English Instructors’ Perceptions of Technical-vocational Students’ Argumentative Writing Skills

Abstract

Argumentative writing is an important component of academic and professional communication because students must develop clear positions, organise ideas logically, support claims with relevant evidence, and use appropriate language and textual conventions. Technical-vocational students are expected to develop these competencies alongside their occupational skills; however, difficulties in content development, organisation, coherence, and linguistic accuracy may affect their written work. This study examined English instructors’ perceptions of technical-vocational students’ argumentative writing skills in terms of content and form. A descriptive research design was employed in a technical-vocational college. Survey data comprised 13 instructor responses to a 20-item Agree/Disagree questionnaire adapted from Trigos Carrillo and Lopera Moreno’s Cognitive Pedagogical Model of Writing Argumentative Text, while three English instructors participated in follow-up qualitative interviews. Findings showed that students were perceived as relatively stronger in identifying the argumentative problem and its context. However, substantial weaknesses were perceived in identifying the intended audience, aligning the writing goal with the problem, selecting suitable text types and formats, supporting claims with evidence, planning and structuring arguments, maintaining coherence, and applying grammar, punctuation, orthography, and appropriate word choice. The findings suggest that students may recognise the basic demands of an argumentative task but experience greater difficulty developing and expressing a coherent, evidence-based position. The study concludes that technical-vocational students need explicit and sustained instruction in planning, evidence-based argumentation, organisation, feedback, revision, and language refinement.