Conflicting Viewpoints

Part 1

The topic I had selected for my assignment was “Is alternative energy a replacement of fossil fuels?” I feel bad when I hear statements that fossil fuels will soon come to an end and that we should not find alternative sources of energy because it’s too early for that. According to me, we should increase our dependence on alternative or renewable energy and decrease our reliance on fossil fuels. Oil, coal, and gas being used in our homes and factories can end anytime, and the notion that they can be used until 2050 has nothing to do with reality.

The fact is that we depend too much on energy resources and want all the comforts of life. What if those fossil fuels vanish from the face of the Earth by the end of this year? We should prepare ourselves from today and gradually reduce their use by increasing our dependence on alternative energy, which can last longer than fossil fuels and will benefit us in a lot of ways.

Part 2

Several people argue that the alternative or renewable energy is not as efficient as fossil fuels. First of all, they would have to understand that the burning of oil, gases, and coal is harmful to human health. We are directly or indirectly contributing to air and water pollution. If gas is burnt somewhere, then its smoke will definitely be added to the atmosphere, which can ruin our health in a long-run.

Secondly, fossil fuels are too expensive to be within the range of ordinary people. In contrast, paying for renewable or alternative energy resources is easy as they are cost-friendly and long-lasting. Last but not the least, the alternative energy resources are many in number and can be accessed anywhere, anytime; the dependence of the world on the United Arab Emirates for energy sources would be decreased to an extent.

Part 3

There are a lot of errors in the arguments mentioned above, and I feel that they are not based on a complete set of facts. Firstly, burning oil, coal, and gases is harmful to human health, but it is also in our hands to burn them wisely. In different parts of the world, where these fossil fuels are present excessively, people use them unwisely and eventually suffer from health complications. We can certainly prevent the air and water from being polluted by using these fossil fuels rarely.

The second argument that fossil fuels are more expensive than alternative energy is not based on facts. We should bear in mind that they are obtained from the Earth, meaning we do not have to produce them ourselves. The fact should not be ignored that they are actually cheaper than alternative energy resources on which we may have to spend thousands of dollars every month. Last but not the least, it is true that most of the fossil fuels are present in the United Arab Emirates, but the world is already buying a large portion of that from the Arabs at reasonable prices. There are some Arabian countries where oil is sold at high prices, but this is true about the entire Arab world.

Part 4

Bias enters into the argument when the facts are not available, and the information is not fully referenced. The two types of biases that affect my arguments are group discussion and authentication. It looks like the arguments presented in this work have not been fact-checked. They are purely based on personal opinions and have not been referenced properly.

We can trust their authenticity only when a group of experts is involved in the study. Personal viewpoints and lack of proof go side-by-side in this study. People who believe that fossil fuels are not as effective and long-lasting as alternative energy resources should come up with examples and proves to support their arguments. Even when we believe that fossil fuels will come to an end by 2050, we still have nearly 30 years to think of better alternatives than renewable energy resources.

Part 5

Through my cultural experience, I feel that it is not good to trust someone’s arguments or opinions without fact-check. Even when sources are unavailable, we can at least search the internet, go through different authentic books and journals, and compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of both fossil fuels and alternative energy. There is no need to trust a scientist’s words blindly. Instead, we should dig deeper and research before coming up with a conclusion.

If I had a group, I would have loved to visit different parts of the world, discuss matters with geologists, and tried to find the truth. Currently, no such opportunity is available to me, so the only thing I can do is denying what others say about the extinction of fossil fuels. Maybe, they will last longer than 2050.

Part 6

The arguments presented here have changed my thinking about fossil fuels and alternative energy resources. What I want is enough examples and proper references that could support those arguments. In today’s tech-oriented world, everything is just a click away. We can quickly turn to the internet to find whether a specific study is fact-checked or not. One of the major concerns is how to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. Even when they are not available in the future, we can generate or produce energy with other methods.

