Problem - Solution pattern in English online brief news on Vietnam

VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 25 (2009) 146-153 
146 
Problem-solution pattern 
in English online brief news on Vietnam 
Ngo Dinh Phuong* 
Department of Foreign Languages, Vinh university, 
 182 Le Duan, Vinh city, Nghe An, Vietnam 
Received 4 February 2009 
Abstract. Prolem-solution pattern is one the most frequently used structures in online brief news. 
This paper aims at analyzing the ways the writers use it in online brief news of economic, political 
and social issues on Vietnam. The research results can help Vietnamese learners of English apply 
the above pattern to improve their English speaking and writing skills. 
1. Rationale* 
Nowadays, presses in general and online 
press in particular have become more and more 
popular means of communication. A lot of 
people search webs to find information and one 
of their favorite places is online brief news. 
Online brief news is said to be a useful and 
typical demonstration of text patterns. It is 
where the authors often convey as sufficient 
information as possible within the limit of news 
and it is also a place where certain features of 
language are clearly manifested. 
Text patterns play important roles in 
organizing a discourse. In English discourses, 
such patterns as problem-solution pattern, 
general- specific pattern, claim-counter claim 
pattern, advantage-disadvantage pattern are 
most usually used in organizing a discourse. 
Among them, the former is the most widely 
used. According to Grimes (cited in [1]: “both 
plot of fairy tales and the writings of scientists 
______ 
* Tel.: 84-038-3855392. 
 E-mail: ngodinhphuong@vinhuni.edu.vn 
are built on a response pattern. The first part 
gives a problem and the second its solution”. 
The role of problem-solution pattern in creating 
coherence in discourse is clearly realized [2-4]. 
Being interested in problem solution pattern 
with a hope to help Vietnamese learners to have 
a wide range knowledge of English and writing 
organization the author wishes to focus on 
dealing with the following questions: 
- How is problem-solution pattern 
manifested in English online brief news on 
Vietnam? 
- How is problem-solution pattern applied 
in English learning and teaching? 
2. Problem-solution pattern 
The problem-solution pattern begins with 
the description of a situation that contains a 
problem. The problem requires a response, 
which is followed by a description of its result, 
with an evaluation of the response or result at 
the end. According to Hoey [1], “any genre of 
text, such as the plot of fairy tales or the 
N.D. Phuong / VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 25 (2009) 146-153 
147 
writings of scientists, includes the problem- 
solution pattern”. This pattern is typically used 
in persuasive writing. The problem is stated and 
accompanied by some potential solutions. In 
addition, in problem-solution pattern, the key 
element that marks the completion of the 
pattern is a positive evaluation of at least one of 
the possible solutions. 
Hoey [1] states that problem-solution 
pattern arises as a result of the writer answering 
a predictable series of questions which reflect 
the relationship between the sentences of the 
text. The order in which these questions are 
answered is, however, not fixed. Such questions 
would be of the type: “what problem arose 
you?”, “what did you do about this? “which 
would be the key questions, and “what was the 
result? Another of the main characteristics of 
this pattern is that it is lexically signaled. In 
Hoey’s words “Text can be defined as the 
visible evidence of a reasonably self-contains 
purposeful interaction between one or more 
writers and one or more readers”. This 
interaction can be seen as series of hypothetical 
questions the reader makes to the writer and 
that the latter answers, or should answer, both 
locally (at sentence level) and globally (at 
discourse level) and that may be prefixed and, 
therefore, known both to the reader and writer. 
Problem-solution pattern is the most common 
one which is characterized by the following 
elements: an optional previous situation, which 
provides a context for the pattern; the problem or 
aspect of a situation requiring a response; the 
response to the problem and a positive result or an 
evaluation [2,5]. 
3. Data sources 
In the world of integration today, online 
brief news plays an important part in 
transmitting information. It has become a more 
and more powerful mean of communication; 
authors usually adopt appropriate ways to 
indicate information. For this reason, we decide 
to choose this topic to help learners know how 
to organize a text effectively. 
The data for analysis is taken from online 
brief news on internet via the website: 
 in which several 
sources are presented such as Reuters, AP, 
AFP, etc. 
