a genre description of the argumentative essay

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DOI: 10.1177/003368829002100105 1990; 21; 66 RELC Journal

Ken Hyland A Genre Description of the Argumentative Essay

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A Genre Description of the Argumentative Essay

Ken HylandPNG University of TechnologyLae, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The difficulties faced by EFL/ESL students when asked to pro-duce a piece of writing are often due to an inadequate understandingof how texts are organized. To facilitate effective writing therefore,teachers have to familiarize students with the rhetorical structureswhich are an important part of the meanings of texts.

This article focuses on an important type of written discourse,the argumentive essay, and proposes a preliminary descriptive frame-work of its rhetorical structure. Presenting research results, theauthor shows that a "categories analysis" can clarify the structure ofwritten texts and provide pedagogically useful materials. A case isargued for the importance of explicit linguistic knowledge in deve-loping writing skills and some implications for teaching strategies aredrawn.

Introduction

Much of the published advice on teaching writing skills to secondlanguage students in recent years has focused on the &dquo;process approach&dquo; .The emphasis has been on optimising opportunities for learner writers to&dquo;discover meaning&dquo; and engage in interaction with their audiences.However, this concentration on composing strategies has meant that animportant aspect of writing instruction is frequently overlooked: Theproblematic business of precisely defining the required product.

Most applied linguistic endeavours in this area have been concernedwith establishing general principles of text description rather than speci-fying the linguistic nature of the tasks we set our students. Until recentlylittle attention was given to establishing the features of particular texttypes and so our understanding of schematic text structure is largely sketchyand implicit. As a result, we reward good work when we see it butwithout a clear awareness of what is required to achieve it.

This paper sets out a preliminary description of the structure of afamiliar and important genre, the argumentative essay, and outlinessome of its pedagogical implications. These initial findings are publishedboth to show that common EFL genres have describable structures andto stimulate a more interventionist approach to teaching extensive



67

writing. By this I mean using knowledge of text structure to enablestudents to shape their work to the conventions of the genre.

We need to acknowledge that L2 learners may have only a limitedcompetence in using alien discourse forms and that process methodologiesfail to address this issue. Learners simply need more information onwhat we expect them to produce.

Schemata and Genre Analysis

We recognise an effectively presented argument because our com-petence includes a shared knowledge of what constitutes a coherentlyorganized text. To the extent that this formal structure is not employed,communication is impaired and the reader left either confused or uncon-vinced. If the text structure of the argumentative essay can be madeexplicit however, this information becomes an important pedagogical re-source. Knowledge of text organization can be used to improve ourteaching of writing.

Research in cognitive psychology has established that efficient

comprehension of a text is dependent on the reader’s ability to relate itsskeletal design to a familiar stereotypical pattern called a schema (Kintsch,1982; Widdowson, 1983).

&dquo;Formal schemata&dquo; (Carrell, 1983) constitute knowledge abouttext types and are indispensable to understanding, enabling the reader tocorrectly identify and organize information by locating it in a conven-tional frame. Obviously the range of texts a reader can participate independs on how many formal schemata she or he can use proficiently.Teachers therefore have a vital role to play in familiarizing students withthe schemata associated with particular varieties of writing or genres.

Describing the schemata appropriate to different genres involvesanalysing how writers typically sequence information. The schematawhich invoke familiar processing strategies in the reader can be examinedto discover how they are routinely constructed to form particular rhetori-cal structures.

The description proposed here then has its theoretical foundationsin genre analysis, an approach concerned with the communicative pur-poses of written language. Genre theory has yet to make much impres-sion on EFL methodology but has had a major impact in the fields ofEST and EAP (e.g. Swales, 1984; Dudley-Evans, 1986; Hopkins &Dudley-Evans, 1988). In this system of analysis, texts are distinguishedaccording to their goal orientations and examined to determine how they



68

are structured to achieve specific ends. This involves revealing howwriters typically sequence information in the context of a particular texttype. ..

The Argumentative Essay - Data and CategoriesThe preliminary categories proposed here are based on a detailed

study of the top 10% of essay scripts submitted for the Papua NewGuinea High School matriculation in English in 1988 (65 papers). Thetopic required candidates to choose one sector of the PNG educationsystem and argue a case for giving it more resources. This data was sup-plemented by an informal sample of journalistic material from theBritish and American press, partly to ascertain if the model could begeneralised beyond L2 school essays. Although the findings which followare preliminary, the model represents all the examples examined in thestudy.

