Shifting epistemologies during instructional conversations about “good” argumentative writing in a high school English language arts classroom

Argumentative Writing as an Epistemic Practice in Middle School Science

“…That is, within this event Mr. Delucca demonstrates argumentative moves that echo Toulmin’s (1958) model, and in doing so engages his students in an epistemic practice. This event also reveals how the teacher used student writing as a prop (Newell et al, 2018) to foster connections between the content of a student's written text and an instructional conversation. With a student's question at message unit 710, the discussion shifts: “I thought change was for survival—but then evolution takes a long time.” Rather than offering a quick response to the student's question and claim, Mr. Delucca poses another question: “What do you guys [other students] think?” Although this question is dialogic (Scott et al, 2006), it is quite general—the teacher uses it to simply collect ideas.…”

“…That is, within this event Mr. Delucca demonstrates argumentative moves that echo Toulmin's (1958) model, and in doing so engages his students in an epistemic practice. This event also reveals how the teacher used student writing as a prop (Newell et al, 2018) to foster connections between the content of a student's written text and an instructional conversation. With a student's question at message unit 710, the discussion shifts: "I thought change was for survival-but then evolution takes a long time."…”

Fast and Slow Literacies: Digital and Compositional Conundrums in a Post-Truth Era

“…Yet as productive strategies for thinking and comprehending, close reading and associated strategies of inferring, synthesizing, and evaluating text structures rightly persist. Similarly, deep and complex writing persists as modes for processing content, forming arguments, and elaborating thoughts (Newell et al, 2019). But to students, it must seem as incongruous work, given the prevalence of social media texts, which serve as the tender of cultural currency.…”

Argumentative writing: theory, assessment, and instruction

“…Sociocultural theorists investigate how social mediation shapes meaning-making in historical and cultural context (Bazerman, 2016;Beach, Newell, & VanDerHeide, 2016;Englert, Mariage, & Dunsmore, 2006;Newell, Beach, Smith, & VanDer-Heide, 2011). In the sociocultural view, writing is a semiotic tool that supports communication and social relationships, is learned and practiced in social situations, and is used to accomplish inherently social goals (Bazerman, 2016;Graham, 2018;Newell, Bloome, Kim, & Goff, 2018). Given the focus on communication and social interaction, writing research in this tradition focuses on the situations within which people write and the influence of those situations on the writer's participation is social activities.…”

“…Both studies relied on careful analysis of the contextual factors that influenced teachers' instructional practices and students' argumentative writing. Newell et al (2018) and Monte-Sano and Allen (2018) also provide information about how the appropriation of disciplinary processes and standards in the English Language Arts and History influenced the development of teaching practices related to argumentative writing.…”