Exploring undergraduate EFL students’ growth in knowledge of elements in argumentation and their writing performance

Abstract Many specialists in the field of second/foreign language (L2) writing have acknowledged the importance of students’ abilities of argumentation in academic contexts. However, empirical studies of L2 students’ ability in argumentative writing with a systematic framework are still rare. To address this research gap, we adopted a quasi-experimental design of an eight-week writing intervention with a treatment group and a control group. We examined the changes in students’ knowledge of elements in argumentation and writing performance, after engaging a genre-based writing approach as a pedagogical intervention in the treatment group. We then compared these changes with those of the control group that followed a conventional approach. Students’ written texts in the pretest and posttest along with their responses to the knowledge questionnaires were collected. Results show that the treatment group markedly improved in their knowledge and writing performance, but the control group did not. Specifically, the treatment group improved more noticeably in their expressed knowledge of the structural and linguistic characteristics than their displayed knowledge of the contents, procedures, purposes, and audience consciousness in argumentation. The treatment group also showed significant improvements in their writing performance as shown in discourse structure, substance, and overall writing scores. These findings are discussed and implications for teaching are suggested.