Building Better Arguments: A CER-Based Approach to Persuasive Essays

Developing writing skills among learners is crucial to becoming an effective communicator who can demonstrate depth of knowledge and exhibit critical thinking abilities.Determining ways to improve such skills is essential because effective written communication is one of the foundational skills for academic success and active participation in a functionally literate society.Employing the quasi-experimental design method, the study utilized the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) Framework to enhance the writing skills of the 10 th Graders in Cebu City, Philippines.Two different discussion materials assessing the same writing competencies were used to determine the learners' competencies before and after the intervention scheme.Similarly, the data gathered was analyzed using the paired sample t-test to determine the effectiveness of the CER framework.The findings revealed a significant improvement in the learners' writing competencies in terms of formulating arguments, creating and determining main points, finding supporting evidence for the points made, and creating conclusions using the CER Framework as the intervention.Moreover, the process of the CER framework has helped the learners organize their thoughts and ideas, resulting in coherent and logical persuasive essays.Finally, the CER framework writing process can easily be integrated into daily writing activities across learning areas for deeper understanding, enhanced communication skills, and the development of critical thinking among learners across levels.