An investigation into English language learners’ argumentative writing performance and perceptions

Abstract

The current study aimed to understand the feasibility of using an adapted version of a well-established model of argumentation, termed as the Assertion, Reasoning, and Evidence (ARE) model in the present study, for argumentative writing instruction in an English language classroom. Seventy-six university students were given explicit instruction on English argumentative writing using the ARE model for a semester. After the instructional intervention, two sets of data were collected, including the participants’ argumentative writing passages and their responses to a post-intervention questionnaire. The results showed that although the students provided highly positive feedback on both the instructional intervention and their self-efficacy in English argumentative writing, the analysis of the students’ argumentative writing performance indicated that many of the participants were unable to produce logical and reasonable arguments. This paper concludes that while the ARE model is potentially helpful, when teaching argumentative writing to second or foreign language learners, teachers should be aware of their students’ difficulties in reasoning and thus place more emphasis on training logical reasoning skills in argumentation, as a means to enable its effective use by learners.