SYLLABUS

American University of Central Asia

New Generation Academy

English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

Level 3

Fall 2015

Course code: Prep 032/Prep 023, ID: 2838/2834

Schedule: Tuesday 9:00-11:35 and Wednesday 13:10-15:45

Instructor:Blaskovich, Sarah

E-mail:

  1. Introduction

English for Academic Purposes (EAP): Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking is designed to prepare you for academic studies in the English language. During this course, you will encounter a variety of texts, including graphics, charts, information text, narrative text, persuasive text, descriptive texts, conversations, and lectures. Working individually and in groups, students will apply new and developing skills to think critically about and present on relevant and global issues.

II.Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  1. Distinguish between main idea and details.
  2. Make inferences from a reading or a listening text.
  3. Organize written and spoken responses, classifying information, using topic sentences, integrating examples, synthesizing ideas, and including transition words to show connections between ideas.
  4. Understand and apply the differences between informative, narrative, descriptive, and persuasive texts.
  5. Compare and contrast information in charts and written or spoken texts, using correct comparative forms of adjectives and nouns.
  6. Differentiate between fact and opinion, and be to able to support opinions with reasons.
  7. Accurately distinguish between when to use simple and progressive verb tenses.
  8. Correctly use modal verbs to tell about ability.
  9. Use vocabulary building strategies, such as context clues, word forms, and synonyms.
  10. Demonstrate increased fluency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking through the application of the above skills.

III.Course Requirements

A. Attendance

You must come to all classes for this course. You should tell the instructor in advance if you have to miss a class. If you are absent for more than thirty percent of classes without telling the instructor before the classes that you miss, you will fail the course.

B. Classroom Etiquette

No food or drink, except water, are permitted in class. In order to show respect for the time and concentration of your classmates and your instructor, please turn off your mobile phone or set it to silent. Respect university property by treating it with care and not damaging it in any way.

C. Class Participation

You are expected to take an active part in all classroom activities, including asking questions in English, voluntarily answering questions, expressing your opinion, and taking part in group activities. All class discussion should be in the English language. Being late to class is unacceptable, and continued tardiness will result in a decreased participation grade. Your participation grade will be calculated according to the following rubric.

18-20% / 13-17% / 10-12% / 0-9%
Engagement / Student proactively contributes to class by offering ideas and/or asks questions more than once per class and/or works consistently on group project the entire time. / Student often contributes to class by offering ideas and/or asks questions once per class and/or works on group project for most of the allotted time. / Student sometimes contributes to class by offering ideas and asking questions and/or works on group project only some of the allotted time. / Student rarely contributes to class by offering ideas and asking questions and/or has trouble staying on task during group project time.
Listening / Student listens when others talk, both in groups and in class. Student incorporates or builds off of the ideas of others. / Student listens when others talk, both in groups and in class. / Student does not listen when others talk, either in groups or in class. / Student often interrupts when others speak instead of listening to their ideas.
Behaviour / Student never distracts classmates with phone, tardiness, or other disrespectful behaviours. / Student rarely displays disruptive behavior during class. / Student occasionally displays disruptive behavior during class. / Student often displays disruptive behavior during class.
Preparation / Student is almost always prepared for class with assignments and required class materials. / Student is usually prepared for class with assignments and required class materials. / Student is sometimes prepared for class with assignments and required class materials. / Student is rarely prepared for class with assignments and required class materials.

D. Homework and Quizzes

Homework is given to help you practice new or reviewed skills and is used to assess your understanding of course content. It should be completed properly and on time. If you do not understand a homework assignment, or if you are absent and miss it, it is your responsibility to ask the instructor or a classmate for help.The instructor will inform students when assigning the homework whether or not it will be included in the final course grade or is simply for extra practice. There will be several small quizzes throughout each unit that will be counted toward your final grade. Sometimes, the instructor may choose to give a "pop quiz" without warning, and this can also count toward your final grade.

E. Projects

As another means of assessment, you will complete one project during units 1-4. Some of these projects will be individual and some of them will be with a group. They will combine the skills of reading/writing and listening/speaking. The instructor will give instructions and grading information for each project when it is assigned.

F. Unit Tests

You will have five unit tests during the course. These tests will usually combine reading/writing and speaking/listening on one day. Unit tests will be about the unit in the textbook, but you may also be tested on any extra material that has been covered in that unit.

G. Final Exam

The final exam will be scheduled during exam week, after week 15 of the course. It will be similar in style to unit exams, but it will cover material from throughout the semester.

IV.Lesson Schedule

Weeks 1-3 / Course Introduction
Unit 1: Advertising
- Unit 1 Project
- Unit 1 Test
Weeks 4-6 / Unit 2: Fraud
- Unit 2 Project
- Unit 2 Test
Weeks 7-9 / Unit 3: Extreme Sports
- Unit 3 Project
- Unit 3 Test
Weeks 10-12 / Unit 4: Gender Issues
- Unit 4 Project
- Unit 4 Test
Weeks 13-15 / Unit 5: Tourism
- Unit 5 Test
Exam Period
* date to be announced / Final Exam

Note: Schedule is subject to change at the instructor's discretion.

  1. Course Grading

Type of activity / Percent of Total Grade
1. / Class Participation / 20%
2. / Homework and Quizzes / 15%
3. / Projects (4 x 5%) / 20%
4. / Unit Tests (5 x 5%) / 25%
5. / Final exam / 20%
  1. New Generation Academy Grading Scale:

A+ / 97-100% / C+ / 74-76%
A / 94-96% / C / 68-73%
A- / 90-93% / C- / 64-67%
B+ / 86-89% / D+ / 60-63%
B / 80-85% / D / 54-59%
B- / 77-79% / D- / 50-53%
F / < 50%
  1. Academic Honesty

Course participants are expected to maintain academic honesty in their course work. You should avoid plagiarism andnever copy an assignment from a classmate or online source. You must reference all literature and resources that you use in your class assignments, tests, and projects.

  1. Required Textbooks:
  1. NorthStar 3: Reading and Writing
  2. NorthStar 3: Listening and Speaking