Improving argumentative writing skills: Effect of two types of aids

Abstract

Young children have difficulties writing argumentative texts which contain well-linked arguments and counterarguments even though they are capable of arguing by oral. Two main explanations have been provided to account for those difficulties: a) The writer has to manage alone two different points of view, whereas each of the two (or more) speakers can take charge of one of the points of view. b) The inability of young children to attribute an argumentative valence to statements.In order to improve the ability of 8-year-old writers (skilled or less skilled) to manage the dialogical dimension of the argumentative text, two types of aids were tested. 1) A collaborative writing in which the children worked in twos to recompose an experimental argumentation. 2) A classification task was presented before the text recomposition task. The results show that 8-year-old children are capable of processing the argumentative valence of statements. However, only skilled writers take advantage of the two types of aids to compose a text comparable to the standard argumentative schema.

Ordering and structuring ideas in text: From conceptual organization to linguistic formulation

“…As regards the conceptual/linguistic relationship, recent studies have shown that an initial conceptual prewriting session could improve the text quality (Andriessen, Coirier, Roos, Passerault, & Bert-Erboul, 1996;Gombert & Roussey, 1994;Isnard & Piolat, 1994;Kellogg, 1990;Roussey & Gombert, 1996), but this effect is mainly observed in expert writers (Dellerman, Coirier, & Marchand, 1996). Conversely, no research has shown that expert linguists were better at conceptualizing, which, of course, does not mean they are not better at expressing a conceptualization.…”

Variation in the Use of Pronouns as a Function of the Topic of Argumentation in Young Writers Aged 11 Years

“…We share the view that argumentation can, on the one hand, be taught to young pupils (Brassart, 1985, Dolz & Pasquier, 1994, Dolz, 1996, Golder, 1996, Garate & Melero, 2000 and, on the other, that children are receptive to this type of instruction, in particular as of the age of 10 years (Gombert & Roussey, 1993, Roussey, Akiguet, Gombert, Piolat, 1995, Roussey & Gombert, 1996, Gombert, 1997). We have already tested the ability of sequential mechanisms, consisting of progressive oral workshops, to improve writing (Auriac-Peyronnet, 1998, 1999.…”

The impact of oral training on argumentative texts produced by ten-and eleven-year-old children: Exploring the relation between narration and argumentation

“…At the same time, it is a fact that argumentative discourse is primarily an oral behaviour to which children adapt (Francois, 1980;Golder, 1993). Children detect, for example, the valence of argumentative sentences (Brassart, 1985;Roussey & Gombert, 1996). In contrast, subjects aged 10 to 11 years cannot be considered as having a high level of competency (a high level is achieved at about age 17, see Golder, 1996).…”

“…It seems that several cognitive, textual and linguistic competencies interact and many factors could affect the planning and control processes during on-line production (see Esperet, 1989;Esperet & Piolat, 1989). Also, if the reservations expressed by authors like Brassart (see Roussey & Gombert, 1996) or Golder (1996) concerning the existence of a prototypical textual schema are admitted, new qualitative research into the description of individual strategies of argumentative writing in young children must be conducted.…”

“…However, more research based on individual strategie s and competency are also requ ired. Within this perspective, as Roussey and Gombert state "many studies on written production have found evidence of large interindividual differences in the writing skills of children of the same age" (Esperet, 1995;Roussey & Gombert , 1996). Differential research and case studies are now required to prepare all students at school to be able to produce good argumentative texts by the age of 17 years.…”