Criteria and Scale for Argumentation

This paper presents an updated and practical criteria and scale for teaching, learning, and evaluating argumentation. The ability criteria and scale is generated from existing knowledge of argumentation as expected by CEFR, TOEFL and IELTS, as well as recent interest in argumentation. Examination of the academic literature suggests that the new criteria and scale should consider relevancy, reasoning, language use, organization and writer’s voice. Relevancy has not yet been seriously highlighted in the existing criteria. Reasoning, language use and organization are common criteria in argumentation. Writer’s voice is not emphasized in the existing criteria but often discussed in recent publications on argumentation. It is added to the updated framework in this paper to keep up with advancements in the field. This new framework could be a powerful option for teaching, learning and evaluating argumentation particularly in EFL or ESL contexts