Language of arguments used in the sample speaking performance of TOEFLiBT

This study aims to examine types and linguistic features of arguments in the speaking samples of TOEFL iBT test in order to help learners ofTOEFL iBT have a better insight in studying th

TẠ THỊ PHƯỞNG

NGÔN NGỮ TRANH LUẬN SỬ DỤNG TRONG

CÁC BÀI NÓI MẪU CỦA TOEFL IBT

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Mã số:

Ngôn ngữ Anh 8220201

Người hướng dẫn: TS NGŨ THIỆN HÙNG

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify my authorship that the Master thesis entitled

“Language of arguments used in the sample speaking performance of TOEFL iBT” is entirely the result of my own research, except where otherwise

referenced or acknowledged This thesis has not been submitted for anydegree or diploma at any other institutions

Binh Dinh, 2020

Tạ Thị Phưởng

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to mysupervisor, Dr Ngu Thien Hung for his patience, encouragement, valuableguidance and beneficial criticism throughout my research Without his greatsupport, this thesis would not have been accomplished in time

I am extremely grateful to all my lecturers who provided us withessential knowledge for this thesis

Special thanks goes to my classmates who gave me their help duringthe time I conducted the study

I would like to thank my school-board, my colleagues who spent theirgolden time encouraging me to do this thesis

Last but not least, I would like to express my special thanks to myfamily, especially my parents and my husband who gave me unconditionedlove and support, which is very significant for me to fulfill this work

This study aims to examine types and linguistic features of arguments

in the speaking samples of TOEFL iBT test in order to help learners ofTOEFL iBT have a better insight in studying this kind of language Acombination of qualitative and quantitative methods is applied to seekdescriptive information of language of arguments Eighty speaking samplescontaining arguments collected aims at identifying arguments’ types andlinguistic features of this kind of language The results reveals that bothinductive and deductive arguments are employed in the TOEFL iBT speakingtest In terms of semantic features, six process types are found in thearguments used by the test takers In terms of syntactic features, premises andconclusion of arguments are absolutely dominated by Declarative mood withthe subject-finite position to indicate the role of the test takers and the readers/listeners Regarding the use of clause types in terms of syntactic features, thefindings show that different types of clauses are employed by the test takerswith different rates It is hoped that the results of this study will provide usefulknowledge of arguments in TOEFL iBT speaking and contribute to theteaching and learning of TOEFL iBT, especially for those who are interested

in this kind of language

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION1.1 RATIONALE

English can be seen as the most widely language because people useEnglish every part of the world English is used for different purposes such ascommunicating, applying for a job in a foreign company or enrolling in anEnglish-speaking university For the assessment of their English proficiency,learners need to be recognized with the standardized tests such as TOEIC (Test

of English for International Communication), IELTS (International EnglishLanguage Test System) or TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language,internet -Based Test) As we all know, TOEFL iBT is one of the major English-language tests that are widely used by many employers and universities aroundthe world to assess the language skills of non-native speakers

The TOEFL iBT consists of four sections: reading, listening, speakingand writing While questions in the reading and listening TOEFL iBT test areall multiple-choice, tasks in speaking and writing sections are known asconstructive tasks because it requires learners’ argumentation in their

performances According to Carnagey and Esenwein (1915), “argumentation

is the process of producing conviction by means of reasoning” It is “a set of arguments used to explain something or to persuade people” (Cambridge

dictionary) Besides writing, speaking is the other skill that need speaker’sgood argumentation In order to deal with tasks in speaking section, the testtakers need to use well-structured and persuasive arguments to give opinions

in independent tasks and show how they solve problems arising from theintegrated tasks It is obvious that a successful performance of TOEFL iBTspeaking test depends on the language of arguments used in the performance.Thanks to arguments, the ideas presented by the test takers are more cogentand persuasive

It can be seen that the issues of arguments have been focused ondifferent aspects by different scholars such as Weston (2017), Stirling (2009)and Swatridge (2014) Studies of some linguistic features of different skills ofTOEFL iBT have also been conducted However, little has been written aboutissues related to the language of arguments used in speaking performance ofTOEFL iBT Thus, there is still rooms for the exploration and description ofthis kind of language By analyzing the language of arguments, we willunderstand deeply about the structure and meaning of language so thatlearners can have the knowledge of using arguments effectively in givingopinions For the above reasons, I decide to conduct a study with the title

“Language of arguments used in the sample speaking performance of TOEFL

iBT” to shed light on the linguistic features of this kind of language.

1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

1.2.1 Aim

This study aims at examining arguments’ types and linguistic features

of language of arguments in the sample speaking performance of TOEFL iBTand providing the learners as potential test takers with an insight into the use

of arguments in expressing opinions in a TOEFL iBT speaking test

1.2.2 Objectives

To achieve the aim of the study, the following objectives are intended:

- To identify types of arguments used in the TOEFL iBT speakingsample;

- To examine linguistics features of language of arguments in terms ofsyntactic and semantic features;

- To propose some suggestions for English learners for better

understanding of arguments as well as for further studies

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To achieve the aims and objectives mentioned above, the research attempts to answer the following questions:

1) What kinds of arguments are used in the sample speaking

performance of TOEFL iBT?

