job.

Here's an example of how you might have completed the summary of the essay's logical argument.

I've written, "Britain has around 13% of its land covered by woodland, including some very ancient ones.

They are important because they have a huge variety of tree species and they support so many animal and plant species, but they have been threatened by the expansion of cities, invasive species and climate change.

As a result, efforts to conserve the woodlands are being made, but more needs to be done." So I've tried to address that the essay title tells us why should more be done at the end of my summary there.

So here, in a very short passage, you've managed to summarise the logical argument that was made in that example essay.

Really well done for how clearly you did that.

So now let's look again at the example essay for the second part of this task.

I want you to find an example of each type of evidence used to support the logical argument.

Find an explanation, a fact, a statistic, an expert opinion, and a reference to an official report or a scientific study.

Pause the video and see what you can find.

Well done, great job.

So here are some examples of the evidence you might have found.

For an explanation, you might have found the expansion of cities and farms, which has continued since the Industrial Revolution, has led to the loss of large areas of woodland.

"That has led" to tells me this is an explanation.

For a fact, you might have found, "However, many of our forests are ancient; some woodlands in Scotland are over 8,000 years old." For a statistic, you might have found, "In fact, woodlands support over 60% of the UK's woodland birds and 30% of its plant species, according to Forest Research." Now, that one, you can see we could also refer to as a scientific study 'cause it says, "According to Forest Research." So as I said, there's some overlap between these categories and that is fine.

Here's some other examples of the evidence you might have found.

For an expert opinion, maybe you found, "According to conservation specialists, an additional 500 million pounds per year is needed for conservation efforts to be effective." So conservation specialists are our experts there.

And your official report or scientific study might have been, "As a result, the Woodland Trust reports that over half of the UK's ancient woodlands have been lost since the 1930s.

Really well done for finding that evidence.

Can you see how useful it is in supporting that logical argument to have all this factual evidence to back it up? But it's worth remembering that not every essay and certainly not every paragraph within an essay will contain all of these forms of evidence.

It depends on the type of research we're able to find in order to support our logical argument.

You've done a fantastic job of identifying the logical argument within an essay and the structure of the essay.

Now let's look at the linguistic features of an essay.

So linguistic features, as you probably know, are the language structures commonly used within a certain type of text.

So what kind of language structures do we use within an essay? Well, an essay is designed, remember, to answer a question or a command with a logical argument.

And the writer reading needs to sound credible, which means believable when they present their arguments.

As a result, an essay will usually have, as we said, a formal tone.

And to achieve that formal tone, it might use some of the following linguistic features.

It might use subject-specific vocabulary that's specific to the subject of the essay.

So in our case, specific to woodlands, in our example.

It might use a range of fronted adverbials.

It might use a range of different sentence types and it might use some parenthesis within brackets to add additional information within a sentence.

So we're going to explore some of those in more detail.

We use fronted adverbials as a linguistic feature in many different types of writing and there are several different types of fronted adverbial.

You might know already how to use a fronted adverbial of cause.

Those are fronted adverbials like this: as a result, due to this, consequently, as a result of this, as a consequence of this, and these all show that the sentence they begin is an effect of the sentence that came before.

So let's look at this example.

The expansion of cities and farms has led to the loss of large areas of woodland.

As a result, half of the UK's ancient woodlands have been lost since the 1930s.

We have one sentence, which is the cause, and the one that follows it is the effect, and it's the one that has the effect that starts with the fronted adverbials, of course.

We might also use fronted adverbials of time, like in 2020, and since then as part of our essay.

These both help to add that formal tone and make us sound credible and authoritative.

Now, we might also use some formal fronted adverbials in an essay.

So what are they? Well, one type of formal fronted adverbial is used to show and, we're adding on arguments and adding on ideas.

We could use in addition to this, as well as this, also, furthermore, moreover, and building onto this.

And all these build on a point from the sentence that comes before.

We can also use fronted adverbials to show but, to show a contrast with the previous sentence.

So we could use however, despite this, on the contrary, in contrast to this.

And all of these introduce a contrasting idea to the previous sentence.

Here's an example.

Britain's woodlands are important because they have an incredible variety of tree species.

Moreover, these woodlands support hundreds of species of insects, birds and mammals.

So is this one showing and or but? You're right, it's showing and.

We had one sentence and then we used moreover to build on that last sentence with a new idea that links to it, that adds onto the same idea.

So this one, moreover, shows us and.

So can you match each type of fronted adverbial to the correct example? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

So fronted adverbials of time would be in recent years.

A formal fronted adverbial showing and would be moreover, as we just saw.

A fronted adverbial of cause might be as a result of this and a formal fronted adverbial showing but might be however.

So however is showing us a contrasting argument to the previous sentence.

Really well done if you matched those up correctly.

Now, another linguistic feature of an essay is using a wide range of sentence types, including various types of complex sentence, which I'm sure you're already familiar with.

So we might use an adverbial complex sentence, which uses a subordinating conjunction to start an adverbial clause.

For instance, as a consequence of this, Britain's woodlands are vital.

If they were not present, Britain's animal and plant life would be gravely threatened.

If they were not present is an adverbial clause.

It starts with if, which is a subordinating conjunction.

So that makes this an adverbial complex sentence.

