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Makale Özeti:
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This paper centers on a practical and relevant way to teach English as a second
language learners how to avoid logical fallacies. The paper begins with a brief
overview of the importance of teaching subtleties of language and a four stage
method that can be used to teach not only logical fallacies, but principles of
conversational coherence. This method leads students through a series of
exercises in which they reimagine and reconstruct contemporary public
arguments in ways that produce different and, perhaps, more favorable outcomes.
The paper concludes with a case study instructors may use to introduce the
concepts of logical fallacies and principles of conversational coherence to
students. The case study contains the heated exchange between the editors of the
Albanian daily newspaper Shekulli and representatives of the U.S. Embassy. In
2011, Shekulli published a lengthy editorial without a statement saying that views
expressed in the article did not represent the stand of the newspaper. Immediately
after this editorial, the U.S. Embassy issued a brief statement accusing this
newspaper of using an ad hominem argument when they explicitly referred to the
ambassador’s Asian looks and his short stature. In their statement, the embassy
conveyed information regarding money the U.S. government had donated to the
Albanian Media Institute for the qualification of Albania journalists. The
implication being that the journalists of this newspaper either did not want to
Using Contemporary Cases to Teach the (Non) Subtleties of Language Evident in Logical Fallacies attend the qualification courses organized by the Institute or they could not
understand the modern principles of newspaper writing. A few days later, the
Dutch Embassy in Tirana severed relations with Shekulli, accusing its editors of
engaging in slander. Throughout the case, analysis that focuses on logical
fallacies evident in the discourse (e.g., ad hominem arguments, non sequiturs,
argumentum ad baculum, and glittering generalities) is provided.
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