Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
Course Outline:
This course provides comprehensive training in oral skills and develops teamwork skills. It aims to enhance students’ ability to express ideas and to respond to common subjects in life and to improve students’ basic written communication skills.
The course aims to help students to acquire essential oral and written communication skills they can apply in daily communication. The oral training will cover pronunciation, articulation, and speech delivery, and the writing training focuses on the basic format and structure of a paragraph, knowledge of collocation, and applications of grammatical rules. Aside from individual tasks, students are required to work as a pair or a team and assume leading and supporting roles in different tasks.
能力項目說明
Course Objectives:
Upon finishing the course, students are expected to:
1. Enhance oral fluency
2. learn to make presentations
3. Master paragraph writing
4. learn to cooperate to complete a team-based project
教學週次Course Week | 彈性補充教學週次Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week | 彈性補充教學類別Flexible Supplemental Instruction Type |
---|---|---|
Course Schedule
*We adopt the 17+1-week system, but this arrangement is negotiable.
Prw: preview/FP: Final project
Weekly Session |
Topic |
Preview/Task/Project Progress |
Time Investment (Unit: Hours) |
1st |
Course Introduction; Warmers; Learning Resources on Campus and the Net |
1. Prw. handout 1 2. Finding resources on campus |
1 |
2nd |
Discussion Skills: signs and Personality; Pronunciation Drill I |
1. Prw. handout 2 2. Researching celebrities 3. Choose the English song to share |
1 |
3rd |
Describing Appearance; Writing Skills I: Intro. to Paragraph Structure & the Topic Sentence |
1. Topic Sentence Practice 2. Prw. handout 3 3. Choose the topic of music presentation |
2 |
4th |
Smartphone Addiction: Vocabulary-Builder; Fluency Practice; Pronunciation Drill II |
1. Writing Task 2: My Hero/Heroine 2. Prepare Pair Task |
2 |
5th |
Pair Task: Stressing Lip Sync; Recitation Preparation |
1. Recitation Preparation 2. Decide on the Individual Oral Presentation Topic |
3 |
6th |
Recitation Showcase; Oral Presentation Skills I |
1. Prepare a Mini-presentation 2. Confirm the topic of the Individual Oral Presentation |
1 |
7th |
Oral Presentation Skills II; Mini-Presentation & Instant feedback |
|
3 |
8th
|
Analytical Reading and A Socratic Seminar: Reading a Narrative Writing Skills II: Paragraph Development and Writing a Personal Narrative |
|
2-3 |
9th |
Mid-term Week Film Screening; Film Review: an Intro. |
1. Prepare for the Oral Presentation 2. Writing Task 2: Film Review |
2 |
10th |
Mini-Individual Oral Presentation: My Favorite Group I |
1. Peer Feedback |
2 |
11th |
Mini-Individual Oral Presentation: My Favorite Group II |
1. Peer Feedback 2. Prw. Handout 3 |
2 |
12th
|
Mini-Debate: Uniform or Unicorn?; Language Functions: Giving and Taking Advice; FP Announcement & Preparation |
|
2 or above |
13th |
Writing Skills III: Common Writing Errors and Use of Punctuations; FP project Discussion and Consultation; Setting up the Premiere Organizing Committee |
1. Writing Task 3: Drafting the Screenplay |
4 or above |
14th |
Screenplay editing and Line reading; Sample mini-film Discussion |
1. Writing Task 4: revising and finalizing the screenplay |
4 or more |
15th |
FP Work Week I: Film shooting (*Online forum if needed) |
1. FP Preparation |
4 or more |
16th
|
FP Work Week II: Film shooting and producing (*Online forum if needed) |
1. FP Preparation |
4 or more |
17h
|
Final Week Micro Film Premiere & Reception (*Online premiere if needed) |
1. Submitting the film file 2. Voting for and commenting on your favorite microfilms |
|
Course Requirements:
Class Leaders and Organizing Committee:
The course will need one or two class leaders and voluntary members of the premier organizing committee. Contributors will receive bonus grades depending on the extent of their contribution. The class leader’s responsibilities will include:
1. Checking out and managing equipment
2. Photocopying handouts
3. Collecting assignments
4. Other duties to be discussed
Grading Policy:
Component |
Percentage |
Attendance |
10% |
Class Participation |
25% |
Mid-term Project |
15% |
Final Project |
20% |
Other tasks |
30% |
Bonus Grades |
5-12% |
*Bonus grade points are awarded based on performances in in-class activities and tasks. Opportunities for bonus grades will be announced in advance.
Rubrics:
A+ |
Fluent in speech; effective stressing and natural intonations; proper pronunciation; a clear focus and complete structure of the content; full application of the skills introduced; proper standing posture and use of hand gestures |
A |
Almost fluent in speech; attempted stressing and natural intonations; proper pronunciation of most of the words; a clear focus and complete structure of the content; use of the skills introduced; proper standing posture and attempted use of hand gestures |
B+ |
Near fluent in speech with breaks; lack of obvious stressing and in sufficient variations in intonations; proper pronunciation of most of the words; lack of a focus in content; use of the skills introduced; infirm standing posture and attempted use of hand gestures |
B- |
Lack of fluency; lack of obvious stressing and in sufficient variations in intonations; mispronunciations of key words; lack of a focus in content; lack of application of skills; infirm standing posture and attempted use of hand gestures |
C |
Failure to reach expected performance in every aspect; improved performance required |
F |
Show little or no motivation; lack of preparation or essential skills; miss the assignment or task without proper reason |
*Any changes to the grading policy will be announced in class
Textbook:
The course does not require any textbook. Course materials will be prepared by the instructor.