Evaluative expressions in analytical arguments

Wu, S. M., & Desmond, A. (2005). Evaluative expressions in analytical arguments: Aspects of appraisal in assigned English language essays. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(1), 105-127. Retrieved from http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JALPP/article/view/18194/14409

Background

Investigation of the use of evaluative language in written argumentation is more prevalent in professional academic writing than in student writing. However, students’ use of evaluative language in their essays may contribute to more effective persuasive essays.

Aims

The aim of the study was to examine evaluative expressions used in high-rated and low-rated argumentative essays, and to determine the type of evaluative expressions that resulted in more or less effective argumentation.

Sample

The data set consisted of 17 essays written by first-year undergraduate English majors in a Singapore university. These essays were taken from a larger data set of 225 essays collected for research on evaluative expressions in argumentative essays.

Method

The Appraisal framework was used to analyse evaluative language in the students’ essays. This framework comprised three major systems: engagement, attitude, and graduation. Engagement involves the positioning of the writer towards a proposition and the willingness to consider other positions. The attitude system is used to convey a positive or negative view of an event, a place, or people whereas the graduation system is used to indicate the strength of the writer’s evaluations by using linguistic resources such as adverbs of intensification, that amplify or diminish the attitudes and engagement conveyed.

Findings

The authors found that the writers of high-rated essays identified their position statement early, at the beginning of the essays, and reiterated a consistent position towards the end of their essays. The writer’s position in low-rated essays, on the other hand, was not always clear in the ‘thesis’ stage. Problems were also found in the ‘reiteration’ stage because the writer’s position had somewhat changed in the final stage. Within these stages, the use of evaluative expressions contributed to the effectiveness of argumentation. Good writers used graduation resources to scale the impact of the factors on their claim, while some poor writers could not use these same resources as their position was unclear.

Implications

The authors recommended that students should be encouraged to state a position statement early in the introductory paragraphs and to reiterate their position consistently in the concluding paragraphs of their essays. They should make use of graduation resources to improve the effectiveness of their argumentation.

Original article retrieved from Google scholar.