AWA - Argument 2

"Professor Taylor of Jones University is promoting a model of foreign language instrucion in which students receive 10 weeks of intensive training,then go abroad to live with families for 10 weeks.The superiority of the model,Profesor Taylor contends,is proved by the results of a study in which foreign language tests given to students of 25 other colleges show that first-year foreign language students at Jones speak more fluently after only 10 to 20 weeks in the program than do nine out of 10 foreign language majore elsewhere at the time of their graduation."

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The argument regarding the effectiveness of the foreign language instruction model followed at Jones University is weak owing to the kind of evidence used, the assumptions involved and weak reasoning. But by providing the details of the intensive training model and proper use of evidence the argument can be strengthened.

When we take a look at the reasoning presented in the argument we can see that Prof. Taylor contentds that a 10 week training program followed by a 10 week stay abroad will definitely improve the foreign language hold of the students. He misleadingly tries to convine us that a mere stay in abroad will improve langauge. In stating that he assumes that a student staying abroad will only be talking in the language of that country and not English or any other universal language.

In addition,the argument assumes that the students entering Jones Universty and other colleges are all at the same linguistic intellectual level. This may not be the case always. For ex. Jones University might have a difficult entry level lingustic test for the students of the course. The students who clear this test are sure to be equipped with prior forein language learning skills. It would be wrong to compare their learning curves with those of the normal students in other universities. Another assumption is that Prof Taylor thinks that same resources , like teachers or library books which enhance learning, are available to students of Jones as well as other colleges.

When it comes to using the evidence to prove his argument,Prof Taylor says that Jones University students who just finished 10 weeks of first year course are much better than graduates of other colleges.But this point doesn't prove that the particular model's 10 week intensive program or the 10 week stay abraod was carried out in the initial 10 weeks of Jones course.

Inspite of the above fallacies, the argument can be made strong by including details about the contents of the course followed in the 10 week intensive program.To name a few details of the pratice tests, guest lectures, foreign-language phonetic classes etc. Another means of evidence would be if the prof can prove that the same model followed taught to students picked from other universities shows improvement in their foreign language skills.

As can be seen from the above points we can conclude that the argument is inherently weak but can be strengthened by providing appropriate evidence and reasoning.