Development of Fourth Grade Pupils’ Argumentation Skills Through Analysis of Fiction

Abstract

Good communication skills for each person are the basis for quality learning and quality life. Throughout the history of humankind, since people started to communicate and to hold opinions and beliefs, they have always attempted not only to share information, but also to make influence on others. An argument is an individual’s verbal action in order to convince others. The specificity of arguments depends on the situation in communication and on the goal of communication, i.e., on the purpose of an utterance. An argument belongs to the sender of information and to the audience, i.e., recipients of information, to which it is dedicated. In modern society, to be aware of what to say and how to say is not a luxury, but a necessity. Ignorance of how to dispute is one of the greatest sources of cultural inequality. The ability to argue can be considered as one of the higher-order thinking skills, because an individual must not only be able to express his/her ideas coherently, but also refer to facts and exclude the most important ones. International research shows that pupils’ higher-order thinking is insufficient; there are great differences between pupils of different schools and regions.