Paper short abstract:

To support teachers in providing writing education, this presentation focuses on logical thinking and proposes a method for introducing thinking tools in teacher training. This focuses on triangular logic and the interactive argumentation model, which are closely related to logical structures.

Paper long abstract:

Research on Japanese writing education has hitherto primarily focused on providing educational support to learners although the need for support for teachers has also been indicated. Kamada et al. (2022) identified ‘logical thinking’ as a facet that teachers find challenging when teaching writing. As few teachers have experience using logical thinking tools, educational support employing such tools is warranted.

To support teachers in providing writing education, this presentation focuses on logical thinking and proposes a method for introducing thinking tools in teacher training. The presentation, which is an extension of the thinking tools used in academic writing education (Wakita, 2017), focuses on triangular logic and the interactive argumentation model, which are closely related to logical structures. Triangular logic visualises the structure of an argument by arranging the argument’s main elements, i.e. (1) the data, (2) warrants and (3) claims, into the corners of a triangle. The interactive argumentation model visualises the framework of an opinion statement by arranging the main elements of such a statement, i.e. (1) the question, (2) argument and (3) conclusion, vertically and is used in this presentation in a partially revised form.

The training will provide teachers an overview of logical thinking tools, familiarise them with the use of the tools and enable them to apply triangular logic and the interactive argumentation model by solving basic exercises. In the classroom, teachers will simulate how to formulate a theme for writing exercises, collect materials related to the theme and introduce thinking tools to learners and discuss their application.

References

Kamada, Michiko et al. (2022), “Japanese Language Teachers’ Perceptions of the Difficulties in Teaching Writing,” Journal of Technical Japanese Education 24, 75-82.

Wakita, Riko. (2017), “Japanese Writing Using Thinking Tools,” Osaka University Press.

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