Author Description

This book targets the intersection of two areas: comparative research on writing instruction and argumentative/persuasive writing pedagogies in secondary schools. By mapping the historical context for written argumentation instruction as a school genre at the secondary level in the U.S. and China, with a focus on the 20th century and thereafter, the author identifies the hybrid nature of the school genre shaped by complex social, theoretical, and curricular factors. Then she compares and contrasts the key concepts and directives for written argumentation instruction in the textbooks. Some focal points such as purpose, the relationship between philosophy and rhetoric, logic, the place of emotion, and perceptions of the writer and the audience are compared and contrasted. Finally the author discusses the implications of the findings for rethinking written argumentation instruction in the 21st century, calling for coupling of formal logic and dialectical logic and reconsidering the place of emotion. This book should be useful to scholars and professionals in intercultural communication, rhetoric and composition, and education.