English Language Arts and Reading.5.9.E.iii

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The student is expected to

recognize characteristics and structures of argumentative text by:

 

identifying the intended audience or reader; and

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

Task students with working in small groups to read several single-paragraph excerpts of argumentative texts and identify the intended audience for each. Each paragraph should contain enough information so that students, with minimal inferring, can reasonably be expected to determine for what audience the author is writing.

Possible Questions:

  • Are there any words in the text that indicate the author’s intended audience?
  • What people or groups might be interested in the topic of the text?
  • What is the author’s claim? Who might support/oppose that claim?
     

Further Explanation

This assessment item requires students to identify the group for whom the author’s message is intended. In order to do this, students must first determine the author’s purpose.

a text written to demonstrate to an audience that a certain position or idea is valid and that others are not The writer appeals to reason, develops, defends, or debates the topic, connecting a series of statements in an orderly way so they lead to a logical conclusion.
Students should identify the specific target group for a message. In the case of writing, students must first identify the author’s purpose. There are different reasons authors decide to write. They may want to inform readers about something, persuade them to do something or simply entertain them. It is also important that students think about who would be interested in the topic being presented and be aware that the intended audience could be a single person, a group of people, or the general public.
Recognizing characteristics requires determining the specific components of something. In reading, students are expected to have a clear idea of the particular attributes of argumentative text. For example, they should know that an argumentative text has unique characteristics such as a claim, an intended audience, and the use of facts in support or refutation of an argument.
Students should recognize structures, such as introduction, claim, facts, arguments, counterarguments, and conclusion, of argumentative text that create the way an argumentative essay is organized. Each one of these structures has a specific function in an argumentative text that students should identify and explain.

Research

1. Kinsey, B., & Comerchero, V.A. ((2012). Language in style: Formal language and tone. Communique, 41(1), 37.

Summary: This is a one-pager that addresses how language and words imply assumptions, beliefs, and biases. The article provides examples of how word choice and the sequence of words significantly change the meaning. The authors advocate that writing should be appropriate for its audience and the writing style generally should be formal.

2. Wagemans, J.H.M. (2011). The assessment of argumentation from expert opinion. Argumentation, 25, 329–330. doi: 10.1007/s10503-011-9225-8 

Summary: This article introduces a tool that can be used to format an argument in response to and for a particular audience. This resource is a advanced deep dive, including charts to illustrate how to analyze opposing positions and develop questions from a critical perspective.

3. Klein, P.D., & Rose, M.A. (2010). Teaching argument and explanation to prepare junior students for writing to learn. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(4), 433–461.  doi: 10.1598/RRQ.45.4.4

Summary: In this study, Klein and Rose examine how students respond to various writing tasks and assignments. The teachers used the process writing approach, which included creating an outline, drafts, and a final paper. The revision and edit process lends itself to implementing teacher and peer oral and written feedback. The study reveals that there are specific, as well as, varied means to teach the writing process to students. Students must use prior knowledge and have access to relevant external sources (i.e. internet).

4. VanDerHeide, J., & Juzwik, M.M. (2018). Argument as conversation: Students responding through writing to significant conversations across time and place. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 62(1), 67–77. doi: 10.1002/jaal.754

Summary:  In this article, the author presents an instructional model that reconnects to the why of writing. The model of information reasoning requires students to learn how to make claims, provide supporting evidence of that claim, and create additional examples of the claim through the use of analogies and stories. In this study, students were asked to write a letter in response to an ongoing conversation that was of particular importance to them. Personal experience helps to develop the students' ability to advocate for a position through writing. The approach requires scaffolding on argumentative writing instruction. This study includes multiple templates to guide the writing of the responses. This approach fosters the opportunity for students to participate in conversations that have a historical background. In doing so, students engage in topics of debate that have continued over time and in various spaces. Students are invited to participate in these discussions through their writing positions as arguing for or against a position.