Opinion column: concession before the call to action
A student is preparing for the reading and viewing portfolio. She has 20 minutes to read a 320-word opinion column in a Samoan community newspaper and answer three questions. The headline is 'O le gagana i le fale' (The language at home). The writer argues that Samoan is strong in school programmes but weak in everyday family talk. Key sentences include: 'Ua matou va'aia le tele o aiga ua fa'aogaina le Igilisi i le fale.' Later: 'Ae peita'i, e le o le tusi lea e tu'ua'i ai matua.' Then: 'Tatou te fai ai se mea: ia tautala tatou i le gagana i totonu o le fale.' The student's first draft says: 'The writer thinks parents are lazy and wants schools to stop teaching English.' The column includes one statistic: a 2018 survey of 200 households. The student may annotate the text but not use a dictionary.
1. Identify the writer's main purpose and one structural feature that supports it.
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The main purpose is to persuade readers, especially parents, to use Samoan at home, not to attack schools or stop English teaching. The column concedes that school programmes are relatively strong, then shifts to the home. The key structural feature is the concession-and-turn: 'Ae peita'i, e le o le tusi lea e tu'ua'i ai matua' ('But this is not a text that blames parents'). That sentence pre-empts defensiveness before the call to action. The writer then uses the inclusive 'Tatou te fai ai se mea' ('Let us do something'), which invites readers into a shared task. A strong answer names the purpose and shows how the concession prepares for the final appeal. It should not confuse the topic (language at home) with the purpose (persuading families to change a habit).
2. The student writes: 'The writer thinks parents are lazy.' Is that supported? Explain using evidence from the setup.
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No. The column says that many families use English at home; it does not say parents are lazy. The word 'paie' (lazy) does not appear, and the writer explicitly softens blame with 'e le o le tusi lea e tu'ua'i ai matua'. That sentence signals an awareness that parents may feel accused, and it refuses that framing. The student has inferred a character judgement from a reported habit, which is an overreach. In an NCEA reading answer, the safe move is to quote the text and distinguish what is stated from what is implied. A defensible inference might be that the writer thinks home language habits have changed, but not that parents are lazy. If a question asks for the writer's attitude, answer with a term such as 'concerned but not blaming' and support it with the concession.
3. Explain the effect of the shift from 'matou' to 'tatou' in the column.
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'Matou' is exclusive 'we': it refers to the writer's group (for example, the editorial board or researchers) and excludes the readers. 'Tatou' is inclusive 'we': it includes the writer and the readers together. The shift matters because the column moves from observation to invitation. The writer first reports what 'matou' have seen - many families using English at home - which positions the writer as an observer with evidence. Then 'Tatou te fai ai se mea' turns the observation into a shared responsibility: the writer is not standing outside the problem and scolding parents. In an answer, do not just label the pronouns; explain the rhetorical effect: the first creates distance and authority, the second creates solidarity and a call to action.