Debates about Educational Issues: A Pedagogical Strategy to Explore Argumentative Skills in the EFL Classroom (original) (raw)
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Argumentation in language teaching
Revista Folios, 2017
El documento discute la importancia de la argumentación y el pensamiento crítico en la educación yreflexiona acerca de los componentes del currículo de lenguas extranjeras que podrían contribuir a formarhablantes competentes capaces de interactuar críticamente en la sociedad.La autora propone una metodología para la enseñanza de las lenguas que desarrolle la competencia comunicativamediante el análisis del discurso de diferentes fuentes (medios de comunicación, principalmente) en la cualaspectos tales como la coherencia, la cohesión y el uso de códigos elaborados tienen gran importancia. Sepresenta un proyecto de aula desarrollado en la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional con estudiantes del Departamentode Lenguas.
GiST Education and Learning Research Journal, 2015
The current study describes the introduction of seminar discussions in a literature course to track students’ growth in argument production across the semester. Sixteen students enrolled in a required teacher education course were asked to plan and facilitate a 50-minute seminar discussion on a literary text, following the Paideia Seminar protocol. The course was taught in English, although the students’ first language was Spanish. Over the course of the semester, I monitored students’ progress in developing evidence-based coherent arguments and counterarguments. Pre-service teachers not only gained expertise as seminar facilitators, but their oral and written responses to seminar issues revealed an increase in more elaborated arguments, use of textual references, counterargument production, and overall sophisticated thinking.
Argumentation Skills: A Peer Assessment Approach to Discussions in the EFL Classroom
This paper presents an exploratory action research study carried out by two English as a foreign language teachers in a private, non-profit institution in Bogota, Colombia, with a group of 12 learners in a B1 English course. These students faced difficulties elaborating on their ideas when discussing issues in class. The study placed emphasis on the use of argumentation outlines and peer assessment to boost learners’ argumentative abilities. Audio-taped conversations and open-ended interviews were used to understand the impact on the pedagogical intervention. Findings revealed that argumentation outlines and peer assessment can promote learners’ awareness and ability to engage in argumentation processes. Moreover, peer assessment appears to be an essential tool for enhancing personal and collaborative learning, as well as for promoting learner reflection and agency.
Argumentation and education: notes for a debate / Argumentación y educación: apuntes para un debate
Infancia y Aprendizaje, 2015
The objective of the present article is twofold. On the one hand, it aims to analyse the relationship between argumentation and education with a special emphasis on the difficulties that occur when defining and assessing argumentative skills. These difficulties are related to the thinking patterns underlying the argumentation models and, at the same time, are reflected in the educational models used to train and to assess students' argumentative skills. On the other hand, this article presents and discusses common and distinctive aspects of the papers selected for this monograph.
ARGUMENTATION IN EFL CLASSROOM: an analysis of collaboration in the perspective of TASHC
Numerous authors have highlighted the importance of collaboration for learning (VIGOTSKY, 1934; LIBERALI, 2012; MAGALHÃES, 2014). In that perspective, this work aims at investigating if and how collaboration takes place in an EFL classroom. More specifically, it seeks to analyse if and how students express the consideration of other voices and divergent opinions throughout an argumentative dialogue. The theoretical background will be the Activity Theory (VYGOTSKY, 1934; LEONTIEV, 1978; ENGESTRÖM, 1999), Magalhães’s concept of collaboration (2014) and Liberali’s (2013) classification of argumentative elements in three levels of analysis (enunciative, discursive and linguistic). The corpus consists of the transcription of a dialogue in a group of undergraduate students of English at UFPE. It was possible to conclude from the analysis that collaboration only happened in some parts of the activity. In addition, this analysis suggests that the teacher’s participation seems to be crucial to encourage collaboration. KEYWORDS: Collaboration. Dialogue. Argumentation.
