Syllabus. Cégep du Vieux Montréal

Transcription

1 Syllabus Cégep du Vieux Montréal Département de langues modernes Course Title : Formation Générale Propre Anglais (Ensemble no. 2) Course Number: English, level PU2-VM (pre-university) Course Objective: (000N) To communicate in English with ease using common expressions related to the student s field of study. Weighting: Prerequisite: Semester: Fall 2004 Professor: François Hébert Office Number: Telephone: ext hebert@cvm.qc.ca

2 1. Course Description 604-PU2-VM Course Syllabus This is the second of two obligatory English courses in formation générale. This course is designed for a clientele for whom this will be the last formal English course before going to university. The emphasis is on perfecting the abilities that have already been acquired in previous courses. The content is, therefore, of a high level of complexity. In addition, although the accent is on written production and reading, the other competencies, speaking and listening, are not neglected. Materials whose complexity allows a thoughtful appreciation of modern issues are routinely used for the reading and listening elements of the course. The students are encouraged to develop their ideas orally in a way that goes beyond a superficial social communication. 2. General Course Objective To communicate in English with ease using common expressions related to the student s field of study. 3. Target Competencies and Specific Course Objectives Listening: The student will demonstrate the ability to understand the meaning of an authentic oral message related to his/her field of study. Understand the main idea of the message. Use pertinent information from the listening to accomplish a specific task. Understand implicit and explicit messages Reading: The student will demonstrate the ability to understand the useful elements in authentic texts related to his/her field of study. Understand the main idea. Identify the elements of the text. Guess the meaning of difficult vocabulary and expressions using contextual clues Use information in a reading to accomplish specific tasks. Understand implicit and explicit messages Speaking: The student will demonstrate the ability to communicate an oral message related to his/her field of study. Communicate in a sophisticated manner about a subject that is rich in information and comprehensible to a non-expert. Show an awareness of the needs of an audience. Use appropriate terms and expressions related to his/her field of study. Writing: The student will produce written texts related to his/her field of study. 500 words in a clear, well-organised and coherent manner Use appropriate terms and expressions. Use correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. Write in a manner that indicated awareness of rhetoric and audience. 2

3 Course Content Note: To attain the required level of competency in each skill, mastery and acceptable application of the following aspects is necessary: Grammatical notions: 1. Verb tense review (active and passive voice; affirmative, negative and interrogative forms): -present simple and continuous -past simple and continuous -present perfect -past perfect -future with time clauses 2. Modal auxiliaries 3. Subject-verb agreement 4. Count/non-count nouns 5. Comparatives/superlatives 6. Simple and complex clauses including connectors 7. Avoiding Gallicisms and Faux Amis Writing notions 1. Basic punctuation (periods, commas, apostrophes, question and quotation marks) 2. Capitalisation 3. Connectors and conjunctions 4. Characteristics of a persuasive essays and/or compare and contrast essay and/or narrative essay 5. Basic research project 6. How to reference and cite works Speaking functions and notions: 1. Expressing an opinion, agreement or disagreement, debating and supporting one s view 2. Structuring an oral presentation Reading and listening strategies: 1. Predicting, scanning, skimming, underlining main points and details, note-taking, summarising, paraphrasing, glossing, guessing meaning from context 4. Methodology Through lectures and demonstrations, the teacher will present the notions necessary for the course. The student will put into practice the notions seen in class through activities and workshops in the class and in the lab. This will require learning key vocabulary and notions related to his/her field of study and practising all of the four competencies in relation to his/her field of study. 1. For the oral component, the student will engage in the following activities: role-playing, structured discussions, class discussions, short presentations, conducting a survey, interviewing a professional in his/her domain and debates. 2. For the listening component, the student will listen in class to the thoughts of the other students and respond to these ideas, as well as listening to audio or videotapes and discussing their content. Also the student will write summaries of the main ideas found in the listening material presented to him/her, as well as integrating and analysing the ideas found in the aural material with those found in the written texts. 3. For the reading component, the student will read texts of a variety of literary genres. The student will examine these texts in light of main and secondary ideas, rhetorical devices, author's purpose, and grammatical usage. The readings will allow the students to interact with the author s ideas as well as 3

