TASK 1 Theme : Teenage Pregnancy

Three Academic Papers Downloaded from the Internet 1. Adolescent Pregnancy in America: Causes and Responses 2. Reducing Teenage Pregnancy 3. Teen Pregnancy Prevention i. List the various components of the three downloaded academic papers of a chosen theme, give examples.

a. Adolescent Pregnancy in America: Causes and Responses

Title Adolescent Pregnancy in America: Causes and Responses Introduction Adolescent pregnancy has occurred throughout Americas history. Only in recent years has it been deemed an urgent crisis, as more young adolescent mothers give birth outside of marriage. Atrisk circumstances associated with adolescent pregnancy include medical and health complications, less schooling and higher dropout rates, lower career aspirations, and a life encircled by poverty. Thesis Statement The countrys adolescent pregnancy rate remains the highest among western industrialized nations, with 4 of every 10 pregnancies occurring in women younger than age 20 (Dangal, 2006; Farber, 2003; SmithBattle, 2003; Spear, 2004). Body Paragraph

Topic Sentence For years researchers have examined risk factors related to adolescent pregnancy. Characteristics such as family structure, age at first intercourse, goals, and child sexual abuse have been associated with adolescent pregnancy (Farber, 2003; McCullough & Scherman, 1991; Stewart, 2003; Xie, Cairns, & Cairns, 2001). Supporting Ideas Rosen (1997) found a growing number of American adolescent females lived in relatively unstable family situations and many became sexually intimate for a short-term sense of comfort. Parental rejection, or a lack of warmth, affection, or love, also led adolescents to seek relationships outside the family to boost their self-esteem (McCullough & Scherman, 1991).

Concrete Evidence Hymowitz (1997) claimed parental influence was the most significant variable in adolescent pregnancy prevention. She concluded the absence of a father was the primary factor in teen girls becoming pregnant. It was also reported that adolescents whose parents communicated strong disapproval of sexual activity exhibited fewer risk-taking behaviors and were likely to delay sex until a later age (Manlove et al., 2002).

Concluding Sentence Typically, Americans have been reluctant to deal with issues regarding sexuality and reproductive health (Zero Population Growth, 1997). However, society must assume the responsibility of educating teens about sex, adolescent pregnancy, and the negative effects of early motherhood on young females. The challenge of reducing rates of teenage pregnancy remains, and until Americas youth are able to fully understand the consequences of teenage pregnancy, prevention programs, interventions, and counseling services must be accessible for all adolescents (McCullough & Scherman, 1991;Tonelli, 2004).

b. Reducing Teenage Pregnancy

Title Reducing Teenage Pregnancy Introduction Although the rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States is at its lowest level in nearly 40 years, it remains the highest among the most developed countries in the world. Thesis Statement Approximately 67.8 per 1,000 women aged 1519 nearly 750,000 American teenagers become pregnant each year (Kost and Henshaw, 2012). The majority of these pregnancies 82 percent are unintended (Finer & Zolna, 2011). Body Paragraph Topic Sentence The United States needs a number of initiatives to reduce its teenage pregnancy rate and the negative outcomes that accompany it. Supporting Ideas These initiatives should incorporate responsible, medically accurate sexuality education and information in the schools and in the media, improvements in funding for and access to family planning services, and youth development programs to improve the life options of impoverished teens. Concrete Evidence In 2009, recognizing that evidence-based sex education programs were effective in promoting sexual health among teenagers, the Obama administration transferred funds from the Community-based Abstinence Education Program and budgeted $114.5 million to support evidencebased sex education programs across the country. The bulk of the funds $75 million was set aside for replicating evidence-based programs that have been shown to reduce teen pregnancy and its underlying or

associated risk factors. The balance was set aside for developing promising strategies, technical assistance, evaluation, outreach, and program support (Boonstra, 2010). Concluding Sentence Recognition that sexual expression is a part and parcel of adolescent development will help guarantee teenagers the right to honest, accurate information about sex and access to high-quality reproductive health services that will empower them to express their sexuality in safe and healthy ways. Lower teenage pregnancy rates will follow as a natural outcome.

