FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES DEPARTAMENTO DE LENGUAJES Y ESTUDIOS SOCIOCULTURALES

COURSE LEVEL COURSE: COURSE CODE: SECTION: CREDITS: YEAR - SEMESTER: CLASS SCHEDULE: TEACHER: E-MAIL ADDRESS OFFICE AND OFFICE HOURS Undergraduate English 4 - Orality and Autonomy 1 Leng 1104 0.0 2014-1

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The English Academic Support Program is designed to provide undergraduate students at los Andes with the English instruction they need to complete academic tasks in English within the university, and to effectively use English in social, academic and professional situations outside the university as well. It is also designed to help students acquire the strategies they need to continue learning English independently outside the classroom and after they leave the university. Further, the program seeks to make a substantial contribution to the overall development of los Andes students through specific academic topics, which are explored in depth in each course in the program. The English Academic Support Program has six levels and two cycles: Basic Cycle and Skills Cycle. The purpose of the Basic Cycle is for students to become functional in English in a modified academic environment and to be able to read academic texts, which are required in their university classes. The purpose of the Skills Cycle is to provide students with specific focused instruction in oral and written communication, including aspects of both fluency and accuracy.
CYCLE BASIC ENGLISH 1 ENGLISH 2 CONTENT EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITY LIFE THE US LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL LEGACY SKILLS BASIC READING AND GRAMMAR SKILLS. COMPREHENSION OF WRITTEN ENGLISH AND THE ESSENTIALS OF ENGLISH SYNTAX. COMPREHENSION OF WRITTEN ENGLISH AND THE ESSENTIALS OF ENGLISH SYNTAX. COMPREHENSION AND EXPRESSION OF THE BASICS OF SPOKEN ENGLISH. READING, WRITING AND EDITING.
ORALITY AND AUTONOMY 2

ENGLISH 3 SKILLS ENGLISH 4

MULTICULTURALISM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

ORALITY AND AUTONOMY 1

CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE US ENGLISH 5 ENGLISH 6

COMPREHENSION AND EXPRESSION OF SPOKEN ENGLISH.

CYCLE AND COURSE DESCRIPTION Each course in the English Academic Support Program focuses on a particular topic. This course is the first course in the skills cycle and its topic is language, specifically language learning and aspects of spoken language. This topic is useful and interesting at this level because it helps the student to understand why they have the difficulties they have in learning English, particularly in decoding and input. This increased knowledge will allow them to develop some learning and communication strategies to help them continue their English language learning outside class and after they leave the university.

Students who complete this 58.5 hour course are able to understand and participate in everyday conversations as well as in class discussions about course content, including requesting and obtaining information, and responding to questions. They will accomplish this not only because of general development of vocabulary and structures but also because of their familiarity with some of the most important features of spoken English such as intonation, reductions, and the English sound system. Students can follow modified academic lectures on course content and are able to demonstrate understanding of these lectures through oral and written questions as well as class discussions about lecture content. They can follow main points, take notes on these main points, identify important details and examples as well as ask relevant questions about the lecture. They can disregard irrelevant information. Interlocutors generally understand these students, although problems of intelligibility may at times interfere with comprehension. Students should, however, be able to attempt self-correction of pronunciation errors upon prompting by interlocutors. Students can describe their speaking and listening abilities and difficulties in English. They have developed some awareness of their main obstacles to intelligibility and begun to exhibit self correction techniques upon prompting. Students can identify independent techniques to improve listening and speaking ability and have kept a record of their activity and progress in this area. Students make conscious use of other listening strategies as well, such as predicting, inferencing, making guesses about tone, place, and relationship of speakers. To complement the readings in the text book, during every period, students may watch films (or other media) directly related to the contents studied in class. Each film (or media) reinforces the topics studied in class and contributes to further discussions. METHODOLOGY English 4 is a workshop-like course, which embraces the programs philosophy of learner autonomy. It provides students with tools and opportunities for their development as language learners. However, it is ultimately the learners who take the necessary steps to improve their command of English. In order to pass the course students will be required to reach the course objectives. Since the primary opportunity to practice English is in the classroom and since assignments are designed to give learners the necessary tools to achieve these goals, regular attendance to classes is expected. R English 4 workshop is based on reflective learning and error identification that will require students to be autonomous learners aware of their own weaknesses and strengths. The course provides resources that will help students to analyze and improve their speaking skills. The teacher will be a facilitator and moderator who will guide students to achieve the goals of the course. Both individual (on line lab voice boards) and group work (class discussions) are important to achieve the goals of the course. DESCRIPTION EVALUATION AND CLASS ATTENDANCE Evaluation is carried out in three stages; each stage consists of a formally evaluated achievement test and formally or informally evaluated class work. Students work is marked on a scale of 5.0 (5.0 being the maximum passing grade and 3.0 being the lowest passing grade); however, the final grade is expressed in terms of PASS (A) or FAIL (R). Exams have the following values Stage one - weeks 1-5 = 30% (exam = 20% - class work = 10%) Stage two weeks 6-10 = 35% (exam = 25% - class work = 10%) Stage three weeks 11-13 = 35% (exam = 25% - class work = 10%) Notes: Please keep in mind that THERE IS NO AUTOMATIC LOS ANDES UNIVERSITY POLICY FOR APPROXIMATING COURSE GRADES. Remember, the lowest passing grade is 3.0 (any grade lower than 3.0 WILL NOT BE a passing grade). Remember, the lowest passing grade is 3.0

