Persuasive Writing and its Challenges

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Persuasive writing is a complex process. According to Connor and Lauer (1985), it is defined as the written discourse which integrates the rational, credibility and affective appeals (corresponding to Logos, Ethos and Pathos of Aristotle) which had long been acknowledged as the key-features of persuasion for more than twenty centuries of rhetoric.

Persuasive writing was developed fair later than the spoken persuasive discourse. In persuasive writing, individuals shape their oral strategies in written format unless they are taught the particulars of written language (Hamp-Lyons & Heasley, 1987) and persuasion (Connors, 1997), which exhibit several differences in their being deployed from those of oral persuasion. When producing written persuasive discourse, the producer of the text/writer always has the benefit of being able to edit and reshape his/her persuasive strategy to the point of the text produced in his/her attempt to fulfill his/her personal goals, views or stance on the matter or even suit the purpose it is written for. On the other hand, the author does not usually have a second chance to alter/change his/her initial approach based on the reaction of the receiver and clearly s/he cannot make use of tone and intonation as in oral persuasion (Al Mansur, Abbad, & Ypsilandis, 2017).

Moreover, persuasive writing is a quite challenging process the effectiveness of which depends on several important crucial factors. Reviewing the literature, it has been released that a) syntactic features (Connor & Biber 1988), b) coherence (Connor & Farmer, 1990), c) cohesion (Witte & Faigely, 1981; Connor, 1984) and d) persuasiveness (Lauer et al., 1985; Connor & Lauer, 1988) are examined and discussed when approaching persuasive discourse in L1 and L2/FL.

2.5.1 Syntactic Features

Focus on syntactic features in written discourse has been in the center of the research attention since 1960s, when scientists investigated the syntactic complexity within students’ scripts (Hunt, 1965; Mellon, 1969; Stotsky, 1975). While the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages places the syntactic

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features use among the linguistic elements of the communicative language competence, Connor and Bibers’ work on the multidimensional syntactic features examination has offered insights into the students’ discourse and more precisely in students’ persuasive discourse. In fact, the writers/speakers in their attempt to persuade the other party, are characterized with a syntactic variation which in turn entails to the transmitter’s involvement in the process of persuasion (see also Explaining theories of persuasion).

Towards this focus, Connor and Biber (1988) have proposed two dimensions regarding the syntactic features:

a) Interactive versus Edited Text: The first category includes features that are related to the level of high personal involvement and interaction, which is in contrast to the features which permit editing and high precision in lexical choice.

Such features indicating high interaction are the “that clauses”, the use of first person pronouns, the contradiction and the pronoun “it”.

b) Abstract versus Situated Style: Concerning the second category, it consists of several features such as nominalizations, prepositions, passive voice and specific conjucts which indicate a highly abstract content and a formal style in the writer’s script.

Therefore, the use of certain syntactic features can be associated with the tendency or the willingness of the writer/speaker to be engaged and interact with the message recipient, otherwise, with his/her formal reference to a topic of discussion, he/she shows his/her distance from the recipient. To conclude, when producing written persuasive discourse, such indicators can serve persuasively to the recipient of the message as the transmitter may follow the principles of the persuasion theories and adjust his/her discourse to addressee’s attitude.

2.5.2 Coherence

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According to Connor (1990), coherence is an elusive concept and although it has long been within the researchers’ interest (Carrel, 1982; Connor, 1984; Phelps, 1985; Enkvist, 1985; Kintsch & van Dijk, 1978), achieving and examining coherence in written discourse and further, in written persuasive discourse is quite challenging.

Persuasive discourse produced by students written, should exhibit coherence as in this way, the transmitter of the message may achieve the communicative goal of persuading the recipient more effectively. Despite the fact that various researchers have referred to this factor of coherence, it seems that Bamberg’s scale of coherence (1984) has been used to a high extend and it could be supported that the categories included in this scale are very related to the descriptors of coherence proposed by the Common European Framework of Reference.

