(OS invited talk) The influence of task structure and relationship on the subjective effects of argumentative discourse.

Abstract

Recent attention has been to argumentation due to its value in individual development as well as for adapting to changes in society, VUCA. Although studies of argumentative discourse are useful and are of great value, the number of such studies are limited. Nakano (2018) revealed two factors which facilitate argumentative discourse through observation: task structure (structured/non-structured) and relationship (competition/cooperation). The present paper analyzed the effects of these factors on participants. An experiment was conducted with twelve groups of thirty-six students. The groups were allocated one condition of four. Three factors were found to have subjective effects on argumentative discourse following a factor analysis of participants’ post survey. The results of a two-way ANOVA indicated that two factors had statistically significant effects on students’ argumentative discourse. Condition B (non-structured/competition) was revealed as having the greatest effect on all.