Teaching argument writing to 7- to 14-year-olds: An international review of the evidence of successful practice

Cambridge Journal of Education

Volumn 39, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 291-310

  Andrews, Richard ^a   Torgerson, Carole ^b   Low, Graham ^b   McGuinn, Nick ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF YORK   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Argumentation; Learning; Literacy; National curriculum; Pedagogy

Indexed keywords

EID: 70349251565     PISSN: 0305764X     EISSN: 14693577     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03057640903103751     Document Type: Review

References (85)

1. Andrews, R., Torgerson, C., Low, G., McGuinn, N., & Robinson, A. (2006). Teaching argumentative non-fiction writing to 7-14 year olds: A systematic review of the evidence of successful practice. Technical report. In Research Evidence in Education Library. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/reel
2. Aulls, M.W. (2003). The influence of a reading and writing curriculum on transfer learning across subjects and grades. Reading Psychology, 24, 177-215.
3. Barnes, D., Britton, J., & Rosen, H. (1969). Language, the learner and the school. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
4. Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1987). The psychology of written composition. Hillsdale, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
5. Britton, J., Burgess, T., Martin, N., McLeod, A., & Rosen, H. (1975). The development of writing abilities. London: Macmillan.
6. Cox, B.E., Shanahan, T., & Tinzmann, M.B. (1991). Children's knowledge of organization, cohesion, and voice in written exposition. Research in the Teaching of English, 25, 179-218.
7. Crowhurst, M. (1990). Teaching and learning the writing of persuasive/argumentative discourse. Canadian Journal of Education, 15, 348-359.
8. De La Paz, S. (1997). Strategy instruction in planning: Teaching students with learning and writing disabilities to compose persuasive and expository essays. Learning Disability Quarterly, 20, 227-248.
9. De La Paz, S. (2001). Teaching writing to students with attention deficit disorders and specific language impairment. Journal of Educational Research, 95, 37-47.
10. De La Paz, S., & Graham, S. (1997). Effects of dictation and advanced planning instruction on the composing of students with writing and learning problems. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 203-222.
11. De La Paz, S., & Graham, S. (2002). Explicitly teaching strategies, skills, and knowledge: Writing instruction in middle school classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 687-698.
12. DCSF, & QCA (2008). Assessing pupils' progress in English at Key Stage 3. Nottingham: DCSF Publications.
13. DCSF. (2009). The English framework. Retrieved February, 2009, from National Strategies Web site: http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk
14. DCSF. (2009). English learning objectives. Retrieved February, 2009, from National Strategies Web site: http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk
15. DES. (1975). A language for life (The Bullock Report). London: HMSO.
16. DfEE (1999). The National Curriculum for England: English. London: HMSO.
17. Dixon, J., & Stratta, L. (1986). Writing narrative - and beyond. Sheffield: National Association for the Teaching of English.
18. Englert, C.S., Raphael, T.M., Anderson, L.M., Anthony, H.M., & Stevens, D.D. (1991). Making strategies and self-talk visible: Writing instruction in regular and special education classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 28, 337-372.
19. Ferretti, R.P., MacArthur, C.A., & Dowdy, N.S. (2000). The effects of an elaborated goal on the persuasive writing of students with learning disabilities and their normally achieving peers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 694-702.
20. Freedman, A., & Pringle, I. (1984). Why students can't write argument. English in Education, 18, 73-84.
21. Goodwyn, A. (1992). English teachers and the Cox models. English in Education, 26, 4-10.
22. Gordon, C.J. (1990). A study of students' text structure revisions. English Quarterly, 23, 7-30.
23. Graham, S., Harris, K.R., & Mason, L. (2005). Improving the writing performance, knowledge, and self-efficacy of struggling young writers: The effects of self-regulated strategy development. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 207-241.
24. Graves, D. (1982). Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
