Elaboration Of Argument Research Articles

Legitimation Without Argumentation: An Empirical Discourse Analysis of 'Validity as an Argument' in Assessment.

Validity is frequently conceptualized in health professions education (HPE) assessment as an argument that supports the interpretation and uses of data. However, previous work has shown that many validity scholars believe argument and argumentation are relatively lacking in HPE. To better understand HPE's discourse around argument and argumentation with regard to assessment validity, the authors explored the discourses present in published HPE manuscripts. The authors used a bricolage of critical discourse analysis approaches to understand how the language in influential peer reviewed manuscripts has shaped HPE's understanding of validity arguments and argumentation. The authors used multiple search strategies to develop a final corpus of 39 manuscripts that were seen as influential in how validity arguments are conceptualized within HPE. An analytic framework drawing on prior research on Argumentation Theory was used to code manuscripts before developing themes relevant to the research question. The authors found that the elaboration of argument and argumentation within HPE's validity discourse is scant, with few components of Argumentation Theory (such as intended audience) existing within the discourse. The validity as an argument discourse was legitimized via authorization (reference to authority), rationalization (reference to institutionalized action), and mythopoesis (narrative building). This legitimation has cemented the validity as an argument discourse in HPE despite minimal exploration of what argument and argumentation are. This study corroborates previous work showing the dearth of argument and argumentation present within HPE's validity discourse. An opportunity exists to use Argumentation Theory in HPE to better develop validation practices that support use of argument.

PENGGUNAAN KIALO EDU UNTUK MENGEMBANGKAN IDE MENULIS ESAI ARGUMENTATIF : PERSEPSI MAHASISWA

This study aims to explore students' perceptions of the use of Kialo Edu in developing ideas for writing argumentative essays. The participants of this study were thirteen of sixth semester students of the Pontianak Foreign Language Institute who enrolled essay writing class. The methodology employed was a descriptive study with a three-scale closed questionnaire and semi-structured interviews as data collection instruments. The findings indicated that after using Kialo Edu for three times, students showed positive perceptions in developing ideas for writing argumentative essays. 5 of the 7 statements on the questionnaire received a 100% "agree" response. The positive response from the interview also supports this result. Referring to this result, the answer to the question has been found that the students' perception of the use of Kialo Edu is positive in helping them develop ideas for writing argumentative essays. In the other words Kialo Edu can be recommended as a platform that can be used in the classroom to develop ideas on essays that require argument elaboration, such as argumentative essays.

The effects of in-class debates on argumentation skills in second language education

The skill of argumentation in the second language (L2) is problematic for secondary school students who are deficient in expressing structurally and qualitatively appropriate arguments. Debate has been widely acclaimed as an effective pedagogical tool that can improve L2 argumentation skills of students. However, the existing evidence is anecdotal. This intervention study, which employed a pretest-posttest control group design involving eight classes at three secondary schools in The Netherlands, was conducted to investigate to what extent debate instruction in L2 affects a number of L2 structural (e.g. sub-arguments and rebuttals) and quality (e.g. elaboration and persuasiveness of arguments) aspects of argumentation. To gauge the effect of the intervention, we analyzed written and oral opinion tasks produced by the participants at the beginning and towards the end of the intervention. We used an adjusted version of Toulmin's argumentation model to undertake the structural analysis and a 5-point scale rubric to assess different aspects of reasoning quality. Multilevel analysis of the data revealed that debate instruction had a positive effect upon a number of structural components and quality aspects of the written and oral argumentation skills. These findings led us to conclude that debate constitutes a conducive pedagogy for honing argumentation skills.

Evaluating arguments in instruction: Theoretical and practical directions

Instructional processes support the production of learning outcomes such as valid conclusions, solutions or decisions. These processes invite the evaluation of information at hand and knowledge construction, which involve the elaboration and evaluation of arguments. This article provides a practical guide for evaluating arguments during instruction. The practical criteria for goodness of arguments in instruction include clarity, explicitness, relevance of the reasons supporting the claim, inclusion of evidence and theoretical explanations, acceptability (according to the rules and norms of the context), and sufficiency (of groundings). In addition, it must cope with competing arguments, as well as with opposing and alternative evidence and theoretical explanations. I show that evaluation of arguments involves not only critical thinking but also creative thinking.

