Sunday, 30 August 2015

Week 1 - Introductions


Autumn 2015                                                                      
English Conversation  (영어회화)                              DaeJin University

Professor:  Thomas Avery
Office: Humanity Building Rm. 526
Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00-3:00 or by appointment
Kakaotalk: tomavery
Email: tavery.daejin@gmail.com
Website: basicA15.blogspot.kr/

Class
Time

Place
1
Monday
09 30 – 11 20
108
2
Wednesday
09 30 – 11 20
108
3
Thursday
11 30 – 13 20
202
4
Thursday
17 30 – 19 20
119-3
5
Friday
09 30 – 11 20
105
6
Friday
13 30 – 15 20
105

Course Description: Beginning English Conversation is designed for students to improve basic conversation skills through various listening, speaking, and reading activities.  There will be many fun in-class activities focused on pair and group interactive exercises so that students can enjoy practicing conversations as well as gain confidence in speaking English.

Goals and Approach:
You will
  1. improve your speaking and listening skills through various classroom activities.
  2. improve grammar skills
  3. enhance your vocabulary from listening and speaking exercises.
  4. learn idioms and informal conversational phrases.
  5. learn from others by participating in collaborative work.

Textbook: Please bring the textbook to class every day.  Failure to have your book every class will result in your grade being lowered.
  • Interchange Fourth Edition Student’s Book 1    ISBN: 978-1-107-64867-8
Grading:
Note: Your final score is based on relative grading. If you do very well but other students do better your grade may be lower than you wish.
Attendance                        10%
-          If you do not bring the required materials to class, you are absent.
-          If you are late 4 times, every time you are late thereafter you are absent.
-          If you are absent 5 times, you automatically fail the course
Participation                     20%
-          If you are absent, you do not get participation points unless you can prove you have studied the unit we studied in class.
-          I will watch every class and note down students who do not actively participate.
Video files and chats         15%
-          I require that you use Kakaotalk in class. You must record your screen and send me the video file AND the Kakao chat file every week.
-          You get one point for every week you send the file - these are easy points!
Midterm                            15%
-          You will be given a conversation topic or problem to solve as a group.
-          You work as a group, but your grade is based only on your performance.
-          Midterms are filmed for school records.
Final                                   25%
-          Similar to the midterm, but using everything we learn through the term.
-          Learn from the mistakes you make in the midterm to do better in the final.
Notebook                          15%  
-          You must take notes in class.
-          Prove that you use your time in class and at home learning new vocabulary.
-          I will take your notebook at the Final exam.

A few rules for our class:
  • Please make sure that you are on time for class every day.  If you are late more than two times, each additional time you are late will be counted as an absence.  If you are absent for more than 1/3 of our classes, you will AUTOMATICALLY FAIL THE CLASS!
  • Make sure that you complete all out-of-class assignments on time and come to class ready to participate
  • Cheating of any kind will result in failure of the assignment and potentially the class.
  • Respect other students.
  • Help each other
  • Smile (at least a little)

Weekly Syllabus for English Conversation
Autumn 2015
Week
(Date beginning)
In-class activity
1
(Sep 1)
Welcome to English Conversation Class!!
Introduce the class and the textbook
2
(Sep 8)
Unit 1. Please call me Beth. (p. 2-7)
* Topics: Introductions and greetings; names, countries, and nationalities
* Grammar: Wh-questions and statements with be; Yes/no question and short answers
3
(Sep 15)
Unit 2. What do you do? (p. 8-13)
* Topics: Jobs, workplaces, and school; daily schedules; clock time
* Grammar: Simple present Wh- questions and statements; Time expressions: at, in, on, around, early, late, until, before and after
4
(Sep 22)
Unit 3. How much is it? (p.16-21)
* Topics: Shopping and prices; clothing and personal items; colors and materials
* Grammar: Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
Comparisons with adjectives
5
(Sep 29)
Unit 4. I really like hip-hop. (p.22-27)
* Topics: Music, movies, and TV programs; entertainers; invitations and excuses; dates and times
* Grammar: Yes/no and Wh-questions with do; what kind of; object pronouns; modal verb would
6
(Oct 6)
Unit 6. How often do you exercise? (p. 36-41)
* Topics: Sports, fitness, activities, and exercise; routines
* Grammar: Adverbs of frequency: always, almost, usually, often, sometimes, hardly ever, almost ever, and never
Mid term Assigned.
7
(Oct 13)
Unit 7. We had a great time! (p. 50-55)
* Topics: Free-time and weekend activities
* Grammar: Simple past Yes/no and Wh-questions, statements and short answers with regular and irregular verbs
8
(Oct 20)
MID-TERM
9
(Oct 27)
Unit 9. What does she look like? (p.58-63)
* Topics: Appearance and dress; clothing and clothing styles; people
* Grammar: Questions for describing people: what… look like, how old, how tall, and what color; modifies with participles and prepositions
10
(Nov 3)
Unit 10. Have you ever ridden a camel? (p. 64-69)
* Topics: Past experiences; unusual activities
* Grammar: Present perfect yes/no and wh-questions, statements and short answers with regular and irregular past participles
11
(Nov 10)
Unit 12. It really works! (p.78-83)
* Topics: Health problems; medication and remedies; products in a pharmacy
* Grammar: Adjective + infinitive; noun + infinitive; modal verbs could and should for suggestions; modal verbs can , could and may for requests
12
(Nov 17)
Unit 13. May I take your order? (p.86-91)
* Topics: Food and restaurants
* Grammar: So, too, neither, and either; medal verbs would and will for requests
13
(Nov 24)
Unit 16. A change for the better! (p. 106-111)
* Topics: Life changes; plans and hopes for the future
* Grammar: Describing changes with the present tense; the past tense, the present perfect, and the comparative; verb + infinitive
Final Assigned
14
(Dec 1)
Make Up Classes:
9.28 (Mon) class
à 12.9 (Weds)
10.9 (Fri) class
à 12.10 (Thurs)
15
(Dec 8)
Final Exam
Times to be decided in class


  • Schedule to change as needed

Friday, 28 August 2015

Weekly Homework

Dear Class,

Every week you will have the same basic homework.

1. Send me your Kakao chat to my email (tavery.daejin@gmail.com)


2. Send me your AZ Screen video to the Class Kakaotalk.


3. Complete class notes, write examples for any vocabulary you learned.

4. Preview the next lesson, especially new vocabulary. You must be ready for the next class.

I may give you extra homework on top of this.

This is probably your first university speaking class - it will be hard! Send me a message or come and find me in my office (인526) if you need help. Students who ask for help get better scores.

Good luck,

Prof. Tom