The notion of structure assumes an assembly of analytical units withconstraints on permissible sequences of categories. Because genreanalysis is a directive to examine texts in terms of their purpose, ratherthan content, the units in this description are determined functionally, bythe contribution they make to the discourse. The approach adopted herefollows the familiar &dquo;categories analysis&dquo; of Halliday’s early grammar(Halliday, 1961) and the Birmingham model of spoken discourse

(Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975). It involves combining units of the same sizeto form larger ones in much the same way that words combine to formgroups which make clauses and so on.

The Description

In this model the text is the highest unit of description, having nicetidy boundaries and a clearly describable function. Thus the argumenta-tive essay is defined by its purpose which is to persuade the reader of thecorrectness of a central statement. This text type is characterized by athree stage structure which represents the organizing principles of thegenre: Thesis, Argument and Conclusion. In turn, each stage has a struc-ture expressed in terms of moves, some of which are optional elements inthe system. Below this, moves are realized in various ways at the level ofform by lexical and grammatical means. Here the opportunity for varietyarises and this brief analysis is unable to isolate the particular clause rela-tions or lexical signals which typically express discourse moves.

Table 1 summarises the elements of the description, naming anddefining the functions of the structural units. As can be seen, the



69



70

organization of the three stages is stated in terms of move sequences.Bracketed elements are optional components in the structure and indi-cate that such a move need not occur but will appear in that position if itdoes.

I. The Thesis StageThis stage introduces the discourse topic and advances the writer’s

proposition or central statement. Frequently coterminous with the para-graph in the exam data, its potential structure is identified as consistingof five moves, only one of which is obligatory.

1. The gambit is distinguished primarily by its arresting effect. Thefunction of the move is to capture the reader’s attention, rather than in-form. The move is frequently found in editorials and requires a certainskill and authority to impress rather than aggravate the uncommittedreader.

The South African Government stands constantly trapped betweenthe anvil of right-wing resistance and the hammer of internationalopprobrium.

(Times Editorial 9/12/88)The chorus ... blaming American &dquo;intransigence&dquo; for the near-

collapse of the Uruguay round of trade talks in Montreal last week ishypocritical and self-serving.

(Times Editorial 13/12/88)

Many foreign employers complain about the sub-standard graduatesproduced in PNG.

2. Informing moves, on the other hand, are almost universal fea-tures of this type of writing. Realizations are largely drawn from arestricted class of illocutions which include definitions, classifications,descriptions, critiques or &dquo;straw man&dquo; arguments. It is possible thatthere is a restricted variety of ways which this move may be realised andthat future analyses may suggest a rank level of discourse acts.

Education is an investment in people and is vital to the progress anddevelopment of society.Potential students of PNG have over 3,300 education institutionsavailable to them ranging from primary schools through HighSchools to vocational colleges and universities.

Since independence PNG has spent a lot of money financing the ter-tiary system and has not obtained good value for its money.

3. The proposition is the central move in the thesis stage and its onlyindispensable component. This functions to furnish a specific statement



71

of position which defines the topic and gives a focus to the entire com-position.

It is clear that more money is needed in the secondary sector and thatmore money should be spent there.

The Universities should be given more financial assistance by thegovernment to improve the quality of graduates in this country.I strongly propose the idea that our rural community schools begiven first priorty in terms of government funding.

The proposition is not always expressed so succinctly however andmay emerge from an informing move

There is one sector that stands out in developing the country. That isthe base of our education system - the community schools. This iswhere we should pay the closest attention.

or contextualizing information can be embedded in the proposition itselfThe justification for the decision not to extradite Father PatrickRyan offered by the Irish Attorney-General yesterday is a shabbyevasion.

(Times Editorial 14/12/88)

Experienced feature writers often make their proposing move textinitial by composing the central statement in the form of a gambit:

In Thatcher’s Britain ... powerful citadels of the worst type of tradeunionism still flourish doing mighty damage to our internal and over-seas trade.

