Page 200 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 200
2. lit. language, use of words that is clever and sophisticated, but usually
has no real meaning: his essays are characterised by verbosity and rheto-
ric; the speaker got lost in pathos and rhetoric // speaking, use of words
in general: such rhetoric is more useful for a lawyer than a writer
argumentation /ˌɑːgjʊmɛnˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ noun
a set of arguments to explain, substantiate, prove something: his argu-
mentation is impossible to keep up with; convincing, contradictory argu-
mentation; argumentation of a proposal // evidence: submit elaborate
evidence; the assertion has no argumentation; scientific argumentation1
The definitions of rhetoric and argumentation used above have been tak-
en from the Dictionary of Standard Slovenian Language, which is considered
the usual and normative reference with regard to understanding and proper
use of the Slovenian language. Careful readers, who are familiar with the the-
ory of rhetoric and argumentation, at least to a small extent, may notice some
points of interest in the above dictionary entries. The entry for ‘argumentation’
makes it clear at first glance that the interpretative framework is complete-
200 ly subordinate to understanding argumentation as merely a technique, with-
out any social reference; and in relation to it, it is not clear whether it is under-
stood as an emphatically linguistic or cognitive technique, or both. The entry
for rhetoric reflects a somewhat more complex image. With the exception of
the pejorative interpretative framework and obvious inaccurate understand-
ing of individual rhetorical concepts, such as separate definitions of the terms
rhetoric and pathos in the context of the so-called ‘literary use’ (e.g. ‘the speak-
er got lost in pathos and rhetoric’), no connection can be found in the diction-
ary entry between the concepts of rhetoric and persuasion, which is considered
one of the fundamental characteristics of rhetoric and has been a constituent
part of its conceptualisation since antiquity. In view of this pejorative meaning,
which in relation to rhetoric can be reconstructed at least from the first and the
second definitions, it is rather surprising that the common and everyday (al-
though somewhat unsuitable) conception of rhetoric as a skill of persuasion
in the sense of deceiving is missing from the dictionary entry. The absence of
such an explicitly pejorative and simplified notion could be attributed to the
tradition of the literary conception of rhetoric, which reduces rhetoric to some
sort of catalogue of verbal decoration and – giving the dictionary entry a more
detailed analysis - is actually the basis of the definition from the Dictionary of
Standard Slovenian Language.
In spite of such initial orientation, two questions remain unexplained, i.e.
why persuasion is not a constituent (or at least implicit) part of the Sloveni-
an ‘official’ normative definition of rhetoric, and why the social aspect of ar-
1 SASA - Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Scientific Research Centre of SASA, Fran Ramovš In-
stitute of Slovenian Language ZRC SAZU (2000). Dictionary of Standard Slovenian Language.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
has no real meaning: his essays are characterised by verbosity and rheto-
ric; the speaker got lost in pathos and rhetoric // speaking, use of words
in general: such rhetoric is more useful for a lawyer than a writer
argumentation /ˌɑːgjʊmɛnˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ noun
a set of arguments to explain, substantiate, prove something: his argu-
mentation is impossible to keep up with; convincing, contradictory argu-
mentation; argumentation of a proposal // evidence: submit elaborate
evidence; the assertion has no argumentation; scientific argumentation1
The definitions of rhetoric and argumentation used above have been tak-
en from the Dictionary of Standard Slovenian Language, which is considered
the usual and normative reference with regard to understanding and proper
use of the Slovenian language. Careful readers, who are familiar with the the-
ory of rhetoric and argumentation, at least to a small extent, may notice some
points of interest in the above dictionary entries. The entry for ‘argumentation’
makes it clear at first glance that the interpretative framework is complete-
200 ly subordinate to understanding argumentation as merely a technique, with-
out any social reference; and in relation to it, it is not clear whether it is under-
stood as an emphatically linguistic or cognitive technique, or both. The entry
for rhetoric reflects a somewhat more complex image. With the exception of
the pejorative interpretative framework and obvious inaccurate understand-
ing of individual rhetorical concepts, such as separate definitions of the terms
rhetoric and pathos in the context of the so-called ‘literary use’ (e.g. ‘the speak-
er got lost in pathos and rhetoric’), no connection can be found in the diction-
ary entry between the concepts of rhetoric and persuasion, which is considered
one of the fundamental characteristics of rhetoric and has been a constituent
part of its conceptualisation since antiquity. In view of this pejorative meaning,
which in relation to rhetoric can be reconstructed at least from the first and the
second definitions, it is rather surprising that the common and everyday (al-
though somewhat unsuitable) conception of rhetoric as a skill of persuasion
in the sense of deceiving is missing from the dictionary entry. The absence of
such an explicitly pejorative and simplified notion could be attributed to the
tradition of the literary conception of rhetoric, which reduces rhetoric to some
sort of catalogue of verbal decoration and – giving the dictionary entry a more
detailed analysis - is actually the basis of the definition from the Dictionary of
Standard Slovenian Language.
In spite of such initial orientation, two questions remain unexplained, i.e.
why persuasion is not a constituent (or at least implicit) part of the Sloveni-
an ‘official’ normative definition of rhetoric, and why the social aspect of ar-
1 SASA - Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Scientific Research Centre of SASA, Fran Ramovš In-
stitute of Slovenian Language ZRC SAZU (2000). Dictionary of Standard Slovenian Language.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
