ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Persuasive writing is used in the academic world to convince readers to change their views, attitude towards an issue or idea. It is used in writing proposal, critical analysis report, and papers. To be able to persuade or argue an issue well in the written mode, it is important to use the appropriate rhetorical structure to achieve the writers’ objective. This paper examined rhetorical structures used by five ESL writers in their essays by means of Ken Hyland’s Model of argument (1990) as the tool of analysis. The findings help in explaining the common and uncommon rhetorical structure used based on Hyland’s model. The implications are useful for academic writing educators and syllabus designers as more focus activities can be given to areas that are least used by ESL students and this will help learners be better persuasive writers.