Alternative Energy Vs Fossil Fuels

These days, every sensible citizen asks: is alternative energy a good replacement of fossil fuels? Can it come up with our expectations in the same way as oil, coal and other fossil fuels do? I strongly believe that alternative energy can make us forget fossil fuels and it is as powerful and effective as oil, coal, and gas.

The premises which support my opinion are given below:

o   The world has been constantly moving toward a more protective, pollution-free and well-versed environment and fossil fuels contribute to environmental pollution.

o   Fossil fuel reserves will end by 2051, meaning they are limited and may not be available from a maximum of December 2051 onward.

o   Alternative energy will prove to be more inexpensive than fossil fuels, meaning the poor may be able to access it in the future.

In favor of these three premises, three believing arguments are mentioned below:

o   The main issues are sudden climate change, greenhouse effect, and ozone layer depletion. We should notice that carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbon, and other harmful gases are being added to the air every day, and this not only cause problems with the air but also for the water. In recent years, water in seas and oceans has reached an alarmingly low level, and all this is because of the increased temperature outside. Moreover, icebergs have started melting at a fast speed. This is the time when we find out alternatives to fossil fuels and utilize them in a better way. I think that alternative energy is environment-friendly so it can perfectly replace fossil fuels in our lives. Forgetting fossil fuels and depending on alternative energy will save our air and water from contaminations.

o   It should be noticed that the reserves of coal, hydrocarbons and other fossil fuels have already ended in some parts of the world. Even in the developed countries like America, Canada, the UAE, England and China, they will not last beyond 2050. Experts have already mentioned that the wise use of fossil fuels may save them for a few more months, meaning they will not last longer than November 2051. This is the time when we should increase our dependence on alternative energy and gradually forget about fossil fuels before it is too late and we run out of time, losing both fossil fuels and alternative energy resources.

o   Most of the energy reserves are present in Islamic states like Saudi Arabia and Muslims, according to their ethical and moral values, respect the poor the same way they respect the rich. It clarifies that they will keep distributing fossil fuels among all developed and under-developed states without any discrimination, and this can quickly lower the level of fossil fuels beneath the Earth. On the other hand, alternative energy can cost governments a few hundred dollars while fossil fuels already cost millions of dollars per year. The poor will be able to pay for alternative resources and be happy with their lives. If they have an access to energy resources, they may never get involved in crimes or opt for shortcut ways to earn a lot of money.

I feel that we should stop depending more on fossil fuels and other natural sources of energy. Alternative energy can make our lives easier and more comfortable, but it should also be used wisely.

Corrective Feedback to Pronunciation Errors in Adult Second Language Classrooms

This study aims to investigate the effects of proper English pronunciation errors on the overall performance of adult students. In recent years, communicative language teaching methodologies have started dominating second language learning and teaching in colleges and universities. It has been found that English pronunciation is a major problem for various ESL learners. The native language speakers achieve success easily compared to non-native language speakers. It means students belonging to China, Japan, India and other similar states may face a lot of difficulties while studying at top colleges and universities of the United States, Canada and Europe Pawlak, 2012).

They may also not be able to fluently speak French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Some mistakes that are common among all these students are pronouncing “th,” “schwa,” short “i,” and “e,” as well as confusing “I” with that of “r” and “w” with “v.” The proper pronunciation of “th” is next to impossible for adult students in second language classrooms. According to Jennifer Ann Foote, Pavel Trofimovich, Laura Collins, and Fernanda Soler Urzúa, “th” can be pronounced as “d” in words like those, these, that, this, them and they. The only way to fix the issue is to know the exact meanings of all of these words. Students must be able to make correct sentences using these words and write phrases that actually make sense (Foote, Trofimovich, Collins, & Urzúa, 2013).

