Counterarguments in students' persuasive writing

Although supporting claims is an important part of good argumentative writing, students often fail to consider alternative viewpoints leading to a “myside bias” in their writing. In this study, the argumentative essays of 130 secondary school students are analyzed for counterarguments and rebuttals in a pretest, posttest design that included an intervention focusing on counterarguments. Findings revealed a significant increase in counter-argumentative elements after the intervention and richer persuasive writing.