Abstract

Based on Grundler’s definition and on elements of various competence models of civic education, this article tries to disambiguate the term “political argumentation”. Analysis is based on a political debate recorded at a vocational school. Results show that adopting Przyborski’s conversational analysis provides a deeper understanding of the correlation structure. In conclusion, debate is a useful teaching method for practising political argumentation. Visualising the debate’s structure helped to assess which arguments were developed beyond mere assertion or not. Przyborski’s approach proves highly applicable and useful for this kind of research.