EXPLORATION OF NEW DIMENSIONS IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY WRITING IN A CORPUS OF WORLD ENGLISHES

Abstract

This study is an exploration of new functional dimensions in argumentative essay writing of learners and employs Multidimensional Analysis technique for the said purpose. A corpus encapsulating all three divisions of World Englishes has been analyzed comprising over 2500 student essays written by ENL, ESL, EFL learners. Three new dimensions surfaced as a result of the analysis, based on 67 prominent linguistic features. After a thorough review of relevant literature and expert opinion, the three resultant dimensions have been interpreted as Abstract Information vs. Concrete Description, Contextualized Interactive Elaboration vs. Incoherent Informational Discourse, and Author’s Personal Stance and Synthesis. This paper is beneficial for future researchers who intend to compare learner writing of different varieties of World Englishes. It is also significant from a pedagogical perspective, as the results may be used as benchmarks for assessment of argumentative essay writing.