refuting/rebutting

In argumentative essays you need to be able to effectively raise objections against arguments and opinions that are different from your own. In writing, this can be called a refutation and in oral debates it is known as rebuttal. When you write a refutation, always briefly restate the argument that you are about to rebut (the counterargument). To increase your academic (or democratic) ethos, you can give a concession to the counterargument or hedge your own assertion or examples. Remember, your refutation/rebuttal can attack any part of the counterargument: its hidden or explicit assumptions, its reasoning/logic, its evidence, or its linkage to the writer’s main argument (or the proposition in debating).

TASK: Read the example sentences below and consider the effect of the underlined words in carrying and reinforcing the author’s stance/position.

Example Refutation Structure

  1. Proposition (topic sentence = your claim): p q.

“Mixed-ability schools and classrooms have clear educational benefits.”

  1. X’s claim (+ data = counterargument): X argues/claims/assumes that p1 q1.

“Callow (2016), a proponent of streaming, claims that separate schools for gifted children would lead to ‘greater educational attainment’ (45).”

  1. Concession: p1 may be conceded in (problematic) case n1

“Separate schools would of course benefit brighter children, who would receive more attention from teachers and benefit from high-quality peer input.”

  1. Objection (your counter claim): However, ¬p1 in case n.

However, it is equally likely that, if brighter children are educated separately, quality in general schools will deteriorate…”

  1. Reasoning (your reasons): … because p.

“… because teachers and weaker students will no longer have access to the benefits that come from high-achieving students.”

  1. Evidence (your data): For instance, f1.

As psychological studies, such as those by Greenacre and Wiston (2017) have shown, brighter children challenge teachers to do better and inspire less gifted classmates to succeed.”

  1. Restate proposition (concluding sentence = your claim): Therefore, q (¬q1).

Therefore, instead of segregating children by achievement, we must continue to educate children of mixed ability in the same classes and schools.”

Language for Refuting/Rebutting

Making Strong Assertions
It is clearly / surely the case / observable that …
It is clear / evident that …
Evidently, …
Obviously, …
Making concessions
X may be right to argue that … because …
This may be true to a certain extent because …
Notwithstanding/ In spite of / Despite [noun phrase], we shouldn’t forget that…
So far as [noun phrase] goes, this may be true because …
Introducing criticisms
One question that needs to be asked, however, is whether …
A serious weakness /fallacy with this argument, however, is that …
However, there is an inconsistency with this argument, in that ….
X’s argument relies too heavily on [noun phrase] / the assumption that [full sentence] …
Supporting with Sources
However, X points out/argues/shows that …
Many [x] now argue/hold/think that ….
An experiment by X, for example, seems to demonstrate /suggest that …
X is also very critical of the idea that …