Research on the Enhancement of the Argumentative Writing Ability of Medical School Learners through Email

This paper centers on the research on the enhancement of the argumentative writing ability of medical school learners through Email.And in recent years,the argumentative writing has been examined much more frequently that other writing styles in Band-4 Exams.As to how to enhance their argumentative writing ability,the author tries to use Email as a way of communication.Email as an instantaneous communication way,could be used to the utmost in this research.All the data collected for this research is true.The author made a careful analysis.And this paper will give us the result of this practice.

A Study of Cohesive Features in Argumentative Writing by Chinese ESL Learners

It is known that writing is one of the main basic language skills and is very important for the ESL learners.However,writing skill is normally the more complex and challenging one,especially for Chinese ESL learners.A successful written discourse is influenced by a variety of elements and the good use of cohesive device is one of them.In this paper,by using the Halliday&Hasan’s taxonomy of cohesive devices as the framework,the features of cohesive devices which Chinese ESL learners have adopted in their argumentative writings will be analyzed and identified.

The Efficacy of Explicit Instruction about Discourse Connectives in English Argumentative Writing on Second-Year Chinese University Students

This study investigated the effect of explicit instruction about DCs in argumentative writings by 15 Chinese learners of English. This study involved in a 4-week experiment. Pre-and post-writing tests were quantitatively analyzed to examine whether the explicit instruction about DCs had a significant effect on the students'argumentative writing. The findings revealed that the ex-plicit instruction of the target DCs facilitated the improvement of the participants in their argumentative writing .

An Analysis of the Causal Reasoning Deficiencies in English Majors' Argumentative Writing

The Syllabus for English Majors at Universities and Colleges(2000) makes it clear to further strengthen the English majors' critical thinking and logical reasoning ability.But how to effectively incorporate the cultivation of critical thinking skills into English majors' core courses,such as the writing courses,remains one of the most important tasks of teaching reform for English majors.The present study is aimed at having a systematic analysis on the causal reasoning deficiencies in English majors' argumentative writing.Furthermore,the reasons resulting in the causal reasoning deficiencies and the implications for the teaching of second language writing are explored.

Effects of Problem-based English Writing Instruction on Thai Upper Secondary School Students' Critical Thinking Abilities and Argumentative Writing Skills

The objective of the study is to examine the effects of Problem based English writing instruction on Thai Upper secondary school students' critical thinking abilities and argumentative writing skill.In this study,the researcher constructed 18weeks' training in a prestigious secondary school M6 level.The instruments used in this research include lesson plans,writing assignments,instructional material and topics.Critical thinking pre- test and post test were used to measure students' critical thinking development.Scoring rubric was designed to measure students' argumentative writing development.The data were analyzed using mean,t-test,correlation through SPSS system.The results of the analyses reveal that 1) students who learn through Problem based English Writing Instruction gained significantly higher average scores on the critical thinking post test than the critical thinking pre-test at the significance level of 0.05 and the mean difference is 0.5 which is referred to large effect;2) students who learn through Problem based English Writing Instruction gained significantly higher average score on their fifth argumentative writing assignment than the average score of their first argumentative writing assignment at the significance level of 0.05,with the mean of the effect size at 0.84 which referred to large effect.Problem-based English writing instruction was proved to be an effective way in improving students' Critical thinking and argumentative writing.

A Study on the Teaching of Lexical Phrases in Non-English Majors＇ Argumentative Writing

Compared structural approach with communicative approach, the former puts too much emphasis on linguistic knowledge and neglects the language application, while the latter lays too much emphasis on the communicative classroom activities and neglects the systematic study of linguistic knowledge. Both of them cannot meet the requirements of improving the non-English major students＇ argumentative writing scores. So based on the Lexical Approach theory, taking the College English Integrated Course 4 （LI, 2003） as the main teaching material and lexical phrases as teaching and learning units, this study explores the effectiveness of the Lexical Approach in improving non-English major students＇ argumentative writing through classroom activities of input, absorption, and output of lexical phrases. The results show that lexical phrases have more effects on students＇ English competence than single words. They can help to improve the argumentative writing scores and cultivate an interest in learning English independently.

Motivating Community College Students When Teaching Argumentative Rhetorical Style Using a Documentary： Devil＇s Playground

Competence in academic writing in college is a challenging as well as an engaging task for many college students. Argumentative writing and acknowledging the counterargument is one of modes that is introduced in freshman classes; however, college students approach writing with a certain mindset. Learning to write in different modes could be exciting when taught utilizing a film or a documentary. Using a documentary, such as Devil＇s Playground, writing professors not only initiate interest in culture learning and cultural understanding but also motivate students to use argumentation to foster critical thinking as well as cultural understanding.

A Case Study of a Chinese English Major's Argumentative English Writings:Focusing on the Development of Her Thinking and the Facilitating Factors

This paper reports a study on a Chinese English major＇s argumentative English writings focusing on the development of her thinking capacities and factors that facilitate or constrain such development. The data came from three sources： her essays, reflective journals, and my semi-structured interviews with her. Major findings can be summed up as follows： 1） at the initial stage, the participant was weak in rational thinking; 2） as she had more writing practice, she made progress in ideas and organization of ideas but not in expression of ideas; and 3） factors facilitating or constraining her development primarily include language input, cultural identification, teacher feedback and motivation.