An integrative framework for the analyses of argumentative/persuasive essays from an interpersonal perspective

Abstract

This paper concerns delineating an interpersonally consistent and comprehensive framework for the analysis of argumentative/persuasive essays (APEs) written by tertiary students. In order to examine undergraduate students' interpersonal management, I principally adopt schematic structures from a Sydney school genre-based approach in addition to two important interpersonal systems of interaction and evaluation recently developed within systemic functional linguistics (SFL). Drawing on SFL alongside interaction in writing and Bakhtinians' dialogic literacy, the interpersonal aspects in APEs are examined from three main perspectives: Interactive (schematic structures), Interactional (the metaphorical realizations of commands), and InterPERSONAL meanings (the three main appraisal systems: attitude, engagement, and graduation). Analyses of two sample essays demonstrate that the framework provides ESL teachers with resources to be able to guide students to write academic essays successfully by meeting the expectations of academic audiences both in structure and language features.