2) What are the semantic features of arguments used in the sample speaking performance of TOEFL iBT?

3) What are the syntactic features of arguments used in the sample speaking performance of TOEFL iBT?

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The focus of the study is mainly on the analysis of language used inarguments in the TOEFL iBT speaking samples This study describes anddiscusses types of arguments basing on the framework of Bassham et al.(2010) and syntactic and semantic features of language of arguments basing

on Downing and Locke’s (2006) framework, which is the mixture oftraditional English grammar and functional linguistics

Eighty speaking samples containing arguments used for analysis areselected from the TOEFL iBT books as well as from websites for learningTOEFL iBT In the study, only arguments collected from the speakingsamples are analyzed

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The results of this study are expected to contribute to the knowledgeabout language of arguments and provide the learners as the potential testtakers a better insight into the language of arguments used in the TOEFL iBTspeaking test More specifically, the study provides arguments’ types used bythe learners as well as semantic and syntactic structures that are commonlyused in the TOEFL iBT speaking test

In addition, the result of the study can be used as a reference forfurther researchers who want to explore this kind of language.

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This study is divided into 5 chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction - presents the background information of thestudy; consisting the rationale of the study, the aim and objectives, researchquestions, scope of the study, the significance and organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review- presents the overview of the TOEFL iBTtest and presents theoretical background related to arguments that supports thestudy In addition, previous studies related to the topic are also mentioned inthe study

Chapter 3: Research methods and Procedures- presents the researchmethods employed in the study, research procedures, data collection and dataanalysis

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion – identifies and analyzes typesand linguistic features of language of arguments, analyzes semantic andsyntactic features of arguments found in the TOEFL iBT speaking test andthen discusses the results from the analysis

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implications - summarizes the main points

of the study and suggests some implications for the learners as well as forfurther studies Some limitations are also presented in this chapter

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The chapter provides a theoretical background of the study andreviews previous researches related to the study

2.1 ARGUMENT

2.1.1 Definition of argument

Argument, a term used in Critical Thinking, is a set of statements inwhich a claim is defended with reasons (Bassham et al., 2010) Having the

same view point, Weston (2017) also states that “arguments are efforts to

support certain views with reasons” More specifically, Bassham et al (2010)

concludes that, an argument is “a group of statements, one or more of which

(called the premises) are intended to prove or support another statement (called the conclusion)”.

A premise is a statement in an argument that provides evidence orreasons to support the conclusion There can be one or many premises in anargument

A conclusion is the statement in an argument that the premises areintended to support The conclusion is exactly what the argument is trying toprove There can be only one conclusion in an argument

In order to identify the argument, we have to recognize the premisesand conclusion Morrow & Weston (2011, p.4) propose a strategy to identifythe conclusion by asking yourself what the author of the argument is trying toconvince you to believe The strategy to find out the premises is asking whatreasons the author gives to try to convince you

Furthermore, the assistance of indicators is also a good way to identify

the argument and its parts “Indicator words are words or phrases that

provide clues that premises or conclusions are being put forward” (Bassham

et al., 2010, p.42) Premise indicators and conclusion indicators are signals foridentifying the premises and conclusion.

Premises indicator is a word that indicates that a premise is about tocome There are some common premise indicators that are usually used in the

argument such as since, for, in view of the fact that, because, given that, as

indicated by, etc For example:

Having fun can be the spice of life but not its main course, because when it is over, nothing of lasting value remains.

Conclusion indicator is a word that indicates that the conclusion is

about to follow Some conclusion indicators are therefore, hence, so, that is

why, wherefore, as a result, consequently, etc For instance:

There’s probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy your life.

The following is an example of an argument which the indicator ispresent:

All humans are mortal (Premise 1)

Socrates is human (Premise 2)

Therefore, Socrates is mortal (Conclusion)

The above example is an argument The first two statements (premises

1 and premise 2) support the last statement (conclusion) With the help of the

indicator ‘therefore”, we can recognize the conclusion of the argument.

The indicators, however, are not always present in all arguments andsometimes the passages contain these words are not arguments

claimed or intended to follow necessarily from the premises A properlyformed deductive argument is an argument of such a form that if its premisesare true, the conclusion must be true too (Weston, 2017) Deductivearguments try to prove their conclusions with logical evidence and reasons.

According to Bassham et al (2010, p.58), deductive arguments “attempt to

show that their conclusions must be true given the premises asserted”.

2.1.2.2 Inductive argument

Inductive arguments, on the other hand, are arguments in which theconclusion is claimed or intended to follow probably from the premises(Bassham et al., 2010, p.58) While deductive arguments try to prove theirconclusions with inescapable logic, inductive arguments try to show that their

conclusions are plausible or likely given the premise(s) (Bassham et al., 2010,

p.58) In an inductive argument, the conclusion is claimed to follow onlyprobably from the premises For instance:

Bugsy needed money to pay his gambling debts.

