Communication Strategies 3 Argumentation basics: Using reasoning

Link your evidence to your claim

Image Credit
Image credit: Christian Weidinger via flicker

This lesson is about making a strong, well-reasoned argument. This is the last part of making a strong basic answer. 

Introduction

What is the role of reasoning in an argument? 

There are two main roles of reasoning: 

  1. It makes your argument much stronger. It explains to everyone why your evidence is important. In presentations and business meetings, adding clear reasoning is vital for a strong argument. 
  2. It gives you a chance to show your language skills. Claims are basically opinions, and everyone can give opinions. Evidence is straight facts, so it's also fairly basic. But reasoning requires complex language showing the connection between two or more things.

On another note, make sure you clarify the difference between reasons and reasoning. Many students confuse the two.

  • Reasons are why.
  • Reasoning is thinking: the logic that connects your ideas.
Warm Up

Is this a strong answer? Why or why not? 

Tokyo is the best city in the world! It's very convenient. There are hundreds of train stations and convenience stores. Also, the food is amazing. Tokyo is the city with the most Michelin stars. So it's convenient and the food is great.

This answer is not very strong. There is a lot of room for improvement because it lacks reasoning. 

Ask:

  1. First of all, what level is the English? Could a high school student say this? (Yes, probably.)
  2. Why is it important that there are hundreds of train stations? What does that enable you to do? What about the food—can I get more details about why this is good?

You are looking for something like this: 

 ...there are hundreds of train stations, so you can easily walk to one. It usually takes just a few minutes, so you can have drinks with friends and not worry about driving home.
...Tokyo has the most Michelin stars of any city in the world, so that means you can eat world-class food just around the corner! There are so many good restaurants, you can try a new one almost every day and never get bored. 

Optional

Here are some sentence structures to help add reasoning. If your student is at a level where these patterns are appropriate to learn, try teaching these: 

  • So you can (+ verb) 
  • So that means... 
  • The (comparative), the (comparative). 
    • The more stations, the less you have to walk to get to the nearest one!
    • The safer the city, the better it is for kids.
    • The more you study, the better your English will be! 
Language

Try adding reasoning to these secondary claims and pieces of evidence: 

  1. I’m positive about the economy in France. The people are well-educated. 
  2. I’m negative about the economy in Italy. The population is decreasing.

Some example answers: 

1. I’m positive about the economy in France, because people are well-educated. In fact, 99% of the population is literate. When people are literate, they are able to be more productive because they can carry out tasks that require critical thinking more efficiently. More productivity in the labor force has a direct and positive impact on the economy. 

2. I’m negative about the economy in Italy because of the decreasing population. First of all, as the population ages, young people have to spend more time and money caring for the elderly. Also, a decreasing population means domestic consumption will decrease, and that means the economy will get worse. 

Optional

Evidence-last structure

Here's an example of evidence-last reasoning in chart form.

CLAIM 

 REASONING

EVIDENCE
My university is the best university in the country. Good universities educate students so that they are able to find good jobs and contribute to society. More than 80% of graduates of my university go to work in Fortune 500 companies, the government or scientific institutions.

 

Practice

Now that you understand how to use reasoning to make a strong argument, try it out with a couple of questions.