IEC-Summer, June 22nd: Introduction

Hello All,
welcome to my blog. You will find here the summary of what we have done in the class, homework reminder, handouts that you've missed or misplaced, some helfpufl links, etc.
In this entry you'll find:
1. Syllabus
2. Course Outline
3. Assignments Sheet
3. Homework reminder

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1. Syllaubs
Hansung University, English Department, I.E.C.
Summer School 2006: June 22nd- July 13th
Instructor: Bianca Turalija
General course description
Email: biancatur@rocketmail.com
Tel.: 760-4398 (office and home); Office: 우 촌 관 Room 603
Textbook and Workbook: World View 3, by Michael Rost. Longman, 2005.

Who should attend this class?

The goal of this class is to enable students with considerable proficiency in the English language to further develop conversational skills through active participation. You will use English in a casual and informal setting. The textbook offers a variety of topics, e.g. spare time activities, travel, illnesses and injuries, parties, movies, physical appearance, sports, food, jobs, etc. To ‘spice up’ our classes, we will use clips from popular sitcoms, learn to sing popular songs, possibly look at interesting magazine and newspaper articles, study contemporary slang, etc. Such a variety of topics and materials should ensure that you are not only learning but having fun in the process. Remember: what’s learned with pleasure is learned full-measure!

What do you need for this class?

Please, do not come to class without the relevant textbook and workbook (World View 3), a notebook and a pen/pencil. It is very important for you to take notes in class! If you don’t, you forget what you learn in class much faster. Trust me: writing down helps you memorize and retain the knowledge.
What do I expect from you?
I expect you to attend classes regularly and participate in class activities with enthusiasm. Also, all homework and assignments are to be submitted on time. Do not be shy to ask questions or demand further explanations; visit my office, or call if you need assistance in your studies. Speak in English only. Each time I hear you use Korean you and everyone in your group gets a “K” penalty. K + K + K = 1 Absence, which negatively influences your participation grade. Last but not least: Switch the cell phones off!

How are you graded? Grading Policy

Hansung University follows the ‘bell curve’ grading system. Simply put, you are competing against one another. Please, remember that when it comes to grading what you give is what you get. If you are not putting in the maximum effort, you cannot expect to get the highest grade.
Official university policy dictates that each class be graded accordingly:
A= 30% of the class
B= 40% of the class
C,D,F, = 30% of the class

In class grading will be as follows:

Attendance: 10 %
Participation = 20%
Mid-term Written Exam (Vocabulary, Grammar, Listening Comprehension): 10%
Final Written Exam (Vocabulary, Grammar, Listening Comprehension): 20%
Mid-term Oral Exam = 20%
Final Oral Exam: 20%

ATTANDANCE POLICY:

The rule is very simple: your regular and on-time attendance is a must. Two lates count for one absent; five absents equal the final grade D; more than 5 absents will result in an automatic failing grade F. You will be excused for illness or family emergency in which case you need to call me in advance and later supply a written proof (a doctor’s note or a signed letter from a parent or guardian). The use of Korean three times will count as one absent. Bear in mind that attendance and participation go hand-in-hand and combined they count for 30% of your final grade.
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2. Course Outline
Hansung University, English Department; Instructor: Bianca Turalija
INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH CONVERSATION: COURSE OUTLINE
Session: Summer School, June 22nd-July 13th




Thursday, June 22nd
General Introduction to the Course

Friday, June 23rd
Unit 1: Small Talk/ How to have a Conversation

Monday, June 26th
Unit 2: Why women iron? Gender Differences

Tuesday, June 27th
Unit 3: Living in Luxury: Homes and Resorts

Wednesday, June 28th
Unit 4: Medical symptoms, Allergies

Thursday, June 29th
Mid-Session Written Exam ((Grammar, Vocabulary, Listening)

Friday, June 30th
Mid-Session Oral Exam (Interview with a partner)

Monday, July 3rd
Unit 5: A Typical Day; Jogs and Unusual Jobs

Tuesday, July 4th
Unit 6: Amazing experiences, Intensifiers: absolutely, really, very, quite

Wednesday, July 5th
Unit 7: Eating out, Adjectives describing Food and Restaurants

Thursday, July 6th
Unit 8: Love and Marriage, Prenuptial Agreements

Friday, July 7th
Unit 9: Travel, Phrasal Verbs Related to Tourism

Monday, July 10th
Unit 10: Differences among people

Tuesday, July 11th
Unit 11: Trading Space, Homes and Furniture

Wednesday, July 12th
Final Written Exam, 2 hours (Grammar, Vocabulary, Listening)

Thursday, July 13th
Final Oral Exam: 2nd Oral Presentation (Dialog)

Please, be aware that the above is a general course outline and that sometimes we will step away from the planned activities, depending on the atmosphere of any given class. Sometimes we’ll need to spend more time on particular grammatical or lexical (vocabulary) items.
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3. Assignments Sheet

INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH CONVERSATION ASSIGNMENTS SHEET
Session: Summer School 2006

The Intermediate English Conversation Course focuses on developing students’ oral communication skills in English. In accordance with the nature of the course, each student’s speaking ability is evaluated through two oral presentations: one at mid-term and one at the end of the semester. Please find the appropriate dates in your Course Outline Sheet.

