Investigating the effectiveness of arguments in under- graduate essays from an evaluation perspective

This paper explores the role of evaluative expressions in the construal of arguments in a set of high-rated and low-rated English language argumentative tertiary-level essays. Using one aspect of Hunston’s (1989, 2000) concept of the evaluation of status, the paper identifies statement types and illustrates their use in the development of moreand less-successful arguments. The types of linguistic expressions associated with writer opinion, and their possible rhetorical functions, are also highlighted to illustrate their role in the development of effective arguments. Generally, high-rated writers use certain statement types to reinforce the importance of evidence provided in an argument. Implications for the teaching of certain statement types and their linguistic expression are also discussed.