Class time will be devoted to activities that allow you to practice and interact in English. To successfully complete the course, you must prepare the assigned homework prior to class and actively participate in class discussions, online discussions, and pair/group work. Your final grades are determined by the following course components:
- Attendance: 5%
- Participation: 10%
- Oral presentations:
- Individual presentation: 10%
- Group presentation: 15% (based on Facebook discussion)
- Online discussion posts/comments: 10%
When one group is responsible for the topic and questions on Facebook, the others will be required to answer the questions. Each week's posts are monitored and graded based on your contribution. Missing one week's responses will result in zero score for that given week.
- Written assignments:
- Group Movie Portfolio: 10%
- Individual writings: 15%
- Midterm: 10%
- Final Debate: 15%
ASSIGNMENTS AND REQUIREMENTS
Attendance & participation
Your attendance mark is based on the average minutes you are present in class, and the mark will be calculated with 100-point scale , whereas participation grade will be based on homework preparation, and the contribution you make to the learning experience of others. Contribution includes your in-class questions to the instructor, insights and comments regarding class content, answers to the instructor’s questions, and reactions to other students’ contributions. You will need to submit proper document in order for the instructor to mark your absence as a granted leave. If the final mark for the attendance is lower than 80, this attendance mark will be zero.
Written assignments
Four written assignments based on the course readings will be assigned. The assignments may ask you to respond to key issues in the readings, write summaries, analyze passages or write short compositions comparing/contrasting cultural issues. You are required to complete the assignments at home by due dates so that you can join discussions in class. No late work is going to be submitted. You will form a group of 3 or 4 to work on your final written assignment – Movie Portfolio. It will include synopsis without spoilers, characters description, vocabulary and phrases, interesting facts/plots, and your self-reflections. See the attachment for the grading rubric for these assignments.
Oral presentations
You will give three types of oral presentations during the semester:
- Group presentation: In this presentation, you will first choose an article or event, post it online, post questions related to the article/event, and then compile all the comments posted by your fellow classmates. The presentation itself not only includes the posts and comments, but should also be informative with your own opinions. You may even raise more questions, include activities, or pair-work during the presentation. (30-50 minutes)
- Individual oral presentation: You will give a formal presentation recommending your favorite book to the class. (5-8 minutes)
- Final group debate: You will be given scenarios ahead of time for you to choose from, or you may even create your own case scenario. In any case, you will have to have people on both sides. As you can you plan ahead, you should try to give each other a fair amount of chances to speak during the oral exam instead of taking over.
See the attachment for the grading rubric for these presentations.
Mid-term exam
The exam is based on lecture contents and assigned readings. It includes vocabulary/grammar questions, a reading section and short writing tasks. No make-up exam will be given unless you have received the instructor’s permission in advance.
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