Teaching Argumentative Writing: Three Rhetorical Situations in a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Secondary English Classroom

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: (Re)defining and Exploring the Possibilities of Literacy Teaching, Learning, and Assessment in the K-12 Classroom

Abstract

We examine how an experienced English language arts teacher created a sense of coherence and continuity in her culturally and linguistically diverse eleventh grade Advanced Placement English Language and Composition classroom over a school year. We studied the teacher's curricular decision-making as she taught argumentative writing in three different instructional units. Our findings were based on interviews with teacher and students, classroom observations, and analyses of instructional conversations. We argue that two mechanisms contributed to coherence and continuity in the curriculum: the curricular structure that was created to support curricular conversations to engage students in progressively more complex argumentative writing practices and the conventions that were established to govern and support students' participation during instruction.

Authors

• George E. Newell, The Ohio State University

• Amanda White, Columbus City Schools

• Kevin Fulton, The Ohio State University

• Tzu-Jung Lin, The Ohio State University