4. Structure of online brief news 
Online brief news is a type of news that is 
widely used nowadays. It often indicates the 
facts without the writer’s opinion about it. 
Typical news is structured into three main parts: 
the headline, the lead and the body. In the 
headline, the main idea of the news is usually 
presented. The lead is the opening paragraph 
and usually contains the main idea but in more 
details. And the body-the rest of the news - 
describes the news in full details. This structure 
is often applied in online brief news. Let us 
give an example to illustrate for the structure: 
Headline: Vietnam car sales rocket 83 
percent in first nine months 
Lead: Vietnamese car sales have rocketed 
83 percent in the first nine months of the year, 
manufacturers said on Saturday. 
Body: Sales have shot up to 49,240 vehicles 
against 26,934 in the same period last year, the 
Vietnamese Automobile Manufacturers’ 
Association (VAMA) said. Passenger car sales 
between January and September were reported 
at 1 ... en quality” indicated the situation in 
which we see a problem is that Vietnamese 
food products has not reached its higher 
position for its poor quality. 
What aspect of the situation required a 
response? 
From point (13) to (18), the reader sees how 
the situation is; Vietnam is the world’s top 
exporter, and our product quality has been 
N.D. Phuong / VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 25 (2009) 146-153 
150 
improved steadily; it is not as good as that of 
other countries like Thailand or Brazil. 
What was the solution? What was the 
result? 
In point (21), the reader sees (suggestions 
on how to improve goods quality) possible 
solution to the problem. It is to improve our 
food product quality. To do that, we need to 
invest heavily in the post-harvest technology. If 
we can do that, our food product quality will be 
upgraded. And it means that we solve the 
problem of uneven and poor quality of 
products. In the last point, the reader can also 
see an evaluation of the solution although it is 
not indicated explicitly. 
4.1.4 Signaling Vocabulary 
Vocabulary identifies the topic and the 
structure of a discourse. McCarthy mentions 
that when text is read, the reader can “match the 
words with the segments” and that the reader 
“can account of what the problem-solution 
pattern is” [6]. 
In the following table, specific vocabularies 
and phrases are shown in how they occur in the 
news and in what part of the problem- solution 
pattern they fit into: 
Situation Leading supplier of food 
products, the next time, 
quadruple, triple. 
Problem Booming, quality control, issue, 
uneven quality, poor quality 
Solution (to 
the problem) 
Invest heavily, post-harvest 
technology 
Evaluation(of 
the solution) 
Quality upgraded 
The given - new principle in which he 
explains that all texts have “beginning and 
endings” [3]. The start of the problem-solution 
pattern with the word ‘emerged’ is the 
beginning of the situation and it is further 
informed with the phrase “leading supplier of 
food products”. From the word “booming”, 
“uneven quality”, “issue”, we see a problem; 
and from the word “invest heavily”, “post- 
harvest technology”, we see the solution for the 
problem. And the word “upgrade” reveals an 
evaluation for the solution. In the right column 
of the table above, there are no completed 
sentences but just words and phrases that relate 
to the segments of the problem-solution pattern. 
Our survey shows that the problem- 
solution pattern is mostly indicated through 
signaling vocabulary. The table below informs 
the vocabulary that is used in all analyzed news: 
Table 2.4. The presentation of pattern and signaling vocabulary in news selected 
Bodies With pattern Without pattern Total 
 6 (40%) 9 (60%) 15 (100%) 
With vocabulary 6 (100%) 5 (55.5%) 11 (73%) 
Without vocabulary 0 (0%) 4 (44.5%) 4 (27%) 
Total 6 (100%) 9 (100%) 15 (100%) 
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From the table above, we can see that of all 
the 15 news of this kind taken into analysis, 
there is no news that is written without 
vocabulary but with pattern. From this point, it 
is easy to realize the important role of signaling 
vocabulary in organizing a text, especially with 
problem- solution pattern. Only through some 
key words, the reader can see the problem. 
In our survey, in terms of signaling 
vocabulary, we pay much attention to parts of 
speech that contribute to indicating pattern in 
text. The table below shows the proportion of 
parts of speech which are most widely used to 
indicate problem in the news surveyed in terms 
of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. 
