Developing Arguments

How to teach argument building

Teaching students how to build arguments can help them to speak more and make their answers and presentations more extensive. Even when students are able to generate ideas for arguments to support their position or opinion, they often have trouble going beyond the basic statement of the argument to give it body and depth.

The best way to teach students how to develop their arguments is to provide a model which is clear, simple and easy to remember. The SEET model can be great for this purpose. 

According to the SEET model, a fully developed argument should be made up of these four parts:

Statement  

One sentence that gives the main idea of the argument.

Explanation

Answers these questions about the argument:

Why is it true?

Why is it important?

Why is it good?

Example

Paints a picture of how this argument works in real life.

Tie-back 

Concludes the argument and shows how it connects to the main topic.

Here is an example of a SEET argument.

The topic is vegetarianism vs. meat eating.

(Statement) Being vegetarian is bad because it is unhealthy.

(Explanation)(Why is it true) A plant-based diet does not contain all the nutrients our body needs in order to function properly.

(Why is it important) Our body contains many complex systems and making sure that they all function properly is crucial for our well-being.

(Why is it good) A healthy and functioning body ensures that we can live a full life, perform physically and mentally, and also feel good emotionally.

(Example) Vitamin B12 is an example of one of the nutrients lacking in a plant-based diet. We can only get it from animal products. Without this vitamin, our body lacks much of its power and energy.

(Tie-back) So to sum up, being vegetarian puts us at risk of not having all the nutrients we need to function properly in a healthy and wholesome way, and this is one reason why it is better to eat meat.

To practice argument building, you can divide the students into pairs, and give each of them a different argument with the SEET template to fill in. After each student has prepared their argument they should present it orally to their partner. The partner will time them, and the aim is to speak for at least 1.5 to 2 minutes. After each student presents, the partner should also ask him a few questions about his argument, to help develop it even further.