Distributed Language Theory in ESP Debates

Филологический класс. 2024. Vol. 29. No. 3. P. 213–223.

Olga A. Karamalak, Ksenia A. Vertlib

In the current digital environment the need for writing arguments and counterarguments has increased considerably. People interact on professional and academic forums externally, write emails, messages on social networks and professional apps within their companies. This explains the importance of teaching how to debate in a written form in ESP. The research is aimed at the development of argumentative and critical thinking skills in ESP. The purpose of this paper is to create a series of tasks that will assist students in becoming more proficient in ESP argumentation and will also make the overall process easier by reducing stress. The tasks are intended to be interactive, team-based, research-intensive, and to extend students’ language proficiency. Based on the identified clusters of content errors, the exercises are divided into four groups: 1) thesis statements; 2) arguments; 3) examples and evidence; and 4) counterarguments. However, some exercises are complex and are directed to the development of different aspects of written debates simultaneously. This research is based on the results of 98 students’ written debates as an assessment task in the discipline English for International Affairs and Business at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs (HSE University). Due to the theoretical approach of social constructivism and distributed language, all the exercises encourage students’ autonomy and their active participation in the classroom environment to generate knowledge and skills of writing arguments. They involve dynamic interaction, cooperation, and knowledge emergence through dialogism since language is viewed as action. The Internet and special online teaching platforms are applied since cognition is distributed and extends beyond our minds and presupposes such a technological extension.

Keywords: социальный конструктивизм, argument, counterargument, английский для специальных целей, social constructivism, distributed language, аргумент, ESP (English for Specific Purposes), контраргумент, written debates, распределенный язык, письменные дебаты