scholarly journals Vague language in argumentative essays written by advanced Lithuanian learners of English

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 231-248
Author(s):  
Jūratė Ruzaitė
Keyword(s):  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Vague Language

Beyond Differences: Assessing Effects of Shared Linguistic Features on L2 Writing Quality of Two Genres

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaopeng Zhang ◽  
Xiaofei Lu ◽  
Wenwen Li
Keyword(s):  
Latent Variables ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
College Level ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Test Corpus ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Complex Nominals

Abstract This study explored the relationship between linguistic features and the rated quality of letters of application (LAs) and argumentative essays (AEs) composed in English by Chinese college-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. A corpus of 260 LAs and 260 AEs were analyzed via a confirmatory factor analysis. Latent variables were EFL writing quality, captured by writing scores, and lexical sophistication, syntactic complexity, and cohesion, each captured by different linguistic features in the two genres of writing. Results indicated that lexical decision times, moving average type-token ratio with a 50-word window, and complex nominals per clause explained 55.5 per cent of the variance in the holistic scores of both genres of writing. This pattern of predictivity was further validated with a test corpus of 110 LAs and 110 AEs, revealing that, albeit differing in genre, higher-rated LAs and AEs were likely to contain more sophisticated words and complex nominals and exhibit a higher type-token ratio with a 50-word window. These findings help enrich our understanding of the shared features of different genres of EFL writing and have potentially useful implications for EFL writing pedagogy and assessment.

Effects of task complexity on the learning of genre specific rhetorical moves and linguistic forms: the case of contrast and argumentative essays

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Pia Gomez Laich ◽  
Naoko Taguchi
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Private University ◽  
Task Group ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Simple Task ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Argumentative Essays

Abstract This study investigates whether task complexity improves L2 English learners’ ability to write contrast and argumentative essays as measured by the use of rhetorical moves and linguistic forms characteristic of these essays. The participants were 62 students in an undergraduate-level composition class in a private university in the U.S. The study involved a first phase that targeted contrast writing and a second phase that targeted argumentative writing. In both phases, students were assigned randomly to a simple or complex task group and wrote an essay in dyads. In terms of rhetorical moves, the complex task group outperformed the simple task group in the immediate and delayed post-test of contrast essays. For argumentative essays, this superiority of the complex group was only found in the immediate post-test. As per linguistic forms, the complex task group outperformed the simple task group in the immediate and delayed post-test of both contrast and argumentative essays.

scholarly journals The limitations of conducting collaborative argumentation when teaching argumentative essays in Malaysian secondary schools

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1111-1122
Author(s):  
Aireen Aina Bahari ◽  
Haddi Junaidi Kussin ◽  
Raja Nor Safinas Raja Harun ◽  
Misrah Mohamed ◽  
Norfaizah Abdul Jobar
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
First Language ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Collaborative Argumentation ◽  
Argumentative Essays

The writing of argumentative essays promotes higher-order thinking skills amongst students regardless of their level of studying only when it involves collaborative argumentation. Hence, argumentation researchers recommend that teachers use group argumentation to teach argumentative essays since Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory believed that group argumentation improves students’ writing skills. The study’s objective is to explore the use of group argumentation during the teaching of argumentative essays in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms in Malaysia. Hence, the involvement of practitioners is significant so that the full extent of the problem is known rather than being interpreted solely by researchers. This qualitative study was conducted on nine ESL teachers through convenience sampling. Data was collected through online interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings demonstrated that ESL teachers did not practice group argumentation when teaching argumentative essays. They resorted to the whole-class discussion instead. Five factors contribute to the negligence of group argumentation in ESL classrooms, that is, time, pressure to deliver curriculum, students’ attitude, students’ speaking skills, and the use of the first language (L1). The findings indicated that it is necessary to promote the teaching of argumentative essay writing using group argumentation as one of the teaching approaches in secondary schools to ensure students reap the benefits of collaborative learning to improve their argumentation skills.

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