Bugsy was seen sneaking around outside the bank last night.

It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that Bugsy robbed the safe.

In arguments, it is necessary to distinguish deductive from inductivearguments We should see whether an argument is treated as inductive ordeductive According to Bassham et al (2010, p.64), if the conclusion followsnecessarily from the premises, the argument should always be treated asdeductive If the conclusion doesn’t follow necessarily from the premises, theargument should be treated as inductive unless the language or context of theargument makes clear that the argument is deductive or the argument has apattern of reasoning that is deductive The following is an example ofdeductive argument:

Alan is a father Therefore, Alan is a male.

The conclusion above follows with necessity from the premise Alan

is a father and thus, he must be a male There cannot be another case It must

be true that he is a male Therefore, this example is clearly deductive Nowhave a look at the next example:

All previous U.S vice president have been woman.

Therefore, it is likely that the next U.S vice president will be a woman.

It’s clear that this example is an inductive argument Firstly, we can

see the indicator “likely” which shows the uncertainty of the author when

giving the argument Moreover, if the premises are true, the conclusion is notprobably true

In order to determine whether an argument is deductive or inductive,

we should apply four tests: the indicator words test, the strict necessary test,the common pattern test and the principle of charity test These tests are veryhelpful for identifying the two types of arguments

2.2 TOEFL IBT TEST

The TOEFL iBT, designed and implemented by Educational TestingServices (ETS) Princeton, New Jersey, USA, is an English languageproficiency test used to assess learners’ academic English language

proficiency TOEFL iBT means “test of English as a foreign language,

internet-based test” This kind of test was first introduced in 2005 to replace

the TOEFL paper-based tests (PBT) and computer-based tests (CBT) In thiskind of test, the test takers have to do the test on the computers which areconnected to the internet and then their answers will be sent via the internet to

be scored by ETS (Stirling, 2009)

Speaking is one of the four sections in the TOEFL iBT test It consists

of two independent speaking tasks and four integrated speaking tasks The

first two tasks are about familiar topics that draw on the students’ own ideas,opinions and experience In integrated tasks, the tasks require the test takers’reading, listening and speaking skills combination It can beparaphrasing/summarizing tasks or problem-solving tasks In TOEFL iBTspeaking, test takers’ good abilities on using arguments to give opinions orsolving problems in the tasks will be highly appreciated Thus, getting highscores in these parts much depends on the well-structured argumentspresented by the test takers.

2.3 SEMANTIC FEATURES OF LANGUAGE OF ARGUMENTS

Butt et al (1996, p.44) state that “most English clauses have a

constituent structure that can be described functionally in terms of participant, process, and circumstance with process being the essential ingredient”.

Participant, process and circumstance are semantic categories explaining howphenomena of the real world are represented as linguistic structures Of all theelements, process is the most essential part of a sentence because it is used torefer to what is going on the whole clause and refer to that part of the propositionencoded in the verbal group (Bloor & Bloor, 2004, p.109)

According to Downing and Locke (2006, p.123), the process is atechnical term for the action, state, or change of state involved There arethree main types of processes: material processes, mental processes andrelational processes There are also three subsidiary types: behaviouralprocesses, verbal processes and existential processes Process types include

those of ‘doing’ are material processes Verbs of ‘thinking’,’ hearing’,

‘seeing’, ‘feeling’, ‘liking’, ‘desiring’, etc., are used to express mental

processes Processes of ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ is called relational processes Verbal processes are processes of ‘saying’ Behavioral processes are those of

‘behaving’ Existential are processes of ‘existing’ Each process type is

involved with different types of participant

2.3.1 Material process

Material processes can be seen as the main type of processes It

includes several kinds: ‘doing’, ‘happening’, ‘causing’ and ‘transferring’.

The sentences below are examples of material processes:

Material process with one participant

The Prime Minister resigned

Material process with Affected participant

In the first example, “resigned” represents the material process The only one participant is “The Prime Minister” which is called “Agent” In the one-participant, action processes such as “resigned”, the action does not

extend to another participant However, in the two-participant, as in the

second example, action processes such as “kicked”, the second participant is

affected by the action denoted by the verb in an active clause The twoparticipants are Agent and Affected

If the process extends to an Affected participant, the representationcan be made in two forms, either active, in which Agent conflates withSubject, as the second example above, or passive, in which Affected conflateswith Subject, as in the example below:

Material process with Affected subject in a passive clause

The ball was kicked by Pele

Material processes of ‘happening’, ‘causing’ are illustrated in the

examples below:

Material process of ‘happening’

Jordan slipped on the ice

Material process of ‘causing’

Material processes also contain other participants like “Recipient or

Beneficiary” We can encounter these participants in material processes of

‘transferring’ This kind of processes is realized by such verbs as give, send, lend, charge, pay, offer, owe, etc.

