Uczniowski tekst argumentacyjny: osobliwosci budowy i spojnosci semantycznej (na podstawie wybranej grupy uczniow)

Abstract

While evaluating writing exercises, the semantic criterion deserves particular attention. Specific requirements are defined for reasoning essays. For elaborating an essay of this kind, the pupils are required not only to take the role of an analyst, i.e. to show one’s abilities of logical reasoning and associating facts, but also to select appropriate sources for one’s reflections. Since the semantic aspect of essays at the junior high school level is of increased importance, it is the objective of this project to describe the semantic structure and continuity of a school reasoning essay. This has been achieved by indicating mental operations that are reflected in essays; introducing schemes and linguistic exponents of reasoning that are contained in school essays. Moreover, I have examined whether the essays embody metatext elements, which render a text coherent and indicate the path of argumentation. Another question is the linguistic correctness of school essays. In this paper, the problem of linguistic correctness will be left out of consideration. Therefore, all quotations of school essays presented here have not undergone any subsequent amendments. The research was based on 13 selected texts of school essays which were presented on inter-school contests during the last years. Since reasoning essays constitute the object of this analysis, all other papers, such as interpretation of a literature piece, have been left out. Such presentations usually take the form of a free essay, which is subject to different rules of composition than a reasoning essay.