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Fernando Canales
Professor Yanci Calles
Composition I Argumentative Paragraph
04 May, 2015
Children Are Better Learners of a Second Language than Adults
There are three main reasons why children are better learner of a
second language than adults. First, children from one to twelve years old
have more chances to get a more native like accent than adults. The
Biological Theory suggests that the linguistic features that are located in
the left hemisphere are gradually atrophied with age, so in childhood
both hemispheres participate in the linguistic functions, which makes the
learning process of a second language an easy task to achieve. Second,
Adults are always trying to avoid mistakes. However, kids are not afraid
of failing since they do not know what a mistake is. Finally, children are
more enthusiastic as learners than adults. Children as learners make an
activity even when they do not understand why or how they have to do
it. Unlike children, adults are always asking the purpose of the activity,
and if they do not understand they do not do an activity. However, there
are some studies that argue that children lose the interest more quickly,
and that they are less able to keep themselves motivated on the topic
class. Also, children do not have the same access as an adult to the
language that teacher can use in class explaining grammar, like Lynne
Cameron explains on her book. Nevertheless, this information can be

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consider insufficient. If we check the Brain Scanning Techniques, made
by Kim et al. In 1997, in which we can see the differences in brain
organization between early and late learners of a second language in
relation to patterns of brain activation and localization of the language
processing, the results showed a single activation center for both
languages in children. In contrast to children, adults showed two
activation centers, one for each language. In conclusion, there are three
main reasons why children are better learners of a second language than
adults.

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Work Cited
Ruiz, Maria. Learning a Foreing Language. Cordoba, Spain: Editorial
Almuzara, 2009.

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Cause/Effect Paragraph Checklist

Skill application demonstrates use which represents
MLA formatting style
Last name & page number in upper right hand corner of all pages
Header on the left hand side of the first page includes:

Authors name
Instructors name
Name of the course
Date

The title of the paper appears centered above the text. The text of the title is not
underlined, italicized, in bold, nor in quotation marks
First line of each paragraph is indented
Sources name in sentence or parentheses
Page number included
Proper citation if source has no author
Periods after parentheses (except for long quotations)
Long quotations are indented an extra inch from the left
Paragraph numbers used for items which do not have page numbers
Work Cited subheading is centered, not bold, not underlined, no quotation marks
Entry is alphabetized according to the authors last name
Entry is double-spaced, no double-double spaces
One inch margins all sides
Flush left alignment, not justified
The entire document is 12 pt font, Calibri
Italics, capitals (proper names and titles, except words like in, the, for, etc.), and
quotations are used accordingly to MLA style
Entry is formatted with a hanging indent

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Grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been carefully revised.

Your document has been submitted on time, and with the rubric attached to it.
Comments:

Content
The paragraph starts with a topic sentence that clearly states and identifies the
cause/effect topic to be addressed in the paragraph.
The points of cause/effect are supported with examples, quotations, or facts to back
up the topic and make it significant.
The concluding sentence reminds the reader the idea of central importance in the
paragraph.
The overall purpose is clear; there is an evident structure to present the information
either cause-to-effect or effect-to-cause.
Transition words and phrases showing cause/effect connections are used effectively.
Standard Written English Conventions
The paragraph has between 200 and 250 words total
It meets the expectations of a formal academic audience by using formal language (i.e.,
no spoken expressions such as well, great, okay, by the way, awesome, etc. are
used, no phrasal verbs, no contractions.)
It is generally free from the following kinds of problems:

fragments and/or run-ons,

comma splices,
grammar problems and awkward phrasing or word usage,
problems with punctuation,
pronoun shifts and reference problems
Total

Comments:

/112

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4Clearly a knowledgeable, practiced, skilled pattern

3Evidence of a developing pattern
2Superficial, random, limited consistencies
1Unacceptable skill application