Material process of ‘transferring’

Bill’s father has lent us his car

2.3.2 Mental process

The second main type of processes is mental processes According to

Downing and Locke (2006, p.139), “mental processes are those through

which we organize our mental contact with the world” This is the processes

of sensing There are four main types of mental processes: cognition, encoded

by such verbs as know, understand, believe, doubt, remember and forget; perception, encoded by verbs such as see, notice, hear, feel and taste; affectivity, such as like, love, admire, miss and hate; desideration such as

hope, want, desire and wish Sentences below are examples of mental

processes:

Mental process of ‘cognition’

I don’t know anyone of that name

Mental process of ‘affection’

They enjoy walking in the woods

Mental process of ‘perception’

Mental process of ‘desideration’

There are two main participants in mental processes: Experiencer (orSenser) and Phenomenon The Experiencer is the participant who sees, feels,thinks, likes, etc Phenomenon is the second participant that which isperceived, known, liked, etc

2.3.3 Relational process

The third main type of processes is Relational processes According to

Downing and Locke (2006), “relational processes express the notion of being

in a broad sense” This kind of processes is divided into two main patterns:

The Attribute and the Identifying The participant in the Attributive structure

is the Carrier, the entity ascribed to the Carrier is an Attribute:

Relational process of Attribute

Their eldest son was a musician

Relational process of Possession

These keys are my brother’s

Possessed/ Carrier Process: Relational Possessor/ Attribute

Identifying processes is the second main type of relational processes

“The function of this kind of process is to identify one entity in terms of

another.” (Thompson, 2014, p.102) The two participants are the Identified

-is identified in terms of the other, the Identifier Identifying processes arereversible

Relational process of Identification

Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe

Identified Process: Relational Identifier

2.3.4 Verbal process

Verbal processes are processes of saying or communicating There aretwo participants in the verbal processes, the Sayer and the Said The Sayer isthe participant that is involved in any verbal processes The other participant

is the Said which is what is said or asked or reported This participant is

typically human who do the act of “saying, telling, repeating, asking,

answering, or reporting” Verbal processes are intermediate between material

and mental processes because “saying something is a physical action that

reflects mental operations.” (Thompson, 2014).

Verbal Process

She had to say her name twice

In the example above, “She” is the Sayer, who does the act of

“saying” Verbal process is “had to say” and “her name twice” is the Said.

Another participant in this process is “Recipient” which is required with the verb “tell”:

Verbal Process with Recipient participant

Jill told him what she knew

2.3.5 Behavioural process

Behavioural processes are intermediate between material and mental

processes According to Halliday (2014, p.301) “behavioral processes are

process of (typically human) physiological and psychological behaviour, like breathing, coughing, smiling, dreaming and staring” Thompson (2014,

p.110) gives an example about behavioural process as follows:

Behavioural process

The boy laughed an embarrassed laugh

stretch, hang, remain, occur, follow, appear’ The only one participant in this

kind of processes is the Existent:

Existential process

There ‘s a good film on at the Scala

Process: existential Existent

2.3.7 Circumstances

Circumstantial element is a part of the semantic structure of thesentence which covers a great variety of meaning Eggins (2004, p.222) statesthat circumstances can occur with all processes types and usually marked byadverbial groups or prepositional phrases Some common circumstances areplace and time, manner, contingency, accompaniment, modality, degree, role,matter and evidence

2.4 SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF LANGUAGE OF ARGUMENTS

In order to understand how the structure of language is constructed ingeneral as well as to see how words are combined in specific, we have toexamine its syntactic features by analyzing the structure of a clause.Syntactically, the independent clause (or simple sentence) has two main parts:Subject and Predicate

The Subject is present in declarative and interrogative, but is notrequired in the imperative It can be prototypically realized by nominalgroups It also realized by embedded clauses or many other groups andclauses

The Subject determines number, person and gender concord with theSubject Complement, and of reflexive pronouns at Cs, Oi and Od

Predicate can consist entirely of the Predicator, realized by a verbal

group, or together with one or more other element Predicator determines thenumber and type of other elements Predicator function is realized by bothfinite and non-finite lexical and primary verbs.

Subject and predicator are the two major functional categories of aclause Predicator presents in all major types of clause It is realized by finiteand non-finite lexical and primary verbs

After the subject and predicator, object (O) is the most central element

of all clause constituents There are two main types of object: direct (Od) andindirect (Oi) Direct object often follows the verbs in clauses with one objectand follows the indirect object in the clauses with two objects In a clause,direct object is realized by a nominal group, finite or non-finite clause

Indirect object only occurs with verbs which take two objects such as ‘give,

send’ This object stands between the verb and the direct object It is typically

realized by a NG:

He showed the policeman his driving license

The subsidiary type of object is the prepositional object (Op)

The Prime Minister can’t account for the lost of votes

Complement, together with subject, predicator and object, is anothermajor constituent of the clause There are two main types of Complement:subject Complement (Cs) and object Complement (Co) Subject Complement

is used to complete the predicate by adding information about the subjectreferent It can be realized by AdjGs and NGs and by clauses.

