Investigating the Relationship between Classroom Conversation and Argumentative Writing Using Writing Moves and Types of Talk

Abstract

[full article in English] In this paper, I investigate the relationships between classroom talk and dialogic literary argumentative writing. My work is situated within a larger body of recent research on argumentative writing, taking up a social practice understanding of argumentative writing as being a set of social practices that are situated within a larger process of learning over time (Newell, Bloome & Hirvela 2015). This perspective aligns with the current understandings of writing that have been taken up over the past fifteen years (Nystrand, Green & Weimelt 1993; Klein & Boscolo 2016; Newell, Beach, Smith & VanDerHeide 2011). I adopt a Bakhtinian frame to investigate classroom argumentative writing and talk, which entails a negotiation between the meaning of events and utterances through interaction. Because of this, all interactions and utterances are inherently dialogic, as they are connected to histories and in anticipation of the future. This perspective frames the teaching and learning of argumentative writing as being negotiated locally over time, with unique practices and ways of knowing established through classroom interaction. This means that the teaching and learning of argumentative practices will always be unique to the contexts in which they are practiced. After establishing this frame, I employ instructional chains and discourse analysis in order to analyze two separate classroom discussions that occurred in two separate classrooms. By doing so, I aim to answer the following questions: what is the relationship between classroom talk and dialogic literary argumentative writing as a social practice? How is talk used to define and develop DLA both in regard to argumentative moves and the concepts and ideas derived from literature?

Keywords

• argumentative writing, dialogic literary argumentation, classroom discourse, exploratory talk