This course is intended for Non-Major freshmen with intermediate English competence. It aims to prepare the students to be able to use their general knowledge about the world to understand and communicate in English. The general goals are to provide an atmosphere that will increase students’ participation in a comfortable environment, increase their confidence in English speaking contexts, and increase their ability to apply the knowledge of the English language they have acquired in high school.

In this course, four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) will be emphasized and practiced through in-class reading/speaking activities, listening practice, video watching, writing assignments, and oral presentations. In order to accomplish the general goals, the emphasis is on students’ language fluency rather than accuracy. The course will be conducted primarily in English.

每周課堂教學時數： 2 小時

每周預習/複習時數： 1 小時

Grading Criteria:
Attendance & Participation: 15%
Quizzes: 20%
Written response: 20%
Group presentation: 20%
Final exam: 25%

Requirements:
1.    Attendance: You are required to attend classes regularly and on time. Unexcused absences, tardiness or early departure will damage your attendance grade. Contact me about your absence before class if you must miss class. *You will not be allowed to take the final exam if you have FIVE (or more) unexcused absences.
2.    Participation: Speaking up in class, either being called or voluntarily, will add points to your participation grade. Try to catch any opportunity to speak up in class to earn bonus points!
3.    Quizzes: We will have in-class vocabulary quizzes before starting each unit and some pop-up listening quizzes. *Missed quizzes cannot be made up.
4.    Cross-cultural Communication Activities: You are required to preview 3 cross-cultural communication lecture videos online outside classroom. You also need to complete the following tasks based on the lectures by due dates:
(1) Checkpoint quizzes: Finish the checkpoint quiz(zes) of each unit.
(2) Written response to discussion questions: Choose one discussion question in each unit and write down your response to the question on Moodle discussion board.
(3) Group Presentation: You will be divided into six groups. Each group will take turns giving a 15 minutes presentation on an assigned unit (two groups on one unit). In your presentation, you can summarize the lecture or related resources, compare and contrast different cultures, point out certain stereotypes that need to be changed in our society, or share your observations about one discussion question. Each member should have a chance to speak on stage. Each group member needs to fill out the form of “Self- and peer-evaluation of group presentation” and submit it to moodle within one week after your group presentation. *Your presentation will timed, and points will be deducted if your presentation exceeds 15 minutes.

Tentative Schedule:
Week 1 (09/14) Film-watching: Tuesdays with Morrie
Week 2 (09/21) Orientation; film discussion; ice-breaking: self-introduction
Week 3 (09/28) Unit 1A The Visual Village
Week 4 (10/05) Unit 1B My Journey in Photographs by Annie Griffiths
Week 5 (10/12) Unit 1 Video: A Photographer’s Life; listening quiz 1
Week 6 (10/19) Quiz 1; Unit 2B Feathers of Love
Week 7 (10/26) Quiz 2; Unit 3A How Safe Is Our Food?
Week 8 (11/02) Quiz 3; Unit 3B Genetically Modified Foods
Week 9 (11/09) Quiz 4; Unit 4B The Future of Fashion: Dreamweavers
Week 10 (11/16) Unit 4 Video: Kinetic Sculpture; listening quiz 2
Week 11 (11/23) How to make a good presentation? Introduction to cross-cultural communication online course
Week 12 (11/30) #Unit 1 checkpoint quiz due; #Moodle response to discussion question due; Unit 1 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions; [Group 1 & 2 presentation]
Week 13 (12/07) #Unit 2 checkpoint quizzes due; #Moodle response to discussion question due; Unit 2 Stereotypes; [Group 3 & 4 presentation]
Week 14 (12/14) #Unit 3 checkpoint quiz due; #Moodle response to discussion question due; Unit 3 Education; [Group 5 & 6 presentation]
Week 15 (12/21) Quiz 5; Unit 5B Fantastic Voyage
Week 16 (12/28) Quiz 6; Unit 6B For the Love of Elephants
Week 17 (01/04) Unit 6 Video: A Match Made in Africa; listening quiz 3
Week 18 (01/11) Final Exam
*The schedule is subject to change according to the students’ needs.

Office: Room 737, Research Building (研究大樓737室)
Office Hours: by appointment
Tel: 02-29393091 ext. 88121
E-mail: jfsu@nccu.edu.tw

1. Reading Explorer 4, Second Edition, Heinle Cengage Learning (2014).
2. Supplementary materials prepared by the instructor