Course Description
With a wide range of classroom activities and exercises, this one-year course is designed to enhance the English skills and proficiency of first-year NCHU undergraduates. The lecturer will guide participants through a wealth of English learning resources and authentic materials dealing with the following topics: 1) language learning 2) technology 3) gender 4) museum and 5) literature.
In order to facilitate learning and classroom discussion, students are required to complete listening and reading assignments before coming to class. Every week, participants will have to take quizzes, speak English both in small groups and in front of the class, and engage in a series of tasks.
A communicative approach which emphasizes teacher-student interaction is adopted, though attention is also paid to familiarize students with the complex sentence structure and grammar of the English language as well as common English expressions used in a variety of topics and daily-life situations.
Grades
60% In-Class
40% participation (3 minute-talk 5%; group presentations 10%;
class participation 15%; debates 10%)
20% attendance (attendance 10%, quizzes 10%)
40% exams (20% Midterm, 20% Final)
>3 minute-talk: You will have to give an individual 3 minute-speech on any topic of your
choice. For each week, 2-3 students will take turns presenting.
>Group presentation: 2 group presentations on the film ‘Pygmalion’ and selected readings.
>debates: You will have to participate in two debates and help your team win.
Absences
>Sickness: If you can’t come to class because you’re sick, please apply for a leave of absence via the university’s online system and attach a document which shows your doctor’s notes or your visit to a clinic or hospital. On the day of a quiz, you will need to show me absent notes approved by the university; otherwise, your absence will be unexcused. Each class absence will drop 1 point off your final grade.
>Tardiness: You should come to class on time. If you arrive late after I take attendance, you will be marked absent. If you arrive after the quiz is finished, you cannot retake it.
>Other reasons: Please discuss them with me beforehand.
Textbooks
- Selected Readings (See the details of the programme below)
- Online English Resources: BBC Six-Minute English; Learning English with News Report;
Voice of America; Ted talks
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Dates |
Topics |
Selected Readings |
Speaking/Writing Tasks |
Audio Programmes |
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Week 1 9/7 (M) |
Meet and Greet |
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Week 1 9/9 (W) |
Meet and Greet |
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Self-Introduction |
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Week 2 9/14 (M) |
Language Learning |
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In-Class activity: Speak about your experience of learning languages |
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Week 2 9/16 (W) |
Language Learning |
Reading Article 1 Holly Young’s ‘Do young people care about learning Languages?’ |
Reading Discussion |
Quiz 1 ‘How Quickly Can you Learn English’ |
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Week 3 9/21 (M)
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Language Learning |
Reading Article 2 Sarah Johnson’s ‘Learning a Language in Later life: are you ever too old?’ |
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Week 3 9/23 (W) |
Language Learning |
Reading Article 3 ‘How Friends taught the world to speak English – from Jürgen Klopp to Korean pop megastars’
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Quiz 2 ‘Speak any language instantly’ |
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Week 4 9/28 (M) |
Language Learning |
Reading Article 4 ‘Australia’s English Language Program for Migrants Set for Overhaul’
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Week 4 9/30 (W) |
Film |
Watching the 1938 film adaption ‘Pygmalion’ (available on YouTube with English subtitles) |
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Week 5 10/5 (M)
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Film Discussion |
Group Presentation on ‘Pygmalion’
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Week 5 10/7 (W) |
Film Discussion |
Group Presentation on ‘Pygmalion’
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Week 6 10/12 (M)
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Technology |
Reading Article 5 Mark Boyle’s ‘Technology destroys people and places’ |
In-Class Activity: Speak about the impact of technology in your daily life Deadline for Writing Task 1
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Week 6 10/14 (W) |
Technology |
Reading Article 5 Mark Boyle’s ‘Technology destroys people and places’ |
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Quiz 3 ‘Is Social Media a Distraction’? |
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Week 7 10/19 (M) |
Technology |
Reading Article 6 Eliana Dockerman’s ‘The Digital Parent Trap’ |
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Week 7 10/21 (W) |
Technology |
Reading Article 6 Eliana Dockerman’s ‘The Digital Parent Trap’ |
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Quiz 4 ‘Are computers making us dumb’? |
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Week 8 10/26 (M) |
Debate |
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Week 8 10/28 (W) |
Debate |
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Week 9 |
Mid-Term |
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Week 10 11/9 (M) |
Gender |
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In-Class Activity: Speak about the gender equality/problems in Taiwan |
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Week 10 11/11 (W) |
Gender
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Review of Mid-Term Exams
Teaching by TA |
Quiz 5 ‘Women’s right to Vote’ |
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Week 11 11/16 (M) |
Gender |
Reading Article 7 Emma Watson’s speech on Feminism
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Week 11 11/18 (W) |
Gender |
Reading Article 7 Emma Watson’s speech on Feminism
Reading Article 8 Obama’s article on Feminism |
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Quiz 6: ‘Men are the Weaker Sex’ |
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Week 12 11/23 (M) |
Gender |
Reading Article 8 Obama’s article on Feminism |
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Week 12 11/25 (W) |
Museum |
Reading Article 8 Obama’s article on Feminism |
In-Class Activity: Speak about your experience of visiting Museums |
Quiz 7 ‘Spiral Museum at 50’
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Week 13 11/30 (M) |
Museum |
Reading Article 9 Andrew Solomon’s ‘Don’t Mess with our cultural patrimony’
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Week 13 12/2 (W) |
Museum |
Reading Article 9 Andrew Solomon’s ‘Don’t Mess with our cultural patrimony’ |
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Quiz 8 ‘A History of the World in 100 objects’ |
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Week 14 12/7 (M) |
Museum |
Reading article 9 Andrew Solomon’s ‘Don’t Mess with our cultural patrimony’ |
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Week 14 12/9 (W) |
Literature |
Reading Article 9 Andrew Solomon’s ‘Don’t Mess with our cultural patrimony’ |
In-class activity: Speak about your experience of reading literary works |
Quiz 9 ‘Reading the Classics” |
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Week 15 12/14 (M) |
Literature |
Reading article 10 Oscar Wilde’s ‘Happy Prince’ |
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Week 15 12/16 (W) |
Literature |
Reading article 10 Oscar Wilde’s ‘Happy Prince’ |
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Quiz 10 ‘Literacy Heroes’ |
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Week 16 12/21 (M) |
Literature |
Reading article 10 Oscar Wilde’s ‘Happy Prince’ |
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Week 16 12/23 (W) |
Group Presentation |
Reflect on the National Palace Museum controversy or the gender equality problems in Taiwan. |
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Week 17 12/28 (M) |
Group Presentation |
Reflect on the National Palace Museum controversy or the gender equality problems in Taiwan. |
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Week 17 12/30 (W) |
Debate/ Review |
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Week 18 |
Final |
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Note: all quizzes are held at the start of the class.
(M): Monday
(W): Wednesday
