Writing an argumentative synthesis is a common but demanding task, consequently undergraduates require some instruction. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of two interventions on integrative argumentation: one of them was focused on the product features of argumentative texts; and the other one on the processes involved in…

Argumentation is a complex intellectual skill essential for academic achievement in a range of scholarly disciplines. Argumentative writing demands effective coordination of language use, reasoning processes, and background knowledge about a given topic. It is a cognitively challenging activity, especially for students learning English as a…

In this article, we share what we learned about undergraduates' struggles in writing quality summaries, comparison texts, and argumentative essays that were components of a unique course, Learning How to Learn. This course was designed to address core psychological issues that impede optimal learning for students from all majors, many of whom are…

Undergraduates often struggle writing argumentative syntheses from conflicting sources. Written guides can help in the different phases of the process involved in these tasks and are more effective when accompanied by explicit instruction. Nevertheless, there are few studies on instructional rubrics as an aid to argumentative writing and none are…

Teacher feedback is of little use without student engagement. Few studies have, however, empirically considered how direct interventions may enhance student engagement with feedback. This study explored whether and to what extent the use of a rebuttal-writing task can serve as a learning tool to promote student engagement with teacher feedback.…

This study explored the relationship between task complexity, textual emotionality, and linguistic complexity in second language (L2) writing. Fifty-eight L2 English learners performed simple and complex versions of an argumentative writing task manipulated along with resource-­directing variables. The essays were first analysed for textual…

The current study was to see if collaborative writing activities would impact each student's writing quality after getting engaged in an academic writing course for argumentative essays. The study enrolled 62 third-year English majors at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 35 in the experimental group…

Given that interaction patterns are one of the most critical components of the collaborative writing (CW) strategy, especially regarding text quality, the present study investigates the interaction patterns of argumentative text quality in CW at advanced-level undergraduate L2 writing. Ninety-five undergraduate learners participated in the…

Despite all the attempts to convince teachers and school authorities to support critical thinking (CT) skills in school settings, the application of CT skills has not reached a satisfactory point. Using a quasi-experimental design, the present study attempted to examine the effect of critiquing journal articles on English major students'…

ChatGPT, the newest pre-trained large language model, has recently attracted unprecedented worldwide attention. Its exceptional performance in understanding human language and completing a variety of tasks in a conversational way has led to heated discussions about its implications for and use in education. This exploratory study represents one of…

EFL learners generally have the problem of logical fallacies in EFL argumentative writings. Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that can undermine EFL argumentative writing quality. Explicit training on logical fallacies may help learners deal with the problem and enhance their self-efficacy and proficiency in EFL argumentative writing,…

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of using inquiry-based learning on students' critical thinking skills. A quasi-experimental design which employed time series design with single group participants was used. A total of 20 EFL undergraduate students who took advanced writing skills course were selected using comprehensive sampling…

English is a demanding language for EFL students especially ones without access to additional support like tutorials, extra classes, and opportunities to use English in their daily lives. Scaffolding the writing process for students and making automatic use of genre knowledge would help them improve their English writing performance. Little is…

Previous research has revealed that university students have multiple learning difficulties in argumentative essay writing (AEW). To address this issue, Knowledge building (KB) pedagogy that aims to create holistic learning environments highlighting idea-refinement, learner agency, and collaborative discourse could be promising. Therefore, this…

Due to its authenticity as an academic writing task, integrated writing assessment has become widely used for assessing the writing ability of English for academic purposes (EAP) students (Plakans & Gebril, 2017). However, apart from validation studies focusing on a common set of standardized test rubrics (e.g., Chan, Inoue, & Taylor,…