Course Title: Oral English Communication I & II
Course Code：12043 (for I) 12053(for II)
Number of Credits: 3
Teaching Hours: 48
Prerequisites: None
Overview
Oral English Communication is a 2-semester, 6-credit, required course. The course is divided into 2 sessions each week. This session is mainly for oral communication activities, i.e., listening and speaking. It is concerned with improving and enhancing learners' oral-communication abilities in English as a foreign language (EFL). One assumption upon which the course rests is that the students should bring to their roles as EFL learners with a strong competence of the full range of EFL abilities--including listening, speaking, reading and writing--resulted from intensive and extensive learning activities. Another philosophy of the course is that active participation and language use are crucial for successful foreign language learning. The Whole Language/Four-Skills Integration Approach is therefore adopted, although intensive listening is the major activity for the course. Learners' practice, involvement and use of the target language (TL) are strongly required. To catch up with this information technology (IT) era, the Internet will be comprehensively applied to this course. Learners must change their passive learning habits/attitudes to active during this course.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course students should be able to:
1. Comprehend longer English talks/speeches better.
2. Communicate with others in oral English more fluently.
3. Communicate with others in written English more clearly.
4. Read articles in English more comprehensibly.
5. Learn more English words or idioms.
6. Understand English grammar better.
Instructional Activities
The instructional activities for this weekly 200 minutes session are divided into 2 parts--activities during the class and homework. The students should follow the design to participate the instructional activities:
A. In-Class Listening & Speaking Practice
1) To listen carefully/take notes (without reading the transcript) while the talk is played at a normal speed.
2) To discuss the main idea of the talk in pairs, groups, or whole class.
3) To clarify the unknown.
4) To orally paraphrase/summarize the talk or discuss comprehension questions.
B. English Presentation
Students are required to take turns making dialogue or speech individually or in pairs. Before the presentation, each presenter must select a topics or relevant materials prepared by teachers .The presenter should give the background information about it. A clear and slow presentation is strongly recommended for this listening/pronunciation practice.
Examinations
There are mid-term and final oral tests for this course. The tests will be in a form similar to the tests for TOEFL or IETLS
Evaluation Criteria for Performances
Written performances will be evaluated on the basis of:
1. Clarity of presentation and development of ideas.
2. Accuracy of information, logic, and consistency of argument.
3. Relevance of criticism, analysis, and rationale.
4. Correct pronunciation, grammar, spelling, and syntax.
5. Appropriate and accurate citations.
6. Punctuality. (Grades will be deducted for late assignments.)
Evaluation of Participation
1. Attendance: Faithful attendance is strongly expected unless the students are ill or a family/official emergency arises. Email or talk to the instructor in person about reasons so he can decide whether to excuse an absence. The students are expected to arrive in class on time. There are many classes in which essential information is demonstrated and presented, followed by their practice on interaction, so it is critical that they attend and arrive promptly. Therefore, their grade can be influenced by attendance. A 20% deduction will be drawn from your attendance portion for each unapproved absence. A zero score will be given to the students who are absent without official permission 3 times or more. A bonus will be given to the students who are never absent during the whole semester.
2. Frequency of participation in whole-class activities.
3. Quality of contributions to the class (song presentation, listening cloze, dialog practice, etc.)--individual accountability, primitive interaction, use of clarifying questions, illustrations, shared information, elaboration of ideas, etc.
4. Sharing materials with members during the class.
Textbook
Inside out, edited by Sue Kay & Vaughan Jones, published by ShangHai Foreign Language Education Press
Grading
All written papers and performances will be evaluated on a scale of scores (0-100) or letters (A, B, C ...). Final grades will be determined on the basis of numerical equivalence of weighted grades on the performances. Every student is suggested to keep track of their performances weekly to correct possible mistakes on grading.
l Attendance 5%
l Learning log 15%
l Listening Cloze & Oral Practice 30%
l Mid-term Examination 25%
l Final Examination 25%
l Bonus (Songs + talent shows) 5%