Section C

 

 

 

 

title


123

Junior Composition and Conversation: Course Introduction (Sec. C Spring 2019)

Objectives: (Same with last semester; the italicized parts will be related to our new activities)

  • General

-- Generate ideas, develop critical thinking and become aware of multiple perspectives;
-- Organize and express your ideas effectively and correctly in writing and speaking to meet various communicative goals and audience needs;
-- Recognize your strengths and weaknesses in English (grammar and vocabulary learning, speaking, writing, communication and writing processes) and adopt learning strategies in continuous self-improvement;
-- Set project goals and design methods to carry them out as well as adjust them as you go along.

  • Composition

-- Write effectively to present, develop and support a central argument for various communication purposes.
-- Conduct research and sharpen writing skills, including usages of various rhetorical modes in research paper.
-- Cite and quote your sources of information by following either MLA or APA format.
-- Present and discuss one's education, experience, motivation for work/study as well as strengths and weaknesses in the documents for work or school application.

  • Conversation

-- Articulate ideas clearly and fluently, using the language (word choice, idiomatic expression, sentence structure, style, etc.) appropriately for various communication purposes.
-- Discuss ideas at a level beyond day-to-day needs, using a wide range of vocabulary, including some idiomatic and specialized vocabulary where appropriate.
-- Present and support claims in research paper presentations and discussions; develop discussion and presentation skills.
-- Present and discuss one's education, experience, motivation for work/study as well as strengths and weaknesses, in an interview.

Description
The writing modes for this semester are:

  • Application Portfolio (including resume, cover letter and SOP)

  • Research paper

We will still make use of the Internet and other multimedia materials as stimulations and
sources of knowledge. We will still use journals (one entry a week in principle; some with assigned topics) to write and communicate spontaneously.
Instead of doing language reviews before exams, we will do it more regularly with the activity:

  • Our Language Problems: where each group present problems in all the four aspects--
    ( 1) word choice, collocation & tense; (2) syntax & logic; (3) structure; (4) style, format and credibility--
    and how to fix them in 30 mins (including interacting with the other groups).
    * The presentation ppt’s should be presented to Kate on the Friday evening before the presentation.   

Hopefully, we will enjoy learning as autonomous English learners with social awareness!
How?


To make you more effective and creative autonomous learners with both academic skills and social awareness, this semester we will have three new activities:

1. RP: Developing your research project step by step
Last semester you have produced a proposal, which is step (1). This semester we will take the following three steps to reach its culmination in the oral presentation and final draft to meet Junior CC benchmarks. 
2. Formal presentations
a. Job/School Application Interview
b. Engaging academic presentation in class -- each person will have 10-15 minutes to give an organized presentation on a topic you have studied (preferably your research paper topic). At least three days before your presentation, you should post your topic at EngSite (unit 2), describe it and offer related materials so that your designated respondent can prepare for responding to your speech. Also, you should form some questions for us to think over; questions you will answer in your presentation.
c. Formal RP Presentation at Research Paper Convention

Requirements
1. Attendance: No lates or absences allowed!  Since this is a workshop, attendance is essential. If you have to be absent, do inform me 'before' class. Only excused absences can be made up for. The final grade will be lowered after the third absence, and six absences means failing the course. Three lates means one absence.
2. Participation: Bring an active and critical mind to class. Always be ready to speak out in class, or to me out of class, about our topics and the class itself. Please make time for group discussions outside of class.
3. Assignments: Papers and journals should all be typed, 1.5 space and following standard paper format. 
1). Papers: Each writing assignment for each mode should be typed, with 1.5 spacing, and also be 4 pages in length (about 1000 words).
There should be 2 drafts of each writing assignment (i.e. a first draft and a final draft), except for the Research Paper in the second semester. Students should submit 4 drafts of the Research Paper. Teachers can ask their students to turn in more than 2/3 drafts of a writing assignment if necessary.
2). 16-page journals -- In principle, one entry every other week, and two pages each entry (16 pages altogether), to be collected 3 times (3+3+2). Your journals will definitely include some free entries for the purpose of sharing and communication. Some will be used for you to record and reflect on your self-learning. More details to be explained in class.

Deadlines: Deadlines are negotiable before they are set in class. But once they are agreed on, you have to keep them. The grade of late papers will be lowered.

No plagiarism of any sort! --Don't copy ideas or passages from others' writing. If you want to revise your old paper, please let me know first.

Change of topics: Please inform me if you want to change your topic (job choice) after the first draft.   As a coach of a writing "team," I need to be involved in your writing process in order to help.  As for research paper, you are not allowed to change since the proposal which you revised 2 times last semester is a form of commitment.

4. English Proficiency: Please note that you will start to meet CC III benchmarks towards the end of the first semester, and confirm it before research paper convention (in the second semester).  Also, you need to meet department’s graduation benchmarks (http://english.fju.edu.tw/word/graduation_benchmark_101c.pdf)

  • Failure to pass the CC III benchmarks means failing the whole course, and failing to meet the department benchmarks, staying in the department longer than expected. To prepare you for these challenges, this semester I will always mark the errors which you should know how to fix yourselves and then avoid later with an ¡¹.
  • Please get help from me or others if you do not know how to fix them. In the meantime, we will also practice taking some language proficiency tests

Grading policy: (subject to change)

Conversation -- 

Conversation -- 
Journals (4 entries) 10%;
Class Attendance 10% & Participation 10%
Mid-term: interview practice 10%
Mock job interview 20%
RP convention  20%
Panel Discussion 10%
Group presentation 10%

Composition

mid-term 25%,
Application 25%,
Research Paper (draft 3 & 4) each 25%

 

CCIII Benchmarks (107)

1) The final exam of Fall semester will be used as the preliminary CCIII benchmark exam.
2) The research paper (final draft) will be the Benchmark paper   (criteria).
The oral benchmark is under revision.

    CCIII RP Requirements

    • The research paper should be typed with 1.5 spacing, and should be 8-10 pages in length (excluding the outline, the appendixes and the works cited). Students should submit 4 drafts of the Research Paper in the Spring semester. 
    • Word Length: 2800 words (about 8 1.5-spaced pages) - 3500 words (about 10 1.5-spaced pages) Maximum. The maximum word length is to be set at the teachers’ own discretion concerning low-level students.
    • The research paper should have a clear thesis statement/aim and/or research questions
    • The research paper should have a clear organization (including clear divisions and logical transitions between different sections). 
    • The research paper should have less than 1% grammatical and spelling errors (meaning that there should be fewer than 8 errors per 800-word page)
    • The research paper can be based either on first-hand data collection and analysis, or on textual analysis and observations. The minimum number of questionnaires or interviews for the data collection should be 30 questionnaires and 5 interviews (students can choose to do either)
    • The research paper should exhibit proper documentation following the MLA or APA formats.
    • The research paper should include a minimum of six secondary sources, with at least two academic sources.

     

¡@

¡@