The Importance of Language Skills in Education
Introduction
The author uses the first person and presents data from various sources, including selectivity statistics and school situations. They incorporate allusions to different fields like chemistry and grammar, and use scientific jargon. The author’s worldview is further illustrated through an indirect quote and references to the perceived decline in language skills.
Subjectivity and Linguistic Function
The author’s approach is subjective, evident in their skeptical stance and selection of examples. The primary linguistic function is expressive, reflecting the author’s beliefs and opinions. While representative function is present, the text mainly focuses on conveying the author’s perspective on the importance of proper language use.
Cohesion and Style
The author uses present tense verbs and linking words to maintain cohesion throughout the text. Their style is characterized by parallelistic structures and adjective-noun combinations.
Journalistic Style and Argumentation
Newspaper Article Characteristics
The text resembles a newspaper article, conveying information immediately, addressing real-world issues (poor language command), and aiming to influence readers ideologically. The author seeks to persuade the audience of the necessity of proper language expression.
Argumentation Techniques
The author employs an expository-argumentative style, using statistics, analogies, and examples from the media to support their claims. These arguments contribute to the text’s coherence and meaning, reinforcing the author’s main idea.
Coherence and Thesis
The central thesis, presented at the beginning of the third paragraph, emphasizes the need for everyone to understand and express ideas correctly through studying. The author uses current events, specifically selectivity results, as a focal point for their argument.
Structure and Content
Approach
The first paragraph informs us about the poor overall selectivity results, despite some students achieving an average score of 5.8.
Development
The second and most of the third paragraph discuss the possible reasons for these results and express concern, particularly regarding language skills.