Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Learners’ Argumentative Writing Performance in Private Language Institutes

Abstract

Literature on Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' problems in their writing skills is lacking. The present study analyzes a group of Iranian EFL students' written samples to diagnose their main area(s) of difficulty in writing argumentative essays. For this purpose, a sample of 69 argumentative essays was collected. Two raters used an analytic argumentative writing scale to score the samples. Based on the scores assigned to their written samples, majority of these students indicated excellent 'content' and 'organization' levels; competent 'task fulfillment', 'vocabulary', and 'style' levels; modest 'grammar' levels; and finally, very limited levels of 'mechanics' skills. The findings indicate the positive and promising role of English language institutes in students' writing skills. The results have pedagogical implications that will help English language instructors and program developers in Iranian English language learning-teaching institutes improve the outcome of their instruction. Further research is necessary to study the EFL writing skills of Iranian school students.

Problematizing Argumentative Writing in an Iranian EFL Undergraduate Context

“…Many studies have also adopted a textual perspective and investigated the learners' difficulties with the argumentative writing from a textual perspective by analyzing the students' texts. These studies have shown that English argumentative writing poses rhetorical difficulties for the learners (Al-Abed-Al-Haq and Ahmed, 1994;Hemmati, 2001;Khiabani and Pourghassemian, 2009;Dastjerdi and Samian, 2011;Nimehchisalem et al, 2015;Abdollahzadeh et al, 2017;Saprina et al, 2020). In addition, text-based research that has compared argumentative writing by native and non-native English speakers reveals rhetorical and textual differences, although some similarities have also been found (Choi, 1986(Choi, , 1988aLux, 1991;Ferris, 1994;Bouchard, 1996;Kim, 1996;Hinkel, 1999).…”

“…Drawing on the related literature (Lea and Street, 1998;Nesi and Gardner, 2006;Qin and Karabacak, 2010;Wingate, 2012;Nimehchisalem et al, 2015;Abdollahzadeh et al, 2017;Altınmakas and Bayyurt, 2019) and the researcher's personal experiences with teaching undergraduate writing courses, the researcher developed an open-ended questionnaire in order to elicit the perceptions of the students with regard to argumentative essays (Supplementary Appendix III). The questionnaire included close-response items about the students' background including demographic information and English essay writing experiences.…”

“…Much has been written on the linguistic and rhetorical structure of the arguments (Al-Abed-Al-Haq and Ahmed, 1994;Hemmati, 2001;Khiabani and Pourghassemian, 2009;Rashidi and Alimorad Dastkhezr, 2009;Dastjerdi and Samian, 2011;Nimehchisalem et al, 2015). In addition, some other studies (Wingate, 2012;Abdollahzadeh et al, 2017;Altınmakas and Bayyurt, 2019;Saprina et al, 2020;Sundari and Febriyanti, 2021) specifically focused on the students' problems with developing sound arguments in the higher education contexts.…”

Pseudo-Integration Strategy vs. Refutation Strategy in Argumentative Writing : An Analysis of the Iranian EFL Context

“…Argumentative writing is one of the most significant types of writing for students in higher education so much so that Crowhurst (1990) related academic successes to the degree of argumentative writing skill among students; therefore, argumentative writing has been the subject of extensive research (e.g., Chapple & Curtis, 2000;Ferretti, Lewis, & Andrews-Weckerly, 2009;Lea & Street, 1998;Nimehchisalem, Abbasi, Ebrahimzadeh, & Kalajahi, 2015;Nussbaum, 2008). The results of these studies have perpetuated various aspects of this multifarious writing skill.…”

“…Indeed, the number of studies dealing with argumentative writing in Iran are so scant that one cannot draw a conclusion about the effectiveness of argumentative writing instruction in Iran. The few studies that have focused on argumentative writing in Iran (e.g., Nimehchisalem et al, 2015) report that Iranian EFL learners do not have sufficient argumentative writing skills. In addition, as reported by Ketabi and Torabi (2017) writing is among the last skills which are dealt with in classes, and this reduces the language learners' writing skills.…”