Oral
Training II Spring 2005
Audio-Visual
Center µøÅ¥À] 204
Tuesdays 10:20am-12:10pm
Instructor:
Karen S. Chung
There
will be 16 classes this
semester, plus an additional class during finals week.
Holiday: April
5, Tomb-sweeping festival. Cancel-add: March 7-11. Mid-terms: April
18-22. Last
day of class: June 20. Final exams:
June 21-27.
Routine
work: You will continue to recite and learn a poem or prose passage, mark
your listening assignment, and receive the new listening assignment every class
during first hour. Occasionally, when there is time, there will also be recorded
class improvisations, followed by playback, correction and evaluation. Note that
this syllabus is subject to change.
Click
here for the Poems
and prose texts for memorization and reading aloud handout for
Spring 2005; click here for the poetry handout in Word
format suitable for printing out.
Click
here to read your own poems online!
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.)
Click here for Debate
resources.
February 22: Share
your choice of material for listening homework with the class, hand it in; hand
in debate topic idea; hand in your outline of play idea.
Taped class improvisation;
playback, correction and evaluation of performance. Poem: "Lilian".
Listening assignment: Choose and listen to
a radio drama from:
http://www.billsparks.org/OldtimeRadioTheater/Live_and_On-Demand_Old_Time_Radio_Shows/index.html
and write a summary of it and your reaction to it. Also listen to: MPR:
Shakespeare songs; you don't need to write out the answers in the exercise.
Prepare: Play outlines (by e-mail); title,
author of book for oral book report in correct MLA bibliographic format, to be
handed in next class. Practice and memorize "Lilian";
mark stresses in poem "St. Clement's Day Song".
March
1:
Turn in book title for oral report. NTU News.
Listening
assignment: Choose an audio news report of the BBC World Service at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml
on a country other than Taiwan and the United States; summarize the report
and give your reaction to it. Also watch and listen to: Seasonal
Strategies with Robert Brodman, PhD.
Prepare:
Print out play ideas, choose five
favorites to vote for next class. Turn in three poems for poetry reading: one
English/American (etc.); one in Chinese, translated by you into English; one original
one, written by you. NTU News.
March 8:
Turn in poems. Vote on play ideas. NTU News.
Listening
assignment: Choose an audio interview with an author and/or a reading from
a book from the Author
Interviews and Readings index of the "Books" section of the
New York Times online; you will need to register (it's free) if you haven't
already. Write a summary of the interview and/or reading you choose and your reactions.
If you choose just a reading, do a Google search and find out something about
the author and include it in your summary. Also listen to NPR:
A Teen-Aged Marine Falls in Iraq.
Prepare:
Oral book report. Start writing plays. Prepare reading of play Close
to Home (pdf file).
March
15: Play reading:
"Close to Home". Poems will be returned. Pick up marked homework at
service desk of the AV Center.
Listening
Assignment: KPCC: Pacific Drift: Interview
with Mark Sussman
Prepare: Oral
book report. Poetry reading. Play writing. Continue to work on reading of Close
to Home.
March
22: Each student will get a chance
to read his or her poems to the instructor individually, and to record a model
reading, if desired; during this time the rest of the class will meet in small
groups and begin planning the plays to be written and performed.
Listening
assignment: NPR: Taiwan Aims to be 'Zero
Waste' Society by 2020
Prepare: Poetry
reading. Oral book report. Play writing. Continue to work on reading of Close
to Home.
March
29:
Each student will get a chance to read his or her poems to the instructor individually,
and to record a model reading, if desired; during this time the rest of the class
will meet in small groups and begin planning the plays to be written and performed.
Decide on order for oral book reports. Form debate teams, choose debate topics.
Debate resources
Listening
assignment: BBC: Elephants learn by sound
mimicry
Prepare: Oral book report. Debates. Play
writing. Continue to work on reading of Close to Home.
April
5: Holiday: Tomb-sweeping
festival.