25. Hallenbeck, M.J. (1999). Taking charge: Adolescents with learning disabilities assume responsibility for their own writing. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the Council for Exceptional Children, Charlotte, NC. ERIC document ED430326.
26. Hallenbeck, M.J. (2002). Taking charge: Adolescents with learning disabilities assume responsibility for their own writing. Learning Disability Quarterly, 25, 227-246.
27. Hammann, L.A., & Stevens, R.J. (2003). Instructional approaches to improving students' writing of compare-contrast essays: An experimental study. Journal of Literacy Research, 35, 731-756.
28. Hidi, S., Berndorff, D., & Ainley, M. (2002). Children's argument writing, interest and selfefficacy: An intervention study. Learning and Instruction, 12, 429-446.
29. Hillocks, G. (1986). Research on written composition: New directions for teaching. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
30. Hillocks, G. (1995). Teaching writing as reflective practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
31. Knudson, R.E. (1991). Effects of instructional strategies, grade, and sex on students' persuasive writing. Journal of Experimental Education, 59, 141-152.
32. Knudson, R.E. (1992). An analysis of persuasive discourse: Learning how to take a stand. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, San Antonio, TA. ERIC document ED353581.
33. Knudson, R.E. (1994). An analysis of persuasive discourse: Learning how to take a stand. Discourse Processes, 18, 211-230.
34. Kress, G. (1994). Learning to write. London and New York: Routledge.
35. Marshall, B. (2000). English teachers: The unofficial guide: researching the philosophies of English teachers. London and New York: Routledge.
36. Mason, L.M., & Shriner, J.G. (2008). Self-regulated strategy development instruction for writing an opinion essay: Effects for six students with emotional/behavior disorders. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 21(1-2), 71-93.
37. Midgette, E., Haria, P., & MacArthur, C. (2008). The effect of content and audience awareness goals for revision on the persuasive essays of fifth- and eighth-grade students. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 21(1-2), 131-151.
38. Moffett, J. (1968). Teaching the universe of discourse. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
39. QCA. (2007). The National Curriculum. Retrieved February, 2009, from: www.qca.org.uk/ curriculum
40. Reznitskaya, A., Anderson, R., & Kuo, L.J. (2007). Teaching and learning argumentation. Elementary School Journal, 17(5), 449-472.
41. Reznitskaya, A., Anderson, R.C., McNurlen, B., Nguyen Jahiel, K., Archodidou, A., & Kim, S. (2001). Influence of oral discussion on written argument. Discourse Processes, 32, 155-175.
42. Sexton, M., Harris, K.R., & Graham, S. (1998). Self-regulated strategy development and the writing process: Effects on essay writing and attributions. Exceptional Children, 64, 295-311.
43. Toulmin, S. (1958). The uses of argument. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
44. Troia, G.A., & Graham, S. (2002). The effectiveness of a highly explicit, teacher-directed strategy instruction routine: Changing the writing performance of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35, 290-305.
45. VanTassel-Baska, J., Johnson, D.T., Hughes, C.E., & Boyce, L.N. (1996). A study of language arts curriculum effectiveness with gifted learners. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 19, 461-480.
46. VanTassel-Baska, J., Zuo, L., Avery, L.D. & Little, C.A. (2002). A curriculum study of gifted-student learning in the language arts. Gifted Child Quarterly, 46, 30-44.
47. Yeh, S.S. (1998). Empowering education: Teaching argumentational writing to cultural minority middle-school students. Research in the Teaching of English, 33, 49-83.
48. Akkus, R. (2008). Analysis of the first year of a three-year SWH implementation within K-6 classrooms. In B.M. Hand (Ed.), Science inquiry, argument and language (pp. 53-72). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
49. Anderson, D.D. (2008). The elementary persuasive letter: Two cases of situated competence, strategy and agency. Research in the Teaching of English, 42(3), 270-314.
50. Andrews, R. (1992). An exploration of structural relationships in narrative and argumentational writing, with particular reference to the work of Year 8 students. Ph.D thesis, University of Hull, UK.
51. Andrews, R. (1995). Teaching and learning argument. London: Cassell.
52. Andrews, R. (2005a). Models of argumentation in educational discourse. Text, 25(1), 107-127.
