Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Herat University

2 English Department, Herat University

Abstract

Persuasive language influences college students dramatically by providing possibilities of presenting their self. The current study examined how EFL college students embodied their gender identity, employed argumentation, and incorporated rhetorical appeals (logos, ethos, and pathos) in their EFL writing. The study utilized a mixed-method approach. Using simple and random sampling, the authors selected eight argumentative essays that the EFL students submitted as an academic writing course requirement. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) is used to measure linguistic properties of the texts, and coding quantitatively is used to analyze the qualitative data collected by interview. The results revealed that the participants did not include the qualifier and counterarguments, and they incorporated rhetorical appeals across gender differently. The study unveiled various underlying constraints sanctioning the EFL students' gender identity presentation within their writing in the Afghan context. The study offered several pedagogical implications to support EFL students to develop as successful writers.

Keywords

Adams, A. M., & Simmons, F. R. (2019). Exploring individual and gender differences in early writing performance. Reading and Writing, 32(2), 235–263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9859-0
Al-haq, F. A.-A., & Ahmed, A. S. E. A. (1994). Discourse problems in argumentative writing. World Englishes, 13(3), 307–323. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971x.1994.tb00318.x 
Al-Saadi, Z. (2020). Gender differences in writing: The mediating effect of language proficiency and writing fluency in text quality. Cogent Education, 7(1), 1770923.‏https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2020.1770923
Aristotle, G. A. (1991). Aristotle on Rhetoric a Theory of Civic Discourse.
Aydinoglu. (2014). Gender in English language teaching coursebooks. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 158, 233-239.
Bacang, B. C., Rillo, R. M., & Alieto, E. O. (2019). The gender construct in the use of rhetorical appeals, hedges, and boosters in ESL writing: A discourse analysis. Online Submission, 25, 210-224.
Beard, R., & Burrell, A. (2010). Writing attainment in 9- to 11-year-olds: Some differences between girls and boys in two genres. Language and Education, 24(6), 495–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2010.502968
Bussey, K. (2011). Gender identity development. In Handbook of identity theory and research (pp. 603-628). Springer, New York, NY.‏
Chambers, J. K. (1995). Sociolinguistic Theory: Linguistic variation and its social significance. Oxford, UK, & Cambridge, USA: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Cheng, F. & Chen, Y. (2009). Taiwanese argumentation skills: Contrastive rhetoric perspective. Taiwan International ESP Journal, 1(1), 23-50.
Cohn, M. A., Mehl, M. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2004). Linguistic markers of psychological change surrounding. Psychological science, 15(10), 687-693.
Etaywe, A. S. (2018). A Computerized Analysis of Gender Linguistic Patterns as Reflected in Jordanians' Facebook Statuses: Lexical Items, Affect, Theme, Identity and More. International Journal of Computer Applications, 975, 8887.‏
Flynn, E. A. (1988). Composing as a Woman. College composition and communication, 39(4), 423-435.‏
Haidt, J. (2012). The righteous mind. Why good people are divided by politics and religion. England: Penguin.
Hosseini, M. (2016). Rhetorical transfer among young EFL learners: The first experience of paragraph writing investigated. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 7(5), 876-885.‏
Isai, K. I. A., Lin, T. M., Ching, H. S., Selvajothi, R., & Maruthai, E. (2020). Using Rhetorical Approach of Ethos, Pathos and Logos by Malaysian Engineering Students in Persuasive Email Writings. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 5(4), 19-33.‏
Jassim, L. L. (2019). Analysis of the Rhetorical Patterns in Iraqi EFL Students' Writings.‏https://dx.doi.org/10.22606/als.2019.11004
Jones, S. M., & Myhill, D. A. (2007). Discourses of difference? Examining gender difference in linguistic characteristics of writing. Canadian Journal of Education, 30, 456e482. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20466646.
Jones, S., & Myhill, D. (2007). Discourses of difference? Examining gender differences in linguistic characteristics of writing. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l'éducation, 456-482.‏
Kacewicz, E., Pennebaker, J. W., Davis, M., Jeon, M., & Graesser, A. C. (2014). Pronoun use reflects standings in social hierarchies. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 33(2), 125-143. DOI: 10.1177/0261927X1350265.
Ketcham, V. (1917). The theory and practice of argumentation and debate. New York: Macmillan.
Kuhn, D. (1991). The skills of argument. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kuntjara, E. (2004). Cultural transfer in EFL writing: A look at contrastive rhetoric on English and Indonesian. K@ ta, 6(1), 13-29.‏
