English Conversation II

Course Information

College	Akashi College	Year	2020
Course Title	English Conversation II
Course Code	0077	Course Category	General / Compulsory
Class Format	Lecture	Credits	School Credit: 1
Department	Mechanical Engineering	Student Grade	4th
Term	Second Semester	Classes per Week	2
Textbook and/or Teaching Materials
Instructor	HERBERT John C.

Course Objectives

1) Can read aloud or speak considering the basic rhythms, intonations, and sound connections in phrases and sentences in order to convey one's meaning to a listener.
2) Learn the rules of English pronunciation and accents and can use them properly in order to speak clearly and convey one's meaning to a listener.
3) Memorize the vocabulary learned in junior high school. Learn new vocabulary in accordance with the curriculum guidelines for high school and technical English terms required for professional education, and can use them properly.
4) Learn grammar and sentence structure in accordance with the curriculum guidelines for high school in addition to the grammar and structure learned in junior high school, and can use them properly.
5) Can listen to and catch the necessary information from the content spoken in a clear pronunciation at a speed of about 100 words a minute, regarding everyday life and familiar topics.
6) Can speak one's opinions and impressions in English using basic terms, regarding everyday life and familiar topics. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
7) Can read aloud sentences including descriptions and stories at a speed of about 100 words a minute in order to convey one's meaning to a listener.
8) Understand mistakes that Japanese students often make and can avoid them.

Rubric

	Ideal Level	Standard Level	Unacceptable Level
Achievement 1	Clear pronunciation and natural intonation	Understandable pronunciation and recognizable intonation	Poor pronunciation using only Japanese katakana to try to speak English and flat intonation
Achievement 2	Natural accent, stress, and rhythm	Understandable accent, stress, and rhythm	Incomprehensible accent, stress, rhythm
Achievement 3	Mastery of all textbook vocabulary	Mastery of most of the textbook vocabulary which the teacher focused on in class lectures	Mastery of only a few of the textbook vocabulary which the teacher focused on in class lectures
	Mastery of all the grammar from the textbook and from the teacher's lectures	Mastery of most of the grammar from the textbook and from the teacher's lectures	Mastery of only some of the grammar from the textbook and from the teacher's lectures
	Able to maintain a basic conversation fluently	Able to maintain a basic conversation somewhat fluently	Not able to maintain a basic conversation
	Able to express opinions in English clearly	Able to express opinions in English somewhat clearly	Not able to express opinions in English
	Able to explain ideas fluently in English	Able to explain ideas somewhat fluently in English	Not able to explain ideas in English
	Able to recognize and correct more than 80% of the common English errors in a 250-word passage	Able to recognize and correct 60% to 80% of the common English errors in a 250-word passage	Not able to recognize or correct 60% of the common English errors in a 250-word passage

Assigned Department Objectives

学習・教育到達度目標 (A) （共生に配慮できる豊かな人間性）

学習・教育到達度目標 (B) （国際性と指導力）

学習・教育到達度目標 (E) （コミュニケーション能力）

Teaching Method

Outline:

This course focuses on English conversation strategies and confidence building. Students will make the English they have learned from previous classes come alive in its spoken form.

Style:

Each lesson will involve plenty of conversation practice with a different conversation strategy each week. Students will study, do homework, and be tested on correcting common errors that Japanese students of English make. Written tests will be given as mid-term and final exams and speaking tasks will be assessed weekly.

Notice:

Active participation in English is essential for completing this course successfully. Students who do not stay focused and those who are more than 10 minutes late for class may be counted absent.
Students who miss 1/4 or more of classes will not be eligible for a passing grade.

Course Plan

			Theme	Goals
2nd Semester
	3rd Quarter
		1st	Unit 1: Using Rejoinders (Short, natural, responses in English conversation) and Unit 2: Making Following Questions Conversation practice. Finding and correcting common errors in casual English letters.	Develop the natural use of English rejoinders to keep a conversation going. Practice creating good follow up questions to keep a conversation going. Reduce the occurrences of common English errors made by Japanese students.
		2nd	Unit 3: Confirmation Questions and Unit 4: Clarifications with Question Words Last Conversation practice. Finding and correcting common errors in casual English letters.	Practice asking for confirmation to avoid misunderstanding. Practice asking for clarification of specific information. Reduce the occurrences of common English errors made by Japanese students.
		3rd	Unit 5: Keeping or Killing the Conversation and Unit 6: Expressing Probability Conversation practice. Finding and correcting common errors in casual English letters.	Practice using expressions to continue a conversation when desired and expressions to end a conversation when continuing is not desired. Learn to express how the certainty of an answer. Reduce the occurrences of common English errors made by Japanese students.
		4th	Unit 7: Interrupting Someone and Unit 8: Echoing Instructions Finding and correcting common errors in casual English letters.	Practice joining conversations by interrupting someone politely. Practice confirming understanding by repeating back what was said. Reduce the occurrences of common English errors made by Japanese students.
		5th	Unit 9: Polite Requests, Responses, and Excuses and Unit 10: Getting a Response Conversation practice. Finding and correcting common errors in casual English letters.	Practice making casual and polite requests and responding both positively and negatively to requests. Practice encouraging others to join the conversation. Reduce the occurrences of common English errors made by Japanese students.
		6th	Unit 11: Soliciting Details and Unit 12: Responding with Details Conversation practice. Finding and correcting common errors in casual English letters.	Practice getting more detailed information from a conversation partner. Practice giving more detailed information to a conversation partner. Reduce the occurrences of common English errors made by Japanese students.
		7th	Speaking Tests	Use the conversation strategies from the book to create a confidently spoken English conversation. Prepare for the next exam on common errors.
		8th	Mid-term Exam on common errors that Japanese students of English make.	Master the recognition and correction of common English errors.
	4th Quarter
		9th	Unit 13: Making Comparisons and Unit 14: Finding the Right Word Conversation practice.	Practice comparing things and ideas in English. Practice strategies to help you find the right word to say.
		10th	Unit 15: Exploring a Word and Unit 16: Correcting Someone Conversation practice.	Practice strategies to help you understand and use vocabulary in a wider range of situations. Practice correcting someone politely when they give false information.
		11th	Unit 17: Eliciting Confirmation and Unit 18: Starting and Stopping a Conversation Conversation practice.	Practice making sure that you are understood. Practice starting and finishing an English conversation smoothly.
		12th	Unit 19: Beginning and Ending a Phone Call and Unit 20: Expressing Opinions Conversation practice.	Practice starting and finishing a telephone call smoothly in English. Practice expressing opinions politely and with confidence.
		13th	Unit 21: Making a Group Decision and Units 22: Discussion Connectors Conversation practice.	Practice techniques for participating in group discussions and coming to a consensus as a group. Practice including everyone in a group discussion and smoothly connecting everyone's contribution to the discussion.
		14th	Units 23 and 24: Summarizing and Conducting a Formal Meeting Conversation practice.	Practice summarizing what has been said and following the rules of participating in formal meetings.
		15th	Speaking Tests	Use the conversation strategies from the book to create a confidently spoken English conversation.
		16th	End-term Exam (fourth written test) on ALL of the conversation strategies taught in the textbook.	Master the conversation strategies taught in the book.

Evaluation Method and Weight (%)

	Speaking Tests	Written Tests	Homework/Quizzes	Total
Subtotal	40	40	20	100
Basic English Communication	40	40	20	100