Debating in English is a vital part of second-language acquisition. Not only does it help students with their speaking skills, but it also is an excellent way to prepare them to write opinionated essays. This article explores how educators can use "place mats" to organize a debate that gives each student the chance to speak, and then how…

In this research, we developed and empirically tested a dialogic writing intervention, an integrated language approach in which grade 5/6 students learn how to write, talk about their writing with peers, and rewrite. The effectiveness of this intervention was experimentally tested in ten classes from eight schools, using a pretest-posttest control…

The argumentative essay has endured as a popular form of university assessment, yet students still struggle to meet key intended learning outcomes, such as those associated with critical thinking. This paper presents the results of a study that examines the instruction provided by Australian essay writing guides to support students' development of…

When it comes to academic work, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have the required knowledge but struggle to get their thoughts down in writing. This is a practical guide to teaching and improving writing skills in students with ASD to meet academic writing standards and prepare for the increased expectations of higher education.…

Advocates teaching both classical argumentation and Rogerian rhetoric back-to-back. Advocates assignments using both to highlight the role of audience, the importance of arrangement, the value of tone, the nature of the writer's "ethics," and the use of evidence. (MS)

Outlines a writing activity in which groups of three students collaborate to produce several written assignments in response to a case that fosters differing points of view. Suggests the activity teaches students to represent a unique viewpoint, negotiate differences among collaborators, and share information with teammates. (ARH)

Many teachers would like to counter what Deborah Tannen calls "The Argument Culture." They recognize that teaching students traditional principles of argument may perpetuate the kind of adversarial thinking that erupts all too often: in aggressive newspaper headlines, on confrontational television shows, in court rooms, and in school…

Describes an approach to composition instruction in which the students are given a body of real or fictional evidence about a particular case and asked to interpret or explain it by means of a closely-reasoned argument. (HTH)

An approach to persuasive writing is presented for English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms. Activities include discussion to activate past experience, connecting experience to purpose, constructing the argument, extending the argument, supporting the argument, and examining and evaluating alternatives. (12 references) (LB)

Describes using the parallels between developing the persuasive essay and an advertisement to help advertising students become aware of the importance of voice, point of view, and audience. Students complete a written essay modeled after the language and techniques employed by advertisers. (HTH)

Presents a series of exercises designed to provide freshman composition students with a base for analyzing works rhetorically, to point out how language can be used persuasively, and to illustrate how satire functions. (FL)

Autobiographical writing can, by its nature as expressive discourse, connect to the residual orality and literacy that students possess before they enter college writing classes, because it crosses more easily between the spoken word and the written word than other forms of writing. Adapting the Ong-Havelock orality-literacy thesis to writing…

A technique sometimes known as patterned prose or case book exposition is an effective way to improve student writing while also holding their interest. It may also help solve a problem pointed to by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): students' inability to think about what they read. The technique is simple. The teacher…

Describes a critical writing assignment in which students assess the role that television "soap operas" have played in relationship to the students' culture and to themselves. The assignment includes collection and separation of material, unifying arguments, enlargement of perspective, and analysis and illustration. (HTH)

Presents exercises designed to make argument and discussion easier by situating them in institutional events where argument could be expected to happen: the governmental commission, the school board meeting, the congressional hearing. Shows how these imaginary places allow for creating three role play situations for different college classes. (PA)