(Woodrow Wyatt, Times 14/12/88)

4. An evaluation may follow the proposition, this provides a posi-tive comment on it.

This sector is the most important because it provides basic know-ledge and skills.

This is primarily because it is the base of our education system.

5. The marker structures the discourse by signposting its subsequentdirection. It occurs more frequently in the examination scripts and isoften confined to a restricted class of formulae.

There are a number of reasons for increasing assistance to communityeducation.

A solution has at least three interlocking parts.(Guardian Weekly 13/11/88)



72

II. The Argument Stage

This stage presents the infrastructure of reasons which characterisethe genre. The argument stage consists of a possible four move cyclerepeated indefinitely in a specific order.

1. The marker frames the sequence and connects it to both the stepsin the argument and to the proposition. The shift to a new sequence maybe implicit in a topic change, being embedded in the claim, but writersoften wish to explicitly guide the reader through the argument stage.There are two main devices for accomplishing this:

a) Listing signals such as &dquo;first(ly)&dquo;, &dquo;second(ly)&dquo;, &dquo;next&dquo;, etc. Aclosed class of formulaic elements, loved by students, whichprovide an inventory of items but require interpretive work bythe reader to discover the relationships between them.

b) Transition signals to indicate the step to another sequence,marking addition, contrast, condition, specificity, etc. byadverbial connectives, conjunctions and comments indicatingchanges in the discussion.

Turning to the economic benefits of vocational education ....

Another way to improve the standard is to ...

However, a start must be made somewhere and ...

2. A restatement of the proposition in some form is common here,particularly in the exam data where foregrounding the proposition pro-vides a reminder of the subject

The second reason why more money should be directed at the tertiarysector is ...

’

Another way to improve the quality of primary education is ....

3. The central move in the argument sequence is the claim. This is areason endorsing the validity of the proposition. Typically three tacticsof persuasion- are used:

(i) A statement appealing to the potency of &dquo;shared&dquo; presupposi-tions or expectations about topic background. This is an invi-tation to agree with the writer’s assumptions and thereby ac-cept the reasonableness of the position. Here, for example, weare obviously expected to understand events in the same wayas the writer accepting the argument as relevant and the inter- &dquo;

pretation as favourable to his support for community edu-cation.

With the basic skills we learn from community schools it would beeasier for us to understand the trade and economy of our country.



73

The following claim also relies on an appeal to uncontentious back-ground assumptions, although it may require more work to demonstraterelevance

_

Providing for this sector also helps people learn how to vote in elec-tions rather than someone directing them.

(ii) Alternatively, the writer may approach his audience by presen-ting a generalization based on factual evidence or expert opi-nion.

We spend least for each student in community schools for the highestsocial returns (Table 1)British Rail’s claim that it takes two years to build new trains to meetthese demands has been dismissed by Richard Hope, Editor ofRailway Gazette, as ’pure hogwash’.

(Nigel Hawkes, The Observer 18/12/88)Sir John Guise states that this sector prepares students to participatein the economy of the country more directly.

(iii) The third tactic is a declaration of opinion aiming for max-imum effect with minimum regard for opposing views.

It cannot be denied that higher forms of education decrease ourdependence on foreign domination in the economy.An example of how wrong and mad things are can be found in thediscussion about Scotland.

(Niel Ascherson, The Observer 18/12/88)The country’s economy is disintegrating.

(Times Editorial, 19/12/88)

4. The support move is an indispensable second part to the claim ina tied pair of moves. It furnishes explicit reinforcement for the claim andcan comprise several paragraphs appealing to several sources ofevidence. The support move is therefore both directly relevant to theclaim and seeks to demonstrate the relevance of the claim to the proposi-tion. The successful accomplishment of the claim-support pair dependson explicitly establishing these relevances.

The connection almost always involves some tacit understandingsor warrants (Peters, 1985:8) and these differ enormously in the generalityof their acceptance. Obviously the writer’s knowledge of the audience isimportant here as the length and complexity of the support move oftenreflects the extent he/she believes the warrant diverges from sharedunderstandings. Where a common knowledge base is assumed with thereader, as in this example, the writer can expect less resistance to a parti-cular claim and leave a great deal unsaid.



74

...all children should be allowed a basic education.

