Academic Writing

Stage 4 Content, Structure and Mechanics

CHRISTIAN FABIAN QUINTERO RUEDA

1073154372
9

Tutor
MILLY ANDREA MUÑOZ

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA. UNAD

SCIENCES OF EDUCATION SCHOOL- ECEDU
Bachelor of English as a foreign language
May2019
In the essay, Li Xiu Ying expresses the importance that Chinese people give
to their children learning English at a young age, since they believe that
this knowledge will open doors for the future in which they will be able to
take advantage of employment opportunities that without the use of this
language they could not access. I adapted the original essay to our context
here in Colombia, since here also the parents give great importance to their
children from an early age to acquire a second language such as English,
because they consider it as the language of the present and of the future
and as that key that will open doors to labor and cultural offers that without
knowing English could not have. In this practice I strengthened the use of
connectors when writing my papers and knowing how to organize
sentences within a paragraph; it is my task to make stronger the correct
and timely use of punctuation marks to turn this weakness into a strength.

Checklist Items
Content: What the essay says
Does the paper show what the Yes
title says?
Does the introduction clearly
explain what the paper is
about? Does it prepare the
reader for what comes next?
Is the thesis statement clear
and easy to understand?
Does each paragraph relate to
the thesis statement?
Are the main ideas — topic
sentences — related to the
thesis statement? Do they
back it up?
Do the paragraphs support
the thesis statement? Is the
support specific? Is it
convincing?
Does the conclusion logically
end the paper? Does it give a
take-home message that
stems from the rest of the
paper?
Structure:
Does the paragraph have a
topic sentence? (Not all
paragraphs have a topic
sentence. Sometimes the
topic sentence is implied.)
What is the main idea of the
paragraph? (Even if the topic
sentence is not explicitly
written, you should be able to
Yes /
Comments and Suggestions
No
It has the cohesion necessary to
connect and transmit ideas.
Yes The author is very consistent with
the paper.
Yes It is precise and concise; besides a
clear idea of what the author
wants to convey.
Yes Each paragraph explains the
reasons the author has to support
his thesis.
Yes
The ideas are closely linked if,
what strongly supports the thesis.
Yes
Efficiently, the support of each
paragraph is specific and
convincing to the reader.
Yes With the conclusion the author
patents his thesis and gives the
message to the reader to convince
him about the paper.
How the essay reads
Yes I consider the paragraph
have a topic sentence.
Yes I think this is the main idea
of the paragraph “[…] In China, it is
important for us to learn English because if
determine the main idea
based on the information
given in the paragraph.)
Do all the sentences in the Yes All sentences are linked and have
paragraph support the main
idea?
How are the sentences in the Yes
paragraph organized?
Is this the most effective way Yes I think so, because the sentences
to organize them? Explain
why or why not.
Are there any sentences that No
don’t follow the organization
or that just don’t flow
logically? Give examples and
explain what the problem is.
Mechanics: How the essay is written
Is the spelling correct? Did Yes
you use the spell check on
the computer or look up
words you weren’t sure about
in a dictionary?
Is the grammar correct? Are Yes
there any sentence fragments
or run-on sentences?
you do well in English, you can get a good job
far more than non-speaking English[…]”
an intertextuality cohesion
between them giving coherence to
the paper.
They are organized by an inclusion
relationship where the sentences
are related so that one is adjacent
to another.
that are related in this way
constitute a syntactic unit in
which one sentence participates in
the other as an adjacent one. It
will be a sentence modifier, it can
also integrate phrases, to include
subordinate sentences, since they
integrate a larger sentence
structure. It also adds that paper
is organized hierarchically in a
deductive way.
I believe, all sentences are
organized in a logical way and
follow the organization of the
paper to clearly understand the
author's idea.
The spelling was checked by the
computer and it is correct
The computer's spell checker did
not correct any misspelled words
or fragments
Has the author used Yes In my opinion the use of
punctuation correctly? punctuation marks is fine
Has the author correctly used Yes
capital letters? Effectively the use of the capital
letters is correct
Has the author used words Yes
correctly throughout the I think the author made excellent
paper? use of the words on the whole
paper.

How might this paper be improved?

Why it is important to learn English at an early age?

In Colombia it is increasingly important to learn English from an early age.

For this reason, the interest of parents to encourage their children to
become familiar with this language has increased, since they understand
that the fact that they can master it will allow them to have more
opportunities in their adulthood.

At present, speaking English is a plus in the curriculum, this means that

the chances of finding a good job are doubled by mastering a second
language. The labour market is global and English is the official
communication language in this environment, so learning English is
essential to be competitive with other professionals.

One way that children can learn English is by accustoming them to

hearing words in this language, between 18 months and 6 years of age, it
is the moment in which the brain is in the process of developing cognitive
skills. According to experts, stimulating listening and using words in this
language from an early age generates changes at the level of the cerebral
cortex that facilitate learning, the most interesting is that they will learn in
a natural way and similar to the mother tongue.

Children exposed to English from childhood develop, in addition to a

language ability superior to the rest of their age, a better ability to learn
another language, since their brain uses the same learning system used to
learn English.

Children's minds absorb knowledge better, as they grow up, it is more

complicated to study, and children have the advantage that their neural
networks are willing to know the world around them. Therefore it is
advisable to learn English from an early age.

Finally, once children reach youth, their priorities change and they have
less time to devote to learning English. This happens when they start
university, friends, parties and others that are usually aspects of daily life.
For this reason, in the event that a young man decides to learn English
and is not familiar with the language, one of the best ways he can do to
improve his level is to study abroad.