A study investigated the effect of discourse style adopted by students on the way in which the assignment was graded. Subjects were three foreign college students, all non-native speakers of English, in an introductory business course. The assignment was a case study of organizational behavior in two competing companies; the students were to predict the winner of a contract, based on information provided. Analysis of the three essays suggests that the argumentation approach taken by each student affected the grade awarded; the grades depended less on their ability to complete the conceptual task than on their ability to construct a rhetorical solution that matched what the evaluator had in mind. Additional training for non-native speakers in the argument and resolution of issues is recommended. (MSE)