Argumenterend Schrijven in t2 en t1

This paper reports on some of the results of a study of the 'acquisition of argumentative discourse by Dutch intermediate learners of Italian, carried out among a group of university students at the Department of Italian of the University of Amsterdam. It focuses on the comparison of the argumentation structure in L2 and LI and the lexical, syntactic and pragma-rhetorical means required for the production of argumentative discourse. The following three issues are discussed: 1. The accessibility and frequency of the obligatory and optional argumentative categories and subcategories in L2 and LI (cf. Lo Cascio, 1991; Toulmin, 1958/1964). 2. The main differences between L2 and LI concerning the use of the so-called argumentative indicators and other lexical and syntactic markers to emphasize the argumentative purpose of argumentation; the LI influence on the acquisition of these linguistic means in L2. 3. The use in L2 and LI of pragma-rhetorical devices to rouse the interest, of the reader and to convince, such as metaphors and rhetorical questions; the occurrence of pragma-rhetorical LI transfer.