English major students’ ability to reason
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Abstract
This study measured Thai English major students’ ability to reason when writing argumentation. Their argumentative essays were evaluated by three evaluators. The students were asked to write an answer to one argumentative question: Do you agree with this statement? Universities should replace face-to-face degree programs with those done completely online. They were required to give specific details and reasons, cite given sources, and write approximately 450–500 words. The essays were evaluated holistically by paragraph on a scale of 1 (much improvement needed) to 5 (excellent). The evaluators chose the degree to which the reasons given in the paragraphs were relevant to the question asked, credible, persuasive to readers about the writer's position, and acceptable considerations from the general public's perspective. It was found that the English major students’ ability to reason ranged from improvement needed to very good levels, with an average ability falling to a pretty good level. The results suggested two more important concerns regarding the quality of reasoning for further instruction and investigation, that is, directness, and clarity of the reasons.
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