Course Objective and Description
This Freshman English course, designed for students of non-English-major, intends to help students achieve the following goals:
a. acquire better and more effective listening and reading skills through intensive practices;
b. become a citizen sensitive to world affairs after being exposed to American and British cultures and update international news;
c. be familiar with academic and news English.
Course Requirements:
1. Bring a cassette to Listening sessions.
2. Active class participation.
3. Since the instructor values students’ attendance very much, attendance will be checked every week. Any student who is more than 20 minutes late in joining class will be counted as absent. A missed consulting appointment also counts as an absence from class. If a student is absent from class more than five times throughout the semester, with or without sick notice or any other proof, s/he risks being excluded from and failing the course. If a student must miss a class, please notify the instructor by email in advance, and consult our class website for any missed materials. Bear in mind that the instructor is not on email 24/7, so your message may not receive an immediate response. The instructor does not accept text messages or phone calls, either.
4. Students are expected to be fully prepared to participate when class begins—that is, to have read and thought about whatever readings were assigned. Late submission of any assignment won’t be accepted for whatever reason. The instructor considers such lateness extremely disruptive to the class schedule and discussions, and is unfair to the other students who do participate and hand in work on time, so late submission will be penalized by receiving a “0” and will not be read or graded. Please note that excuses related to computer mishaps won’t be accepted either. Note also that homework that is copied from another source (including your classmate) will receive an “0”.
Grading Policy:
Grades will be computed according to the following formula:
Attendance and Class Participation 10%
Mid-term and Final Examination 45%
Take-home Assignments, In-Class Quizzes, and GEPT practices 40
Additional points 5%
Texts:
-Weaving it Together 4: Connecting Reading and Writing (4th Edition, 2016)
-Supplementary reading and listening materials, culled from sources such as The Economists, New York Times, BBC, CNN, TED, films, documentaries, and others.
Weekly Schedule
Week No. |
Date |
Class Description |
Reminders |
1 |
9/11 |
Class Orientation |
Choose a student assistant |
9/13 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.1 |
|
|
2 |
9/18 |
Self-introduction |
#1 GEPT practice |
9/20 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.1 |
|
|
3 |
9/25 |
BBC Learning EnglishSelf-introduction |
|
9/27 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.1 |
|
|
4 |
10/2 |
-Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab-CNN 10 |
|
10/4 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.1 |
|
|
5 |
10/9 |
GEPT Pre-Test |
|
10/11 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.1 |
|
|
6 |
10/16 |
-Read aloud #1 Reading of Weaving Cha.1 -Imitation practice |
|
10/18 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.2, #1 Reading 3-1 |
|
|
7 |
10/23 |
CNN 10 BBC Learning English |
#2 GEPT practice |
10/25 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.2, #1 Reading 3-2 |
|
|
8 |
10/30 |
-Listening: Weaving -Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab |
|
11/1 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.2, #1 Reading 3-3 |
|
|
9 |
11/6 |
Mid-term Examination (Speaking Test) |
|
11/8 |
Mid-term Examination (Listening & Reading Test) |
|
|
10 |
11/13 |
Film |
|
11/15 |
Email Etiquette (subject to change) |
|
|
11 |
11/20 |
Email Etiquette (subject to change) |
#3 GEPT practice |
11/22 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.2, #2 Reading 3-1 |
|
|
12 |
11/27 |
Email Etiquette (subject to change) Listening: BBC |
|
11/29 |
Email Etiquette (subject to change) |
|
|
13 |
12/4 |
Listening: BBC |
|
12/6 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.2, #2 Reading 3-2 |
|
|
14 |
12/11 |
Anglophenia episode |
|
12/13 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.3, #1 Reading 3-3 |
|
|
15 |
12/18 |
songs |
|
12/20 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.3, #1 Reading 3-2 |
|
|
16 |
12/25 |
Listening: BBC & CNN |
|
12/27 |
Reading: Weaving Cha.3, #1 Reading 3-3 |
|
|
17 |
1/1 |
No Class |
|
1/3 |
Final Examination (Reading & Listening Test) |
|
|
18 |
1/8 |
Final Examination (Speaking Test) |
|
1/10 |
Course review |
|