Textbook:  Dixson, Essential Idioms in English

Purpose of Course:  This class is designed to help you improve your oral communication skills and provide opportunity to interact with classmates and native speakers in a variety of situations.

Goals:

1)  to improve pronunciation and intonation
       a)  to discern troublesome phonemes
       b)  to become familiar with Pronunciation Power and other software
 2)  to improve listening comprehension
       a)  to recognize common reductions and relaxed English
       b)  to distinguish speaker’s meaning by intonation
3)  to increase vocabulary and develop personal goals and lists
4)  to acquire conversational and interview techniques
      a)  appropriate language for getting acquainted
      b)  communication strategies
5)  to develop confidence in speaking with native speakers of English
6)  to learn basic principles of good oral presentations
7)  to master some basic functions of language
     a) expressing appreciation
     b) making an invitation
     c) accepting/refusing an invitation
     d) making/accepting apologies
8)to develop telephone skills; understanding and leaving voice mail messages
 

Grading Criteria
 

Daily homework assignments (written)	25%
Quizzes & exams(vocabulary, dictation, listening)      Midterm exam = 2 quizzes      Final exam = 2 quizzes	40%
Oral presentations	15%
Voice Mail (listening & speaking)	15%

Attendance & participation                                                           5%
 

Course requirements

1.  Attendance.  Coming to class is important;  ELI policy is that you are allowed six absences for OCS and more than 6 results in NG grade.  In this class, one unexcused absence is allowed, but each absence thereafter drops your attendance grade 5 points.  In other words, if have six absences, 10% of your final grade would be 75.

2.  Participation.  Come to class on time. If you are 20 - 45 minutes late, it will be counted as a half absence.  If you arrive at class more than 45 minutes late, it will be counted as a full absence.

3.  Quizzes.  There will be no make-ups for quizzes.   Some quizzes are announced, others may be unannounced.   Quizzes will account for 40% of your final grade; a midterm and final exam will each count as two quizzes  Exams may be made up if the instructor is notified at least 24 hours before the exam. Note that quizzes constitute 40% of your final grade.

4. Plagiarism.  Academic standards in this country prohibit the copying of published or printed material without acknowledgement.  If you turn in written work that is plagiarized from the web or other source you will receive an automatic NG for the class.  This is a serious matter and can result in expulsion from the university.  Material must be paraphrased or summarized in your own words or placed in quotation marks.  Copying work without crediting the source is a violation of GMU’s honor code.

5. Reminder.  Please use ENGLISH ONLY in class!  Cell phones and beepers should be turned off during class time.  Give your family the ELI office number (993 3660) to use while you are in class if there is an emergency. (See the ELI Handbook for additional information.)

6.  Conference.  One individual teacher-student conference will be held during the week of March 5th and suggestions and comments about the class are welcome at this time, but it is best to talk with the instructor or send an e-mail with questions or comments earlier in the semester.