This compulsory course
consists of four essential
components: oral, aural,
visual, and manual. In other
words, the course attempts to
train your overall ability of
speaking, listening, reading,
and writing. This course,
with a rather unconventional
pedagogy, engages the
students to participate in
(inter)active learning.
Without a given textbook, the
students have to select texts
of their interest with
various subjects ranging from
culture to horticulture. The
subjects will be given at the
beginning of the semester.
The students will be placed
in several groups that are
obliged to introduce their
own chosen text to other peer
students. Remember that this
is NOT a high school English
class where you used to cram
grammar, memorize proverbs,
or rely solely on lectures.
If you are not accustomed to
critical thinking and
writing, do not take this
course. If you do not have
enough self-discipline, you
are also discouraged from
taking the course. For the
one-hour listening, the focus
is to train the students to
understand spoken English and
to improve their
pronunciation. As most of the
students are more familiar
with North American accents
(American and Canadian), the
course, on the one hand, aims
to help the students to
review and fine-tune their
accent, and on the other
hand, allows them to identify
individual speech
characteristics and create a
detailed profile of problem
areas. The one-hour exposure
is thus to assist the
students to learn and
practice correct speech
patterns (articulation,
rhythm, and intonation) on
individual tapes or sound
files and to learn how to
self-monitor and self-correct
for problem areas. The
overall aim of this course,
ideally speaking, is to
explore your creativity,
rekindle your passion,
sharpen your critical
thinking, and build up your
confidence. As the course is
collaborative in nature, the
syllabus is tentative and
subjected to change. Once the
texts have been chosen and
approved, they will be
compiled and circulated.