Techniques of Sound Argument in the English Essays of Nigerian Undergraduates

Abstract

This study examined the techniques of sound argument in the English essays of Nigerian undergraduates. The aim was to see how these techniques were applied by the students in their argumentative essays. An essay writing test was administered on 221 students: 101 from the Department of English; 65 from the Department of Philosophy; and 55 from the Department of History and International Studies of Akwa Ibom State University, Nigeria. The students were asked to argue for or against the proposition: “A Father is more Important than a Mother in the Family”. The method of stratified random sampling was used to select the sample size of 15 scripts for the study. The theoretical base for the study was Toulmin’s model of argument complemented by Applied Linguistics. At the end of the research it was found out that the participants applied the techniques of argument enunciated in the literature except textual evidence to a reasonable degree to present sound argument. It was recommended that debate sessions be organized for the students during lectures at some intervals to make them develop more argumentative skills and improve on the use of language.