North Seattle College, Basic and Transitional Studies Division

Course Syllabus

Fall Quarter 2015

General Course Information:

Course: ESL 013.01/021.01

Time: 12-1:50 PM, Monday –Friday
Classroom: IB 3428 / Instructor: Amal Al Faiz
Office telephone: (206) 934-4526
Email:
Office: IB 2412A
Office hours: 10-10:50 AM or by appointment.

*In case of bad weather (snow), call my office phone number between 6-7 AM. If the school is closed or I cannot come, I will tell you in my voice mail.

Textbooks:You can buy the books in the bookstore.

-Stand Out, Book 1 (second Edition) by Rob Jenkins and Staci Lyn Sabbagh

-Stand Out-Grammar Challenge, Book 1 (Second Edition)

-The Oxford Picture Dictionary (Second Edition) by Norma Shapiro and Jayne Adelson-Goldstein

*You can also buy textbooks from students in room ______or borrow books from the library for the quarter if you are low income (see green paper)

Materials: Please bring these to class every day:

1. Pencil or pen2. Paper for writing

3. Notebook (3-ring binder) to keep all your paper.4. Textbooks

5. Dictionary of your language and English (If you want)

What you will study:

This class will help you:

  1. Listen and understand English3. Read English

2. Speak English4. Write English

 This way you can live more comfortably in the United States as a community member, family member, worker, and student.

The topics you will learn vocabulary for and practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing about are: [One unit = about 2 weeks of class]

  1. Personal information (Unit 1)11. Sharing recipes(Unit 3)
  2. Describing people (Unit 1)12. Ordering in restaurants (Unit 3)
  3. Talking about families (Unit 1)13.Housing (Unit 4)
  4. Likes and dislikes (Unit 1)14.Finding a place to rent (Unit 4)
  5. Places to shop (Unit 2)15. Furniture (Unit 4)
  6. Shopping and money (Unit 2)16. Talking about location(Unit 4)
  7. Asking and giving prices (Unit 2)17. Jobs (Unit 7)
  8. Clothes (Unit 2)18. Job history (Unit 7)
  9. Food and cooking (Unit 3)19. Job skills (Unit 7)

10. Talking about quantities and food (Unit 3)20. Job evaluations (Unit 7)

The grammar you will study is:

1. verbs: there is / there are, simple present, present continuous, imperative, and simple past.

2. nouns: singular/ plural, count / noncount, articles, expressions of quantity, abbreviations in ads

3. pronouns (I, you, …)and possessives (my, Amal’s, …)

4. adjectives(big, small, …)

5. adverbs(quickly, slowly,…)

6. modals (can, must,…)7.prepositions ( in, on, at, …)

You need to:

  1. Come to class every day.
  2. Be on time.
  3. Do your homework every day at home, not in class. You can give me the homework 1 day late only, not more. But if you give me the homework one day late, I will take off 2 points from your homework score, so do your homework on time!
  1. Study every day in class and at home.

If you are absent, you are responsible to catch up. You need to:

a. Call or email the teacher and explain why you are absent.

b. Call or email a classmate to ask about the lesson and the homework.

Classmate: ______phone number/email: ______

Classmate: ______phone number/email: ______

c. Come to school to pick up the class papers you missed. After class, I will put the papers in the box next tomy office with your name on them.

d. Study the lesson and do the homework before the next class.

  1. Listen to the teacher and other students.
  2. Speak only English in class.
  3. Ask questions when you need help.
  4. Takeall the Unit tests. Don’t be absent the day of the Unit tests.

To check your English:

I will grade (check and give points):

  1. Homework ( 10 points each)
  2. Small quizzes (10 points each)
  3. Classroom exercises (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) (10 points each)
  4. Unit Tests (50 points each)

Grading chart:

Percentage / Number grade / Evaluation / Passing/failing
For 013 students / Passing/failing
For 021 students
100-90% / 4 / excellent / Pass to 022 / Pass to 022
89-80% / 3 / good / Pass to 022 / Pass to 022
79-75% / 3 / fair to borderline / pass to 022, but need to review / pass to 022, but need to review
74-60% / 2 / need to review / Pass to 021. / Not passing, repeat 021
0-59% / 1 / Very weak / Not passing. Repeat 013. Need to work harder and review / Not passing. Repeat 021. Need to work hard and review.

To register for next quarter, you must also take the CASAS Test (Government Test) this quarter.

Important Rules

  • Children cannot come with you to class.
  • Turn off your phone when you are in class.

Important Dates for the Quarter

  • First day of class: September 28, 2015Last day of class: December 11, 2015
  • Holidays: November 11, 2015, November 26 and 27, 2015

Repeat Policy for ESL Students

WashingtonState guidelines say students cannot take the same classmore than three times.

What does this mean? Here is an example situation:

Sara is an ESL student:

Year 1:

  1. Sara takes ESL 021 in Fall quarter and does not pass
  2. She takes ESL 021 again in Winter quarter.
  3. Sara does not pass ESL 021 at the end of Winter quarter, so Sara gets a letter from the ESL department. The letter tells Sara that she must work hard to pass her class. She must do her homework, study, and not miss class.
  4. Sara takes the class one more time in Spring quarter. Sara must pass the class in Spring quarter. She must study hard, improve her English, and not miss class.
  5. Sara is still not ready for ESL 022 at the end of Spring quarter, so she has a problem because she cannot take ESL 021 again, but she cannot go to ESL 022.

Year 2:

  1. In Fall quarter of the next year, Sara can continue to study at NorthSeattleCommunity College in supplemental classes like Speaking and Listening, Spelling , and/or Computer Literacy, but she cannot take the main 2-hour class, ESL 021 again. Sara needs to work on her English skills in supplemental classes and at home.
  2. After two quarters (in Spring quarter of the next year), Sara can retake the placement test to see if she is ready for ESL 022. If the placement test shows level ESL 022, Sara can start studying again in the main 2-hour class: ESL 022.

Some special cases are possible:

Example: If a student takes one class for 3 quarters and still doesn’t pass, the student can get a chance for one more quarteronly if the student worked very hard for 3 quarters to pass. The student came to class every day, participated in class, did all the homework, and took all the tests.

To the students: This means you must work hard to pass your class.

You must:

1. Attend class every day. 8. Don’t take a long vacation during the quarter

2. Participate in class. 9. Don’t make appointments during class time

3. Do all your homework. (example: doctor’s appointments etc.)

4. Review the lessons at home every day. 10. If you miss a class, ask classmates to copy their

5. Study for all the tests and quizzes. notes from class. Pick up the handouts from the box

6. Take all the tests and quizzes. next to the teacher’s office or ask the teacher for the

7. Go toPage One Writing and Language Center handouts. Study this information at home to catch up.

for extra practice and help.