Teaching Argument

Toulmin's model

Stephen Toulmin’s model, published in 1958, has become popular in supporting students’ argumentation skills.

Arguments consist of:

• Claims – assertions or conclusions about an event or theory
• Facts – data that is used as evidence to support the assertion
• Warrants – the statement that explains the link between the data and the claims
• Backing – underlying assumptions which are often not made explicit
• Rebuttals – statements that contradict the data, warrant or backing of an argument

To create an argument students need to:

1. State their claim.
2. Support it with facts (data) arranged singly
3. For each fact, give the evidence for the fact (warrant),
4. For each warrant, state the quality of its validity (backing)
5. For each warrant and its backing, think of an opposing point of view (rebuttal)
6. Consider further possible warrants and backing for the rebuttals
7. Review, having argued the rebuttals, do they need to qualify their original claim?

Another Example:

More complex arguments include qualifiers specifying conditions under which the claim holds true.

 The IDEAS Project

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