I.E.S. Lola Mora – English Department
English Language III – 2007
Prof. Carlos Lizarraga
MSEd English / MSEd TESOL
Course schedule:
Monday 7-8:20pm
Tuesday 10:40pm-12am
Thursday 7-8:20pm
Overview of class
This is an annual language class for prospective teachers of EFL/ESL whose main objective is to enable you to hone your linguistic skills in English up to an advanced level of proficiency. By the end of the year, you will have acquired a level of fluency and precision that will bring you closer to what is expected from a teaching professional.
By going through the process, you will be able to empathize with the experience of your future students acquiring a second or foreign language. Furthermore, you will need not only to reach a near native level this year but also to acquire a solid foundation of academic skills every educator needs to develop. For this reason, this class has a strong emphasis on reading, writing and global awareness.
Objectives
By the end of this year you should be able to:
- Understand extended speech when listening even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signaled explicitly.
- Understand television, radio programs and movies without too much effort.
- Understand long and complex factual and literary texts, appreciating distinctions of style.
- Understand specialized articles and longer technical instructions related to any field.
- Express yourself fluently and spontaneously in spoken interaction without much obvious searching for expressions.
- Use language flexibly and effectively for social and professional purposes.
- Formulate ideas and opinions with precision and relate your contribution skillfully to those of other speakers.
- Present clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects in spoken production integrating sub-themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.
- Express yourself in writing in clear, well-structured text, expressing points of view at some length.
- Write about complex subjects in a letter, an essay or a report, underlining what you consider to be the salient issues.
- Select a style in writing appropriate to the reader in mind.
Source: C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages,
which equals the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English examination.
General expectations
The basic tenets of this class are respect, honesty, work ethic, and curiosity. As a prospective teacher, you should develop the qualities that you will expect from your own students. A love of learning, hard work and empathy toward others are the characteristics that will ensure you will be a successful student and teacher.
As part of your training to become a teacher, you are expected to achieve a high level of proficiency. Therefore you should plan to devote a minimum of two hours in preparation for every class period you attend. This includes reading and writing on a daily basis.
You are expected to read every day. Being informed of the latest news in town, the province, the nation and the world is a good way to build a solid knowledge foundation. Also, articles from respectable publications and literary works available online are a valuable option. Your daily reading is a formal component of your grade for this class.
You are expected to write your morning pages every day. You should plan to devote between 25 and 30 min. to your creative journal writing. Extensive practice in expressing yourself freely is indispensable for you to become accustomed to articulating your ideas coherently and cohesively. This writing should be collected in a journal that is also required to pass this class.
If you are not already, you are expected to acquire some basic computer literacy. Part of the assignments will be available only online, and their completion will be online as well. Therefore you should expect to become adept at using the Internet, email, and computer-produced texts.
Attendance and involvement are expected in every class. You should get to class on time, have your material and assignments ready, use only English throughout the entire period, and strive to excel in every activity. In a word, you should be a good language learner.
The good language learner
- … is highly motivated to learn the language. He is willing to practice the new language. He actively seeks opportunities to use the new language and communicates with it whenever possible.
- … wants to communicate with native speakers of the language. She empathizes with them and is interested in their ideas, experiences, attitudes and customs.
- …is relaxed about his new language and can live with uncertainty. He is willing to abandon his first language reference system and to think in the second language.
- … tolerates difficulties and frustrations. She is not afraid to make mistakes and learns from errors.
- … is self-critical, adventuresome, independent, open, outgoing and friendly.
- …understands that language is arbitrary and makes inferences about the language he is learning. He constantly searches for meaning.
- … has an aptitude for learning languages. She can distinguish different sounds in a second language and understands the grammatical functions of different kinds of language elements.
- … relates new things to those previously learned and can convert passive knowledge into active knowledge.
- … is systematic about language learning and uses specific techniques of effective study. He can adapt to almost any learning condition.
- … accepts responsibility for her own learning and sets her own goals.
Source unknown
Evaluation
The evaluation consists of parciales, practicos and attendance. The grade for the class is determined by outstanding class performance or by your performance in the final exam.
There will be three parciales: two written term tests and the presentation of your portfolio. Practicos include essays, unit tests on textbook and literary works, journal, reading logs (article summaries and reactions), oral presentations, class involvement and participation, etc. If you cannot be present to any of these evaluation instances, it is your responsibility to let your instructor know ahead of time. If you do not or cannot, you will be excused only if you provide written proof of the reason for your absence. If you fail to do so, you will get a grade of 0 on that particular instance. In any case, alternative arrangements are at the discretion of your instructor.
There are two ways to pass this course. One is through class performance (promocion), and the other by taking a final exam.
Class performance
Students who fulfill the following requirements will be exempt from the final exam:
a) a passing mark in at least 75% of practicos – with no make-up opportunities;
b) a passing mark in all three parciales with an average of at least 70% - you will get a chance of taking a make-up exam for each written parcial;
c) 75% class attendance.
Final exam
At the end of the year, there will be two types of final exam, one for students in good standing (alumnos regulares), and another one for auditing students (alumnos irregulares)
Final exam for students in good standing (regulares)
Students who fulfill the requirements listed below will be considered ‘in good standing’ (regulares) and will take a final exam consisting of a written and an oral component. For the oral section, students are required to present their Portfolio.
Requirements:
a) a passing mark in at least 50% of practicos;
b) a passing mark in all parciales with an average below 7
c) 50% attendance
Final exam for auditing students (alumnos irregulares)
Students who do not fulfill these requirements will need a take a final that may include any content from practicos. This means that the exam is likely to be longer. Also, the instructor will require the presentation of a portfolio with all of the contents listed below, such as journal entries, reading log, essays, etc. The exam will be written and oral, and a passing mark in both is demanded.
Assignments
Portfolio
It should include the following artifacts:
- Your research on a current topic or a collection of articles on current issues. It will include:
- Summary of articles, or extracts from books, etc. – cite source and date of publication.
- Reaction paper.
- General longer essay or report on topic of choice based on a set of articles – due at end of the process
- Reflection piece on your learning with each topic
· Essays assigned in class. You should include
o Corrected drafts if applicable and/or correction of a graded essay
o Analysis of your own strengths and weaknesses on each corrected essay with improvement goals you set for your next writing assignment
· Personal reflection on any content from class, any current or philosophical issue.
Creative Journal/blog writing: daily writing for 20/30 min. Handwritten or online. Go to http://lml3.blogspot.com to get instructions.
Oral presentations on topics of your interest based on your research for your portfolio or specifically assigned by your instructor.
Required texts
May, Peter (2002). Towards Proficiency. Student’s book.
May, Peter & Mike Sayer (2002). Towards Proficiency. Workbook with Key. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451
Orwell, George. Animal Farm
A collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway
Recommended texts
Stanton, A. and S. Morris (1994). CAE Practice Tests Plus 1.
Nelson’s Advanced Practice.
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