El presente y el futuro del Derecho Natural: una conversación con Robert P. George

This article presents an unpublished interview with Professor Robert P. George (Princeton University, USA) with the aim of reaching out to scholars from non-Anglo-Saxon countries in order to offer a comprehensive view of the main issues currently being debated by legal and political scholars from a non-continental viewpoint. The text shows how a significant number of Anglo-Saxon scholars have recovered the discredited notion of natural law, through the so-called “New School of Natural Law”. With this new approach to natural law, George presents a clear defense of rights and institutions currently confronted by the tyranny of “the politically correct”. One powerful aspect of this new School includes the elaboration of arguments and counter-arguments to one’s own position. In this way, George invites his participant –whether in the classroom or through his dialectical works– to think for him or herself without fear of questioning even one’s deepest ideas and convictions. As a consequence of this thought process, one is able to receive new lights and, thus, rectify and reach a more complete truth. If, on the contrary, one has unsupported explanations or reasonings with logical fallacies, the method will strengthen one’s personal ideas, which must always be presented with the openness of those who do not consider themselves infallible. The main topic of this article is a detailed analysis of the natural law, as understood by the “New School of Natural Law”, in which George is inscribed as one of its main protagonists. It also presents the criticisms of which this New School is frequently the object. It should be therefore an enlightening text for jurists and philosophers interested in knowing first¬hand the principles of this School, still not widespread in the continental tradition. Another aspect of interest is the exposition of the methodology that, according to George, should guide Constitutional Interpretation. For jurists not fully internalized in the tradition of Anglo-Saxon Common Law, his explanation of how judges should proceed when resolving different cases is insightful. The judges must be limited, says George, to the role that the Constitution has assigned to them: to apply the law as is. Thus, Given the frequent tendency for judges to indirectly become legislators, he warns that this mode of proceeding presupposes frequent violations of the Constitution that they have sworn to defend. Another topic extensively argued is the role of religion in public life. Although George prefers to make use of rational arguments in his defense of values (among them the protection of human life in all its instances, marriage as the union of a man and a woman open to life, or the defense of freedom, etc.), he makes it clear that religion has the right to participate in public life by contributing its knowledge and values in favor of the socio-political common good as many important figures have done in the history of United States. Hence, George does not advocate neutrality in the public sphere, nor does he support the opposite extreme: a “sacred public square”. He supports a society that is not only “civil” but also “civilized”, that is to say, a society in which every citizen can manifest his words and/or his ideas and beliefs in an ambiance of mutual respect. Such a society believes that every citizen not only has the right to think, to believe and to live according to his views, but also is able to give reasons for them, whether from a secular or religious perspective.

Self-Knowledge, Deliberation, and the Fruit of Satan

Robert Dunn (2006) and Richard Moran (2001) have emphasized the importance of deliberation to account for the privileged authority of self-ascriptions. They oppose a theoretical attitude toward oneself to a deliberative attitude that they regard as more intimate, as purely first-personal. In this paper, I intend to challenge Dunn’s and Moran’s understanding of how the deliberative attitude is to be conceived of and, in particular, I will call into question their claim that this attitude is wholly non-observational. More positively, I will elaborate on the sort of self-observation that must play a central role in an agent’s deliberation if she is to recognize a certain belief, decision, or intention as genuinely her own and, therefore, as expressing a purely first-person point of view. In the elaboration of my argument, I will rely on a number of situations as they are described in Peter Carey’s novel Oscar and Lucinda.

The Long Struggle against Malaria in Tropical Africa by James L. A. Webb Jr.

