Page 308 - Gabrijela Kišiček and Igor Ž. Žagar (eds.), What do we know about the world? Rhetorical and argumentative perspectives, Digital Library, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana 2013
P. 308
What Do We Know about the World?
The corpus of data was composed: a) by transcripts from audio-taped in-
struction in the classroom and b) by students’ individual pre- (Text A)
and post-tests (Text B and Text C) in the form of informal argumenta-
tive letters. The writing of the texts was carried out before (Text A) and
after (Text A, Text B) the lecture and the analysis of the text-model. The
effects of imitation in students’ writing were analysed in qualitative and
quantitative terms (triangulation of data) in order to provide validity
and reliability to the research. The qualitative analysis was based on Fair-
clough’s three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis which
examines both features of grammar or vocabulary as well as features of
the textual organization and the appearance of genres in the produced
texts. (Fairclough, 1995: 188–189; Blommaert and Bulcaen, 2000: 448).
The quantitative analysis used two statistical tests: a) the Friedman and
b) the Wilcoxon test. The category system was identified as reliable be-
cause of the calculation of Cohen’s Kappa coefficient for two raters (Co-
hen 1960). Alpha values of 0,907, 0,832 and 0,881 were obtained for the
observations regarding the existence of arguments of cause and effect in
the student’s written texts A, B and C correspondingly. A high statisti-
cal significance of Kappa for the Text A was noticed (overall k = 0,907 p
< 0,001). Therefore, there was evidence that the observation system used
by the researcher was valid.
4.2. Materials Development and Teaching Intervention
The intervention was carried out for a total of six didactic hours of
45 minutes in a period of 7 days. The steps followed were:
a) First, the free writing of an informal, exhortative letter (Text A) to
the mayor of the town. By using arguments, students asked him not
to permit the cutting of a tree for the construction of a new apart-
ment building in the neighbourhood (one didactic hour). The re-
quested text form of a letter was considered the most appropriate,
since ars dictaminis integrates elements of oral and written rheto-
ric, and also it can be an answer to an implicit, underlying contro-
versy, well-hidden beneath its structure (East, 1968: 242). The text A
served as a basic criterion of students’ initial writing and as a point
of reference in comparison with the two following texts.
b) The next two days the reading and the analysis of an extract with
analogous content1 followed (three didactic hours). The extract,
1 A little boy, Doros, saves Fundu (the tree) who is in danger, from the constructor, the bulldozer, the
mechanic and the chopper.
The corpus of data was composed: a) by transcripts from audio-taped in-
struction in the classroom and b) by students’ individual pre- (Text A)
and post-tests (Text B and Text C) in the form of informal argumenta-
tive letters. The writing of the texts was carried out before (Text A) and
after (Text A, Text B) the lecture and the analysis of the text-model. The
effects of imitation in students’ writing were analysed in qualitative and
quantitative terms (triangulation of data) in order to provide validity
and reliability to the research. The qualitative analysis was based on Fair-
clough’s three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis which
examines both features of grammar or vocabulary as well as features of
the textual organization and the appearance of genres in the produced
texts. (Fairclough, 1995: 188–189; Blommaert and Bulcaen, 2000: 448).
The quantitative analysis used two statistical tests: a) the Friedman and
b) the Wilcoxon test. The category system was identified as reliable be-
cause of the calculation of Cohen’s Kappa coefficient for two raters (Co-
hen 1960). Alpha values of 0,907, 0,832 and 0,881 were obtained for the
observations regarding the existence of arguments of cause and effect in
the student’s written texts A, B and C correspondingly. A high statisti-
cal significance of Kappa for the Text A was noticed (overall k = 0,907 p
< 0,001). Therefore, there was evidence that the observation system used
by the researcher was valid.
4.2. Materials Development and Teaching Intervention
The intervention was carried out for a total of six didactic hours of
45 minutes in a period of 7 days. The steps followed were:
a) First, the free writing of an informal, exhortative letter (Text A) to
the mayor of the town. By using arguments, students asked him not
to permit the cutting of a tree for the construction of a new apart-
ment building in the neighbourhood (one didactic hour). The re-
quested text form of a letter was considered the most appropriate,
since ars dictaminis integrates elements of oral and written rheto-
ric, and also it can be an answer to an implicit, underlying contro-
versy, well-hidden beneath its structure (East, 1968: 242). The text A
served as a basic criterion of students’ initial writing and as a point
of reference in comparison with the two following texts.
b) The next two days the reading and the analysis of an extract with
analogous content1 followed (three didactic hours). The extract,
1 A little boy, Doros, saves Fundu (the tree) who is in danger, from the constructor, the bulldozer, the
mechanic and the chopper.
