Collaborative Learning Strategies for Addressing Audience Awareness in Argumentative Writing － Focusing on Freshman Composition Courses

This study proposes Collaborative Learning strategies to guide students in considering the audience’s perspective in argumentative writing assignments within university composition courses. The emphasis on “audience awareness” instead of “counterargument consideration” or “counterargument integration” stems from the fact that real-life argumentation involves a broader range of interactions beyond simple rebuttal and counter-rebuttal. In practice, argumentation aims to make informed decisions by exploring various perspectives, where participants serve not merely as adversaries but ultimately as contributors to the community in diverse ways. Consequently, in argumentative writing, the audience should be seen as an “adversarial yet collaborative entity” that requires the writer’s ongoing consideration, attentive listening, and inclusive engagement. To help students develop such an audience perspective, this study implemented the following strategies: (1) dividing students into groups based on opposing stances and having them repeatedly interview peers holding opposing views, (2) using the interview content during the outlining, drafting and revising stages, and (3) assigning a follow-up task focused on suggesting ways to mitigate conflict.