May 31st lesson

Dear students,
Today you will study about Shakespeare. The following week, June 7th will be your mid-term test, which is worth 25 points.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

May 10th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will finish the lecture about mirror images, starting from page 7. If there is time, you may do your listening portfolio, so please be prepared to do so.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

April 26th lesson

Dear students,
Last week you watched a lecture about the origins of camels. Today you will start the textbook chapter that was originally scheduled for last week about culture.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin
P.S. If you need extra copies of the lecture listening print, you may download it from here:
http://www.eflclub.com/aogaku/as/in-class.pdf

April 19th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will read your summary of the TED talks lecture about population control that you started in class last week. For homework, you should start your portfolio, too.

Download portfolio template here:
http://www.eflclub.com/aogaku/as/portfolio.pdf

Today you will start Unit 1 of the Academic Skills textbook, which you can download here:
http://www.eflclub.com/aogaku/as/Hall's_Classification_of_Cultures.pdf

If you want to read any other part of the textbook, you may do so here:
http://www.cl.aoyama.ac.jp/~dias/pdfs/Academic%20Skills%202012.pdf

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Course Outline Spring 2016

Academic Skills

Spring 2016

Instructor:               Chris Elvin

Email:                    chriselvin@gmail.com

Blog:                     http://ascelvin.blogspot.jp

Course Description

Welcome to Academic Skills. The class goals are;

i)              To participate in seminars in their junior and senior years.

ii)             To have further practice in the four English skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

iii)           To learn how to make good notes.

iv)           To classify certain types of questions such as cause/ effect, comparison/contrast, definition and illustration.

v)             To give opinions and evaluate other opinions.

vi)           To study literature, linguistics and communication.

Course Assessment and Grading Criteria

a)        10%     lecture comprehension, notes and summary class exercise

b)        40%     extensive listening portfolio

c)        25%     mid-term lecture listening quiz

d)        25%     final lecture listening quiz

Attendance: You are expected to attend ALL classes. Your first two absences will be penalized by one drop in grade. Your third and fourth absences will be penalized by subsequent drops in grade. If you are absent five times, you will fail the course.

Lecture comprehension:            You will listen to a Ted Talks lecture in class, take notes and write a summary.

Homework portfolio: You are required to keep a record of listening activities that you do outside class. These activities should take up 20 hours or more of your listening time. You may listen to the news, documentaries or songs. You may watch movies, or presentations on TED, for example. What you do is up to you, but you should make sure to keep a record of what you do. Your portfolio should include notes, summaries, vocabulary items, and personal comments, and you should hand this in to your teacher at least one week before the end of the semester.

Mid-term quiz: This challenging lecture listening quiz is worth 25 points.

Final quiz: Your final quiz will take place during the last lesson of the semester. It is also worth 25 points.

Good luck!