The first semester of this Freshman English course focuses on improving students’ fluency and accuracy in language reception and production especially in the listening and speaking skill areas. Attentive listening is a critical skill that students must master in order to carry out meaningful conversations for the purpose of effective communication. Knowing that some students in their first semester at the university are not accustomed to speaking in English, the instructor will first build up students’ confidence in listening and speaking by having students converse in everyday contexts through a lot of in-class listening and speaking activities. Once students feel comfortable speaking up in such controlled class setting, they will then be guided to speak on more sophisticated topics. Readings of different genres will be chosen encouraging students to build vocabulary, and to think and speak on a wide range of topics. Throughout the course, students will be keeping journals for the purpose of developing the habit of writing in English, which will later help them to work on longer writing assignments from single paragraphs to 5-paragraph essays.

Much class time will be devoted to student-led activities allowing students to speak up in a controlled, relaxed atmosphere. A variety of activities, such as group interactions, pair work, and class discussions, are used to introduce new material and reinforce material taught. Outside of class, students will have the opportunity to work individually and in groups to develop the concept of team spirit.