ARGUMENTATIVE

SPEAKING
MOHAMAD NOR SHODIQ
 LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT A
CURRICULUM
• Argumentative Speaking
• Mata kuliah ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan kompetensi mahasiswa dalam
mengomunikasikan gagasan secara lisan dalam berbagai kegiatan akademik atau wacana
lisan ilmiah formal. Materi pembelajaran meliputi pidato formal (informatif dan
persuasif), dan presentasi dalam seminar/konferensi/workshop atau semacamnya tentang
topik-topik yang terkait dengan pembelajaran bahasa Inggris, linguistik, atau sastra. Mata
kuliah ini juga membekali mahasiswa untuk mampu memainkan berbagai peran dalam
forum lisan akademik ilmiah formal, yaitu moderator, pembahas, notulis, maupun
peserta. Kegiatan perkuliahan meliputi ceramah, role play, simulasi, diskusi kelompok
dan kelas, Debat, dan presentasi. Penilaian terhadap pencapaian kompetensi mahasiswa
dilakukan melalui pemberian tugas individu dan kelompok, pengamatan terhadap unjuk
kerja, partisipasi dalam kegiatan kelas, ujian tengah semester, dan ujian akhir semester.
 WHAT IS SPEAKING?
Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and
receiving and processing information (Brown,1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997).

Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the
participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the
purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving.

Finally, speech has its own skills, structures, and conventions different from written
language (Burns & Joyce, 1997; Carter & McCarthy, 1995; Cohen, 1996).
 What is an Argument?

• Argument is not a fight or a quarrel:

• For your primary images of argument, think not of a fist-banging

speaker but of a small group of reasonable persons seeking the best
solution to a problem.. Instead of a fight or a quarrel, your primary
image for an argument of this sort might be a conversation.
 Argument is not pro-con debate:

• While formal debate can develop critical thinking, its weakness is that
it can turn argument into a game of winners and losers rather than a
process of cooperative inquiry.
• Argument entails a desire for truth; it aims to find the best solutions to
complex problems. We don’t mean that arguers don’t passionately
support their own points of view or expose weaknesses in views they
find faulty. Instead, we mean that their goal isn’t to win a game but to
find and promote the best belief or course of action.
 Argument requires justification of its claims:

• For an argument to be effective, an arguer is obligated to clarify and

support the reasons presented. One of the earliest senses of the term to
argue is “to clarify.” As an arguer begins to clarify her position on an
issue, she also begins to clarify her audience’s position. Such
clarification helps the arguer see how she might accommodate her
audience’s views, perhaps by adjusting her own position or by
developing reasons that appeal to her audience’s values.
 Argument leads people to clarify
their reasons and provide
justifications that can be examined
rationally. Argument is both a
process and a product; it combines
truth seeking and persuasion.
 Argument is a process:

Argument can be viewed as a process in which two or more parties seek the best
solution to a question or problem. Argument is essential in the first place because it is
a way of trying to find out which views are better than others. Not all views are
equal. Some conclusions can be supported by good reasons; others have much
weaker support. But often we don’t know which are which. We need to give
arguments for different conclusions and then assess these arguments to see how
strong they really are.
In thinking about argument as a product, the writer will find herself continually
moving back and forth between truth seeking and persuasion—that is, between
questions about the subject matter (What is the best solution to this problem?) and
about audience (What do my readers already believe or value? What reasons and
evidence will most persuade them?).