A couch potato is someone who lies watching television all day

Object complement is the element that completes the predicate with anAdjG or a NG Object complement is often placed immediately after thedirect object

S

I

found the house empty

Downing and Locke (2006) also propose some basic syntactic patterns

- Subject-Predicator-Direct Object (S-P-Od)

- Subject-Predicator-Prepositional Object (S-P-Op)

- Subject-Predicator-Indirect Object-Direct Object (S-P-Oi-Od)

- Subject-Predicator-Direct Object-Prepositional Object (S-P-Od-Op)

- Subject-Predicator-Direct Object-Object Complement (S-P-Od-Co)

- Subject-Predicator-Direct Object-Locative Complement (S-P-Od-Cloc)

Syntactically, an independent clause can have the variation in clause

structure that makes for different clause types: declarative, interrogative,imperative and exclamative (Downing and Locke, 2006, p.13) These moodshelp to recognize the structure of a clause as well as the meaning that the

author wants to convey According to Downing and Locke (2006, p.181),

“the declarative, interrogative and imperative moods of a clause are distinguished by variation in one part of the clause, called the mood element”.

The mood element consists of Subject (S) and Finite (F) The ordering ofSubject and Finite helps to identify whether a clause is declarative,interrogative, imperative or exclamative The mood structure is summarized

in the table below:

Table 2.1 Mood structure

Interrogative(yes/no) Finite+Subject Does Jane sing?Interrogative(wh-) wh+Finite+Subject What does Jane sing?

Imperative no subject, base form of verb Sing!

(Downing and Locke, 2006, p.181)

The Declarative clauses

The declarative is the basic clause type which the Finite is the first oronly element of a verbal group and realized by either a verbal operator (is,can, has, etc.) or a tensed (past or present) form of the lexical verb as in theexample below:

S

We

are meeting again tomorrow.

The Interrogative clauses

In this clause type, the Finite verb precedes the Subject, the restremaining the same There are two main types of interrogative, the yes/notype and the Wh-type

In the Yes/no type, the speaker asks for confirmation or denial of thecontent and the answer is Yes or No.

Are we meeting again tomorrow?

In Wh-interrogatives, the Finite stands before Subject and after theWh-word The Wh-word can be part of a group or phrase

The Exclamative clauses

Downing and Locke (2006) claims that the exclamative clause typeoften starts with a wh-element and followed by a nominal group oradjective/adverb The Subject-Finite ordering in the exclamatives like thedeclarative clause and the elements following the wh-word are brought to thefront of the clause

Wh- element

What a shock they’ll have!

The Imperative clauses

There’s no overt Subject in an imperative clause It differs sharply from the other clause types as in the following examples:

Be careful!

Come on! Hurry up!

2.5 PREVIOUS STUDIES RELATED TO THE STUDY

Up to now, there have been several studies exploring about TOEFL iBT test by different researchers Le Thi Nhu Lien (2011) conducts a study

into linguistic devices of signal implications in the conversations extracts inTOEFL iBT The study presents the types of implicature in terms of theobservation or violation of the maxims of conversation The authoremphasizes that in most implicature cases recorded in the analysis of datafrom document in TOEFL iBT is the function of the standard languageconversation, observed four conversational maxims: Quality-Quantity-Manner-Relevance A number of language units involved in the tectoniclanguage function as adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, adjectives,interjections and some set phrases are also identified by the author.

In terms of pragmatics, Vo Thi Ha Tien (2016) investigates pragmaticfeatures in TOEFL iBT Listening practice tests The findings show that thespeech acts used in these lectures have various pragmatic functions with adiversity of illocutionary acts Various syntactic structures such asdeclarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamative and even some minorclauses can be used for both direct illocutions and indirect illocutions.Different syntactic features of discourse markers such as single word, setproposition phrase, free phrase, clause and sentence are also revealed in theresearch

Huynh Ngoc Mai (2011) carries out an analysis with the purpose ofseeing how the synonymous and antonymous expressions used in TOEFL iBTreading tests The author concludes that synonymous expressions appearedmore than antonymous ones He also describes syntactic realizations ofsynonymous and antonymous expressions in the reading passages of TOEFLiBT They are verbs as predicative, subject complement, adjective phrasecomplement; nouns as subject, object, prepositional complement; adjectives

as attributive as pre-modifier, attributive as post-modifier, predicative assubject complement and adverb as adjunct

Besides researches about the TOEFL iBT, argument in criticalthinking has also attracted the interests of some scholars’ in guiding thelearners to have good skills to make an effective argument (Weston, 2017;Swatridge, 2014) More specifically, Stirling (2009) proposes some usefulspeaking and writing strategies to help learners develop an argument moreeffectively so that they can achieve high scores in the TOEFL iBT test.

