When we observe elementary school children's classroom debates, we can see that causal argumentation is used most commonly among argumentation schemes. Nevertheless, debate education in school usually consists of abstract lessons such as 'Argue logica...
When we observe elementary school children's classroom debates, we can see that causal argumentation is used most commonly among argumentation schemes. Nevertheless, debate education in school usually consists of abstract lessons such as 'Argue logically' and 'Suggest valid grounds' without the analysis of causal argumentation used frequently by students.
In previous studies as well, argumentation schemes have been studied actively, but students' perception and use of each argumentation scheme have not been discussed sufficiently. Also, with regard to causal argumentation commonly used by students, the scheme has been treated superficially as 'an argumentation composed of causes and results' and few studies have analyzed patterns in students' use of causal argumentation. However, the quality of causal argumentation varies depending on how to use causal argumentation, and furthermore, causal argumentation has an enormous impact on the overall quality of debates because it occupies a large part of debating conversation. For these reasons, it is essential to teach learners how to use causal argumentation correctly, and for this, we should know patterns and errors in students' use of causal argumentation.
Thus, the present researcher videotaped the entire process of debate by 5th graders in elementary school and transcribed the record, and then examined how elementary school children perceived causal argumentation and what types of causal argumentation they were using. In addition, we tried to find the patterns of imperfect use of causal argumentation.
Chapter II examined, as the bases for the analysis of causal argumentation, three viewpoints to argumentation, the concept of causal argumentation, and the characteristics of causal argumentation. In Chapter III, we divided the students into the high, middle and low groups according to their level, had them hold a small group discussion, and examined patterns in the use of causal argumentation by group and by position according to the three types of causal argumentation, which are cause result, action result, and means end, based on the characteristics of causal argumentation examined in Chapter II. Based on this, Chapter IV made a plan for the teaching learning of causal argumentation. We reviewed the contents of causal argumentation teaching learning from the logical viewpoint, pragmatic dialogic viewpoint, and rhetoric viewpoint, and designed a teaching method through the process of preliminary debate, debate preparation, and debate review.
In order to analyze the actual process of debate by 5th graders and identify the patterns of using causal argumentation, we divided the students into the high, middle and low groups and observed how the pattern of using causal argumentation was different between the positions. The results of these analyses are expected to give implications for finding the contents of causal argumentation education necessary in 6th graders' debates. Existing debate classes were abstract education concentrating on how to present opinions and criticize others' opinions logically. As a result, students had to debate without clear understanding of differences between the positions, and even if one used an imperfect argumentation scheme the opponent did not recognize it, and thus, did not raise an objection to it. With these problems, a debate was easily misled to a tedious squabble without finding a point of debate. Thus, the researcher felt acutely the necessity of more concrete education on argumentation schemes used by students, and taking interest in the pattern of using causal argumentation, which is the most common one used by students among argumentation schemes, analyzed students' perception and use patterns of causal argumentation. Based on the identified patterns in students' use of causal argumentation, in addition, this study aimed to provide strategies for the use of causal argumentation as contents of teaching learning prior to actual debate for more substantial debate class.