For this course, students' choose the topic for discussion. You are welcome to present topics you find interesting or topics you want to explore.
Thank you.
*Listen to Talk of the Nation: An inteview with a judge on Death Penalty.
*Print Vocabulary List
*Links: American Bar Association: The Death Penalty
Tobacco Use - tobacco use and advertising are two controversial subjects. Opponents and supporters of tobacco regulation and restriction have put a lot of information on the Internet.
* Tobacco smoking on Wikipedia
Cell Phones & Driving - plans to restrict the use of hand held cell phones while driving should be banned.
Bottled Water: Is is clean?
Bottle Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?
Warning! That Glass of Drinking Water is Recycled
Japanese flock to China for organ transplants - Asia Times Online. Click open the link and print the story prior to meeting online.
* Bek-Transplant.com - a commercial/advertisement for organ transplantation
Korean Soap Operas - win large audiences throughout Asia and beyond.
63-year old pregnancy - from CNN News
Under the knife in search of beauty - cosmetic plastic surgery is becoming more popular as it becomes more socially acceptable and affordable.
Through discussion, role playing, and presentations, this course help students become more confident and comfortable speaking idiomatic English in a wide range of situations.
OBJECTIVES
This course will bring students to a level at which they are able to:
1. Initiate, sustain, and bring to closure a wide variety of communicative tasks, including those that require an increased ability to convey meaning with diverse language strategies due to complication or an unforeseen turn of events.
2. Give accounts of and talk casually about topics of current public and personal interest, using general vocabulary as well as vocabulary used by media discussions of current events.
3. Smooth over shortcomings in vocabulary of syntax by communicative strategies such as pause filters, stalling devices, and different rates of speech.
4. Narrate and describe with considerate detail, linking sentences together smoothly.
5. Understand interlocutors who are native English speakers, and be understood by them without difficulty.
6. Demonstrate emerging evidence of an ability to support opinions, explain detail, and hypothesize.
TEXTBOOKS & MATERIALS
1. Handouts
2. mp3 files recorder (for speech assignments)
3. Internet Access and Email account
REQUIREMENTS
1. Online Sessions: Each session lasts for 30 minutes on days scheduled and agreed upon.
2. Assignments: Listening and/or reading assignments may be required and should be completed prior to each session.
OTHER
Students must have either Yahoo Messenger or Skype accounts.
American English Idioms - a list of commonly used idioms.
Common Phrases and Expressions in English - a list of common English phrases from World English.
American Slang - a list of American Slang for ESL students. A great website that includes slang adjectives, verbs, nouns, greetings, and slang test.
The College Slang Page - a list of slang used in American colleges.
ESL Pronunciation Work Page - listen to native speakers and learn about word stress, phrasal verbs, emphasis, etc.
Repeat After Us - an online library and language lab. Listen to free audio clips providing excellent resource for students and literature lovers of all ages.
Last updated: May 2011