ADVANCED READING Asking the right questions: Rival causes True or False? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. When researchers use a control group in their research, they don't have to worry about rival causes. Association or correlation does not prove …………….. The more plausible rival causes that you come up with, the more confidence you should have in the initial explanation offered by an author. We can assume that if two events are associated or correlated then one causes the other. Researchers often compare two groups that differ in life experiences to see whether these differences cause them to differ in other important ways. For example, they might compare the “happiness” of college students who pledge a fraternity with those who do not to see whether joining a fraternity influences happiness. The results of such studies can often be explained by many rival causes because of pre-existing difference in the groups. Practice exercises 1. Suzanne has taken the SAT twice. She got six hours of sleep the night before the first time she took it and made a 1000. The second time, she got seven hours of sleep and made 1150. Therefore, the more sleep you get before taking the SAT, the better you score on it. 2. Nowadays, with Facebook becoming more and more popular, language teachers should seriously think about making use of it in teaching the writing skill. The effectiveness of Facebook employment in teaching this productive skill has been shown in many studies by prestigious researchers. The latest research on this issue was done in the form of an experimental research with two classes of 3rd-year students majoring in English in the same college of foreign languages being chosen. During their second semester of learning writing, class one received traditional way of instruction: learning how to write, doing the follow-up practice session and getting feedback in class. The other underwent a similar procedure in class. At home, they were asked to log into their Writing Forum on Facebook, post their work and wait for comments from their peers, and sometimes, from their teacher. The benefits of using Facebook in teaching writing can clearly be seen in the end-of-semester examination results. The second group had a lot more students getting As and Bs as compared to the first one (55% and 29% vs 21% and 35% respectively.) The success of the new way of teaching was so impressive that many language teachers have even started thinking about spending some time in their regular classes on Facebook-related activities. It’s high time language teachers adopted the idea and joined the new trend of teaching. Otherwise, they will surely be left behind with their boring and ineffective lessons. - Issue: Should Facebook be used in teaching writing skill? - Conclusion: Yes ADVANCED READING - Reason: + Facebook is becoming more and more popular + The effectiveness of Facebook employment in teaching writing skill has been shown in many studies by prestigious researchers (Evidence: + An experiment on 2 groups, one used Facebook and one didn’t, showed that the second group had a lot more students getting As and Bs as compared to the first one -> Research studies) + Teachers will surely be left behind with their boring and ineffective lessons without using Facebook - Assumptions: + The usage of Facebook is the only difference between 2 classes + This method can be adopted effectively to all other classes + Lessons that don’t use Facebook are always boring + The first group didn’t use Facebook for learning - Fallacies: + Facebook being popular means teachers should use it -> Ad populum + Only call the researchers “prestigious” without explaining -> Explaining by naming + Assume that using Facebook is the only reason why students got higher scores -> Narrative + The students who didn’t get high scores in the second group also find Facebook effective -> Hasty generalization + The teacher could only deliver boring and ineffective lessons if they don’t use Facebook. -> Either-or - Rival causes: ADVANCED READING + The second group has better competence than the first one + The second group has better learning strategies + The teacher of the second group has more effective teaching methods in class + The first group didn’t work at home like the second group + The second group have practiced questions similar to those in the test 3.A new 10-year follow-up study of nearly 7,000 men and women in California showed that skipping breakfast is among seven health risks that increase your chances of an early death. The study, by the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Health Sciences, found that death rates were 40 percent higher for men and 28 percent higher for women who "rarely or sometimes" ate breakfast, compared with those who ate breakfast "almost every day." A previous 10year study conducted by the University of Iowa Medical College showed that eating a nutritious breakfast was associated with better physical and mental performance among children and adults. In particular, the study revealed that those who ate breakfast were more productive during the late morning. They also had a faster reaction time (which may mean fewer accidents) and less muscular fatigue than those who skipped breakfast. Children who had no breakfast were more likely to be restless and have trouble concentrating.