53. Andrews, R. (2005b). Response to Paul Prior. Text, 25(1), 145-147.
54. Andrews, R., & Costello, P. (1992). Improving the quality of argument, 7-16 (interim report). Hull: University of Hull, Centre for Studies in Rhetoric.
55. Andrews, R., & Costello, P. (1993). Improving the quality of argument, 5-16 (final report). Hull: University of Hull, Centre for Studies in Rhetoric.
56. Andrews, R., & Gibson, H. (1993). A critique of the 'chronological/non-chronological' distinction in the National Curriculum for English. Educational Review, 45, 238-249.
57. Andrews, R., & Hertzberg, F. (Forthcoming). Special issue of the journal Argumentation on argumentation writing in Scandinavia and England.
58. Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1982). From conversation to composition: The role of instruction in the developmental process. In R. Glaser (Ed.), Advances in instructional psychology. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
59. Britton, J. (1972). Language and learning. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
60. Burkhalter, N. (1994). Applying Vygotsky: Teaching preformal-operational children a formaloperational task. Unpublished research report, University of Wyoming, WY. ERIC document ED379208.
61. Burkhalter, N. (1995). A Vygotsky-based curriculum for teaching persuasive writing in the elementary grades. Language Arts, 72, 192-199.
62. Cox, B. (1991). Cox on Cox: An English curriculum for the 1990s. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
63. Crowhurst, M. (1990). Reading/writing relationships: An intervention study. Canadian Journal of Education, 15, 155-172.
64. Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring how texts work. Sydney, Australia: PETA.
65. DES. (1989). English for ages 5-16. London: HMSO.
66. DfEE. (1998). The National Literacy Strategy: Framework for teaching. London: DfEE.
67. DfEE. (2001a). Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Framework for teaching English: Years 7, 8 and 9. London: DfEE.
68. DfEE. (2001b). English department training 2001. London: DfEE.
69. DfEE. (2001c). Literacy across the curriculum. London: DfEE.
70. DfES. (2000). Grammar for writing (Key Stage 2). London: DfES010107/2000, DfES0107/ 2000V. Retrieved February, 2009, from: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/literacy/63317/
71. DfES. (2001). Developing early writing. London: DfES0055/2001, DfES0056/2001. Retrieved February, 2009, from: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/literacy/63337/
72. DfES. (2003). English department training 2003: Improving writing. London: DfES.
73. DfES. (2004a). Literacy and learning. London: DfES.
74. DfES. (2004b). English department training 2004: Improving writing. London: DfES.
75. EPPI-Centre. (2002a). Core keywording strategy: Data collection for a register of educational research (Version 0.9.7). London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit.
76. EPPI-Centre. (2002b). Guidelines for extracting data and quality assessing primary studies in educational research (Version 0.9.7). London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit.
77. ® (Version 0.9.7). London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit.
78. Evagorou, M., & Osborne, J. (2007). Argue-WISE: Using technology to support argumentation in science. School Science Review, 89, 103-109.
79. Ferretti, R.P., Andrews-Weckerly, S., & Lewis, W.E. (2007). Improving the argumentative writing of students with learning disabilities: Descriptive and normative considerations. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 23(3), 267-285.
80. Gleason, M.M. (1999). The role of evidence in argumentative writing. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 15, 81-106.
81. Hand, B.M. (Ed.). (2008). Science inquiry, argument and language. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
82. Lewis, M., & Wray, D. (2000). Literacy in the secondary school. London: David Fulton.
83. Newcomer, P.L., & Barenbaum, E.M. (1991). The written composing ability of children with learning disabilities: A review of the literature from 1980 to 1990. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24, 578-593.
84. Okada, A., & Buckingham Shum, S. (2008). Evidence-based dialogue maps as a research tool to investigate the quality of school pupils' argumentation. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 31(3), 291-315.
85. Prior, P. (2005). Toward the ethnography of argumentation: A response to Richard Andrews' 'Models of argumentation in educational discourse'. Text, 25(1), 129-147.