Enhancing Learners’ Argumentative Genre Knowledge through Digital Text Exemplar Comparison

Argumentative writing skills are essential for academic success at the tertiary level, and acquiring genre knowledge is vital in developing writing proficiency. Due to their pedagogical benefits, exemplars are widely used as an educational intervention to foster academic competencies such as writing and argumentation. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the immediate effects of comparing digital argumentative text exemplars on first-year university students’ argumentative genre knowledge and its six constituents. Two instructional interventions—an exemplar comparison task and a handout review activity—were implemented with 50 undergraduate students who completed a genre knowledge pre-test and post-test. The study then investigated whether there was a significant difference in genre knowledge post-test scores between the two groups, while controlling for pre-test scores. Results showed that the exemplar comparison intervention was more effective than handout review in terms of enhancing students’ overall argumentative genre knowledge and their familiarity with the ASRAW (Analytic Scoring Rubric for Argumentative Writing) genre element. By situating the affordances and constraints of exemplar comparison tasks within the existing literature, the study provides insights into the implications of this pedagogical strategy for teaching argumentative writing in higher education and offers practical recommendations for academic writing instructors and curriculum designers.