Economy is not possible however with more specific warrants or wherethe warrant appeals to readers’ specialised knowledge.

’

At the moment, rail suffers from its heritage.

III. The Conclusion StageRather than a summary or review, the conclusion is a fusion of con-

stituents in this genre. It functions to consolidate the discourse and retro-spectively affirm what has been communicated. There is a possible fourmove sequence to this stage.

1. Again many of the essay samples included a marker from a res-tricted class, normally &dquo;thus&dquo;, &dquo;therefore&dquo;, &dquo;to conclude&dquo;, &dquo;the lessonto be drawn is&dquo;, and so on.

2. The consolidation move refers back to the content of the argumentsection to relate the themes of the argument stage with the proposition. Itis the central part of the conclusion.

Thus the quality of the graduates is improved and the various sectorsof the community are satisfied.

....many changes need to be made to improve the quality and quantityof students today.

3. The affirmation is an optional restatement of the proposition;rare in journalism, its omission is unusual in the exam data.

To sum up, I strongly advise that more money should be spent on theprimary sector.

The community level is thus a crucial stage in development and there-fore deserves more.

4. In contrast to the retrospective function of the consolidatingmove, the close provides a prospective focus. It looks forward to unstatedaspects of the discussion by widening the context.

In turn, this will increase the standard of living in the villages.Unless active measures are taken, the next generation will have littleto thank us for when they start to contemplate the transport systemthey have been left.

(Times Editorial 10/12/88)The future of the country will be jeopardised if nothing is done toimprove this sector.



75

Some Pedagogical ImplicationsA genre-based description of text organization is not an end in itself

for an increased understanding of communicative events can be of greatvalue to teachers and learners. Such descriptions give a central role tolanguage by emphasizing that it can be used to acquire knowledge aboutwriting. Genre analysis provides the vocabulary and concepts to explicitlyteach the text structures we would like our students to produce.

Writing problems of EFL students are often due to an inability tocorrectly marshall the resources of content and organization to meet thedemands of the argumentative genre. This is not surprising while itsstructure remains an implicit element of the learning process. By employ-ing genre descriptions, teachers can help students comprehend text struc-ture and hence gain proficiency in making meanings effective.

Knowledge of generic structure has been successfully used to teachwriting at primary schools (Rothery 1986a & b; Martin et al 1987). Grade2 children were taught to recognize elements of narrative structure infamiliar texts and then guided to model their own writing on the stagesidentified. The authors point out that knowledge of staging and gramma-tical realizations did not frighten the children but promoted

more effective negotiations and consultations as well as providingeach child with their own individual scaffolding that can be deployedas needed to produce successful texts.

(Martin, Christie & Rothery, 1987:142)

The contribution of a language to examine language is therefore ofprimary pedagogical importance, allowing a greater and more effectivedegree of intervention by the teacher. This description of the argumenta-tive essay could therefore prove useful in a number of ways.

Firstly, by making explicit the schema characteristics, good exam-ples of the genre can be selected as models. These could then be discussedand exploited stage by stage to show how an essay is developed andmeanings convincingly communicated. Conversely, badly organizedtexts provide opportunities for analysing weaknesses and examples of in-effectual communication.

Secondly, the framework can be used for guided writing practice inthe genre. Control over structure means that stages can be worked onseparately to polish strategies for, say, formulating a proposition ordeveloping an effective conclusion. This can be achieved gradually byslowly increasing the complexity of how functional units are expressed.Alternatively, constraints can be placed on actual content to develop ex-pression within a larger discourse.



76

Thirdly, research skills can be improved as they become an integralpart of assembling an argument stage. By focusing on the connectionbetween claim and support moves and showing how they are related tothe proposition, skills such as library searches, material selection, sum-marising and note-taking become central aspects of essay writing.

In addition, the teacher’s assessment of student’s written work canbe made more constructive. The genre description provides a paradigmfor useful feedback, offering objective criteria for qualitative evaluationand a basis for informed discussion on each stage of the essay. Ratherthan simply encouraging students with marks and grades, strategies forimprovement can be suggested based on explicit understandings of textrequirements (Marshall, forthcoming).

