Borneo Akademika Volume 1(2) July 2016, 34-46 HANDLING COUNTER-ARGUMENTS IN WRITTEN ARGUMENTATIVE DISCOURSE: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES MAY SIAW-MEI LIU 1 & JASON MIIN-HWA LIM 2 1 Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sabah Branch, Locked Bag 71, 88997 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah e-mail: mayli697@sabah.uitm.edu.my 2 Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah email: drjasonlim@gmail.com ABSTRACT While the ability to present a written argument convincingly is important for tertiary level students, research has shown that the written argument is one of the most difficult written genres for students to master. In this regard, many studies have been conducted on this genre and it was found that one of the moves which students encountered the most difficulty with was the move which handled counter-arguments. Novice writers have been known to avoid this particular move even though skilled arguers are expected to demonstrate an ability to raise counter-arguments and quash them strategically in order to strengthen a chosen claim. This study applied the robust two-layer move- step approach popularised by Swales (1990, 2004) to explore this particular move in argumentative essays. The qualitative analysis of this study included an examination of the linguistic features used by writers to communicate their intentions in this move and its subsequent steps. It was found that a move which handled counter-arguments might contain a combination of three steps and these were steps which raised a counter-argument, acknowledged the value of a counter-argument, and rejected a counter-argument. The findings of this study have pedagogical value because it can assist classroom practitioners in preparing teaching materials, particularly for a second language classroom at tertiary level. Keywords: Genre analysis; discourse analysis; English for Academic Purposes; argumentative essays; counter-arguments ABSTRAK Keupayaan untuk menulis karangan argumentatif merupakan satu kemahiran bahasa yang sangat berguna terutamanya bagi pelajar di institusi pengajian tinggi. Dapatan kajian lepas pula menunjukkan bahawa penulisan argumentatif merupakan satu genre penulisan yang paling sukar dikuasai pelajar. Ini telah menarik minat ramai penyelidik untuk membuat kajian ke atas genre penulisan tersebut, dan juga didapati bahawa langkah yang paling sukar untuk ditulis ialah langkah berkenaan hujah balas. Disebabkan kekangan ini, hasil penyelidikan lepas telah menunjukkan bahawa ramai pelajar novis telah cuba mengelakkan diri daripada menulis hujah balas dalam esei mereka sedangkan langkah ini adalah penting untuk mengukuhkan lagi pendirian penulis dalam esei. Kajian ini mengaplikasikan pendekatan genre berbentuk ‘gerak-langkah’ yang dicadangkan oleh Swales (1990, 2004) untuk menganalisis unsur maklumat utama berkenaan dalam esei argumentatif. Kajian kualitatif ini juga melihat ciri-ciri linguistik yang lazim digunakan oleh penulis berpengalaman untuk merealisasikan niat komunikasi mereka. Dari kajian, didapati bahawa langkah berkenaan hujah balas terdiri daripada kombinasi tiga gerak iaitu membangkitkan hujah balas, mengakui nilai hujah balas dan menolak hujah balas. Justeru dapatan kajian ini amat bernilai dari segi pedagogi kerana ia dapat membantu pengajar dalam usaha menyediakan bahan pengajaran khasnya dalam pengajaran bahasa di institusi pengajian tinggi. Kata kunci: Analisis genre; analisis wacana; Bahasa Inggeris untuk Tujuan Khusus; esei argumentatif; hujah balas