Related to argumentation, different studies in this area have beencarried out by some Vietnamese researchers Typically, Vo Thị Thanh Nga(2006) compares commonly-used connectors expressing contrastiveargumentation in English and Vietnamese in terms of semantic and functionalfeatures

Furthermore, a research with the title “A contrastive analysis of

common connectors in argumentation in English and Vietnamese” was

investigated by Tran Le Truc Thu (2009) which discusses the semantic andfunctional characteristics of connectors expressing supportive argumentation

2.6 SUMMARY

In conclusion, this chapter has presented the literature review as well

as theoretical background that supports the study including the argument aswell as the TOEFL iBT test More specifically, the related theories and termsrelated to the study have been introduced in this chapter It is clear that all theresearches related to the TOEFL iBT above have focused on different skillsexcept for the speaking skill Furthermore, argument, despite existing for along time, has not been studied deeply in terms of its linguistic features.Therefore, a study about the syntactic and semantic features of argumentsfound in the speaking samples of TOEFL iBT is necessary to be investigated.Plus, the analysis of linguistic features of arguments is based on theframework of Downing and Locke (2006) which helps to understand deeply

about the use of this kind of language Last but not least, main types ofarguments found in the TOEFL iBT speaking test are also made clear thanks

to the framework of Bassham and his partners (2010)

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

The study was to identify the two main types of arguments as well asdescribe and analyze language of arguments used in the sample speakingperformance of TOEFL iBT in terms of syntactic and semantic features Tothis end, this descriptive study was conducted with the employment ofqualitative and quantitative methods to seek descriptive information abouttypes as well as linguistic features of arguments

3.2 RESEARCH METHODS

In the study, the descriptive research was used to give a detaileddescription of arguments’ types and linguistic features of language ofarguments

The study employed both qualitative and quantitative method to seekdescriptive information of types and linguistic features of arguments.Document analysis method is used to collect qualitative information abouttypes and linguistic features of arguments by using speaking samples ofTOEFL iBT More specifically, with the data collected from the speakingsamples, the arguments were observed and then classified into two majortypes based on their distinctive features, deductive and inductive arguments.Then, the percentage of frequency of occurrence of these types was presentedwith the assistance of quantitative method

In addition, premises and conclusion of each argument were describedand analyzed in terms of syntactic and semantic features The qualitative methodwas applied in this stage to help to find out linguistic features of each argument

With the help of quantitative approach, the study presented thepercentage of occurrence of different clause types as well as the mood types

used in the arguments Semantically, arguments were examined with thereference to different types of processes used for arguments, the result ofwhich were utilized for the discussion in terms of their functional attributes.

3.3 RESEARCH PROCEDURES

To carry out the study properly, the following steps were taken:

- Doing literature review of studies of language of arguments to identify gaps for problems to be examined in the research

- Putting questions for guiding the research in seeking both qualitativeand quantitative information for the objectives set up to achieve the aim of study

- Designing research as a descriptive and explanatory study with both qualitative and quantitative approach

- Collecting the data from TOEFL iBT materials

- Dividing the arguments into 2 groups: independent tasks (INDE) andintegrated tasks (INTE)

- Identifying types of arguments: induction and deduction by

observing the premises and conclusion

- Investigating linguistic features of premises and conclusion of eachargument The analysis of syntactic and semantic features of each argument wascarried out within the clause

- Discussing the results of linguistic features of premises and

analysis 75 samples were taken from TOEFL iBT books introduced byEducational Testing Service (ETS), namely, Building skills for TOEFL iBT,Developing skills for TOEFL iBT and Mastering skills for TOEFL iBT 2ndEdition The rest was randomly collected from three websites for TOEFL iBT:https://www.bestmytest.com,

3.4.3 Coding scheme

In this study, the independent tasks and integrated tasks are labelled asINDE and INTE respectively For example, if we want to make an analysis ofargument number 4 in independent tasks, then we have argument INDE-4.Moreover, each premise and conclusion is marked as P for premise and C forconclusion More specifically, we can label premise 1.2 in independent task,

we have P1.2-INDE The same coding for other premises or conclusion

Secondly, qualitative method was also used for describing andanalyzing process types and syntactic elements as well as syntactic structures

of premises and conclusion in independent tasks and integrated tasks

In addition, the quantitative approach was used to find out thefrequency of occurrence of deductive and inductive arguments Thus, we hadthe distribution rates of each type of arguments

Next, premises and conclusion in independent tasks and integratedtasks were taken into careful consideration The frequency of occurrence ofprocess types in semantics as well as the syntactic clause types found in thearguments as well as the mood types of premises and conclusions were shown

in statistics and presented in tables or charts

Finally, the characteristics of arguments were clearly drawn based onthe statistics The results of the study were generalized in order to have acomplete overview about the linguistic features of arguments used in TOEFLiBT speaking samples A suggestion for further study was also concluded inthe study

3.6 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

In terms of reliability, the data collected in this study was not onlychosen carefully from three famous TOEFL iBT books which were published

by Educational Testing Service (ETS) - the world's largest private nonprofiteducational testing and assessment organization but also from famous TOEFLiBT websites that have been widely read and practiced by many learners andtest takers Therefore, the sources of data are reliable and valid Moreover,these TOEFL iBT books were published the 2nd time in 2009, which is stillupdated and suitable for the learners of TOEFL iBT

