The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper Too much emphasis is placed on the development of reading skills in elementary school Many students who are discouraged by the lonely activity of reading turn away from schoolwork merel

In this editorial the author concludes that hearing books on tape would encourage the students to read books and learn more eagerly. To justify this conclusion he points out that books recorded on audiocassette tape can be an important alternative for students who are tired of the only reading activity. He also cites that many studies have emphasized on allowing students to hear books read aloud. A careful scrutiny to the evidence reveals that it lends little credence to this argument.

First, the author unfairly assumes that the students discouraged by lonely reading activity will show enthusiasm towards hearing the audio versions. They might be displeased by hearing too since they are not interested in the subjects and contents of the books, or they might seem eager at first but lose their attention and desire in long term. Without considering and ruling out these and other possibilities the author cannot substantially conclude that the audio versions would be highly beneficial.

Second, even assuming that the students remain enthusiastic in long term it does not guarantee their eager and progress in learning. Their eagerness might be merely because of considering the activity of hearing as an entertainment rather that learning their lessons and they may pay no deep attention to the content of the audio books. Therefore the author conclusion about the students’ more eager learning would be specious.

Third, the author provides no evidence that the results of the studies are statistically reliable. In order to achieve a strong conclusion, the studies’ sample must be sufficient in size and representative of the overall population of the student discouraged by merely reading. Lacking evidence of a sufficiently representative sample the author cannot justifiably rely on the studies to draw any conclusion.

In sum, the author fails to convince me. To bolster this conclusion, he must account for other possible factors in discouraging the students and provide information about their long term reading and learning improvements after being exposed to hearing the audio books. To better assess the strength of the argument the author must assures me that the studies’ results accurately reflect the characteristic and learning habits of the whole students.