LianghaoSeisBFSU

Teaching Argumentative Writing to EFL Learners at

BFSU:Our Thoughts and Experiences

1. Why ?

The problems of EFL learners in China

1

Tool motivation: the most frequently used genre

2

Argumentative thinking as a common ability shared by people from both the Chinese and the Western cultures.

3

Problems with critical thinking

Absence of critical thinking: A survey by WTO and Foreign Language

education in China Project in 2001

31% of all subjects: graduates from foreign languages institutes are weaker in logical thinking, compared to Ss of other majors in humanities;

52% of the subjects from the area of foreign language studies hold the same idea.

Training Vs. Education Language skills Vs. Thinking abilities

Problems with writing techniques: the procedural knowledge

Descriptive VS. procedural knowledge

reading 30% writing

(product) (process)

An analogy: reading a booklet on how to ride a bicycle

VS.ridding a bicycle

Learners need be trained to make use of the descriptive knowledge, such as that of discourse analysis, in their writing practice to acquire writing skills.

Problems with the language

coherence &

cohesion

denotation &connotationCollocation

A common human ability

An artifact of the Western culture

Time Asia comment

Is there really such a negative impact from our native culture?

1 2 3

2. How?

What should be included in the textbook?

How we handle the teaching?

Content

Guidelines in the selection of topics, texts and students’ sample papers.

What information is included in the Guide to Readers in each unit and its purposes.

What questions are asked to facilitate the learning process?

Teaching

Strike a balance between the product-based approach and the process-based approach.

A task-driven approach – Ss are required to argue for something on which they should do some research before they can argue convincingly.

Procedural knowledge foregrounded

mind maps

keep readers on track

genre awareness

the Western eight-legged writing

(“洋八股” )

Thesis statement

Sub-topics

Good evidence under the right place

Transitional lines

Conclusion

first week planfirst week-reviewdiet-sample diet-feedback

Holding your reader

Critical thinking and problem solving ability valued: 1

Writing not for writing’s sake

By this course we prepare our students to handle research and writing up research papers or reports in their future academic or other careers.

“An 80-thousand-word Ph.D thesis is done in the same way a good 800-word argumentative paper is written.” – J.G. Blair, Prof. at BFSU

Critical thinking and problem solving ability valued: 2

Brain storming: choosing a debatable topic by oneself or through discussion and debate!

Collect and sort out evidence: learning where to look for information and how to identify relevant and trustworthy info.

Logic: Consider the arrangement of points and sub-points and the presentation of evidence.

Writing is rewriting

feedback plays an important role Prof. Mei's feedback

a check list for students Writing is Revision

A clear scoring system

10 for clear thesis10 for sufficient evidence10 for logical arrangement of points10 for precision of expression10 for good prose (language,

grammar) 50 for handing in paper on time

A lead in and a wind up

An orientation for argumentative writing: first hour in the semester

A sum up: reinforce the specific focus of each week at the end of the two-hour class

Our achievement

test results of Prof. Mei's class

Process of learning to write argumentatively

LianghaoSeisBFSU