(any grade lower than 3.0 WILL NOT BE a passing grade). In the event that a student wishes to dispute a grade, please refer to the procedure explained in articles 62 and 63 of the student handbook. Class Attendance Artculo 42: La Universidad considera que la inasistencia a clase impide un rendimiento acadmico adecuado. Es facultativo de cada profesor controlar la asistencia de sus alumnos y determinar las consecuencias de la inasistencia, si esta es superior al 20%. Artculo 43: Los parmetros para controlar la asistencia les sern informados a los estudiantes el primer da de clases, junto con el programa del curso, con el fin de que se comprometan a respetarlos desde ese momento.

English 4 will follow this regulation: students who miss more than 20% of the classes will fail the course and will be granted the grade REPROBADO (R). Teachers will inform the procedure to check attendance on the first day of class. CONTENT Weeks 1 to 5 Unit 1: We are Language Learners: Styles and Strategies Speaking: Reading: Writing: Listening: Pronunciation: Strategies: Reflecting on personal learning styles and strategies Focus on the Learner: Learning Styles and Strategies Types of sentences (simple, complex and compound sentences) Lecture: Three Learning Experiences The English sound system: vowels and consonants Using the dictionary for pronunciation Identifying learning styles and strategies Self- evaluating the pronunciation of the English vowel and consonant sounds

First Progress Examination: Week 5 Friday (Exceptions: Sections 4, 12, 22 and 26 on Saturday; Sections 16 and 21 on Monday-week 6) Weeks 6 to 10 Unit Two: Brain-based Research and Implications for Language Learners Speaking: Relating information about memory and the brain and the experience of learning English Reading : Memory Writing: Topic sentences and supporting statements Characteristics of an English style paragraph Listening: Lecture: Processing Aural Input Lecture: The Mind and Language Lecture: Brain Works Lecture: Remembering and Forgetting Pronunciation: Some patterns of pronunciation determined by spelling Some reductions of vowel and consonant sounds Strategies: Being aware of factors interfering in aural input processing Being aware of the role of memory and brain work in language learning Self-evaluating the pronunciation of vowel sounds, consonant sounds, and word endings Self-evaluating the relevance and delivery of speech by following guidelines provided in class Second Progress Examination: Week 10 Friday (Exceptions: Sections 4, 12, 22 and 26 on Saturday) Weeks 11 to 13

Unit Three: Understanding Natural Spoken English Speaking: Talking about kinesics and its role in improving communicative abilities in English Reading: Kinesics: The Silent Language Writing: English style paragraphs Listening: Lecture: Kinesics and Cross-cultural Understanding Pronunciation: Word stress Strategies: Predicting word stress based on spelling Being aware of non verbal factors interferring in oral communication Self-evaluating the pronunciation of vowel sounds, consonant sounds, word endings, and stress. Self-evaluating the relevance and delivery of speech according to task. Final Achievement examination: Week 13 Friday (Exceptions: Sections 4, 12, 22 and 26 on Saturday) REFERENCE MATERIAL Course Packet English 4 Student Book (available in both Fotocopiadora Eduardo and Fotocopiadora Print & Copy) Textbook : Well Said by Linda Grant Third Edition CDs are also available (in University bookstore) Suggested monolingual dictionary: The Newbury House Dictionary of American English. Heinle & HeinleERIAL REFERENCE MATERIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, H. Douglas. Strategies for Success: A Practical Guide to Learning English. White Plains: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 2002. pp 19. Chaika, Elaine. (1994) Langauge a Social Mirror. Kinesics: the silent language. Boston Massachusetts: Heinle and Heinle. (4:123-146) Deena R. Levin and Mara B. Adelman. Beyond Language: Intercultural Communication for English as a Second Language) Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1982), p.23 In Grant, Linda (2000). Well Said: Pronunciation and clear communication. . Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle and Heinle. 1:1-3 Ellis, Gail, and B. Sinclair. (1993) Learning to Learn English: A course in Learner Training. Preparation for language learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (1: 16 -17) Nunan, David. 1991 Language Teaching Methodology: textbook for teachers. Focus on the Learner. New York: Prentice Hall. (9: 167-177) Oshima, Alice and Hogue, Ann. Introduction to Academic Writing. White Plains, N.Y. Addison Wesley Longman. 1997 pp15-21, 38-43. Oxford, Rebecca L. and R. C. Scarcella. Passages. Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle and Heinle Oxford, Rebecca L. and R. C. Scarcella. Sound Ideas. Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle and Heinle Remembering and Forgetting. http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/09/e09expand.html Robertson, Heather. 1991. Bridge to College Success. Learning and Memory. Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle and Heinle. Brain Works. 1999. Universidad de los Andes. Kinesics and Cross-cultural Understanding. 2004. Universidad de los Andes.

Learning Styles Three Language Learning Experiences. Feb. 2006. Universidad de los Andes Processing Aural Input. 1999. Universidad de los Andes The Mind and Language. 1999. Universidad de los Andes