N.D. Phuong / VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 25 (2009) 146-153 
151 
Table 2.5. The proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating problem 
Parts of speech Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Occurrences 
Total 25 21 14 5 65 
Proportion 38.5% 32.3% 21.5% 7.7% 100% 
Table 2.5. The proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating problem 
As seen in the table above, of all 65 
occurrences of vocabulary, nouns account for the 
largest proportion with 25 occurrences (38.5%) , 
verbs ranked the second with 21 occurrences 
(32.3%), and adverbs hold the least proportion 
with only 5 occurrences (7.7%). 
Also shown in our survey is that, to reveal a 
problem, the following words are mostly used: 
Problem, concern, lack, inflation, difficult, 
dangerous, issue, increase, face, uncertain, etc. 
Let us give an extract to illustrate for this fact: 
(6) Vietnam faces port capacity shortfall 
Infrastructure bottlenecks, including a lack 
of highway access to a new port complex at Cai 
Mep, could threaten Vietnam’s export base, 
according to a leading manufacturer, writes 
Keith Wallis. 
Jeff Ross, director of global ocean 
transportation for sport wear maker Nike, said 
infrastructure construction on ports, roads, and 
railways as lagging behind the growth in 
container volumes. He estimated there would be 
a shortfall in port capacity of 220,000 tons in 
southern Vietnam this year. This is seen as a 
key concern especially as ports in Hochiminh 
city handle about 72% of the country’s 
container traffic, while Haiphong, near Hanoi, 
and handle around 22%... “Our concern is even 
as they build the port there is no infrastructure”. 
Creaking road and bridge links in the city 
dash; the Dongnai Bridge could also collapse at 
anytime according to officials’ dash; are also a 
concern. 
(Lloyd’s list September, 19, 2007) 
In the body of this text, there are a lot of 
vocabularies (the underlined and italic words) 
that support the problem of a shortfall in port 
capacity. It links information leading to the 
problem in text and makes the text coherent. 
From these words, we can see that the key 
problem is infrastructure for port capacity. In 
which, several examples of infrastructure are 
given. They are all inefficient or downgraded- 
from railway to road and bridge. In this piece of 
news, there are some typical words that relate to 
the problem-solution pattern such as concern or 
problem. 
We also analyze the solution part to see 
how signaling vocabulary is used in this part. 
The result is summarized in the following table: 
Table 2.6. Proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating solution 
In bodies Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Occurrences 
Total 6 17 1 3 27 
Proportion 22.2% 63% 3.7% 11.1% 100% 
Table 2.6. Proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating solution 
As shown in the table, verbs hold the largest 
proportion with 17 occurrences (63%), while 
adjectives take the least with only one 
occurrence (3.7%). By contrast with problem 
part, signaling vocabulary seems to occur less 
in this part. This is explainable for the fact that 
the body takes the longest part in the news in 
which the problem is gradually stated. At the 
end, possible solutions are given to resolve the 
problem. It means to do something to solve the 
N.D. Phuong / VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 25 (2009) 146-153 
152 
problem. Therefore, verb is the most suitable 
adoption to solve a problem. Let’s examine the 
following example to see this: 
(7) ADB lends Vietnam nearly $1 bln for 
power plant 
Vietnam needs to diversify its energy 
resources to support its ambitious development 
plans. EVN has said it needs to invest an 
average $3 billion to $4 billion annually in new 
electricity generation capacity to meet the 
demand. 
(Reuters September 21, 2007) 
The underlined and italic verbs (diversify 
and invest) in the example above give the 
solution to the problem of building power 
plants in Vietnam. For the space reason and the 
purpose of this part, only solutions for the 
problem are presented. 
4.2. Some applications of problem-solution 
pattern in English teaching and learning 
It is acknowledged that language teaching 
can benefit from the field of discourse analysis 
and pragmatics [6,7], in which problem- 
solution pattern has a wide applicability in the 
teaching especially speaking and writing skills. 
However, some teachers seem not to apply this 
fact into the process of teaching. It leads to a 
problem that students’ writing and speaking are 
still poor. Sometimes, they have ideas but they 
do not know how to organize them to make 
good speaking and writing. 