Reviewed by: The Long Struggle against Malaria in Tropical Africa by James L. A. Webb Jr. Urmi Engineer The Long Struggle against Malaria in Tropical Africa. By james l. a. webb jr. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 219 pp. $94.95 (cloth); $72.00 (ebook). James L. A. Webb’s The Long Struggle against Malaria in Tropical Africa is an interdisciplinary historical study of the successes and failures of twentieth-century efforts to control malaria in tropical Africa. The book is a critical contribution to the study of world history and the growing literature on histories of disease, ecology, and global health, as well as the emergent subfield of historical epidemiology, of which Webb is a pioneer. Historical epidemiology brings a historical perspective to the study of contemporary disease challenges, which can be used to evaluate the strengths and limitations of current practices (p. xi). This book [End Page 655] serves as a sequel to and elaboration of arguments that Webb presented in Humanity’s Burden: A Global History of Malaria, which detailed the complex ecological history of humans and malarial parasites.9 The Long Struggle against Malaria in Tropical Africa begins with an introduction to the history of malaria, which lays the groundwork for understanding the author’s critical arguments about acquired immunity and the severe consequences of lapses in malaria control policy, a core theme that Webb reiterates throughout the text. Gaps in malaria control efforts enabled the resurgence of malaria and caused impacts that were more devastating to adult African populations than prior outbreaks, since they were not exposed to malaria as children and did not acquire immunity. The first two chapters, “European Vulnerability” and “African Immunity,” outline European and African experiences with malaria in the early twentieth century. Chapter 1 discusses the history of European efforts to avoid malaria, which included the use of quinine, residential segregation, and mosquito control. Chapter 2 focuses on African responses to malaria and outlines indigenous strategies for treating malarial symptoms and repelling mosquitoes, including burning smoky fires, applying plant ointments, and using mosquito traps. These chapters also demonstrate how European settlement, agricultural development, and urban growth resulted in new patterns of malaria transmission in rural highlands and lowlands in tropical East Africa. Chapter 3 focuses on the postwar global malaria eradication campaign (1950–1965) led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and elucidates the consequences of the closure of WHO pilot projects. The WHO campaign operated by spraying synthetic insecticides and administering synthetic antimalarial drugs. The success of eradication campaigns in the United States, Mexico, Italy, Greece, Corsica, Venezuela, Ceylon, and elsewhere led to optimism among global public health policymakers. Webb argues that these campaigns ultimately failed in tropical Africa due to the development of resistance to insecticides among mosquitoes and the lack of cooperation with African populations in malarial zones. Further, the loss of acquired immunities among local populations eventually enabled the resurgence of malaria, with higher mortality and morbidity rates among African adults than ever before. The book’s discussion of African responses to public health programs raises questions about the necessity and motivations of early eradication [End Page 656] campaigns. During the colonial period, European states were primarily concerned with protecting nonimmune Europeans from malaria; however by the World War II era, they became increasingly interested in eradicating the disease in African environments. Cultural perceptions of the seriousness of malaria shaped African and European ideas about the necessity of antimalarial campaigns, as most African adults saw malaria as “an annoyance, an unpleasant reality of life like the seasonal flu, rather than a problem to be tacked with scarce resources” (p. 94). Chapter 4, entitled “Positive Turbulence,” focuses on responses to malaria among new independent African governments between 1965 and 1980. Webb argues that resistance to WHO campaigns was political as well as ecological; new African governments expressed ideological resistance to colonial models of public health administration, and parasites and mosquitoes developed genetic resistance to antimalarials and insecticides. However, African states did facilitate the distribution of chloroquine, which was generally accepted among Africans and led to a general decline of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the promise of chloroquine, “serious trouble lay ahead,” as chloroquine resistance...

Group awareness support and argumentation scripts for individual preparation of arguments in Facebook

This study investigates how group awareness support and argumentation scripts influence learning in social networking sites like Facebook, which may be conducive to informal learning, but often lacks argumentative quality. Supporting participants' group awareness about the visibility of the arguments they construct and about prospective future debate with peers in order to promote argument quality may be particularly suited for learning in Social Networking Sites. Additional argumentation scripts may directly foster argumentative knowledge construction. In a 2 × 2 study (N = 81), we isolated and investigated the effects of group awareness support and argumentation scripts during individual preparation in a Facebook app on domain and argumentative knowledge. Our results reveal that group awareness support of upcoming argumentative processes can be counterproductive for learning in Social Networking Sites. Argumentation scripts in Facebook may remedy possible negative effects of such awareness. Process analysis showed that group awareness support promotes individual argument elaboration but reduces broad analysis of the domain.

“It's in My Veins”: Identity and Disciplinary Practice in Students' Discussions of a Historical Issue

Learners' identity is considered a resource, but is also assumed to conflict with impartial history learning practices. This empirical study explores the relationship between learners' social identity and their historical practices and understanding. Sixty-four Jewish-Israeli 12th-grade students of Mizrahi and Ashkenazi ethnicities studied a historical controversy concerning the relations between the two ethnic groups. Participants' discussions were analyzed to trace the impact of social identity on historical learning and the application of disciplinary practice. Findings attest to the impact of social identity. Participants frequently approached evidence and applied empathy in ways benefitting in-group image. However, social identity and intergroup interaction also motivated elaboration of arguments and disciplinary practices. Implications for engaging diverse students' identities in history teaching are discussed.

