Multi-discourse Modes in Student Writing: Effects of Combining Narrative and Argument Discourse Modes on Argumentative Essay Scores

Abstract Although many studies modelled writing quality by analysing basic skills (spelling, grammar, etc.), few focused on top-down compositional strategies at the discourse level. We propose that using both narrative and argument modes in an argumentative essay (a multi-discourse mode [MDM] strategy) capitalizes their complementary advantages, yielding higher essays. tested whether MDM strategy linguistic features were linked to scores 695 Chinese high-stakes exam essays upper secondary school students. Path analyses showed with had scores. also featured more words, shorter sentences, infrequent concrete words—all contributing Additionally, written from a picture prompt (versus text prompt) This study captures how can improve writing.