Listening assignment:
NBC Nightly News: Bush Fake News Blitz
Prepare: Poetry reading. Oral book report.
Debates. Play writing. Continue to work on reading of Close to Home.
April
12: Class poetry reading.
Listening assignment: CBC:
Autism –The Long Wait
Prepare: Oral book report. Debates. Play
writing. Continue to work on reading of Close to Home.
Click
here to read your own poems online!
April
19:
Oral book reports.
Listening assignment:
CBC: Quirks and Quarks with Bob
McDonald: Seeing with Sound
If
you are interested, the short story we read in freshman English, written by a
blind user of the vOICe, Tom Brennan, is here;
Tom's homepage is here;
and Mei Ma's class blog where students are giving their feedback on the story
is here.
Prepare: Oral book report. Debates. Play
writing. Continue to work on reading of Close to Home. .wma
audio file now available for practice.
April
26:
Hand in first draft of original plays. Oral book reports.
Listening
assignment: AL-TV: Weird Al vs. Eminem
Prepare: Oral book reports. Debates. Continue
to work on reading of Close to Home.
May
3: Oral book reports. Corrected
play scripts will be returned.
Listening
assignment: NPR: A Chat with 'Weird Al' Yankovic
Prepare:
Oral book reports. Debates. Revise plays, hand in asap. Continue to work on
reading of Close to Home.
May
10: Oral book reports.
Corrected play scripts will be returned.
Listening
assignment: NPR:
Bush Attends V-E Day Ceremonies in Moscow
Prepare: Debates. Practice Close to Home;
hand in, practice original plays.
May
17: Last two oral
book reports. Class debates.
Listening assignment:
Watch Seinfeld episode and (1) describe the structure of the show,
pointing up in particular how it differs structurally from most popular sitcoms;
(2) critique the show objectively, pointing out its strong and weak points;
(3) choose and describe three aspects of this episode that assume cultural background
you were relatively unfamiliar with. Be prepared to share a sentence or two
on Seinfeld in class next time.
Prepare:
Class debates. Reading of Close to Home. Practice plays.
May
24: Class debates.
Listening assignment:
Listen to an audio summary of current news, and write a short summary of
each news item.
Prepare: Class debates,
"Close to Home", plays.
May
31: Last
two class debates.
Listening assignment:
Design your own listening assignment: close a suitable online audio file or
video that is fully accessible and free of charge; make up a vocabulary; then
write and answer a set of listening comprehension questions. Note on your assignment
whether you give Ms. Chung permission to use your exercise on the class Web site.
If it is used, your name will appear on the exercise.
Prepare:
"Close to Home"; use the "echo method" to practice imitating
audio file; plays.
June
7: Reading
of "Close to Home".
Listening
assignment: No listening assignment, but an evaluation of the course and
your pronunciation/grammar journal are due on June 21. Include in the evaluation:
(1) Course evaluation: Your evaluation of what was useful, effective,
and fun in the course, what was not as useful, and your suggestions for improving
the course; (2) Self-evaluation: How much did you put into the course,
and how much did you get out of it? Did you attend all classes, and arrive on
time? Did you put reasonable effort into the assignments and complete them on
time?; and (3) Your personal English learning plan: Your plan on how to
continue improving your English, especially your pronunciation, speaking and listening
skills, but reading and writing as well.
Prepare:
Play performances: Presentation is most important, including vowels,
consonants, stress and intonation; your interpretation, acting
skills and expressiveness; and cooperation and rapport between
group members. Props and costumes are not important. You must memorize your lines;
it is difficult to put on a good performance without this. Get a copy of your
finalized script to Ms. Chung as soon as possible. A link to an audio file
of a reading of your play will be sent to you and your group members when it is
ready. Use the file to mark stresses, pauses, rises and falls, then use the "echo"
method to practice reading your script. Make further marks on the script to help
you remember the correct intonation when you are reading without the model recording.
June
14: Play performances.
June
21: Hand
in course evaluation, self-evaluation, and pronunciation and grammar summary.
Play performances.