JELT_V1_N4_RP1 Veronico N. Tarrayo Marie Claire T. Duque Journal on English Language Teaching 2249 – 0752 1 4 11 24 Argumentative Writing, Written Discourse, Editorial, Philippine English This study described the discourse structure and textual metadiscourse in newspaper editorials in the Philippines where English is used as a second language or L2. Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions: (i) What discourse features characterize the structure of the following parts of Philippine newspaper editorials - orientation block, exposition block, and summation block?; and (ii) What textual metadiscourse strategies exist in the newspaper editorials - connectors and code glosses? Data examined were the 24 newspaper editorials published in 2010 by two leading Philippine broadsheets, namely, Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Philippine Star. Frequency and percentage counts were utilized in the analysis. Findings revealed that the discourse structure of Philippine newspaper editorials followed the two-move pattern in the orientation, exposition, and summation blocks. With regard to the steps used, the orientation block frequently employed the general statement and elaboration steps. The exposition block, in addition, relied more on the use of specific statements. The summation block, on the other hand, commonly used the conclusion and evaluation steps. Regarding the use of connectors, Philippine newspaper editorials were built more on the additive relation, using a progressive or accumulative strategy. In addition, the genre examined used more simple connectors, such as the additive and, or, and also, adversative but and yet, and causal because and so. In terms of code glosses, editorialists seemed to use more parenthetical definitions to provide adequate clarifications and exemplifications in the proposition or content. October - December 2011 Copyright © 2011 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=1600