The “schwa” is a type of sound that can be heard or felt in words like choc(o), t(o), and mem(o)ries. Most often, students do not pronounce it properly, and the only way to fix the issue is by giving them a sufficient number of examples of how to pronounce it. For instance, teachers can clarify the word “memory” to them with eight to ten sentences, written on the whiteboard. Andrew H. Lee and Roy Lyster mention that “I” is often confused with “r.” It is a kind of stereotypical mistake made by Chinese and Japanese students. For example, they say slice rather than rice, and this sound difficulty is present in almost all Asian students studying at American and Canadian institutes. The proper pronunciation of the short “i” is also difficult for adult students in second language classrooms (Lee & Lyster, 2015). They get confused with words like sit, hit, fit and live. The issue can be fixed by combining different words with each other, such as sit with seat, hit with heat, fit with feet, and live with leave. Students should be assigned tasks to make sentences using these pair of words.

Similarly, students confuse “v” with that of “w,” and this is a commonly found pronunciation problem among Asian and European students. For instance, some students pronounce west as vest, and water as vater. The only effective way to deal with this issue is showing the student how to round his mount into “o,” followed by unrounding it for producing the correct sound. Last but not the least, “e” is not correctly pronounced by many adult students. Some of them fail to understand the difference between bite and bit, and other similar words. This issue can also be resolved if they are asked to practice word pairs on a regular basis (Sheen, 2011).

It is obvious that oral proficiency plays a significant role in language curriculum and the success of students depends on how skilled and trained they are when it comes to pronouncing different words. Learner uptake and corrective feedback are frequently examined and observed in the realm of classroom research. Feedback must be given to students to help them identify their errors and to get them fixed within the classroom. The discussion is how words mentioned-above can be fixed and what type of classroom strategies need to be implemented for better results. Are learners’ errors corrected in the classroom or feedback is given to them for improvements at a later stage? The ultimate goal of this research is to understand how corrective feedback can help students pronounce different commonly used words (Ning, et al., 2015).

Kazuya Saito and Roy Lyster have examined that provision of correct feedback on specific forms of language is necessary for experimental settings to be assured of great results. Attempts were made to determine whether recasts and prompts have any role as correct feedback in English language students’ oral proficiency or not. It was also figured out which feedback treatment is more effective and better than the other (Darabad, 2014). For this purpose, the words ending and starting with “e” and “i” will be paid utmost attention too. In order to properly analyze the data, experts used different one-way ANOVA conditions such as +prompt –recasts, –prompts –recasts and others. The main issue is whether corrective feedback can help students improve their pronunciation and vocabulary or not. It is commonly observed that teachers make the incorrect use of corrective feedback techniques, especially recasts and prompts, when it comes to helping adult students pronounce different words inside and outside the classroom (Saito & Lyster, 2011).

Pronunciation is one of the most important problems that non-native English speakers often face in the classrooms. Improper pronunciation may leave a negative impact on the minds of students, cause communication problems, and damage a student’s reputation in the eyes of his teacher or professor. When such students talk to people around them, their pronunciation of words like “i,” “e,” and “l” are incorrect, and they fail to understand how to use these words in English sentences correctly. Without corrective feedback, they will never get to know what their deficiencies are and how to fix errors in their pronunciations. Thus, we can say that teaching pronunciation for ESL learners is the only way to survive at colleges and schools (Tomczyk, 2013).

In recent months, teachers have implemented various strategies and introduced a variety of techniques to enhance the overall learning process. Many of them opt for simple methods while the others go with sophisticated or complex teaching methodologies. But none of them will benefit learners until or unless corrective feedback is not provided to them. In other words, we can say that knowing a lot of vocabulary words or phrases is useless if learners cannot pronounce commonly used words, and this problem is common among ESL learners (Griffiths & Higham, 2017). Such pronunciation mistakes can cause serious misunderstandings in the classroom. For instance, if the word “sinking” is used on the internet in sentences like “I am sinking,” various people may think that they can communicate with their teachers using the same type of words or sentences, but that’s not true. It should be noticed that several words are only meant to be used on the internet, and can cause issues for the speakers if used in the real world (Huang & Jia, 2016).