Write between the lines: Electronic outlining and the organization of text ideas

Writing is an important, complex skill which could be enhanced through the effective use of writing tools that are incorporated in word processors. The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of (repeated) electronic outlining on the quality of students’ writing products and perceived mental effort. The study also investigated how students appropriate and appreciate the outline tool. Data were collected from 58 ninth-grade students who wrote two argumentative texts about a topic they had previously discussed during several class sessions, meaning that ideas were generated and clustered beforehand. Students’ writing products were scored for Total Text Structure, Structure Presentation, and Hierarchical Elaboration of Arguments. Results reveal that first-time tool-use had no significant effect on students’ writing products and perceived mental effort. However, repeated use positively affected Structure Presentation and led to decreased perceived mental effort, but no significant effect was found on Total Text Structure and Hierarchical Elaboration of Arguments. Answers to a retrospective questionnaire showed that students quickly appropriated the tool with tool appreciation increasing with repeated use. This study suggests that in order to profit from electronic outlining, it is important to practice using the outline tool and to use it for complex tasks, requiring idea generation and organization.

Probabilistic argumentation

Argumentation in the sense of a process of logical reasoning is a very intuitive and general methodology of establishing conclusions from defeasible premises. The core of any argumentative process is the systematical elaboration, exhibition, and weighting of possible arguments and counter-arguments. This paper presents the formal theory of probabilistic argumentation, which is conceived to deal with uncertain premises for which respective probabilities are known. With respect to possible arguments and counter-arguments of a hypothesis, this leads to probabilistic weights in the first place, and finally to an overall probabilistic judgment of the uncertain proposition in question. The resulting probabilistic measure is called degree of support and possesses the desired properties of non-monotonicity and non-additivity. Reasoning according to the proposed formalism is an simple and natural generalization of the two classical forms of probabilistic and logical reasoning, in which the two traditional questions of the probability and the logical deducibility of a hypothesis are replaced by the more general question of the probability of a hypothesis being logically deducible from the available knowledge base. From this perspective, probabilistic argumentation also contributes to the emerging area of probabilistic logics.

Is 'Everything' Precise?

There are certain metaphysically interesting arguments 'from vagueness', for unrestricted mereological composition and for four-dimensionalism, which involve a claim to the effect that idioms for unrestricted quantification are precise. An elaboration of Lewis' argument for this claim, which assumes the view of vagueness as semantic indecision, is presented. It is argued that the argument also works according to other views on the nature of vagueness, which also require for an expression to be vague that there are different admissible alternatives of the relevant sort, such as epistemicism, as defended by Williamson. Recent attempts to resist the argument are discussed and rejected.

Perceptions of Entitativity and Attitude Change

The current work explored the properties of groups that lead them to be persuasive and the processes through which such persuasion occurs. Because more entitative groups induce greater levels of information processing, their arguments should receive greater elaboration, leading to persuasion when members of groups present strong (vs. weak) counter attitudinal arguments. Experiment 1 explored these hypotheses by examining if idiosyncratic perceptions of group entitativity and manipulations of argument strength affect attitude change and argument elaboration. Experiment 2 experimentally manipulated group entitativity and argument strength independently to examine the causal relationship between entitativity, attitude change, and argument elaboration. In both experiments, it was found that groups greater in entitativity were more persuasive when presenting strong (vs. weak) arguments and induced greater argument elaboration. Implications for our understanding of entitativity, persuasion, and information processing about social groups are discussed.

Answering Questions about Questions: A Persuasion Knowledge Perspective for Understanding the Effects of Rhetorical Questions

Past research is not clear on the process by which rhetorical questions influence persuasion (i.e., increased focus on message arguments vs. on the persuasion agent). Based on recent theories of persuasion knowledge and rhetorical figures in advertising, our model delineates conditions under which rhetoricals are likely to enhance argument elaboration (low salience of the rhetorical) and those under which they are likely to direct attention on the message source (high salience of the rhetorical format). Two experiments support the model and suggest that salience of rhetorical figures has the potential to influence not only the direction of message processing but also the effectiveness of various ad executions.

