Genre Description of Pakistani Learners’Argumentative Essays: A Case Study

Abstract

This study has a primary objective of examining the generic structure employed by Pakistani learners in their argumentative essay writing. To achieve this goal, we utilize manual move analysis based on Hyland's move analysis model. We randomly selected twenty-five essays from the International  Corpus of Learners’ English (ICLE), all addressing the topic of "why marriages fail." The quantitative analysis, focusing on generic structures, reveals that the majority of essays in this study comprise three schematic stages: thesis, argument, and conclusion. However, crucial phases such as the proposition phase in the thesis stage, the support phase in the argument stage, and the consolidation phase in the conclusion stage are notably absent in most of the essays. Conversely, certain elements, including gambit and elaboration in the thesis stage, hyper claim and claim in the argument stage, as well as marker and close in the conclusion stage, recur frequently. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis sheds light on the distinct challenges faced by Pakistani learners when employing the appropriate generic stages in argumentative essays. These challenges can be categorized as follows: overgeneralized statements used instead of a proposition and preview, unnecessary "recommendation" in elaboration, split claims, and the absence of consolidation. Through this study, we gain valuable insights into the structural aspects of argumentative essays produced by Pakistani learners, identifying both recurring patterns and specific challenges.