c. Teen Pregnancy Prevention Title Making A Difference For At-Risk Populations Introduction Teen pregnancy prevention efforts, particularly for high risk youth, are most effective if they are part of a youth development framework that addresses multiple risk factors. Healthy development for adolescents is related to family support, positive peer influences, effective education, safe schools and communities, and an array of other issues. Positive youth development programswhich promote healthy development for youth through greater community and adult supportaddress the full range of risks young people face and can best prevent unplanned pregnancies, involvement with the criminal justice system, or dropping out of school. Thesis Statement Teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States have declined since 1991. U.S. teen pregnancy and birth rates are the highest of any western industrialized nation, however, and 2006 data indicate rates may again be rising. Further, a much steeper decline has occurred in teen pregnancy and birth rates among some demographics.

Body Paragraph Topic Sentence To prevent the recent spike in teen birth rates from becoming a sustained trend, prevention efforts must target those groups with the most room for improvement and that research indicates are at an increased risk for teen pregnancy. Some progress has been made toward identifying at-risk populations and developing programs that address their specific needs, but more remains to be done. Supporting Ideas Race and socioeconomic issues play a role in the wide variation between racial groups in adolescent pregnancy rates. Latina teens have experienced the smallest decline in teen pregnancy and birth rates during the past few decades; they currently have the highest teen birth rate of any racial/ethnic group. Concrete Evidence When the teen pregnancy rate of women ages 15 to 19 plummeted across the nation between 1990 and 2002, there was a 40 percent decrease for African-American teenagers and a 34 percent decrease for white teenagers, but only a 19 percent dip for Hispanic teenagers. The recent increase in teen pregnancy and birth rates in 2006 indicated that African-American teens were 2.4 times more likely and Hispanics were 3.3 times more likely than their white peers to become teen parents. Concluding Sentence A significant reduction in teen pregnancy and birth rates will improve the health of American teens, and also will reduce both their and their childrens reliance on publicly funded programs, thus lessening long-term health expenditures. This will help improve the quality of life of all American teens.

ii.

Discuss on the language aspects of the academic papers. (about 250 -300 words essay form) Based on the three academic papers that I had chosen, various language

aspects were used such as complexity in sentences, formality, sentence connectors, tenses, good vocabulary and many more. Firstly, based on these three academic papers, we can see that written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written language has longer words, it is lexically more dense and has a more varied vocabulary. Example, Balancing school, a job, and childcare is often overwhelming for female adolescent parents and consumes time and energy that they could otherwise spend on school. Next, the language used here is also relatively more formal which means less colloquial words and expressions were used. As we can see in these three academic papers, most of its sentences were straight forward and they were facts instead of decorative words and expressions. This enables the readers to find useful information in the papers. Other than that, sentence connectors were used in these three articles, for example, however, In addition, therefore, furthermore, also, moreover, consequently and many more. Furthermore, we can also see that these three academic papers use the past tense and present tense accordingly, depending on the content. For example, in the article Adolescent Pregnancy in America: Causes and Responses (Desirae M. Domenico and Karen H. Jones, 2007), the sentence At risk circumstances associated with adolescent pregnancy include medical and health complications, less schooling and higher dropout rates, lower career aspirations, and a life encircled by poverty and Adolescent pregnancy has occurred throughout Americas history is written in past tense. However, the sentence In previous centuries, adolescent pregnancy and the problems surrounding it were not specific to any age group, but instead were treated as part of broader social issues appears to be in the present tense. Lastly, a good vocabulary is necessary in writing academic papers as it helps to express what the writer mean. Examples of words used to assist understanding and in the topics discussed are intercourse, prominent, intimate, adolescent etc..

iii.

