Debate as L2 Pedagogy: Enhancing Primary Students’ Writing Ability through Debate Activities
Keywords:
Debate, Writing Ability, Argumentative WritingAbstract
This study reports the implementation of debate as a potential pedagogical tool in developing students’ writing ability on argumentative texts among EFL primary school students. As many as 18 sixth-grade students (N=18) of one private school in West Java took part in this study. The study employed a pre-test and post-test design to assess improvements in writing fluency, lexical richness, coherence and cohesion. The results showed significant across all areas. Students' average word count increased by 109%, lexical complexity (type-token ratio) rose from 0.29 to 0.36. Furthermore, the use of cohesive devices increased by 76%. These findings hint great opportunity for English teachers to implement debate activities to foster deep learning and significantly enhance argumentative writing skills in young L2 learners.
References
Asing, J. B. (2018). LEXICAL RICHNESS IN EFL PRIMARY STUDENTS ’ WRITING :
Ellis, R., Skehan, P., Li, S., Shintani, N., & Lambert, C. (2019). Ellis , R ., Skehan , P ., Li , S ., Shintani , N ., and Lambert , C . ( 2019 ). Task-based language teaching : Theory and practice . Cambridge : Cambridge University Task-Based Language Teaching. September.
Kennedy, R. R. (2009). The power of in-class debates. Active Learning in Higher Education, 10(3), 225–236. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787409343186
Khoiroh, H. (2023). Efektivitas Penggunaan Aplikasi Canva sebagai Media Pembelajaran dalam Meningkatkan Kreativitas Keterampilan Menulis (Maharah Kitabah) Mahasiswa Universitas Kiai Abdullah Faqih Gresik. JALIE: Journal of Applied Linguistics and Islamic Education, 7(2), 317–332.
Kinet Promoteur, A., & Meunier, F. (2018). The impact of grammar teaching methods on EFL pupils’ achievement and motivation: traditional vs. technology-enhanced. 1–95.
Majidi, A. El, Graaff, R. De, & Janssen, D. (2020). Debate as L2 Pedagogy: The Effects of Debating on Writing Development in Secondary Education. Modern Language Journal, 104(4), 804–821. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12673
Modarresi, G. (2021). The effect of dictogloss vs. debating on L2 writing proficiency: A mixed-methods study. Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly …, 8191(4), 121–160. https://doi.org/10.22099/JTLS.2021.39939.2954
Zare, P., & Othman, M. (2013). Classroom debate as a systematic teaching/learning approach. World Applied Sciences Journal, 28(11), 1506–1513. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.wasj.2013.28.11.1809
Zhang, L. J., & Zhang, D. (2013). Thinking Metacognitively about Metacognition in Second and Foreign Language Learning, Teaching, and Research: Toward a Dynamic Metacognitive Systems Perspective. Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies, 396(12), 111–121.
