Exploring the status of argumentative essay writing strategies and problems of Iranian EFL learners

Abstract

The present study explores the status of argumentative essay writing strategy use and identifies the problems a convenient sample of Iranian EFL learners face while writing argumentative essays in English. Adopting a complementary process-genre approach and a mixed-methods research design, the researcher designed a genre-specific argumentative essay-writing strategy use questionnaire and pilot-tested it in an essay-writing course. The necessary data were collected using the designed questionnaire, students' argumentative texts written in the classes and their responses to the open-ended survey and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated a rather low status of strategy use in the sample since the students mostly depended on their previous writing competencies rather than following the conventions of working on this new genre of writing. The results of the open-ended survey, semi-structured interviews, and the analyses of students' argumentative texts indicated significant problems in the students' essay writing performance, categorized as cognitive, linguistic and discourse, and psychological problems, which were further attributed to the newness and complexities imposed by this genre of writing, students’ inadequate linguistic and discourse competence and their inefficient use of writing strategies. Finally, it was suggested that to assist the students in writing better argumentative texts, writing instructors must ensure students have a fundamental understanding of what an argument is, including the components like claims, evidence, warrants and counterarguments, and encourage critical thinking by teaching students how to evaluate evidence, find logical fallacies and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of different arguments. They also need to share well-written argumentative essays as models for students to analyze and learn from, incorporate strategy instruction in their practices, offer further opportunities for writing and practicing in this genre of writing, and provide appropriate scaffolding and timely feedback on the students’ argumentative writing performance.