Liu, D., & Wan, F. (2020). What Makes Proficient Writers' Essays More Persuasive? A Toulmin Perspective. International Journal of TESOL Studies, 2(1), 1-14.‏
Liu, F. & Stapleton, P. (2014). Counterargumentation and the cultivation of critical thinking in argumentative writing: Investigating washback from a high-stakes test. System, 45,117-128.
Liu, L. (2005). Rhetorical education through writing instruction across cultures: A comparative analysis of select online instructional materials on argumentative writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 14(1), 1-18.‏ doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2004. 11.001
MacEwan, E. (1898). The essentials of argumentation. Boston: D. C. Heath.
Mercier, H., & Sperber, D. (2011). Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 34(2), 57–111.
Nasri, M., Biria, R., & Karimi, M. (2018). Projecting gender identity in argumentative written discourse. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 7(3), 201-205. http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.7n.3p.201
Nussbaum, E. M., Kardash, C. M., & Graham, S. E. (2005). The Effects of Goal Instructions and Text on the Generation of Counterarguments During Writing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(2), 157.‏
Olinghouse, N. G. (2008). Student- and instruction-level predictors of narrative writing in third-grade students. Reading and Writing, 21(1–2), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-007-9062-1
Ounsted, C., & Taylor, D. C. (1972). The Y chromosome message: a point of view. In C. Ounsted, & D. C. Taylor (Eds.), Gender differences: Their ontogeny and significance (pp.241-262).
Pennebaker, J. W., Chung, C. K., Frazee, J., Lavergne, G. M., & Beaver, D. I. (2014). When small words foretell academic success: The case of college admissions essays. PloS one, 9(12).
Pennebaker, J.W. (2011). The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us.  Bloomsbury.
Perkins, D. N., Farady, M., & Bushey, B. (1991). Everyday reasoning and the roots of intelligence. In J. F. Voss, D. N. Perkins, & J. W. Segal (Eds.), Informal reasoning and education (pp. 83e106). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Qin, J. & Karabacak, E. (2010). The analysis of Toulmin elements in Chinese EFL university argumentative writing. System, 38, 444-456.
Rahmatunisa, W. (2014). Problems faced by EFL learners in writing argumentative essay. English Review: Journal of English Education, 3(1), 41-49
Setyowati, L., Sukmawa, S., & Latief, M. A. (2017). Solving the Students' Problems in Writing Argumentative Essay through the Provision of Planning. Celt: A Journal of Culture, English Language Teaching & Literature, 17(1), 86-102.‏
Seyyedrezaie, Z. S., & Vahedi, V. S. (2017). Projecting gender identity through metadiscourse marking: Investigating writers' stance taking in written discourse. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(2), 301-310.
Subon, F. (2013). Gender differences in the use of linguistic forms in the speech of men and women in the Malaysian context. Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 13(3), 67-79.‏
Tannen, D. (1995). You just don't understand: Females and males in conversation. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Ting, S. H. (2018). Ethos, logos and pathos in university students' informal requests. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 18(1).‏ http://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2018-1801-14.
Toulmin, S. E. (1958). The uses of argument. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Van Doorn, N., Van Zoonen, L., & Wyatt, S. (2007). Writing from experience: Presentations of gender identity on weblogs. European journal of women's studies, 14(2), 143-158.‏
Varpio, L. (2018). Using rhetorical appeals to credibility, logic, and emotions to increase your persuasiveness. Perspectives on medical education, 7(3), 207-210. doi:10.1007/s40037-018-0420-2 
Wang, J. et al. (2000). Touring China: Selected Tour Commentaries. China Travel & Tourism Press.
Wei, Y. K. (2004). Rhetoric as collective ethos: From classical Chinese texts to postmodern corporate images (Doctoral dissertation, Iowa State University).
Williams, G. J., & Larkin, R. F. (2012). Narrative writing, reading and cognitive processes in middle childhood: what are the links? Learning and Individual Differences. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.08.003. Advance online publication.
Wolfe, C. R., & Britt, M. A. (2008). The locus of the myside bias in written argumentation. Thinking & Reasoning, 14, 1e27.
Zhang, M., Bennett, R. E., Deane, P., & Rijn, P. W. (2019). Are there gender differences in how students write their essays? An analysis of writing processes. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 38(2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/emip.12249
Zhu, W. (2001). Performing argumentative writing in English: Difficulties, processes, and strategies. TESL Canada Journal, 34-50.‏