The problem-solution pattern is always a 
challenge for English teaching because it is not 
only manifested in pattern but also via 
vocabulary. To a teacher of English as a foreign 
language, new word is a problem. For a second 
language learner, text can be a complicated 
structure. Therefore, students need to be aware 
of the meaning of all the words in the text. 
Moreover, they need to be aware of the 
significance of words or any particular order in 
text especially vocabulary that are shown in 
relation to the problem- solution pattern. 
Students need to be aware of this fact in order 
to interpret the meaning of the text. Following 
are some suggested practical activities that can 
help learners to be more aware of the 
importance of the pattern in organizing a text as 
well as improve their capacity of recognizing 
and creating cohesive text via problem- solution 
pattern. 
4.2.1. Applications of problem- solution 
pattern in the teaching of speaking skill 
4.2.2. Applications of problem- solution 
pattern in the teaching of writing skill 
The findings of the study prove that paying 
attention to the problem-solution pattern in 
written discourses helps readers better realize 
the coherence among discourse units. Thus, a 
good ability to organize a text in pattern will 
help writers increase their speed and enhance 
the completion of the writing. It makes the 
writing coherent and logical. 
The problem-solution pattern is said to be 
the tool for the teaching of writing skill. The 
results of the study point at the fact of providing 
students with vocabulary related to the topic 
trigger the problem-solution pattern, which 
reveals itself as culturally known for our 
students, without the need of explaining it 
explicitly. The pattern can be applied in both 
class and outside class activities. 
4.2.3. Class activities 
Like in the teaching of speaking skill, the 
teacher can divide class into small groups of 4 
or 5 students. Each group elects a leader and a 
secretary. With this kind of activity, there are 
two ways to apply the pattern: 
- The teacher can give groups one or more 
topics, groups receive their topic and develop it 
under the problem-solution pattern. They do not 
write with completed essays but only the main 
ideas (situation- problem-solution- evaluation), 
and then the teacher calls some representatives 
to write their answers on the board. 
- The teacher can give some signaling 
vocabularies that indicate the problem-solution 
N.D. Phuong / VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 25 (2009) 146-153 
153 
pattern on the board and ask each group to 
discuss to write about this topic basing on the 
problem-solution pattern organization. And then, 
the teachers call representatives from each group 
to read or write their answer on the board. 
4.2.4. Outside activities 
The teacher can also apply this pattern to 
teach students with outside class activities. 
With this kind of activity, students are often 
asked to do their tasks at home. And because 
they often have more time, so the teacher can 
ask them to write a full essay about the given 
topics or signaling vocabulary. At the next 
class, the teacher can call students to read aloud 
their writing or write it on the board in writing 
practice period. 
5. Conclusion 
From the results above we find that nouns 
and verbs are the most preferable while adverbs 
are the least usually used. And problem- 
solution pattern is applied in almost English 
news on Vietnam. It can be indicated through 
structure (pattern) or through signaling 
vocabulary. Paying attention to the pattern and 
some vocabularies, readers can understand the 
authors’ ideas, since then they have a good 
understanding about the news. Being aware of 
the important role of the pattern, the study also 
finds that teachers of English can use the 
problem- solution pattern to teach students. And 
we do think that the pattern should be used to 
teach students because the pattern helps them to 
develop their problem-solving thinking. 
References 
[1] M. Hoey, Signaling in discourse: a functional 
analysis of a common discourse partner in written 
and spoken English, In M. Coutlhard (ed.2001), 
Advance in written text analysis, 2001. 
[2] G. Cook, Discourse, Oxford University Press, 
Oxford, 1989. 
[3] M.A.K. Halliday, R. Hasan, Cohesion in English, 
Longman, London, 1976. 
[4] D. Nunan, Discourse Analysis, London: Penguin, 
1995. 
[5] M. Coulthard, On the importance of matching 
relations, In the analysis and translation of literary 
texts, Ilha DoDEsterro, 1992. 
[6] M. McCarthy, Discourse Analysis for Language 
Teachers, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 
1991. 
[7] G. Brown, G. Yule, Discourse Analysis, Cambridge 
University Press, Cambridge, 1983. 
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