A dialogic approach to create argumentative discourse: Promoting argumentation at tertiary EFL classroom

This study aims to shed light on to what extent the dialogic teaching principles could contribute, if any, to students' argumentative skills in a tertiary-level EFL classroom. Situated within the framework of Social Constructivist Theory and Dialogism, a dialectical action research study was conducted. Guided by the dialogic teaching principles of Alexander (2008), an intervention plan was devised to promote argumentative discourse in the classroom. In order to create an organizational framework for argumentativeness, Argument Schema Theory was adapted. The data collection process commenced before the intervention sessions to justify the problems set at the beginning. Preliminary data gathered from the written and oral discourse of the students, along with the analyses of their epistemological dispositions, deemed this research necessary. Intervention process aimed to engage students in various controversial issues through essays and classroom discussions. The phenomenon was first approached from the perspectives of the students who evaluated to what extent the classroom discourse was dialogic. Subsequently, the intervention process underwent rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis. The categorization of written and oral discourse was performed, and subsequent analyses were carried out accordingly. Thereafter, students' perspectives on the intervention process were solicited to bridge any gaps in understanding. The findings revealed a statistically significant relationship between the utilization of dialogue elements in classroom discourse and the argumentative skills of the students, meaning a dialogic space for students to engage in facilitated their ability to generate and evaluate a greater number of arguments, counterarguments, and rebuttals. From students' perspectives, classroom discourse indicated a predominantly dialogic stance, albeit still in the developing category. When examining the students' perception of the dialogically designed intervention, it is important to note that although they derived benefits from it, the findings of the study indicated that there were certain challenges encountered during its implementation. The whole process of this dialectical action research revealed that engaging students in controversial issues and creating a dialogic space in the classroom impacted their argumentation skills. Keywords: English as a foreign language, dialogic teaching, dialectic action research, argumentation skills, socio-cultural theory