Write an academic paper in about 1000 words based on the chosen theme and include citation and references using APA system. Title : The Causes of Teenage Pregnancy and Ways To Overcome It Teenage Pregnancy is one of the most alarming issues in our world today. Many teenagers engage themselves in sexual intercourse with their partners just to be in with their friends. Surprisingly, some countries even celebrate early teenage pregnancy, as it is a clear sign of fertility. But moderately, a teenage girl being pregnant before adulthood is critically looked down upon with shame. According to the article Adolescent Pregnancy in America: Causes and Responses (Desirae M. Domenico and Karen H. Jones, 2007), adolescent pregnancy continues to be prevalent in the United States, with nearly one million teenage females becoming pregnant each year (Meade & Ickovics, 2005). The countrys adolescent pregnancy rate remains the highest among western industrialized nations, with 4 of every 10 pregnancies occurring in women younger than age 20 (Dangal, 2006; Farber, 2003; Smith Battle, 2003; Spear, 2004). Basically, teenage pregnancy occurs due to the following reasons: absent of parents and peer pressure. First, there is the absent of parents in their childrens life. The busy and hectic life of parents also leads to the unhealthy activities that a child tend to be involve in. Teen girls are more likely to get pregnant if they have limited or no guidance from their parents. Many parents have busy lives that prevent them from providing the guidance and support that their young teenagers need to make good decisions on issues such as sex. Some of them even send their children to live with their grandparents or relatives. When a teen feels that she has no one to talk to about sex, she will more than likely turn to friends for direction on whether or not to have sex, resulting in misinformation and possible teen pregnancy. According to the article Teen Pregnancy Prevention- Making A Difference For At-Risk Populations (National Conference of States Legislatures), teen girls who live with non-parent relatives begin having intercourse at a younger age than those who have always lived with at least one biological parent. One study found that almost one third of girls in foster care become pregnant at least once by age 17. Next, peer pressure is an early stage of pregnancies. This pressure causes sexual intimacy for the opposite sex. If a child hangs out with a group who is sexually active, then nine out of ten that child is sexually active too. Most teenagers opt to have

sexual intercourse because they need to achieve the acceptance given by the circle of friends especially teenage girls whose boyfriends are in a gang. In some countries, teenagers face too much peer pressure to start having sex at a very young adolescent age. This kind of behavior may lead to unwanted teenage pregnancies. According to the article Teen Pregnancy Prevention- Making A Difference For At-Risk Populations (National Conference of States Legislatures), young women with gang-involved partners may feel social pressure to have a baby to increase their status within a relationship and see sexual decision makingincluding pregnancy and condom useas up to men. Therefore, to prevent the rise in percentage of teenage pregnancies, reducing teen birth rates has been centered on education, and this is certainly the most important tool with some young people. For those with poor schooling and living in deprived areas, particularly those from ethnic minority backgrounds, education about safe sex could make the world of difference. The article Reducing Teenage Pregnancy (Katharine Dexter McCormick Library Planned Parenthood Federation of America, October 2012), states that sex education is seen as one of the most important processes in reducing teenage pregnancy. Sex education that is responsible and medically accurate, begins in kindergarten, and continues in an age-appropriate manner through the 12th grade, is necessary given the early ages at which young people are initiating intercourse 6.2 percent of students nationwide report having sex before the age of 13, 43.8 percent by grade 10, and 63.1 percent by grade 12 (CDC, 2012). In fact, the most successful programs aimed at reducing teenage pregnancy are those targeting younger adolescents who are not yet sexually experienced (Frost & Forrest, 1995). Besides, the media also plays an important role in helping to prevent teenage pregnancies. Campaigns such as anti-Teenage Pregnancy and exposure of the usage of preventions such as condoms and various contraceptive methods through media can really make a lot of difference. Developed countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and France, in which teenage birthrates are three to six and a half times lower than that of the U.S., promote healthy, lower risk sexual behavior through national media campaigns that have a high degree of influence with young women and men (Berne & Huberman, 1999), according to the article Reducing Teenage Pregnancy (Katharine Dexter McCormick Library, October 2012). Other than that, movies also have to be filtered before they were shown on television. This is because teenagers are very keen on trying new things. Therefore, they will tend to try out what they had seen. Research