Revista Colombiana de Educación, 2018
Abstract This article reports the findings of an action research which aimed at describing and analyzing the impact that the implementation of argumentative writing activities through a critical literacy approach may have on 4th semester pre-service teachers’ argumentative competence development. Participants belong to the B.A. program in English and Spanish teaching at Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. The article draws on qualitative data collection techniques such as questionnaires, focus groups, audio recordings of class sessions, and class artifacts. Findings indicate that adopting a critical literacy approach helped pre-service-teachers foster the development of their written argumentative competence. It was revealed that participants grew as argumentative writers as they were able to take a clear position and weigh their claims. Moreover, they were engaged in reflection that fostered awareness of their roles as future ELT educators which in turn empowered them to discover teaching as a tool for transformation. Resumen Este artículo da cuenta de los resultados de una investigación de acción, que tuvo como objetivo describir y analizar el posible impacto de la implementación de las actividades de escritura argumentativa a través de un enfoque de alfabetización crítica sobre el desarrollo de competencia argumentativa de los maestros en formación de 4º semestre. Los participantes hacen parte de la Licenciatura en Enseñanza de inglés y español de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. El artículo se basa en técnicas de recopilación de datos cualitativos, como cuestionarios, grupos focales, grabaciones de audio de sesiones de clase y artefactos de clase. Los resultados indican que la adopción de un enfoque de alfabetización crítica ayudó a los profesores en formación a fomentar el desarrollo de su competencia argumentativa escrita. Se reveló que los participantes crecieron como escritores argumentativos, ya que fueron capaces de tomar una posición clara y sopesar sus afirmaciones. Adicionalmente, hicieron una reflexión que fomentó la conciencia de sus roles como futuros educadores de ELT, lo que a su vez los capacitó para descubrir la enseñanza como una herramienta para la transformación. Resumo Este artigo dá conta dos resultados de uma pesquisa de ação, que visou descrever e analisar o possível impacto da implementação das atividades de escrita argumentativa através de uma abordagem de alfabetização crítica sobre o desenvolvimento da compe-tência argumentativa dos professores em formação de quarto semestre. Os participantes são parte da Licenciatura em Ensino de Inglês e Espanhol da Universidade Pedagógica Nacional. O artigo baseia-se em técnicas de coleta de dados qualitativos, como questionários, grupos focais, gravações de áudio de sessões de aula e artefactos de aula. Os resultados assinalam que a adoção de um escopo de alfabetização crítica foi útil para os professores em formação melhorarem o desenvolvimento de sua competência argumentativa na escrita. Revelou-se que os estudantes cresceram como escritores argumentativos, pois foram capazes de assumir uma posição clara e sopesar suas afirmações. Adicionalmente, refletiram sobre suas funções como futuros professores de inglês, ca-pacitando-se, ao mesmo tempo, para descobrir o ensino como uma ferramenta para a transformação.
Teaching and Learning Argumentation in English: A Dialogic Approach
Various instructional approaches have been laid out for conceptualizing argumentation talk and writing in English classrooms. One prominent, and historically durable, approach is formalist—teachers slot the teaching of argument into a form-based approach, usually using the 5-paragraph theme. This model too often fails to persuade students of the significance of argumentation—the social, ethical, and other work that argument writing and talk does in the world. Drawing on research examples from our ongoing work on argument talk and writing in English classrooms, we articulate a second model, a dialogic framework, conceptualizing argument writing as a multivoiced conversational turn in which the writer responds to previous utterances and anticipates future utterances.
Combining the dialogic and the dialectic: Putting argumentation into practice in classroom talk
Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 2017
The compatibility of dialogic and dialectic approaches in education has recently been the object of fierce discussions among representatives of socio-cultural theory of human development. We show that this debate echoes a past controversy among postmodernists on the possibility of educational dialogue. We operationalized the cohabitation between the dialogic and the dialectic through the identification of moments for which issues of infinalisability, creativeness, adult mediation, power relations and differences of ability are at stake. We then report on a yearlong history course in which the cohabitation of the dialogic and the dialectic was checked through the implementation of argumentative practices in a dialogic classroom. We show that while creativity flourished, the teacher often designed activities that conveyed the necessity of conformity. Discussions were deployed in chains of reasoning distributed among discussants, but the teacher often decided to finalize the dialogue on the basis of pedagogical considerations. Several manifestations of power and of differences of ability emerged and harmed discussions. In the majority of activities, though, the dialogic and the dialectic cohabitated and the moments during which this cohabitation was challenged, were successfully handled. We draw theoretical conclusions from this cohabitation on the compatibility of the dialogic and the dialectic.
Teachers' Theories and Strategies in Practice of Classroom Argumentation
We examine case studies (in progress) of teachers engaging with reflective practice on argumentation. The data comes from three sources i) audio taped meetings where all the teachers share their work with their colleagues, ii) videotaped lessons and iii) interviews of the teacher after each lesson. The aim is to identify the connection between the teachers' stated strategies and intentions (or 'espoused theories') and their 'theories-in-use' (what they actually do). The interviews and the group meetings enable the teachers to reflect on their practice and discuss their 'espoused theories' whereas the video taped lessons give us the opportunity to search for instances of their 'theories-in-use'. In this paper data from one case study will be presented and discussed.
AN ARGUMENT FOR ARGUING: DEBATES AS A TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCE IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM
DIGILEC Revista Internacional de Lengua y Culturas, 2019
The aim of the present study is to explore the use of debates as teaching and learning resources in the English classroom, particularly in the Official Language Schools (EOIs). The analysis of the didactic potential of debates is accompanied by a teaching and learning proposal to implement this resource in an English C1 classroom.