Question No. 1
Children learn
best by observing the behavior of adults and copying it. Do you agree or disagree ? Use specific reasons and example to support
your answer.
Answer:
A growing child normally learns
through various ways and forms as they are in the process of developing
themselves from time to time. However, the most outstanding method that a child
undergoes in the process of learning is learning by observing the behavior of
adults and copying it. I am totally agreed with this statement for some
reliable reasons. In psychology, learning by observing the behavior of others
is known as observational learning (Cherry).
Observational learning is a social learning theory by the psychologist, Albert
Bandura, which means a learning that occurs from watching, retaining, and
replicating a behavior observed from a model (Boundless.com). As for the children, the model is the
adults that they have been watching in their daily lives such as their parents,
teachers and also their elder siblings. There are many reasons that accompany
the statement which says that the children learn best by observing and copying
the behavior of the adults.
Firstly, children learn best
through observation because from the observation that they have made, they will
try to imitate it and subsequently apply it in their daily lives. By imitating
what they have seen, their behavior will be affected by the positive or
negative consequences which are called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious
punishment of the person who is being imitated or observed (Miami
University).
Here, learning by observing means that the outcome for the child’s learning is
going to be either positive or negative impact. For example, a child who
watches his mother folding the laundry will later picks up some of the clothing
and imitates the behavior of his mother by doing the same thing, which is to
fold the clothes. Here, a positive consequence occurs and the child has
indirectly learned one good thing from the adult, who is his own mother.
Secondly, children are also
learning best by observing because through this way, their attention will be
focused on the model that they are observing in order to receive certain information
(Miami University). During the process of observation, the child
will watch a model and mentally store what they did. Here, they will remember
exactly what the model has done and will imitate it later on. For example, if
the child watches his or her friends are given negative punishment by the
teacher such as standing for a period of time during a lesson because they did
not complete their homework, they will keep that situation in their minds and
will be aware of not doing the same for the next time and will always complete
homework within the time given by the teacher. By observing specific memorable
situations, the child will definitely learn good thing in their life such as
completing homework and so on.
Besides that, the behavior of the
adults plays a significant role in shaping children’s learning and character (Baowaly's Weblog, 2009). As a child grows, they will be much
influenced by the adults around them such as their parents and also the
teachers. Among the beneficial things they will learn from the adults are like
logical thinking, making decision, cooperation with others and so on (Baowaly's Weblog, 2009). For example, when
the child’s parents are giving advices to the other siblings, the child who
observes the situation will slowly learn to develop their inner self by
learning using logical thinking.
All
in all, I agree with the opinion that children learn best by observing the
behavior of adults and copying it. I also believe that they would learn best by
studying from their friends at school by selecting what comes to them.
( 504 words )
Question No. 3
The destruction of the world’s forests is inevitable
as our need for land and grows.
Do you agree?
Answer:
Forests are the lungs of the earth.
The air we breathe, the stability of our climate and the rich variety of life
depends on forests. Forests are home to around two-thirds of all plant and
animal species found on land and millions of people depend on them for
survival. Without healthy, thriving forests, the Earth cannot sustain life. Even
though forests bring about variety of benefits to us, forests are still being
destroyed at an alarming rate by the irresponsible people out there. Therefore,
I do agree with the statement which says that the destruction of the world’s
forests is inevitable.
Basically,
forests are cut down to make space for housing such as apartment, building,
condos and factory areas. For these
purpose, the chopping down of trees in the selected forest will need the
permission from specific authority to make it a legal activity. Instead of
development, the land has also been exploited for the agricultural sectors.
Everyday, forests are cut down to
make space for condos or maybe just for wood. In just a few months, 747,000
forests have been cut down. At this rate, the destruction of the world’s
forests is seems to be inevitable. The arising numbers of forest being cut down
shows that our need for land and food is growing along with our population
Trees are cut down
for many reasons but the main reasons are to make space to build new houses and
to clear land to grow grass for cows and sheep to eat, to produce dairy foods.
The trees which are cut down are sold and they are made into paper and
furniture.
Cutting down trees
is called deforestation and it
can have serious effects. If animals’ homes, which are built in and around the
trees, are destroyed, many species will become extinct. For example, many
different types of animals in South America were lost before scientists could
learn about them.
There are ways that
we can slow the destruction such as reusing old abandoned buildings or
destroying them to make new buildings but these alternatives are both costly
and hard which means no one is willing to do them.
Education and
research play a big role in halting the destruction of our forests. There is a
need for more research into identifying species (before they become extinct)
and other services forests provide, apart from timber. These include medicinal
drugs, biological control of pests and diseases, dust removal from air, soil
generation and climate stabilisation. These services need to be recognised.
Education regarding social values is also needed. An improved education system
where people learn to think for themselves as part of nature is important.
Values of conformity, greed and dominion have contributed to our current
predicament.
The
Programmed sees the setting aside of reserves as the solution. Reserves are a
useful tool under some circumstances but as the sole means of conserving
biodiversity, they are hopelessly inadequate. It is not known how large
reserves need to be in order to ensure their long-term survival. Also, the
creation of reserves can be used as an excuse for exploiting unprotected areas.
( 520 words )
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