Written Communication Jan 2002

Contextualizing Toulmin's Model in the Writing Classroom

Karen J. Lunsford University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Abstract

Although Toulmin models of argumentation are pervasive in composition textbooks, research on the model's use in writing classrooms has been scarce'typically limited to evaluating how students' essays align with the model's elements (claim, data, warrant, qualifier, rebuttal, backing) construed as objective standards. That approach discounts Toulmin's emphasis on context. In contrast, this study of a major university's summer composition program for high school students employs Wenger's notion of communities of practice and Bakhtin's notion of response to trace how classroom contexts mediate students' and teachers' understandings of a Toulmin model. The article presents a case study of a controversy that emerged when participants attempted to identify the main claim in one student's essay. The controversy arose, the analysis suggests, as participants positioned competing tacit and explicit representations of claims with/against other rhetorical terms (for example, thesis), variously interpreted the assigned tasks, and negotiated over tasks and texts.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2002-01-01
DOI
10.1177/074108830201900105
Open Access
Closed
Topics
qualitative research multimodality race and writing argument

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Olsen et al. (2018)
    Examining Intertextual Connections in Written Arguments: A Study of Student Wri…
    Written Communication
  2. O’Hallaron (2014)
    Supporting Fifth-Grade ELLs’ Argumentative Writing Development
    Written Communication
  3. VanDerHeide et al. (2013)
    Instructional Chains as a Method for Examining the Teaching and Learning of Arg…
    Written Communication
  4. Whithaus (2012)
    Claim-Evidence Structures in Environmental Science Writing: Modifying Toulmin's…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Keith et al. (2008)
    Toulmin's Rhetorical Logic: What's the Warrant for Warrants?
    Philosophy & Rhetoric

Cites in this index (17)

  1. Yeh (1998)
    Empowering Education: Teaching Argumentative Writing to Cultural Minority Middl…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  2. CRAMMOND (1998)
    The Uses and Complexity of Argument Structures in Expert and Student Persuasive…
    Written Communication
  3. BLAKESLEE (1997)
    Activity, Context, Interaction, and Authority
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. DIAMONDSTONE (1997)
    Contested Relations and Authoritative Texts
    Written Communication
  5. Straub (1997)
    Students’ Reactions to Teacher Comments: An Exploratory Study
    Research in the Teaching of English
Show all 17 →
  1. DYSTHE (1996)
    The Multivoiced Classroom
    Written Communication
  2. Oliver (1995)
    The Writing Quality of Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Graders, and College Freshm…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  3. Yaqelski (1995)
    The Role of Classroom Context in the Revision Strategies of Student Writers
    Research in the Teaching of English
  4. Sperling (1994)
    Constructing the Perspective of Teacher-as-Reader: A Framework for Studying Res…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  5. Ferris (1994)
    Rhetorical Strategies in Student Persuasive Writing: Differences between Native…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  6. PRIOR (1991)
    Contextualizing Writing and Response in a Graduate Seminar
    Written Communication
  7. Connor (1990)
    Linguistic/Rhetorical Measures for International Persuasive Student Writing
    Research in the Teaching of English
  8. Black (1989)
    Audience Analysis and Persuasive Writing at the College Level
    Research in the Teaching of English
  9. Scharton (1989)
    Models of Competence: Responses to a Scenario Writing Assignment
    Research in the Teaching of English
  10. McCann (1989)
    Student Argumentative Writing Knowledge and Ability at Three Grade Levels
    Research in the Teaching of English
  11. Redd-Boyd et al. (1989)
    The Effects of Audience Specification on Undergraduates’ Attitudes, Strategies,…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  12. Durst (1987)
    Cognitive and Linguistic Demands of Analytic Writing
    Research in the Teaching of English
Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
  1. Bové, P. A. (1988)
    After Foucault: Humanistic knowledge, postmodern challenges
     ↗
  2. Chinn, C. A. (1998)
    10.1177/016146819810000205
    Teachers College Record  ↗
  3. 10.2307/1389288
     ↗
  4. 10.1080/00220671.1992.9944434
     ↗
  5. 10.1017/CBO9780511815355
     ↗
  6. 10.1080/0748763910070408
     ↗
  7. 10.1017/CBO9780511803932
     ↗
  8. 10.2307/249686
     ↗
  9. 10.1016/S1075-2935(99)80009-9
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 40 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Literacy in Composition Studies Feb 2021
    Composing Literary Arguments in an 11th Grade International Baccalaureate Classroom: How Classroom Instructional Conversations Shape Modes of Participation ↗
    Newell, George E.; Thanos, Theresa Siemer; Seymour, Matt
    writing pedagogy discourse analysis qualitative research multimodality race and writing argument
  2. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Remixing the College Essay ↗
    Felisa Baynes-Ross; Caitlin Cawley; Caroline Hagood; Mira Zaman
    first-year composition two-year college qualitative research multimodality race and writing multilingual writers
  3. Pedagogy Apr 2024
    The Design of Grading ↗
    Luke Thominet
    qualitative research multimodality race and writing voice and style
  4. Research in the Teaching of English Feb 2024
    Cultivating Genre Awareness of Speculative Genres: A Case Study of One Queer Latinx Educator’s Narrative Inquiry ↗
    James Joshua Coleman
    genre theory qualitative research multimodality race and writing
  5. Written Communication Apr 2023
    When the Truth Doesn’t Seem to Matter: The Affordances of Disciplinary Argument in the Era of Post-truth ↗
    Ralph P. Ferretti
    multimodality race and writing public rhetoric argument