Students, who aim at persuading the other party through written persuasive discourse, are urged to place special attention to various elements which can assure the coherence of a text. More precisely, the writers should identify the topic of focus and orient the recipient of the message through outlining the context or the situation.

Moreover, it is worth mentioning that organization abilities are crucial in persuasive discourse as the persuaders have to produce clear and well-structured texts, in which connectors and linking and closure devices are used smoothly showing also a degree of grammatical control so that the recipient will not be interrupted while coming across the persuasive message.

Therefore, effective written persuasion is also associated with the coherent abilities of the writers which according to CEFR are developed lifelong. Whether coherence is achieved to a higher or to lower degree, writers should stress focus on achieving and further, maintaining coherence within their texts.

2.5.3 Cohesion

Cohesion has been variously defined and is regarded as the linking of sentences together using surface item (Connor & Lauer, 1985). Owing to the work of Halliday and Hasan (1976) on cohesion, there have been carried out studies on students’

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written discourse which offer insights into achieving cohesion in persuasive discourse as well.

More precisely, students producing written persuasive discourse should place special emphasis on producing cohesive texts through various ways that are under continuous research and improvement. In fact, based on both vocabulary and grammatical resources, they may make use of:

• Reference cohesion which refers to two linguistic elements that are related in what they refer to.

• Substitution cohesion which is related to a linguistic element that is not repeated but is replaced by a substitution item.

• Ellipsis cohesion in which one of the identical linguistic elements is omitted.

• Conjuction in which a semantic relation is explicitly marked.

• Lexical cohesion in which two elements share a lexical field (collocation).

Moreover, the CEFR makes an extensive reference to cohesion the abilities expected by speakers at every language level, and although students speaking and writing in another language find cohesion quite challenging, they should be urged to familiarize themselves and develop such cohesion abilities which will help them enhance the communicative goal of their written output. Hence, students producing written persuasive discourse in a target language, in their attempt to achieve their goal and enhance their discourse, should include cohesive devices that serve both textual and interpersonal functions, and according to Silva (1993) and Martin &

Nakayama (2007), they have considerable persuasive power.

2.5.4 Persuasiveness

Persuasiveness constitutes another challenge when people produce written/spoken discourse in their attempt to persuade the other party. More precisely, towards achieving persuasiveness, various persuasive modes and strategies (extended analysis will be completed in the following chapter) can be employed corresponding to the three main persuasive modes of Aristotle, Logos – Ethos – Pathos, which has

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characterized persuasion over twenty centuries. However, what should be considered carefully is that in the 19^th century, persuasion was correlated to logic, because after the separation of argumentation and persuasion discourses, Genunh (1985, 1984) promoted an elimination of persuasion and its replacement by argumentation. Nevertheless, this action was not easily accepted as many rhetoricians (Kinneavy, 1971; Connors, 1981; Berlin and Inkster, 1980) have challenged this correlation underlining that such a step could restrict persuasion only in the rational appeal, thus persuasiveness could be achieved only through rational elements.

Hence, while persuasion and argumentation exhibit several similarities: Their goal is to persuade the recipients of their message; There is the possibility of changing the attitude of the message recipient; They are acted consciously in order to influence the recipients; They are acted within a communicative context, since their activation presupposes an interpersonal transaction and Critical control on the part of the recipient occurs. Their main difference can be found in the close connection of the argumentation with Logic and intellect, and the connection of persuasion, apart from logic, with emotional elements as well.

Taking the above into consideration and focusing on the education context, students who are engaged to produce persuasive discourse, should be aware of the various communicative means and persuasive strategies that are available to them to achieve their goal. Persuasiveness is one of the main characteristics of the persuasive discourse and the goal of people’s social interaction, so students who are engaged to produce written persuasive discourse should pay special attention to the use of appropriate devices that can make their output persuasive and ‘transmit’

messages that can serve effectively in influencing their recipients.