Back to Blog
ESL and Viewpoint Diversity
The following activity occurred in the context of an English as a Second Language (ESL) writing class for international students hoping to matriculate in US universities. This particular class was evenly split between students from China and students from Saudi Arabia, a detail that will become important shortly. Students in this class are at a high-intermediate level of English proficiency and are learning to write short essays in genres common to introductory university classes.
In this case, we were working on argumentative essays. The theme for the unit was “nonviolent social change.” I provided the following essay prompt:
We have been reading about and discussing nonviolent resistance. Think about a group who is upset about an important conflict. Try to understand and explain the circumstances of this conflict, why people are upset, and why they might believe that violence or nonviolence is the way to confront the problem.Students were asked to argue specifically, in an essay with two arguments and a counterargument:
- to adopt nonviolent resistance as a better, more effective way to resolve the conflict you have chosen; OR
- to recognize that nonviolent resistance will not work in the conflict you have chosen, and that the only way to resolve the conflict is by using violence.
- When did it begin?
- Why did it begin?
- Who is involved?
- Why are they fighting?
- Who are the oppressors?
- Who are the oppressed?
- What methods are being used to resolve the conflict?
- Is the method being used the best one available?
- How can/should the conflict be resolved?
- Abilities: research on differences in scores on math and verbal tests
- research generally supporting gender equality in abilities
- research finding significant differences in abilities by gender
- Preferences: research on preferences in major and career type
- research generally supporting gender equality in preferences
- research finding significant differences in preferences by gender
- Personality traits: research on different personality traits and on thing vs. people orientation
- research generally supporting gender equality in traits
- research finding significant differences in traits by gender
- First, students should discuss their readings with others who shared the same assignment
- Next, students should discuss within their topic group (ie. ai & aii, bi & bii, and ci & cii)
- Finally, groups should be formed with at least one member of each sub-group
Related Articles
November 30, 2023+George Yancey
+Public Policy+Campus Climate
November 29, 2023+Leo Krubner
+Viewpoint Diversity+Public Policy+Campus Policy
great minds don't
always think alike
Make a Donation
Your generosity supports our non-partisan efforts to advance the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement to improve higher education and academic research.