SYLLABUS American University of Central Asia New Generation Academy Syllabus Fall Semester 2015 Prep 022/030 Course ID 2833/2836
Course Name: English for Academic Purposes EAP (RW/LS) Level: Upper-Intermediate Credit Hours: 12 Meeting Times: Tuesdays 9:30 – 10.45, 11:00 – 12:15, Wednesdays 13:10 – 14:25, 14:30 – 15:45
Instructor: Khurshedsho Qonunov
Material will be provided on a week-to-week basis!
I. Course description: This course is designed to develop your language skills and to improve your English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The course focuses on Listening, Speaking skills, as well as Reading and Writing in an active, student-centered class. The course will also help to prepare for standard exam questions asked in TOEFL and other advanced English language exams as well as developing soft skills for university.
II. Goals and Objectives: Upon the completion of this course you will be able to: Express yourself more elaborately in writing and speech; infer word meaning from context; determine main ideas from text and audio material; introduce, defend, and express pro and con sides of an issue; use context clues to infer meaning, identify and use synonyms, and commonly confused words, identify and use idiomatic expressions; write better essays; feel comfortable with media language.
As a student in this course, you are expected to complete required readings and assignments and to come to class prepared.
III. Course requirements:
A. Attendance Attendance at all classes is mandatory. If you are absent for unavoidable reasons (illness or other), your instructor must be informed on the same day (the day you miss) by e-mail. Be punctual!
B. Classroom Etiquette Mobile phones must be switched off or programmed to “Silent” during the class. For everything else, such as sleeping during class, follow your common sense!
C. Participation You are expected to take an active part in all classroom activities: ask questions in English, answer questions of other students voluntarily, express your viewpoint on discussed subjects, and take part in group activities. All this together makes up your grade for classroom activities. All subjects occurring in the course of this program are to be discussed in English only.
D. Presentations Presentations are to be held for 10 minutes. Please prepare a handout which contains the essential information and the used sources. Inform yourself about the requirements and fashion of presentations as well as handouts! Every student has to give a presentation, some topics are suggested in the schedule but you are invited to choose your own. The subject of each presentation must be discussed and scheduled with the instructor beforehand.
E. Class Exercises In addition to text-book based exercises, paragraph by paragraph reading and discussions of recent articles from magazines and papers such as The Economist and Financial Times will be followed by written responses stating facts, proposing opinion, arguing for a case, and offering criticism. BBC, Euronews and CNN radio programs will also be part of the class activity, engaging students in active listening, accompanied by note-taking, vocabulary definition, identification of the story line, argument, analysis and interpretation.
F. Tests and exams Ongoing in-class essays and home assignments will be reviewed and provided with detailed feedback on both content and grammar, in order for students to learn and improve on a continuous basis. Final exam will foresee a paper written against time and with a thought-provoking topic of perennial significance.
IV. Grading
Type of activity Percent of Total Grade 1 Class Participation 40% 2 Home Assignments 30% 4 Student Presentations 10% 5 Tests 20% Grades are based on:
Grade/Percentage Ratio:
A 100-94 % C 73-68 %
A- 93-90 % C- 67-64 %
B+ 89-86 % D+ 63-60 % B 85-80 % D 59-54 %
B- 79-77 % D- 53-50 %
C+ 76-74 % F 49% (or less)
V. Academic Honesty
Course participants are expected to maintain academic honesty in their course work. Participants should avoid plagiarism. Articles, books, films, TV/Radio programs and other resources (including Internet resources) employed in fulfilling assignments must be cited. Copying the writings of others without citing them is plagiarism. If you are accused of plagiarism for the first time, you get “F” for the assignment; if you are accused of plagiarism for the second time, you get “F” for the whole course.
VI. Lesson Schedule
This syllabus and class schedule is subject to changes by the instructor. Changes will probably occur especially in the first weeks while I am getting acquainted with your level of English proficiency.
Details about material will be provided on a week-to-week basis. This is in order to respond to discuss up- to-date material as well as to respond to the needs of the students. Every week we will do some exercises from NorthStar. Additionally, I encourage you to complete all the exercises of each unit. If you questions upon completion of an exercise you are always welcome to consult me.
In class, we will rather focus on vibrant original material that evolves through everyday life of human development. Each week your home assignment will be to read a text and/or write an essay. In order to keep track on your homework you are invited to use this table to actualize it weekly.
Week Agenda Setting Home Assignments
Essay: Expectations towards NGA 1 Getting acquainted and of oneself
Topic: World news; Essay: Discuss a recent 2 Class discussion about up-to-date burning newspaper/magazine article issues in the world
3 Topic: The refugee crisis in Europe Essay: Should majorly Muslim countries assume more Discussion: Definitions of such terms and concepts as Refugee, Displaced, Internally Displaced, Asylum, NGO, UN, MSF, Red responsibility? Cross, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Topic: Civil Society Essay: The role of Civil Society in
4 Presentation topic: Civil right activist in the world of today (focus on a Kyrgyzstan (choose an example) specific example or concept)
Topic: Changing Society Essay: Cultural changes in your
5 Debate on Loss, Transformation, Evolution or home country: Good or bad? Win Development? or lose?
Topic: Ecological issues Essay: Global warming; A distant 6 Debate: Ecotourism or Mass-tourism? debate or a threat at the doorstep?
Topic: Justice
Debate in class; class is divided in 3 groups,
1. How can we best rehabilitate prisoners so that they can be productive members of society? Essay: Right to live and right to live a good life. What justice 2. How can we balance the right for free 7 norms and/or systems do you speech with the right to not be insulted or know and which do you consider abused? to be most just?
3. How can we best address the problem of terrorism?
Each group discusses their question and makes a short presentation
8 Topic: Media Essay: The press landscape in your home country. To what Reflecting news cast - Identify language used extent is the press part of your - Ways of presentations life?
Conveying neutral or biased views?
Topic: Social Media Essay: Individual observations
9 Presentation: Democratic or risky information and assessment from your platform? experiences of social media
Topic: Technological advances: 10 Essay: Dystopias Reading of Isaac Asimov, Belyaev or Wells
Topic: The political system of the US Essay: Compare the political 11 system of the US to the one of Presentation: US Presidential Election System your home country
Topic: The landscape of Faith Essay: Common identity vs. 12 Discussion on multiculturalism, pluralism, individual choices secularism, laicism
Topic: Social Problems; Poverty and lack of education
Discussion: Inclusion, integration, Essay: Access to education: The 13 segregation, enablement, empowerment case of your home country.
Presentation: How can we integrate disabled people?
Topic: Racism and other forms of Essay: Current issues of 14 discrimination discrimination Discussion on new forms of discrimination
Topic: Evaluation of your achievements so far Homework: Get ready for your 15 at NGA; Goal setting for next term exams! Good luck! FINAL EXAM