Course Description
This yearlong course uses learning modules to guide students in their transition from being high school students to being successful university students. The fall semester focuses on the student, his role in his classes and developing critical Academic English skills. Throughout the semester, students master the critical Academic English skills of email writing and etiquette, Romanization (Pinyin), note taking, and answering short essay questions. They also begin to learn how to avoid plagiarism by studying basic skills like summarizing, paraphrasing and making citations. In the spring semester students continue to develop these skills as well as having advanced learner training in Academic English skills, internet skills (including evaluating sources used in presentations and reports) and critical thinking.
In the fall semester, the first module teaches students to use their course syllabi to prepare for a successful semester by understanding the design and requirements of their courses taught in English. The second module focuses on students exploring the changes they need to make in their classroom role, specifically moving from passive learners to more dynamic and engaged ones. This is followed by the third module which explores how students can learn not only subject area knowledge from their professors, but also the professional language and idea presentation techniques used in that area to support their ideas. They also role play and discuss common scenarios for communicating with their professors and teaching assistants (making appointments, asking for assistance and so on). Module four explores how students can learn from their peers as well as aspects of communicating with them, especially in group work-related matters. In the fifth module, students learn about the learning tools available to them, including on-line software (collaboration software), reference tools (dictionaries, thesauri, and so on) and giving/using constructive criticism/feedback. The sixth and final