{"title":"The effects of discourse goals on written arguments in elementary school students","authors":"Yuchen Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.ijer.2024.102375","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study investigates the impact of discourse goals on argumentative writing among Chinese elementary school students. Eight fourth-grade classes were assigned to one of three conditions—Persuasion Dialogue (PD), Deliberation Dialogue (DD) and Control—to discuss four controversial topics designed for the Morality and Law subject. Before writing on the intervention topics, PD and DD students engaged in direct peer-to-peer argumentative written dialogues, while Control students addressed the topics and textbook contents in traditional teacher-led whole-class discussions. In essays on multiple intervention topics and a post-assessment topic, PD and DD students outperformed Control students in considering an alternative viewpoint. PD students, however, showed an advantage over DD students and Control students, in rebutting a counterargument and in attributing these counterarguments to the preceding dialogues, as well as in employing evidence to support claims. DD students, in contrast, were more likely to employ a dismissal strategy over a refutation strategy. Strengths of the argumentative discourse goal of persuasion over deliberation for elementary school students are discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48076,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Educational Research","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035524000624","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of discourse goals on argumentative writing among Chinese elementary school students. Eight fourth-grade classes were assigned to one of three conditions—Persuasion Dialogue (PD), Deliberation Dialogue (DD) and Control—to discuss four controversial topics designed for the Morality and Law subject. Before writing on the intervention topics, PD and DD students engaged in direct peer-to-peer argumentative written dialogues, while Control students addressed the topics and textbook contents in traditional teacher-led whole-class discussions. In essays on multiple intervention topics and a post-assessment topic, PD and DD students outperformed Control students in considering an alternative viewpoint. PD students, however, showed an advantage over DD students and Control students, in rebutting a counterargument and in attributing these counterarguments to the preceding dialogues, as well as in employing evidence to support claims. DD students, in contrast, were more likely to employ a dismissal strategy over a refutation strategy. Strengths of the argumentative discourse goal of persuasion over deliberation for elementary school students are discussed.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Educational Research publishes regular papers and special issues on specific topics of interest to international audiences of educational researchers. Examples of recent Special Issues published in the journal illustrate the breadth of topics that have be included in the journal: Students Perspectives on Learning Environments, Social, Motivational and Emotional Aspects of Learning Disabilities, Epistemological Beliefs and Domain, Analyzing Mathematics Classroom Cultures and Practices, and Music Education: A site for collaborative creativity.