Enhancing evidence-based argumentation in a Mainland China middle school

• Published in: Contemporary educational psychology 2019-10, Vol.59, p.101809, Article 101809
• Main Author: Shi, Yuchen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Argumentation; China; Dialog; Discourse; Evidence; Writing
• ISSN: 0361-476X; 1090-2384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101809

•A discourse-based argument curriculum can be effectively implemented in a Mainland Chinese setting.•Topic-related information was acquired via a Q & A method.•A practice plus reflection condition yielded better use of evidence in final essays than did practice alone.•Gains during intervention transferred to a non-intervention topic. While discourse-based educational approaches have become an object of increasing interest in Western countries, they are largely unknown in countries such as China that are characterized by a strong centralized government with limited encouragement of dissent. In the present study, 54 11–12 year-old Chinese students participated in an extended discourse-based curriculum that has been found successful in Western countries in developing skills of both dialogic and individual written argument. Although the curriculum involves activities unfamiliar to Chinese students, they easily became engaged and showed significant gains in post-intervention essays on both the curriculum topics and new ones. An additional component newly added to the curriculum involved explicit reflection on the relations between a claim and evidence and proved effective in enhancing gains relative to a comparison group not experiencing this addition. Underlying mechanisms in the transfer from dialogic to individual skill are considered, and issues with respect to culture and education are addressed.