Goals of Course: This course will concentrate on four main areas:

     (1) Literary appreciation and pronunciation correction through poetry memorization. Students are required to memorize and recite aloud in class one poem per week from a handout to be distributed, also available online. Each poem will be analyzed and discussed in depth regarding form and content. Students will receive intensive individual guidance and correction on their pronunciation when reciting the poems.

     Click here for the Poems for Memorization handout for Spring 2003.
     Find more poems online yourself.
     Click here for the About Poetry: English Prosody Plus Selected Literary Terms handout. (Refer to this for definitions of terms like iambic, doggerel, and synaesthesia).
     Follow these links for instructions on: How to Scan a Poem (1); link (2); link (3) (shorter); PowerPoint slide show on Poetic Meter
Also try: Questions to Ask of Any Poem
     See beautiful videos of ordinary people reading poetry and sharing their life stories here: http://www.favoritepoem.org/index.html
Click here to visit the Spring 2003 Freshman English discussion board.

     (2) Reading and translation practice. This semester we will mainly be reading excerpts from modern literature, though additional texts not in the textbook may be assigned. Each of the passages will be read in depth and translated orally into Chinese, and sometimes acted out in class. The reading will be followed by a class discussion and a short quiz, usually on vocabulary. Students are actively encouraged to relate what they read and learn to their own life, experiences, and feelings, and to listen attentively to what their classmates have to say.

     (3) Listening practice with audio and video tapes and online resources. Two hours of class a week will be held in the Audio-Visual Building, where audio and video tapes will be used as the basis for listening comprehension exercises. There will normally be one written listening assignment a week.

     (4) Various oral presentations, including an oral imitation of scenes from the movie Kramer vs. Kramer and a dramatization. 

      This is not a composition course, and we unfortunately have too large a class and not enough time for lots of conversation practice. You must create opportunities for yourself to get practice in these areas. Remember that you are responsible for your own education – the NTU faculty and staff can help you with only part of it!

      E-mail: Every student is expected to apply for and actively use an NTU e-mail account, available free from the Computer Center, if you don't already have one. Even if you do have an e-mail account, you are strongly encouraged to get an NTU account - it is in general more dependable and less prone to problems than 'Hotmail' type accounts. Each student is responsible for keeping their e-mail inbox under quota so that you are able to receive and send mail at all times. Please mail the instructor immediately if there is any change in your e-mail address.

     All students are encouraged to use the Freshman English discussion board to discuss in English any topic you like, but particularly matters relating to our class work.

     Grade calculation: Attendance (note that missing more than three classes or being late to class more than five times without good reason is sufficient grounds for receiving a failing grade for this course; if you must miss class or be late let Ms. Chung know by e-mail or otherwise beforehand), homework, quizzes (usually given after we finish reading and discussing each text), oral presentations, class participation, attitude, progress made, final exam. Extra credit will be given to students who do independent research on a class-related topic and share their findings with the class.

     Lab Fee: NT$500 per semester.

     Text: Tomlinson, Brian. 1986. Openings: Language through Literature - An Activities Book. London: Penguin. 187pp. Paper. Available from Bookman 書林書店.

     Pronunciation journal: You are required to keep a running record of specific sounds and other areas you need to work on in your pronunciation in a small notebook, based on feedback you receive in class. You are expected to have your journal open and ready throughout each class, without being reminded.

     Each student will also be asked to choose a simplified or original novel to read with a partner. You will choose a dialogue from this book to practice with a tape then perform in front of the class.

     Handouts will be posted on this Web site.

     Readings (tentative; we may or may not finish all of these; or we may add some additional ones):
     1. "The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble", by James Thurbur; p. 51-52.
     2. "The Interpreters", by Wole Soyinka, p. 53-54.
     3. "The British Museum is Falling Down", by David Lodge, p. 106-108.
     4. "The Human Factor", by Graham Greene, p. 16-18.
     5. "The Chip-Chip Gatherers", by Shiva Naipaul, p. 26-27. Basic background on Trinidad. Samples of music from Trinidad.
     6. "No Longer at Ease", by Chinua Achebe, p. 4-6.
     7. "My Son's Story", by Nadine Gordimer, p. 9-10.
     8. "Efuru", by Flora Nwapa, p. 37-39.
     9. "Sentence of Death", by Terry Morgan, p. 46-47.
     10. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", by Ken Kesey, p. 97-100.

     1. Listening Assignment for February 20: BBC Interview with Ray Charles

     2. Listening Assignment for February 20-27: MPR Indian Radio

     3. Listening Assignment for February 27-March 6: BBC: Pinter and Wesker on the US-Iraq situation

     4. Listening Assignment for March 6-13: Profiles with Tara: Abusive men: part I

     5. Listening assignment for March 13-20: Profiles with Tara: Abusive men: part II

     6. Listening assignment for March 20-27: Gunsmoke: The Liar from Blackhawk (I)

     7. Listening assignment for March 27-April 3: Gunsmoke: The Liar from Blackhawk (II)

     8. Listening assignment for April 3-10: NationalGeographic.com: City of the Dead

     9. Listening assignment for April 10-17: National Public Radio: Orang Metropolis Uncovered

     10. Listening assignment April 17-24: Voice of America Webcast: Foreign language teaching in the U.S. and Yao Ming

     11. Listening assignment for April 24-May 1: Minnesota Public Radio: Inspiring boys to read

     12. Listening assignment for May 1-May 8: Minnesota Public Radio: Life after prison

     13. Listening assignment for May 8-15: Dragnet: The Big Escape (I)

     14. Listening assignment for May 15-22: Dragnet: The Big Escape (II)

     15. Listening assignment for May 22-29: Minnesota Public Radio: Garbage glaciers

     16. Listening assignment for May 29-June 5: ABC NSW: Cockroaches – friend or foe?

     17. Listening assignment for June 5-June 12: Minnesota Public Radio: Weight loss surgery: the last resort?



Outside Work: All students are encouraged to advance their English skills on their own, outside class. Here are some ideas on how to do this; also please visit Extras on this site for some resources to get you started:

      Read English newspapers and magazines (many available free online – see Extras or do a search), novels (simplified ones are OK!), materials on the Internet, anything else of interest;

     Listen to the radio – programs like Studio Classroom or Ivy League, and ICRT, which broadcasts BBC programming every weekday morning 6am-7am, Internet broadcasts from around the world (see Extras);

     Watch English language TV programs, e.g. sitcoms and the news, and movies: movies can be borrowed and viewed in the AV library;

     Speak and write English with friends: you may want to set up a language exchange, meet English speakers through activities in Taipei's foreign communities, or just practice with classmates; writing to an e-mail pen pal – try joining a special interest discussion group (see Extras) and send a note to someone who says things you think are interesting.

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