HI All! I have just written my first AWA and have no idea where i need to improve. Please rate me with comments in your spare time.

[robinbdas]

ARGUMENT TASK

The following appeared as a letter to the editor of a national newspaper.

"Your recent article on corporate downsizing* in Elthyria maintains that the majority of competent workers who have lost jobs as a result of downsizing face serious economic hardship, often for years, before finding other suitable employment. But this claim is undermined by a recent report on the Elthyrian economy, which found that since 1999 far more jobs have been created than have been eliminated, bringing the unemployment rate in Elthyria to its lowest level in decades. Moreover, two-thirds of these newly created jobs have been in industries that tend to pay above-average wages, and the vast majority of these jobs are full-time."

*Downsizing is the process whereby corporations deliberately make themselves smaller, reducing the number of their employees.

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

 

 

The following arguments imply that the current economic hardship is Elthyria, the downsizing of companies leading to unemployment, is irrespective of the fact that the unemployment rate is its lowest in the current decade.

 

The fact that more jobs have been created than that have been eliminated from 1999 to the current times doesn’t necessarily imply that the job creation to elimination ratio has been uniform over this period. It could be that most of the jobs were created around the time closer to 1999 and more jobs have been lost closer to the current period. This certainly doesn’t imply that the economic situation in Elthryia is not facing hardship. Although there could be a possibility that more jobs have been created around the current period, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that an even higher number of jobs haven’t been lost.

 

Two-thirds of the jobs created have been in high paying industries and hence a smaller portion of the jobs created would be in lower paying industries.  Downsizing is usually the result of a company not doing well enough to sustain its current expenses and hence reducing its costs. Hence it is more likely that the jobs eliminated are from the lower bracket incomes, which in the first place were not created in a high number.

 

Therefore the statistics from the article covering the period from 1999 to the current time, may not have much relevance to the current economic scenario in Elthryia.

 

 

 

 

ISSUE TASK

Teachers' salaries should be based on the academic performance of their students.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

 

 

As we know the value of a teacher in every students life. A successful teacher can truly shape the personality and lives of their students as they have a deep impression on most of their students. Therefore, a teacher’s salary should be directly proportional to their student’s academic performance.

 

When the results of an action are immediate, then the acting person is more responsive to any asking situation. If a teacher gets compensated higher due to his/her students doing well, it highly likely that the he will put in his level best in making sure that his students are faring well in their academics. Therefore this compensation structure most likely will result in a more motivated teacher.

 

A highly motivated teacher in all his right senses will always try to create a very learning conducive ambience in his class or elsewhere. This will create better results in students academically and a higher number of them would likely be able to pursue higher education. Hence, not only does this system benefit the student’s career but it also helps contribute more to society. Yet there might be many students who do not fare well in their academics with a motivated teacher. But it is more likely that a student does well if the teacher has additional personal motives to improve the student’s academics.

 

But this system of compensating teachers on basis of the academic performance of their students could turn out to be unfair to many teachers. A highly motivated teacher could be allotted a class of students who are intellectually not as smart as the students of another teacher. Hence a teacher who is assigned a class of generic intellectuals will likely be paid higher irrespective of her motivation and efforts to make her students do well in their academics. Therefore this system is not completely soundproof of issues regarding equality among the teachers who have put in equal efforts.

 

Hence the system of a teacher’s salary being based on the academic performance of their students is beneficial to the teachers, their students and as well as to the society as a whole, with its certain drawbacks.