Finally, the provision of an explicit approach increases opportuni-ties for group discussion and teacher intervention at each stage of thewriting process. Writing becomes more of a collaborative enterprise asstudents can both consult the teacher and work together to jointly con-struct their arguments. With explicit knowledge of the argumentativegenre, the teacher is better able to provide informed input and fellowstudents can offer more positive suggestions and evaluations.

Intervention, then, is a deliberate and informed contribution by theteacher to the development of students’ metacognitive and metalinguisticknowledge as a means to improve their writing skills.

It is important to be clear about the notion of intervention. An em-phasis on structure and use of a linguistic metalanguage do not implyproscriptive rules or constraints on &dquo;creativity&dquo; . This is not the conquestof form over content and the reinstatement of classroom grammar drills.It is a means of making students aware of how language works in thecontext of the argumentative essay.

I am not suggesting here that we adopt an exclusively &dquo;product-based&dquo; orientation to teaching writing as students obviously need todevelop process skills. However, our understanding of writing processesshould not prevent the provision of structural information. Furnishingstudents with explicit knowledge of target language discourse forms is anecessary correction and can complement process methodologies. Des-criptions of text products will offer crucial classroom support for the L2writer whose linguistic competencies are unlikely to extend to aliendiscourse conventions.

Genres are culturally formulated activities and represent how lan-guage is commonly used to achieve particular goals in our society. Effec-



77

tive argument is as much a matter of organization as content or creativityand constructing meaning involves developing rhetorical steps. In otherwords, to argue is to express ideas in these particular ways.

Conclusion

This preliminary description of the argumentative essay has begunto sketch the circumscribed range of options available to writers whenpresenting an argument. It is based on the notion that the structure of atext contributes significantly to the realisation of the meanings it con-tains and that a clarification of this structure can be an important peda-gogical resource. Further investigation is necessary to develop the modeland reveal the structure of the lowest units. Perhaps a greater degree ofdelicacy will establish that moves can be more finely distinguished as per-missible sequences of &dquo;acts&dquo; or indeed, that the argumentative essay ismore usefully categorised into sub-genres.

Nevertheless, I hope the model will serve as a useful starting pointfor discussion and prove valuable to teachers trying to develop more ef-fective writing programmes. After all, the more explicit we can make ourknowledge of particular genres, the clearer we can be when asking ourstudents to write and the more positive we can be when intervening in theprocess. Writing is clearly a teachable skill and increasing the visibility ofwhat is to be learnt must be an indispensable part of this teaching.

References

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Dudley-Evans, T (1986). Genre-analysis: An investigation of the intro-duction and discourse sections of MSc dissertations. M Coulthard(Ed) Talking about text. ELR, Birmingham.

Halliday, MAK. (1961). Categories of the Theory of Grammar. Word17:241-292.

Hammond, J. (1987). An Overview of the Genre-Based Approach to theTeaching of Writing in Australia. Australian Review of AppliedLinguistics 10, 2:163-181.

Hopkins, A & T Dudley-Evans (1988). A genre-based investigation of thediscussion sections in articles and dissertations. English for SpecificPurposes. 7:113-121.

Kintsch, W (1982). Text representations. W Otto & S White (eds). Read-ing expository material. New York, Academic Press.



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Marshall, S. (forthcoming). A Genre-Based Approach to the Teaching ofReport Writing. Unpublished Paper, PNG Unitech.

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Martin, JR, Christie, F & Rothery, J (1987). Social Processes in Educa-tion : A reply to Sawyer & Watson (and others). Working Papers inLinguistics 5, Linguistics Dept., University of Sydney 116-152.

Peters, P. (1985). Strategies for Student Writers. John Wiley.Rothery, J. (1986a). Teaching Writing in the Primary School: A Genre-

Based Approach to the Development of Writing abilities. WorkingPapers in Linguistics 4, Linguistics Dept., University of Sydney.

Rothery, J. (1986b). Writing to Learn and Learning to Write. WorkingPapers in Linguistics 4, Linguistics Dept., University of Sydney.

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Swales, J (1984). Research into the structure of introductions to journalarticles and its application to the teaching of academic writing.Common ground: Shared interests in ESP & communicationstudies. ELT Documents 117, Pergamon.

Widdowson, HG. (1983). Learning Purposes and Language Use. OUP.

