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, while in class actively participate in class discussions and pair/group work. Your final grades are determined by the following course components:

• Participation (including attendance, effort on speaking in class; leadership): 15%


• In-class work, homework, quizzes: 15%


• Oral presentations: 10%


• Writing assignments: 10%


• Midterm exam: 30%


• Final oral exam: 20%

Participation

Your participation grade will be based on your attendance, 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 not be allowed to participate in the final exam if you are absent for 1/3 of class meetings. 

In-class exercises/quizzes

Periodically throughout the semester, writing/listening exercises and pop quizzes will be given in class. These exercises and quizzes can NOT be made up. Quizzes are delivered online through the app, Kahoot! or Google Forms.

Oral presentations

Aside from informal in-class presentations, you will practice and perform public speaking in different formats. You will have a poster presentation in which you and two other students will create and present a poster about products invented through space exploration. The presentation should be approximately 6 minutes, followed by a 3-minute discussion. You will also perform a final presentation on cross-cultural communication units 1-3: You and three classmates will prepare and present a formal presentation at the end of the semester to the class, but evaluation will be on group and an individual basis. More details will be provided in class. Exact length of the presentations will be determined by class size and schedule.

Written assignments

In addition to the periodic in-class and take-home writing exercises, there will be four written assignments based on the textbook and online learning materials for the course. These will include a formal email, depicting an experience and describing objects, a description of data and statistics, and summary writing. In each assignment, you will respond to the writing prompts provided by the teacher. Your papers should show you have completed and thought seriously and critically about the readings and videos provided for you. Your writing must be original and written by yourself—not copied from any source. Plagiarized work will receive “0”. A writing template and an assessment rubric for each assignment are available on the class website (Moodle).

Examinations

All materials, including the readings, handouts, and information provided in class will potentially be included on mid-term and final exam. The mid-term exam is a written test, and the final exam contains short written test and a formal presentation. The written tests include vocabulary/grammar questions, a listening/reading section. The instructor will evaluate your ability to present logically organized information, respond to questions appropriately and to speak without reading a script for an extended period of time without hesitation, deviation or repetition. An assessment rubric for the speaking test is available on the class website. No make-up exams will be given unless you have received the instructor’s permission in advance.

Required Textbook: 21^st Century Reading: Creative Thinking and Reading with TED Talks Book 4 (2015)

Authors: Laurie Blass and Jessica Williams; Publisher: National Geographic Learning / CENGAGE Learning

• Supplementary readings: To be posted on Moodle for students to download and print.

Useful English media outlets:

• Taiwan
  
  
  
  
  • English newspapers from Taiwan: Taipei Times
  
  
  • Commonwealth (English): (https://english.cw.com.tw/)
  
  
  • Focus Taiwan (http://focustaiwan.tw/)
  
  
  • ICRT News (https://www.icrt.com.tw/info_list01.php?&mlevel1=6&mlevel2=12)
  
  
  
  


• Asia
  
  
  
  • The News Lens (https://international.thenewslens.com/)
  
  
  • The StraitsTimes (http://www.straitstimes.com/asia)
  
  
  • The South China Morning Post (SCMP) (http://www.scmp.com/news)
  
  
  
  


• World
  
  
  
  • BBC
  
  
  • CNN
  
  
  • Aljazeera
  
  
  • PBS (Public Broadcasting Service—USA)
  
  
  • The New York Times
  
  
  • The Washington Post
  
  
  • The Guardian
  
  
  
  

• Resources:
  
  
  
  
  • VoiceTube: https://tw.voicetube.com
  
  
  • BBC Learning English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish
  
  
  • TED talks: https://www.ted.com/talks
  
  
  
  


• Dictionaries:
  
  
  
  • Dictionary.com (https://www.dictionary.com/)
  
  
  • Merriam-Webster: (https://www.merriam-webster.com/)