clearly shows that television portrayals contribute to sexual socialization watching programs high in sexual content has been correlated with the early initiation of adolescent sexual intercourse (Collins et al., 2004). Next, we often blame the girls for being pregnant and tend to overlook the guys in this matter. Young men too have responsibility in making their partner pregnant. Hence, campaigns held must not only target teenage girls but also teenage boys. The article Reducing Teenage Pregnancy (Katharine Dexter McCormick Library, October 2012), states that young men are often overlooked as a group that plays an important role in reducing teenage pregnancy. A national survey found that 13 percent of sexually experienced teenage men had been involved in a pregnancy in 2002 (NCPTUP, 2006). Sexuality educators and reproductive health care providers must therefore present pregnancy prevention as the job of both partners to foster responsible sexual choices among young men and women. Because young men who have unprotected intercourse also tend to engage in other risk behaviors such as fighting, carrying a gun or other weapon, attempting suicide, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and using drugs (Lindberg et al., 2000), programs designed to address these behaviors should optimally include a pregnancy- prevention component. Next, parents too play an important role in this matter. Preventing teen pregnancy needs to start at home. Morals and values need to be ingrained before children are influenced by their peers. Parents cant escape the responsibility that they have to their potential children, and should spend time nurturing their children instead of letting them growing up alone and mixing with wrong company of friends which is the main reason of the increase of teenage pregnancy rates. With guidance from parents, a teenager will be able to know what is right and what is wrong and this enables them to grow up healthily and live a happier life. According to the article Adolescent Pregnancy in America: Causes and Responses (Desirae M. Domenico and Karen H. Jones, 2007), Hymowitz (1997) claimed parental influence was the most significant variable in adolescent pregnancy prevention. She concluded the absence of a father was the primary factor in teen girls becoming pregnant. It was also reported that adolescents whose parents communicated strong disapproval of sexual activity exhibited fewer risktaking behaviors and were likely to delay sex until a later age (Manlove et al., 2002).

As a conclusion, teen pregnancy is an important issue all over the country and it is an ongoing problem that must be dealt with because teenage pregnancy can ruin a teens life and also the life of an infant. Not only teenagers themselves play an important role in preventing this issue from becoming worse, parents and the government should also take appropriate actions in handling this issue.

References A R Mellanby, V A H Pearson, J H Tripp. Preventing Teenage Pregnancy. Mellanby et al. 77 (5): 459 Desirae M. Domenico, Ph.D. and Karen H. Jones, Ed.D. (Fall 2007). Causes and Responses. Adolescent Pregnancy In America. Volume 30, Number 1. Katherin Dexter McCormick Library. (October 2012). Reducing Teenage Pregnancy. Planned Parenthood. National Conference of State Legislatures. (2009). Teen Pregnancy Prevention-Making a Differnece for At-Risk Populations. R. Y. Langham, Ph.D. (Aug 16, 2013). What Are The Causes Of Teenage Pregnancy?.

TASK 2
Reflection English is the principal language of many countries such as Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia and many more. It is the most widely used second language in the world. Hence, it is an important language because we use this language to communication with other country's people. Learning English is a very challenging process. In my opinion, to really master English Language, one has to be cultivated from young. When I was a child, my mum often encouraged me to read English storybooks such as Peter and Jane and Enid Blyton books. I was told to jot down words that I do not understand so that I can ask her the meaning of the words later. This method really helps in building my vocabulary. Sometimes, she even sits beside me to hear my reading and correct my pronunciation of words. At home, English is our communication language. My mums effort and guidance really helped me a lot. It gave me a strong foundation in English Language to start off before I enter primary school. During my schooling days, I seldom have any problems when it comes to speaking and writing in English. However, I do find the grammar a little confusing especially when Im asked to group the words given into noun, verb, adverb and etc as my English teacher only explain it to me briefly without focusing much on it. Only after I enter Teachers Training College, I am able to understand and differentiate the function of each grammar categories clearly. Next, when Im in secondary school, Im quite interested in learning English Literature such as poems, short stories and novels. I love listening to my English teacher recite the poems in our textbooks and explaining the meaning of each row of poems. The words used in the poems were so beautiful and meaningful. How do I which I am able to write my own poem someday. Lastly, learning English is very challenging but it can be fun at times. Many people think that English is a boring subject but neither did they know that English has various expects that make it interesting. Nowadays, various methods were used to make learning English fun. Mastering English is very important as English language has become the language of international communication.

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