Visualising argument structures in dialectical argumentations – empirical study on a quantitative and qualitative analysis method (Q+ASA)

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Winnie-Karen Giera; Professor Dr. Manfred Stede
• Subject Area: General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning ; General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 567969163

The research project 'Visualising argumentation structures in dialectical discussions - empirical study of a quantitative and qualitative analysis method' (in short: Q+ASA) investigates the analysis and classification of argumentative structures in the texts of pupils and students. It combines linguistic, didactic and computational linguistic methods to develop innovative methods for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of argumentative writing skills. The basis for this is a pre-coded corpus from the studies 'Fair Debating and Discussing' and 'ARGUE!', which is now being further annotated (WP1), qualitatively analyzed (WP2) and used to model a competency level model for written argumentation (WP3). Finally, a computer-based evaluation of the argument structure using large language models and cross-domain train/test procedures will be carried out (WP4). The project will thus make an important contribution to evidence-based writing research and to the further development of computer-based analyses in the educational context. The central research questions are: (1) How can the structure of argumentation in student texts be adequately labelled manually? (2) To what extent can qualitative structure tree analyses contribute to the evaluation of the coherence and quality of argumentative texts? (3) How can competency levels of argumentation be modelled using quantitative writing process and product data? (4) To what extent are existing corpora and large language models suitable for the automatic prediction of argumentation structures? The one-year Q+ASA project combines qualitative and quantitative analysis methods and creates a basis for future research on the automated assessment of argumentative writing skills.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants