May 9th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will have your third discussion. Remember to sign in once you arrive to class, and discussion leaders remember to post your three words to the spreadsheet, thanks.
Below are the scores from the previous two weeks.

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Week 3 lesson

Dear students,
Today you will have your second round of discussions.
Below are your scores from last week:

Most writing was good, but remember that if you copy directly from the internet, you will not score any points.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Week 2

Dear students,
Today you will start your first of five discussions. After the fifth discussion, there will be a vocabulary online matching test and your mid-term presentations.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin
PS. Did you remember to sign in today?

Week 1

Dear students,
Today you will sign in. (You should sign in as soon as you arrive in class every week as your time of arrival will be recorded).

attendance record

Then, I would like to ask you to participate in a pre-course survey that I ask all my students.

pre-course survey

Then you will learn about your course and what is expected of you (see previous post).

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Welcome to Oral English II - 2019

Welcome to Oral English II. The success of this course depends entirely on you and your participation. Please be responsible and do your best!

Oral English II

Spring 2019

Instructor: Chris Elvin

Email: chriselvin@gmail.com

Blog: www.elvinoe2.blogspot.com

Course Description

Welcome to Oral English. This class is designed to accomplish the following:

1) Discuss stories in the news.

2) Keep a vocabulary notebook.

3) Research a topic, and give a group presentation of it.

Course Assessment and Grading Criteria

a)      20%   Serving as discussion leader

b)      40%   News summary writing

c)      20%   Vocabulary tests

d)      20%   Presentations

a) Serving as discussion leader (20)

You should introduce yourself to the others, address the others by name, make eye contact, and use body language to communicate.

Choose a news item from a newspaper, or an online source. Prepare your summary before class. Orally summarize it in class to your group (do not read from notes). Solicit opinions from others about it. Ask follow-up questions. Paraphrase others. Express an opinion in your summary if you wish to do so. The length of each discussion will be eleven or twelve minutes, ideally with no Japanese and little silence.

If you are not group leader, you may still engender a lively talkative group by agreeing, disagreeing, asking opinions, interrupting, clarifying, asking questions, and giving reasons. You are encouraged to do so.

An absent discussion leader is extremely costly to the success of the class, so you must attend both sessions per semester to earn 20 points. If you are present for your session you will earn 10 points. If you are absent for your session, you will be penalized 10 points.

Discussion leader vocabulary homework:

After you have served as group leader, it is your responsibility to upload three vocabulary items to the class vocabulary database via the online form (You will have to submit three times).

Vocabulary Upload Form

For each word, you should give a meaning (in English or Japanese), and use the word in a sentence, that helps learners to understand its meaning.

Discussion Leader Assesment:

After your discussion leader has finished, please provide feedback to her via the online form below:

Discussion Leader Feedback Form

Explaining

a) Described the main points of the article without reading: 1 point

b) Explained vocabulary when needed, using only English: 1 point 

c) Paraphrased partners’ comments accurately: 1 point

         

Questioning

a) Asked partners questions, used their names, and encouraged their participation: 1 point

b) Used follow-up questions and rephrased them as necessary: 1 point

c) Employed questioning to direct the discussion and to clarify points: 1 point

         

Non-verbally Communicating

a) Frequent, natural eye contact: 1 point

b) Appropriate, helpful gestures: 1 point

c) Good posture and sensitivity to the body language of other group members: 1 point

The points that you assign to your discussion leader will not affect that person's grade, nor yours, whatsoever. Honesty is the best feedback you can give.

b) News summary writing (40)

After the discussion has ended you should summarize one of the day’s discussion topics (who, what, where, when, why, how). Conclude with your opinion. Each summary writing exercise should be between 150 and 250 words. You will have until the end of the lesson to post your summary. Each of these summaries will be graded from zero (plagiarism) to four points (excellent).

You should use your own words – otherwise you may be charged with plagiarism. 

Examples of plagiarism are; copying a sentence, copying a sentence but changing a few words for synonyms, copying phrases, and using vocabulary that is beyond your understanding. Students who are accused of plagiarism will get a maximum grade of “C” for the semester.

Please use the online form below for submitting your summaries.

News Summary Writing Form

c) Vocabulary tests (20)

There will be two online vocabulary tests based on all of the words that you uploaded to the database as discussion group leaders. One will be mid-term, and the other at the end of the semester. 

d) Presentations (20)

There will be a mid-term presentation and a final presentation, both of which will need preparation before you speak. Research a topic. Then deliver your presentation. You will be assessed on fluency (not reading), grammar range and accuracy, vocabulary, pronunciation and content. You should speak for at least three minutes, and you should not read your speech nor bring a script.

Schedule

You will normally have five or six discussions per class led by the discussion group leaders, who will rotate from group to group. Your group members will be chosen at random by the teacher. After the discussions, there will be time for summary writing, vocabulary notebooks, or studying the words in the database.