Studies indicate that with all new words used in the classroom, teachers should provide examples and write multiple sentences on the whiteboard to make students understand everything properly. With a lot of practice, they can certainly achieve success. Besides this, they should be provided with corrective feedback on a regular basis to help them know their errors and how to fix those errors as soon as possible (Naeimi, Saeidi, & Behnam, 2018).

Kazuya Saito recorded Learners' responses in this regard. Many of them claimed that corrective feedback was not provided to them and it could help them improve their oral deficiencies to an extent. Recasts were the focus of his research and the impacts of corrective feedback on communication were found. The classroom study conducted by XZY revealed that recasts may be far better than prompts when it comes to the improved performance of students (Saito, 2014).

Various learners in the classroom need help and should be taught how to prevent themselves from communication errors and pronunciation issues. For this purpose, a lot of corrective feedback needs to be provided to them besides prompts and racists, both of which may not prove to be fruitful in some circumstances. The gap between communication errors and recognition of words needs to be filled as soon as possible. If this is not done, then soon students or learners will lose their hope, feel restless, and may fail in their exams. This can be a big threat to the entire institute or education system. It is obvious that oral proficiency plays a vital role in language curriculum, but the concern is how learners can pronounce different words and improve the communication skills (Kirgoz & Agcam, 2015).

Work Cited:

Kirgoz, Y., & Agcam, R. (2015). Teachers’ Perceptions on Corrective Feedback in Turkish Primary Schools. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 192, 574-581. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.06.096

Naeimi, A., Saeidi, M., & Behnam, B. (2018). Immediate Uptake of Phonological Corrective Feedback in Language Learning and Retention. Education Research International, 2018, 1-11. doi:10.1155/2018/2579421

Foote, J. A., Trofimovich, P., Collins, L., & Urzúa, F. S. (2013). Pronunciation teaching practices in communicative second language classes. The Language Learning Journal, 44(2), 181-196. doi:10.1080/09571736.2013.784345

Lee, A. H., & Lyster, R. (2015). The Effects Of Corrective Feedback On Instructed L2 Speech Perception. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38(01), 35-64. doi:10.1017/s0272263115000194

Saito, K., & Lyster, R. (2011). Effects of Form-Focused Instruction and Corrective Feedback on L2 Pronunciation Development of /ɹ/ by Japanese Learners of English. Language Learning, 62(2), 595-633. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00639.x

Saito, K. (2014). Variables affecting the effects of recasts on L2 pronunciation development. Language Teaching Research, 19(3), 276-300. doi:10.1177/1362168814541753

Pawlak, M. (2012). The Effect of Explicit and Implicit Corrective Feedback on Eliminating Pronunciation Errors. Second Language Learning and Teaching Teaching and Researching English Accents in Native and Non-native Speakers, 85-101. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-24019-5_7

Sheen, Y. (2011). Pedagogical Perspectives on Corrective Feedback. Corrective Feedback, Individual Differences and Second Language Learning Educational Linguistics, 39-51. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-0548-7_3

Ning, Y., Wu, Z., Jia, J., Meng, F., Meng, H., & Cai, L. (2015). HMM-based emphatic speech synthesis for corrective feedback in computer-aided pronunciation training. 2015 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP). doi:10.1109/icassp.2015.7178909

Darabad, A. M. (2014). Corrective Feedback Interventions and EFL Learners’ Pronunciation: A Case of –s or –es Ending Words. International Journal of Learning and Development, 4(1), 40. doi:10.5296/ijld.v4i1.5010

Tomczyk, E. (2013). Perceptions of Oral Errors and Their Corrective Feedback: Teachers vs. Students. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 4(5). doi:10.4304/jltr.4.5.924-931

Griffiths, L., & Higham, P. A. (2017). Beyond hypercorrection: Remembering corrective feedback for low-confidence errors. Memory, 26(2), 201-218. doi:10.1080/09658211.2017.1344249

Huang, X., & Jia, X. (2016). Corrective Feedback on Pronunciation: Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions. International Journal of English Linguistics, 6(6), 245. doi:10.5539/ijel.v6n6p245