As regards the validity, all the procedures of the study were conducted

in a logical order which guarantees the validity

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

As previously mentioned, the study employed the framework ofDowning and Locke (2006) for the analysis of syntactic and semantic features

of arguments and Bassham et al.’s framework for analyzing types ofarguments This chapter focuses on how the test takers should construct aneffective argument in TOEFL iBT speaking test through premises andconclusion This chapter provides a description of frequency of occurrence oftypes of arguments as well as linguistic features of arguments in independenttasks and integrated tasks and points out some characteristics of arguments inTOEFL iBT

4.1 TYPES OF ARGUMENTS

Arguments have traditionally been divided into two major types:deductive and inductive arguments In order to evaluate an argument, it isnecessary to identify these types of arguments correctly While a deductiveargument claims that the premises support the conclusion absolutely, aninductive argument claims that the premises support the conclusion, but lessthan 100% According to the analysis of types of arguments, there are totally

80 arguments taken into analysis, 22 of which are from integrated tasks, therests are from independent tasks

Table 4.1 Frequency of occurrence of type of arguments

As illustrated in Table 4.1, inductive argument is the majority of type

of argument, which accounts for 65% On the other hand, deductive

arguments occur with a lower frequency, just 35%.

Figure 4.1 Types of arguments in independent tasks and integrated tasks

As can be seen in Figure 4.1, inductive arguments are present both inindependent tasks and integrated tasks but with different rates On the otherhand, no deductive argument can be found in integrated tasks It seems that inthe TOEFL iBT speaking test, test takers are asked to give their opinions orpreferable solution Thus, an inductive argument is easier for them to expresstheir own viewpoint or what option they prefer

The detailed analysis of each type of arguments found in the data isdiscussed in the following sections

4.1.1 Deductive argument

In order to evaluate whether an argument deductive or inductive, it’snecessary to understand how the premises support to the conclusion of theargument In deductive arguments, the conclusion must follow necessarilyfrom the premises and the premises must support the conclusion absolutely.The following examples clearly illustrate the deductive arguments:

C: My favourite possession is my digital camera.

P1: I love it because it is easy to use It focuses automatically, so I can always take good pictures.

P2: Also, it allows me to create lasting memories I like to take pictures of my friends and family on special occasions, so I can remember what a good time we had (INDE-1)

The argument above is formed basing on two premises P1 and P2.Thus, the conclusion is drawn from these two premises Premise 1 and 2 showthe reasons why the author likes his camera with specific and persuasive

evidence like “it is easy to use”, “it focuses automatically”, “it creates lasting

memories” These are good evidence which set a logical conclusive ground

for the truth of the conclusion “the digital camera is favourite possession” In

this argument, we can see the certainty of the arguer in persuading theaudience with the given premises Therefore, this argument must be treated asdeductive It’s clear that deductive arguments can be found in manyarguments in independent tasks, as in the examples below:

(4.2)

C: If I could purchase an expensive item right now, I would buy a laptop computer.

P1: First, they are very useful I could use it to play computer games.

I could also use it to do my homework, which is what I would like most about having a laptop.

P2: Also, I like that it is portable I could carry it with me wherever I

go It is small and light and would fit in my backpack (INDE-12) (4.3)

C: My family’s expectations have helped me.

P1: My family expects me to be a good student Because of their expectations, I am at the top of my class, which will help me get into college.

P2: In addition, they expect me to be generous to others As a result, I have learned to give to other people, so I have lots of friends (INDE- 8)

As in example (4.2), the author talks about a decision that he would

buy a laptop computer This conclusion is supported by two premises, “they

are very useful” and “it is portable” These two premises are presented with

some examples to make the premises more convinced “I could use it to play

computer games” and “use it to do my homework” or “I could carry it with

me wherever I go” and “It is small and light and would fit in my backpack”.

It seems that the author wants to show the reason why he buys a laptopcomputer by giving such premises with clear evidence Because of thepremises, he comes to the conclusion that if he could purchase an expensiveitem, he would choose a computer Therefore, the conclusion which followsthe premises is necessarily to be true and this argument is clearly deductive

In example (4.3), although we cannot see the presence of indicatorwords, we still see that the author’ intention is to make the argument

deductive His family expects him “to be a good student” and “to be

generous to others” This results in the fact that he is “at the top of class” and

“have many friends” These are good premises which are used to support the

conclusion “My family’s expectations have helped me” It can be concluded

that the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises, it cannot happen ifthe premises are true and the conclusion drawn from these premises is false

As mentioned in chapter 2, an argument can be identified with thehelp of indicators, which are the signals to recognize one kind of argument

However, little has been identified because sometimes we do not see theappearance of the indicators, as in some examples above Luckily, in somecases, we also identify the deductive arguments that see the existence ofindicators:

(4.4)

C: I firmly believe that parents should be permitted to influence the

type of materials that children learn in schools.

P1: My first reason for this is because parents are often the best judges of what their children are ready to learn They are also best aware of the areas in which their children are struggling Parents’ opinions about what their children should learn can be helpful for developing a curriculum.

P2: Secondly, children often feel uncomfortable taking to teachers about problems they have with materials Consequently, it is important that their parents are able to intervene and speak for them (INDE-52)

From the argument in example (4.4) above, we can see the indicator

“firmly” used to express the author’s strong belief and certainty about

“parents should be permitted to influence the type of materials that children learn in school” This indicator helps to recognize the deductive arguments.