4 discussing and developing their own ideas concerning the topic. Emphasis will be on texts related to the students field of study and could include biographical research of an expert in their domain. 4. For the writing component, the student will develop ideas suitable for essay writing, workshop writing with other students, and produce at least two edited essays of approximately 500 words. In addition, the students will examine and practice through error correction and other exercises any grammatical forms that have not been mastered in previous courses. Other styles of writing include business letter writing, requests for a bursary, a writing portfolio, etc. 5. There will be an emphasis on study skills that will allow the student to successfully integrate into the academic environment at the university level. These study skills involve note taking, active reading, research skills, and oral presentation techniques. 6. During the semester, learning formative evaluation will be undertaken using homework, tests and work done in class. Summative evaluation will be based on certain work done in class during the semester. 5. Weekly Calendar This is a tentative schedule and is subject to change with prior notification from the teacher. Class Content and Activities 1 Introduction to the course 2 Grammar: question formation Reading: guessing meaning from context Writing: Errors to avoid, writing problems, paragraph writing 3-4 Grammar: verb tenses overview Reading: scanning, skimming Writing: development of the thesis statement, essay writing, citing a work, references, developing a bibliography - transition expressions EVALUATION: -PERSONAL PROJECT: submit idea for personal project -summary of a TV program (2%) -paragraph writing (2%) -speaking activity (2%) -text comprehension (5%) 5-7 Grammar: the passive voice Writing: - review of Persuasive essay - writing a summary Reading: recognising cause and effect and writer s bias EVALUATION: -PERSONAL PROJECT: submit outline and list of sources -listening comprehension quiz (3%) -persuasive essay (5%) -group leader activity (10%) 8-10 Grammar: gerunds and grammar problem areas Writing: Narrative and Compare/Contrast essays EVALUATION: -PERSONAL PROJECT DUE: week 10 (10%) -oral presentation based on project: week 10 (5%) -listening quiz (5%) -speaking evaluation (3%) Writing: movie and book reviews Grammar: complex verb tenses 4

5 EVALUATION: -movie review (2%) -text comprehension (5%) 13 review 14 FINAL EXAMS (25%) 15 FINAL EXAMS (15%) Note: a) Weekly homework assignments are posted outside the English Department (10.44) b) You should exchange phone numbers with at least two other people in the class. This will be useful if you miss a class c) Homework assignments of less than 5% are not indicated in the weekly schedule, however, students will be informed of any evaluations at least one week in advance. d) Students will be informed of the evaluation criteria of evaluated assignments beforehand. e) In the unfortunate event that you need to give me late homework, you can put it in the yellow envelope that is attached to the bottom right hand corner of the bulletin board outside my office (10.44). f) Any homework that is more than one page must be stapled; otherwise, I will not accept it. Please buy a stapler for this course. All submitted work should include your name, my name, group number and the title of the assignment. Make a copy of all work that you give to me. 6. Evaluation: formative and summative During the course, students will be able to evaluate their progress in the following forms of evaluation: 6.1 Formative Evaluation For each concept studied in class, there will be activities that permit students to assess their comprehension of the material taught. Immediate correction and feedback allow students to ask for clarification, and / or to take the necessary steps to address any problems that may become apparent. Students should always feel free to ask for clarification or extra help during or outside of class. 6.2 Summative Evaluation During the semester, there will be homework assignments which will sometimes be corrected and which may contribute to the course work portion of your final grade. Students will always be informed in advance when an assignment is to be counted towards the final grade. Regardless, the completion of all assignments greatly contributes to a high level of success in this class. 6.3 Description and criteria of the final evaluation The final evaluation will determine if students have attained the target competencies of the course (see section 3 of this course outline). It consists of a final exam with four components: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The final exam will be held in class during the last two weeks of the semester. Students will receive individual grades (not a group mark) for the final exam. The exam counts for 20% of the final grade. 5

