4.3 Argumentative Texts (Teks Argumentasi)

What Is a Teks Argumentasi?

A teks argumentasi is a text that advances a pendapat (opinion or claim) and defends it with alasan (reasons) and bukti (evidence). Its purpose is to meyakinkan (convince) the reader that the claim is sound. Unlike eksposisi, which explains neutrally, argumentasi takes a position and asks the reader to accept it.

The structural pattern is:

1. Thesis/claim (tesis/pendapat) — the position the author defends.
2. Arguments and evidence (argumen dan bukti) — reasons and data supporting the claim.
3. Refutation (penyangkalan) — optional: acknowledges and rejects the opposing view.
4. Conclusion/reiteration (kesimpulan/penegasan ulang) — restates and strengthens the thesis.

Recognising this skeleton lets you locate the claim even when the vocabulary is dense.

Identifying the Thesis/Claim

The claim is the sentence the rest of the text works to defend. In a well-formed argumentasi paragraph it is usually the first sentence, sometimes the last sentence of the opening paragraph in longer texts. Clue words include 'oleh karena itu', 'sehingga', 'dengan demikian', 'pada pendapat saya', 'sebaiknya', and 'harus'. Sentences that follow with 'pertama', 'kedua', 'selain itu', or 'misalnya' are arguments or evidence, not the claim.

When a UKBI item asks 'Sikap penulis terhadap...' or 'Pendapat penulis adalah...', locate the claim sentence first. The correct option will restate it; distractors will often restate an argument instead.

Fakta vs Opini: The Most-Tested Distinction

The fakta/opini distinction is the single most frequent item type on argumentative texts. The rules are simple but the distractors are subtle.

• Fakta (fact): a statement that can be verified against data, observation, or a source. 'Indonesia mengimpor 1,2 juta ton gandum pada 2024.' — checkable against trade statistics.
• Opini (opinion): a statement that expresses a judgment, evaluation, or recommendation. 'Impor gandum yang berlebihan merugikan petani lokal.' — a value claim, not directly verifiable.

Watch for opini disguised as fakta through evaluative adjectives: 'sangat penting', 'terbaik', 'berlebihan', 'tidak seharusnya', 'terlalu cepat'. These are judgments even when the noun is factual. Conversely, fakta with numbers is still fact even if the topic is controversial — '50% responden setuju' is a fact about the survey, not an opinion.

Example Argumentative Snippet

Sekolah should start later in the morning

Jam mulai sekolah sebaiknya dimundurkan menjadi pukul delapan pagi. Pertama, penelitian menunjukkan bahwa remaja membutuhkan sekitar sembilan jam tidur, sementara kebanyakan siswa saat ini tidur kurang dari tujuh jam. Kedua, sekolah yang memulai pelajaran setelah pukul delapan melaporkan peningkatan konsentrasi dan penurunan keterlambatan. Pihak yang menolak perubahan ini berargumen bahwa mundurnya jam sekolah akan mempersulit orang tua yang bekerja, tetapi penataan rute transportasi sekolah dapat mengatasi masalah tersebut. Oleh karena itu, kebijakan perubahan jam sekolah layak diterapkan secara nasional.

Here the claim is the first sentence: jam sekolah sebaiknya dimundur. The arguments are the research on sleep and the reported improvement; the refutation acknowledges the parent-scheduling objection and dismisses it; the conclusion restates the claim. A sikap penulis item would answer 'penulis mendukung perubahan jam sekolah'; a tone item would answer 'argumentatif dan meyakinkan' rather than 'netral/informatif'.

Author Stance and Tone Items

Stance items ask what the author thinks: mendukung (supports), menolak (rejects), mengkritik (criticises), or netral (neutral). Read the claim and the conclusion sentence — if both lean the same direction, that is the stance.

Tone items ask how the author sounds: kritis (critical), meyakinkan (persuasive), skeptis (skeptical), objektif (objective), apologetik (apologetic), agresif (aggressive). For argumentasi the most common correct answers are kritis, meyakinkan, and argumentatif. An option like netral or murni informatif is usually a distractor — argumentasi is not neutral by design.

Distinguishing Argumentasi from Eksposisi

When a text-type item asks whether a passage is eksposisi or argumentasi, check for three signals:

1. A clear claim the author defends — if present, argumentasi.
2. Refutation of an opposing view — almost exclusive to argumentasi.
3. Persuasive purpose verbs (meyakinkan, membuktikan, mengajak) — argumentasi.

If the text only explains without defending a position, it is eksposisi even if the topic is controversial. A text about climate change that merely explains the science is eksposisi; one that argues 'pemerintah harus bertindak sekarang' is argumentasi.

Common Distractors on Argumentasi Items

Three traps recur: (1) a true detail offered as the claim — the option states an argument, not the thesis; (2) an opini mislabelled as fakta because it contains numbers — check whether the numbers verify the judgment or only describe a quantity; and (3) a neutral tone attributed to a clearly partisan text — if the author defends a position, the tone is not netral. Train yourself to scan for evaluative adjectives and recommendation markers (sebaiknya, harus, seharusnya, perlu) as opinion flags.