1. Mid-term Oral Presentation (partner work): Interviewing each other (5+ minutes)
2. Final Oral Presentation (partner or triad work): Playacting a Dialog (5+ minutes)

June 30th: Mid-term Oral Presentation (Interview with a Partner)

Your first oral exam will be an interview with a partner, in front of me. Each of you will draw 3-5 question strips (depending on the time you take to answer), and have a ‘natural’ conversation based on the strips. No worries: you will be given a list of 50 questions to answer in advance, so you will be able to prepare appropriately. Questions will be easy, concerning everyday life, activities, likes and dislikes. You must be ready to answer each question fluently in 2-3 or more sentences, not just one word, or one sentence. Your partner will also ask you a logical follow up question, depending on your answer. You will not know who your partner is until the day before the exam, when we will have a draw.
Example:

Student A: What is your hobby?
Student B: My hobby is playing the piano. I have been playing it for a long time but I’m not good at it. I want to improve because I want to impress my girlfriend (3 sentences).
Student A: (possible follow-up questions: a. Which is your favourite song to play? B. Oh, you have a girlfriend? Who is she?)
Student B: a. My favourite song is “A whole new world.” b. Yes, didn’t you know? She’s in my English class.

Partner Interview Evaluation Rubric


***Fluency
V. poor 1
Poor 2
Good 3
V. Good 4
Excellent 5
Total
****Sufficient Use of Details in your answer
V. poor 1
Poor 2
Good 3
V. Good 4
Excellent 5

***Voice level: loud enough
V. poor 1
Poor 2
Good 3
V. Good 4
Excellent 5

***8Clarity of Speech (accent, pronunciation)
V. poor 1
Poor 2
Good 3
V. Good 4
Excellent 5

****Quality of Language (grammar, , vocabulary)
V. poor 1
Poor 2
Good 3
V. Good 4
Excellent 5

****Level of Comfort/naturalness of conversation
V. poor 1
Poor 2
Good 3
V. good 4
Excellent 5
Grand Total (max. 30)


Final Oral Group Presentation: Dialog (5 minutes) , July 13th, 20%

Students will choose a partner or two partners to work with. First, you will write an original script with a free topic. You will hand in the script to me before your presentation is about to take place. Second, you will memorize the script and act it out in front of the whole class. NO READING WILL BE ALLOWED!

The script guidelines:
Which topic to choose? For example, you may choose to create a restaurant scene, a visit to a doctor, talking about travel, marriage/blind dates, recreate a scene from a movie, etc.
VERY IMPORTANT: You must use 10 expressions (words, phrases, idiomatic expressions) as well as 3 grammatical features that you have learned in class. In your script, you must underline or boldface or (both) the expressions and grammar, or you will get a ‘0’ in the “vocabulary” and ‘grammar’ categories in your evaluation rubrics.
Presentation guidelines:
-know your lines and speak naturally. Pay attention to your pronunciation and the clarity of your speech.
-act: be natural and relaxed, not rigid and nervous.
-use costumes and props, music, posters…anything that might impress the teacher – me!

If you need more assistance and guidance while preparing your skit, please visit me in my office or call schedule an appointment.

Content (Quality of the Speech)

Choice of Topic/ Level of Difficulty
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Grammar (3 features min.)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Vocabulary (slang, idioms, 10 minimum)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Creativity/ Originality
1, 2, 3, 4, 5


Delivery (Quality of the Presentation)

Knowing your lines (Fluency)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Pronunciation and Clarity
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Acting
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Creativity (costumes, props, special effects)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Total (max. 40)



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4. Homework Reminder for June 23rd:

My T-shirt

On a large piece of paper (A4 size approximately), draw a nice big T-shirt.

Around the neck opening, write 5 adjectives that describe your personality, E.g. [example]: outgoing, kind, dependable, humourous, warm-hearted.
On the edge of the right sleeve write 5 of your hobbies/ interests, E.g., hiking, reading books, watching movies, collecting postcards, collecting fridge magnets, etc.
On the edge of the left sleeve write the names of three people you admire, E.g. my mother, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa
In the middle of the T-shirt, close to where your heart is write: 3 things I love, E.g. dark chocolate, red wine, dogs.
Immediately below the three things you love, write down three things you hate, e.g. people spitting on the street, liver, being cold
At the bottom of the T-shirt write 5 things that you want to learn and/or things that you want to improve, e.g. want to learn taekwando, piano playing, painting; want to improve my German speak fluent Korean.

TOMORROW IN CLASS:

1. You’ll sit with a partner who will show you his/her T-shirt, and tell you what he/she wrote there. You’ll do the same.
2. You have to ask each other follow-up questions. E.g.
Why do you say you’re humorous?
Which is your favourite mountain?
Why do you admire your mother?
How much red wine can you drink before you get drunk?
How good is your Korean now?

3. After you’ve finished asking follow-up questions, you'll write a short introduction of your partner choosing to say 10 most interesting things about him/her, then presenting to the whole class.
E.g.
Hello everyone, this is Bianca. She's outgoing because she likes to talk to people to find out more about them. Her favourite hobby is hiking. She hikes almost every Saturday. Her favourite mountains are Kumgangsan and Jiri-san. She admires her mother because her mother was strong and optimitistic. She loves dark chocolate because it helps her stay alert and puts her in a good mood. She hates people spitting on the street because it's disgustind and unhealthy. She'd like to learn taekwando and she'd like to be fluent in Korean.