Furthermore, there are two premises given with the aid of the followedexamples to provide undeniable truth for the conclusion

4.1.2 Inductive argument

As can be seen from Figure 4.1, inductive arguments appear with avery high percentage, 65%, in which 27,5% are in integrated tasks and 37,5%are in independent tasks It’s clear that all the arguments in integrated tasksare inductive Integrated tasks require the test takers’ abilities on solving the

problems and giving the better choice to solve the problems arising in the tasks The following examples present more about this:

(4.5)

The man is having problems with biology concepts that will be on the midterm.

C: I think he should speak to his professor.

P1: Professors have office hours so they can help students It is

unlikely that she will think he is lazy.

P2: Also, the professor could give him some hints about what will be

on the test He could then focus on studying the information that is important for the test (INTE-1)

(4.6)

The man is having problems with biology concepts that will be on the midterm.

C: I think he should get a tutor.

P1: Tutors are available so they can help students It is likely they

have taken the class and know what the man should study for the midterm.

P2: Also, he is not likely to have another bad experience with a tutor.

He could get a great tutor that is very helpful (INTE-2)

(4.7)

C: I do not think that music players should be banned in school.

P1: I do not agree because music players are only used outside of class Students should not be utilizing music players in the classroom, but most students refrain from doing so There’s no reason why they should not be able to listen to them during lunch or between classes P2: I also do not agree because I do not think music players are

hazardous items If students carry them in their backpacks and use them in the halls, they are not causing any mischief (INDE-36)

As can be seen in argument (4.5) and (4.6), the arguer uses the

indicators as words of degree of probability such as “likely, unlikey” to

express his uncertainty or just a way of guessing something that will or willnot probably happen in the future Hence, the conclusion drawn from thesepremises are without certainty, too Moreover, in three examples above, the

arguer also uses “I think, I don’t think” in his conclusion as a way of

explaining something or expressing an idea but with some degree ofuncertainty It can be inferred from this is that the author is not sure absolutelywith the conclusion Because the premises and conclusion of the argumentsare not certain, this makes the arguments inductive We can easily encounterthis kind of conclusion in all inductive arguments in integrated tasks

Besides “likely, unlikey” many arguers also use “probably” to show

their uncertainty in giving some reasons to support the main conclusion It’sclear that these indicators are commonly used in inductive arguments Thiscan be seen in the following examples:

(4.8)

The woman’s problem is that she wants to go on vacation, but she does not have enough money.

C: I think the woman should ask her parents for the money.

P1: First, they gave her money before, so they will probably do it

again.

P2: Second, her parents should help her out when she needs it They

would probably give her the money because they do not want her

grades suffers from working overtime (INTE-3)

C: I would prefer to live in a house.

P1: That is because many apartment buildings do not allow you to have pets I want a dog, and if I lived in an apartment, I would

probably could not have one.

P2: Also, it is better to reside in a house since it is bigger I would have an easier time being alone if I wanted to (INDE-4)

In the argument INTE-3, the author gives the solution basing on his prediction, so he uses “probably” because he is not certain There are also

another words of degree of probability appear in this kind of argument such as

“may, might, etc.,” This is shown in the following examples:

(4.10)

The woman wants to submit an essay to the literary magazine, but she has missed the deadline.

C: I think that the woman should see the editor.

P1: The editor might make an exception Instead of thinking the woman is pushy, she may think she really wants her essay published

and accept it.

P2: Also, the literary magazine might lose their funding If the woman does not ask the editor to make an exception, she may never get her

essay published (INTE-7)

Instead of using the indicators above, many arguers also use

“consider, believe” in their conclusion as the act of feeling or thinking

carefully about something Although these words have higher degree in

probability than “I think, probably, likely or unlikely”, they are still without

absolute certainty Accordingly, the arguments containing these words can betreated as inductive

C: If I had the choice between an online course and a course at a college or university, I would choose the classroom setting.

P1: I believe it takes a lot of discipline to study at home, and I am a

person who is easily distracted While my roommate has no problem turning off her phone while she is studying, I'm the type of person who worries that I will miss an important call Even when I'm studying for exams or writing essays, I have to do my work in the library where I can't be interrupted.

P2: In addition, I learn better when I hear somebody presenting the information than I do just by reading it While the convenience of an online course is attractive to me, I know my grade would suffer.

(INDE- 57)

(4.12)

C: I consider people should change their job in a different age.

P1: First of all, changing the position through life will make us more experienced and knowledgeable for we can study things in various aspects and communicate with people in different fields Basing on

this, I consider people should sometimes change their job.

P2: Second, changing the position will make us less tired For instance, when we are young, we could work like a sales manager; it brings a lot of income but also needs much energy So when we are old, we may not work in a perfect condition, then we could change a job (INDE-58)

Although indicator words help to recognize an argument and decidewhether that argument is deductive or inductive, there’s a fact that theseindicators do not always appear in the arguments and sometimes are not used