For a non-finite -ing complex sentence, we have a subordinate clause that is called a non-finite -ing clause and it starts with a verb in its -ing form.

Here's an example.

According to the Forestry Commission, an additional 500 million pounds per year is needed for conservation efforts to be effective.

According to the Forestry Commission is a non-finite -ing clause.

It starts with a verb in its -ing form, according.

And then the relative complex sentence includes a relative clause that starts with a relative pronoun, like who or which or whose.

So for instance, in addition, the government's England Tree Strategy, which gives landowners money to plant trees, is helping to create new forests.

"Which gives landowners money to plant trees" is a relative clause, starting with the relative pronoun which.

So in all these cases, we have complex sentences, which have a main clause and a subordinate clause.

Different types of subordinate clause create different types of complex sentence.

And we can use all these different types of complex sentence to add to the credibility and authority of our essay and to help us combine ideas in different ways.

So which type of complex sentence is shown in each of these examples? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good job.

A says Britain's woodlands, which contain species, such as ash and oak.

That is a relative clause there, starting with the relative pronoun which.

So this is a relative complex sentence.

B says, when woodland is removed, habitats are lost.

When woodland is removed is an adverbial clause, starting with the subordinating conjunction when, so this is an adverbial complex sentence.

And C says woodland is an important part of the UK's landscape, covering 13% of the land.

Covering is our verb in its -ing form, starting a non-finite -ing clause.

So this is a non-finite -ing complex sentence.

Really well done if you spotted those.

Now, we may also see compound sentences used as a linguistic feature of an essay.

And we know that compound sentences are formed from two main clauses joined by the coordinating conjunctions and, but, and or.

Here's an example.

Britain's woodlands cover 13% of its land area and they're primarily found in the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District and Wales.

That could be two separate sentences.

We've connected them using and.

We might also see parenthesis in brackets used as a linguistic feature.

Here's an example.

In addition to this, invasive species, both plant and animal, have damaged many woodlands.

Both plant and animal is a piece of parenthesis that could be removed from that sentence and the sentence would still make sense.

Here's another one.

Britain's woodlands cover approximately 13% of its land area, about 3.

2 million hectares.

Again, we could remove that parenthesis and the sentence would still make sense.

So we've added in some extra information within our brackets.

Which of the sentences below use parenthesis in brackets correctly? Remember, if it's used correctly, you should be able to remove it and the sentence will still make sense.

Pause the video and have a look.

Well done.

Great job.

Let's have a look.

For A, we have got many of Britain's woodlands are very ancient if we remove that parenthesis.

That one works.

For B, if we remove the parenthesis, it would say many of Britain's woodlands, especially those are very ancient.

No, that doesn't work.

For C, if we remove the parenthesis, it would say a number of groups, including involved in protecting Britain's forests.

No, that one doesn't work.

And for D, if we remove the parenthesis, it would say a number of groups are involved in protecting Britain's forests, and that one does work.

And another thing we need to check is does what's inside the brackets make sense? And in A, it says, especially those in Scotland, that's adding an extra detail about where those woodlands are.

And for D, it says, including the Woodland Trust, which adds extra detail about who those groups are.

So it's adding important extra detail and it could be removed.

Really well done if you've spotted this.

So let's do our final task for this lesson.

I'd like you to read the example essay again or rewind the video if you need to, and find examples of each of the following linguistic features.

Can you find fronted adverbials of cause and of time? Can you find formal fronted adverbials? Remember, they could show both and and but.

Can you find any adverbial complex sentences, non-finite -ing complex sentences and relative complex sentences? And can you find some parenthesis within brackets? Pause video and see if you can find at least one example of each.

Fantastic job, well done.

Here are some examples of what you might have found.

For your fronted adverbials of cause, maybe you found as a result, the Woodland Trust reports.

For your fronted adverbials of time, you might have found "during the Mediaeval period" and "now" in this same sentence here.

For your formal frontal adverbials, may be you found however as a formal fronted adverbial showing but, a contrast, and in addition to this, showing and.

For your adverbial complex sentence, you might have found "when woodlands are removed" or "while pollution has damaged many trees." Those are our adverbial clauses formed using our subordinating conjunctions.

For your non-finite -ing complex sentence, maybe found this non-finite- ing clause, "contributing to climate change." Notice the verb in its -ing form.

And for your relative complex sentence, you might have seen this one, which has the relative clause, "which has continued since the Industrial Revolution." We started the relative clause with the relative pronoun which.

And we had lots of examples of parenthesis in brackets.

For example, about 3.

2 million hectares, including oak, beech, ash, birch and yew, and 38%.

And finally, both plants and animal.

In each case, we could remove that parenthesis and the sentence would still makes sense.

Really well done for finding all those examples.

So let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We've said that an essay is a piece of formal non-fiction writing that presents a logical argument in relation to a command or a question.

And the logical argument develops step by step over the course of the essay, supported by evidence and robust reasoning.

And evidence may take a range of forms, including fact, statistics and reference to expert opinion.

And linguistic features of an essay include a range of fronted adverbials and sentence types and parenthesis in brackets.

Really well done for your effort in this lesson.

I hope you enjoyed reading our example essay.

We're going to be writing one of our own, following a similar structure about the world's polar regions.

I'm really looking forward to it and I hope you are too.

I hope to see you again in the next lesson.

Goodbye.