Written argumentation

The study of argumentation in education is relatively new, having developed as a field of study in its own right only since the 1980's. For me, argumentation is about the justification and communication of one's claims to have a sound case, opinion or judgement. This paper reviews some of the major frameworks in the literature, and discusses a study involving a comparison of the quality of the written arguments of bilingual university students when writing in Chinese and in English. The research employs case studies, using qualitative methodology, although some quantitative analyses of the results are employed as relevant. The study found clear differences among the work of different students, with a tendency for English written argumentation to be structured in a more direct and explicit manner than arguments in Chinese.