Week 1: Orientation

Week 2: Group discussion 1

Week 3: Group discussion 2

Week 4: Group discussion 3

Week 5: Group discussion 4

Week 6: Group discussion 5 

Week 7: Online vocabulary test, mid-term presentations

Week 8: Mid-term presentations

Week 9: Group discussion 1

Week 10: Group discussion 2

Week 11: Group discussion 3

Week 12: Group discussion 4

Week 13: Group discussion 5

Week 14: Online vocabulary test, Final presentations

Week 15 Final presentations

Anything else?

Why not visit the chat room? It is a great way to practice English.

http://web.iec.aoyama.ac.jp/chat/index.html

Aoyama Gakuin University Attendance Policy

Your absences may affect your final grade. Please be present for all classes and do not be late. You should anticipate that trains don't always run on schedule during rush hour in the morning. As soon as you arrive in class (and no earlier), please sign in using the form below.

attendance record

Kind regards,

Chris Elvin

Vocabulary Test 4

Dear students,
Please click on the link below to take the test.

Vocabulary Test 4

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Summary Update

Dear students,
Here are your final scores as a group.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

December 20th lesson

Dear students,
On December 20th and January 10th, you will have your final pesentations. Each person should speak for a minimum of three minutes. The topic is university. You should research well, think critically, say something new and interesting, and show your academic integrity by not copying.
Five points will be for content and five for English. You must use your own words. If you read, I won’t be able to assess your English. Everyone should be ready to talk today even though we will not finish all speeches.

Today you will hand in your vocabulary notebooks (8 points), take a vocabulary online vocabulary online test (10 points), and start your presentations.

Also, please do the Aoyama University online class evaluation.

Finally,
Please do a survey for my private research about ability and intelligence.

Ability and intelligence


Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Summary Update

Vocabulary Quiz AWL 2B

Dear students,

When you have finished your summary writing, please try an academic vocabulary matching test.

AWL2B

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Plagiarism

Dear students,
If you copy paste from a website, even if you cite the source, this is considered as plagiarism.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Vocabulary quiz AWL 2A

Click on the link below.

AWL 2A quiz

Vocabulary quiz 1b

Dear students,
Please try this academic word quiz.

AWL1B

Kind regards,
Chris Elvib

Vocabulary Quiz1A

Dear students,
We have too much time today. Please try a vocabulary quiz just for fun.

Academic Word Test 1A

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Cite your sources!

Dear students,
If you read an article about your discussion topic and used it for writing your summary, you should cite the source (there is a new field in the form for you to do so). Some of your writing is very similar to others, so you may be using the article too much?
My rule is that a string of five words or more identical to the original is probably copied, and you shouldn't do so. You should paraphrase in your own words.
Students who scored zero below copy pasted the original!
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

November 1 lesson

Dear students,
Today you will have an online vocabulary matching test and then start your mid-term presentations. You should speak for a minimum of three minutes per person about a country. You will be assessed on content (5) and English (5). If you read, your English will not be assessable so you will score zero points.
For content, you should say something new, interesting, and relevant. You may present in pairs or groups of three if your country is the same.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Summary writing word count and scores

Dear students,
Here are a couple of graphs to show how much you are writing and the scores for each assignment (4 points is maximum).
If you copy a long string of words (five or more) from somewhere, it will be considered as plagiarism. Students who are discovered to have copied will get a maximum grade C for the semester.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Vocabulary Upload Form

Vocabulary Upload Form for discussion leaders

Summary Writing

Dear students,
Please use the form below for your summary writing.

Summary Writing

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Attendance Record

Attendance Record

Discussion Leader Feedback Form

Discussion Leader Feedback Form

September 27 lesson

Dear students,
The keaders for today will be Ayano, Monami, Nana, Nanako, and Nao.

Discussion Leader Feedback Form

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Welcome back to semester 2

Dear students,
Welcome back to the second semester. I hope you are ready to continue discussing in English. Here is a reminder of how you performed in the fist semester. (To pass the course, you need to average over 60 points for the two semesters).
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Vocabulary Test 2

Please click on the link below:

Vocabulary Test 2

July 12th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will have a vocabulary test and start your three-minute presentations. The order will be randomized so everyone should be ready.

Criteria:
Fluency (if you read, your fluency will score zero and your vocabulary and grammar will also be penalized).
Vocabulary
Grammar
Pronunciation
Content

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Discussion leaders

Dear students,
If you miss your turn to be discussion leader, your maximum score for the semester will be 60 points.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Summary writing deadline

Dear students,
The deadline for your summary writing honework is midnight on Sunday July 8th. You are reminded that the writing must be your own.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Academic Integrity

Dear students,
Please make an effort with your summary writing. If you are copying, you will fail the assignment.
For example,

[2] In this survey, it was also revealed that foreigners wanted to know the information on train delay, earthquake and accident information.
[3] More than 80 million Americans over age 6 are entirely inactive.

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Oral English Vocabulary Test 1

Dear students,
Please click on the link below. You have twenty minutes.

Oral English II Vocabulary Test 1

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Don’t copy paste!

Dear students,
Some students writing is so good that it is identical to a native English speaking journalist!
If you copied, don’t!
You should resubmit.
Any string of five words or more which is identical to the original will be considered plagiarism.
Students who copy once will get zero points for their summary writing.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin