This study aims to analyze argument-counterargument structure of English argumentative essays written by Chinese EFL university students, based on the adapted Toulmin’s (2003) model of the argument structure constituting four elements (i.e. claim, data, counterargument and rebuttal). It also measures whether there is a correlation between the use of counterargument structure and the participants’ overall essay quality assessed by an online AWE (Automated Writing Evaluation) program. Three hundred and ninety students with various majors in a Chinese university submitted their argumentative essays in English online. The results demonstrated that half of the participants developed a one-sided model of argumentation while the other half of them used argument-counterargument structure in their essays. The participants’ use of counterarguments affected the overall quality of their essays. Pedagogical implications of these findings are also discussed.
One important strand of research in collaborative writing has been the learners’ attitudes and perceptions toward collaborative writing. This study sets out to compare three pairs of students’ perceptions and their actual collaborative writing practices. Multiple sources of data were collected. Students’ semi-interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed for their perceptions. Their collaborative writing tasks are also recorded and analyzed for quantity, type and resolution of language related episodes (LREs). The study further examined the collaborative texts using both quantitative and qualitative measures for students’ language improvement. Our finding suggest that most participants expressed positive attitudes towards collaborative writing but only half of them were aware of language improvement. An analysis of pairs’ discussion revealed that participants were overly concerned with vocabulary and all LREs were successfully resolved. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of collaborative texts demonstrated that two pairs received considerable language improvements in terms of lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, fluency and text quality. These findings can be used to encourage students to reflect on their own perceptions and practices in collaborative writing tasks.
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