Writing fexibility in argumentative essays: a multidimensional analysis

Writing is a critically important aspect of our daily lives. From the text message we send in the morning reminding our roommate to turn of the cofee pot, to the emails, reports, and research papers we produce at work, our society increasing relies on writing as a primary mode of communication. The ability to generate written arguments is a particularly important writing task, as this genre can help individuals persuade, negotiate, debate and resolve confict between peers and among larger groups (Walton, 1992). Unfortunately, many individuals struggle to develop the skills needed to produce high-quality arguments. According to the 2012 National Assessment of Educational Progress (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012), only 25% of students were considered to be ‘profcient’ or ‘advanced’, the level at which students can be expected to meet the expectations of academic writing; further, 21% did not even meet the standards for the ‘basic’ profciency category.