A comparison of argument structures in L1 and L2 student writing

The study consisted of an investigation into the argument structures employed in the English academic writing of Japanese native speakers and Australian English native speakers in the Arts (humanities) faculty of an Australian university. In order to investigate naturally occurring written argument structures, an in-depth case-study analysis of a small number of coursework essays was conducted. The complexity of argument structures in terms of the elaboration of individual arguments and the relational links between multiple related arguments of extended persuasive discourse were examined. Consequently, the similarities and differences between the L1 and L2 argumentative structures in the English essays and the nature of argument in English native speaker and Japanese ESL writing were identified. The findings indicate that although there were some differences between the micro- and macro-structures of written arguments in the coursework essays of L1 and L2 students, there were also similarities across both groups of writers. This may suggest that the context of learning plays a role in shaping the argumentative discourse patterns of written texts, which has significant implications not only for L2 writers learning the conventions of English discourse in an academic environment but also for future research investigating forms of written argument.

ZUR PÄDAGOGISCHEN BEDEUTUNG VON NATUR

No AccessZUR PÄDAGOGISCHEN BEDEUTUNG VON NATURHarm PaschenHarm PaschenSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:Jan 2019https://doi.org/10.7788/bue.2002.55.3.301SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail About Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Download book coverVolume 55Issue 3September 2002 ISSN: eISSN: HistoryPublished online:January 2019 PDF download

Multiple Motives and Persuasive Communication: Creative Elaboration as a Result of Impression Motivation and Accuracy Motivation

The authors examined the influence of impression motivation (Experiments 1 and 2) and the combined effects of accuracy motivation and impression motivation (Experiment 3) on the elaboration of persuasive messages as reflected in attitude change and cognitive responses. Intermediate levels of impression motivation led to elaboration of message arguments but high levels of impression motivation did not. The authors argue that the latter finding reflects the operation of creative processing of messages, whereby receivers draw on their own arguments. However, this pattern of results only occurred when individuals also were motivated to hold valid attitudes. When accuracy concerns were lower, high impression motivation was necessary to motivate elaboration of message content. Thus, it was the combined impact of accuracy motivation and high impression motivation that stimulated participants to go beyond the information provided. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Message Comprehensibility and Persuasion: Effects of Complex Language in Counterattitudinal Appeals to Laypeople

The influence of complex language in a counterattitudinal appeal to laypeople was examined using dual process theories of persuasion. These theories propose that persuasion can result from cognitive elaboration of message arguments, or from more peripheral/heuristic strategies that do not involve argument scrutiny. One hundred four undergraduates listened to a counterattitudinal speech that varied in argument strength, wording complexity/comprehensibility, and source status. They then completed an attitude measure, a thought listing task, and an argument recall task. When arguments were easy to comprehend, attitudes were more favorable when the arguments were strong versus weak. When arguments were difficult to comprehend, attitudes were more favorable when the source was of high versus low status. Mediational analyses suggested that cognitive elaboration mediated persuasion when comprehension was easy, whereas cognitive elaboration as well as less effortful peripheral/heuristic processing mediated persuasion when comprehension was difficult.

Form and Function as Categories of Comparison

Three different ways in which comparisons-in terms of both form and function-have been conceptualized in previous models are reviewed, to provide elaboration of Bornstein's argument. These include (i) Kagan's three types of continuity in ontogeny; (ii) Baltes's and Nesselroade's four types of factor change and continuity; and (iii) Kojima's three meanings of tradition in history of ideas and practices in a culture. It is noted that Bornstein's conceptualization is concerned mainly with cross-contextual comparisons rather than with ontogeny or cultural history. Multiple meanings of his usage of context and function are noted, together with the narrow meaning of form. A case is made that a kind of universalism is required in any meaningful comparison either across time or across culture.

Cross-Cultural Responses to Cross-Cultural Communication

Abstract This paper builds on ongoing research on communication in English between migrants of diverse backgrounds in Melbourne work-places. Subjects from various European and South-east Asian backgrounds were videoed responding to videoed role plays between European and South-east Asians based on instances of communication breakdown (apology, complaint, small talk) in our corpus. The paper discusses the differences in the mode of argumentation between the cultural groups. Special attention will be paid to the use and non-use of yes and no, the presentation and elaboration of arguments, identification of and with their own cultural styles, and the identification of and with their own work experience. Responses will be related to cultural value systems and the co-operative principle.