6 The evaluation criteria for this final evaluation are as follows: 25% Content and Organization 30% Language Use (grammar/vocabulary) 20% Oral Skills (fluency/pronunciation) OR Writing Mechanics (spelling, capitals, etc.) 25% Communicative Ability (ability to interact with others in an oral discussion / ability to incorporate information from a text, reading or listening, into an oral or written message) Grade Distribution COURSE WORK Reading 10% Speaking 5% Writing 10% Listening 10% Group Leader Activity 10% Personal Project 15% FINAL EXAMS Reading and Writing Exams = 2 X 15% 30% Speaking Exam 10% 6.3 Description and Criteria of the Final Evaluation The purpose of the final exam is to demonstrate the student s mastery of the notions studied in class. It involves the four component skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The exam will be done individually in class in the last two weeks of class and represents 40% of the final grade. 7. What is Expected of the Students 1. Students are expected to attend all classes. Learning a language requires that the student be exposed to the target language. Absences adding up to more than 6 hours of course time will result in the failure of the course. 2. Students must speak only English in class. A student who persists in speaking another language in class will be asked to leave the class. 3. Any homework that is more than one page must be stapled; otherwise, it will not be accepted. Please buy a stapler for this course. All submitted work should include your name, my name, group number and the title of the assignment. 4. Make a copy of all work that you give to the teacher. 5. Students are expected to complete all homework and be prepared for all activities, even if they were absent during the previous week. 8. Required Course Materials English Grammar Supplement by François Hébert Available at Copie Data photocopy shop 405 de Maisonneuve East (beside the Second Cup on the corner of St-Denis) 6

7 A good English dictionary is required for this course. 9. Mediagraphy Books consulted by the teacher: Lannon, J. M. The Writing Process. Little, Brown and Company, McCrimmon, J. M. Writing with a Purpose. (6th edition) Houghton Mifflin Company, Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. A University Grammar of English. Longman, Raimes, A. How English Works. St. Martin s Press, Useful reference books for students: Azar, B. S. Understanding and Using English Grammar. Prentice Hall Regents, Dods, J. and J. Jewinsky. The Ready Reference Handbook. Prentice-Hall Canada, Useful web sites: Departmental Rules and Regulations 1. Course attendance Although absences from English classes do not automatically result in a failure of the course, it is extremely important that students attend classes regularly. Because the learning of a second language is progressive in nature, absences will severely limit the student's ability to succeed. If, however, students are absent from class, it is their responsibility to find out what happened in that class, and to be prepared for the following class, including the completion of any homework which may have been assigned. 2. Homework All students, regardless of whether they were absent, are responsible for doing homework on time. Although not all homework will be graded and count towards the final evaluation, it is strongly recommended that the student complete homework in order to improve his or her language acquisition. Graded assignments which are handed in past the due date can be penalised at the discretion of the teacher. Assignments will be accepted no later than five working days after the due date. Students must keep all corrected work until the final date for the revision of marks has passed. 3. Exams Students who miss a final exam for a valid reason, MUST arrange to take a make-up exam within the week following the original exam date. The exam is arranged by contacting the teacher within a week of the date of the original exam and presenting a written note (such as a signed note from a doctor)justifying the absence. 4. Course work in class time Any missed assignments done during class time that count for more than 7.5% of the final grade may be made up under the following conditions: a) you come to teacher within one week to arrange the make-up assignment. It is therefore the student's responsibility to be aware of what was done in the classes that were missed. b) you have a written note (such as a signed note from a doctor justifying the absence). 5. Plagiarism and Fraud 7

8 Plagiarism and fraud, either during an exam or on a homework assignment, will result in an automatic zero. Furthermore, the pre-determined percentage for that exam or assignment will be strictly respected. 8