syllabus - list of subjects, topics, texts, etc. included in a course of study
Teacher: Bino
Office phone: 0732.8680381
Home phone: 0732.8680601
Email: hbchai@hotmail.com
Until internet access at the school becomes reliable, do not expect me to check my email everyday. If you wish to contact me, you can reach me either at the office or at home by calling the numbers above.
The goal of this course is for you to acquire greater fluency in spoken English. We will approach this challenge in a variety of ways, such as class discussions, dialogues, role plays, and presentations. A balanced approach to language learning also demands that we incorporate reading and writing exercises in our study. We meet in classes of reduced size in order to maximize the number of opportunities for each student to participate.
A little bit of background about me. My parents were born in China (my mother in Guangxi, my father in Fujian, but if you ask about my ancestral home, it's Hebei, where my grandfather was born). They fled to Taiwan after the Communist Party came to power, and went to the United States for graduate study a decade and a half later. I was born in the US, and grew up listening to an interesting mix of Chinese and English at home. Had we lived in an area with more Chinese people, perhaps I would have spoken Chinese more as a child. As things were, I ended up speaking English exclusively to my parents and sister, and knew next to nothing about written Chinese before taking my first Chinese language class as a sophomore in college. In Spring 2002, after a year and a half of Chinese study at school, I studied abroad in Beijing, attending an intensive Chinese language program. This was my first time in China (I had been to Taiwan before), and I loved it. One of the reasons I am back here now is to continue my study of the Chinese language.
Let me share with you some insights about language learning, as someone who is also actively learning a language. First, language learning must be an active pursuit. As children, we acquired our native tongues quickly and effortlessly. Unfortunately, this capability is long gone for both you and I. Therefore, you will see major improvement in your English only if you take every opportunity to practice using new words and phrases, experiment with your writing, and read unassigned texts. This is essentially immersing yourself in as complete a language environment as possible, given the constraints of the limited language resources available to you. Second, language learning is not a rote process. Language is alive, and learning about living things is motivated by stimulation, curiosity, and interest. Therefore, perhaps contrary to the type of learning you may be used to (certainly as a consequence of the type of teaching you've been exposed to), your direct participation in the form of wondering, questioning, and exploring is the key to successful learning. Third, the most stubborn obstacle to language learning may be the ego. Before mastery comes competence, and before competence comes incompetence. Though the pianist may refuse to perform a piece he or she has not yet perfected, as students your job, at least in my classroom, is not to be correct, but to learn. Therefore, you should enjoy making mistakes, because you've learned something as soon as you realize you've made a mistake! Finally, personal improvement may not always be readily apparent. Don't worry too much about this, and focus instead on ascertaining the soundness of your approach to language learning. Ask yourself, do these methods work for me? How can I change them to better suit my needs? If the approach is solid and you are persistent, you will learn.
You will learn to think outside of the box. The ultimate goal is not to become adept at translating Chinese thoughts into English, but to think in English.
| Mr. Petto: | Mr. Caesar, did you complete today's homework assignment? |
| Caesar: | Ok, Caesar, think ... THINK ... I know!! I'll use the Jedi Mind Trick! |
| Caesar: | You don't NEED to see my homework assignment ... |
| Mr. Petto: | I don't need to see your homework assignment? |
| Caesar: | You'll give me an "A" regardless ... |
| Mr. Petto: | I'll give you an "A" regardless?!!! |
| Caesar: | Man ... it's actually WORKING ... |
| Caesar: | You WILL stop wearing those high-water pants and go get me a hot fudge sundae ... |
| Mr. Petto: | I WILL fail you until you're thirty. Now please go back to your seat. |
You may not speak Chinese in the classroom, except to ask the teacher a direct question on how to say something you do not know how to say in English. Ask the teacher, not your classmates. Do not turn around and ask your friends a question in Chinese, and do not supply yoaur friends answers in Chinese. Do not define a word I ask you to identify in Chinese. Do not ask the teacher questions in Chinese. Failure to abide by this policy will be reflected in your class participation grade.
FYI, I was subject to a strict language pledge while studying Chinese in Beijing, and was not allowed to speak English at all, anytime, anywhere (yes, even out on the streets far from campus), for a period of 5 months. Three offenses of the pledge would have resulted in expulsion from the program. I survived, and so will you.
Final grades will be calculated as follows:
| Class Participation | 50% |
| Homework | 40% |
| Final Project | 10% |
Class participation includes attendance, responsiveness, and respect. You will receive a participation grade (0-3) for each day of class. If you do not show up and do not provide a legitimate excuse in a timely manner, you will receive a 0 for that day. If you show up to class, you automatically receive a 2. But if you are disruptive, i.e. chat with friends, violate the language policy, do homework for another class, sleep, your cell phone goes off, etc., 1-2 class participation points may be deducted, and you will receive a 1 or 0. If you don't plan on being a productive member of the class, please be aware that your presence is not necessary in order for your classmates to learn, and that you might as well stay home; you will receive a 0 anyway. If, on the other hand, you are attentive and actively participate in all classroom activities, one class participation point will be added, and you will receive a 3. This is important: in order to receive full credit for class participation at the end of the semester, your average class participation must be significantly greater than 2. Therefore, hiding from me at the rear of the classroom won't do you any good.
You are expected to attend all classes. In the event you are not able to attend, you must notify me of the reason in a timely manner. Acceptable excuses are: you are sick, a family member passed away, anything else approved by me. Unacceptable excuses are: you played video games all last night, you woke up late, you didn't feel like it, a lie, or anything else I deem inappropriate. I will not ask you for an excuse; it is your responsibility to inform me by the next class.
For up to a maximum of 3 excused absences, you will receive a participation grade of 2. Further absences will result in a participation grade of 0. Unexcused absences always result in a participation grade of 0.
You will be assigned homework during the week. Unless otherwise stated, homework is always due the next day of class. Late homework will as a rule be accepted, because it is always better to have completed an assignment than not; however, your grade will be penalized according to the degree of tardiness. Please complete your homework on time. If you wish to spend more time on a particular assignment because you want to do a better job with it, please let me know and we can discuss the matter. Homework will be assigned a grade based on both its quality and how much time and effort you spent on it; inferior work will receive inferior grades. Make sure you label your homework so I don't have to waste time looking for it.
Note that homework isn't always something you "hand in". An assignment may involve preparing for an activity in the following class. In such cases, a grade is still assessed based on the same criterion as above.
If the homework grade you receive for a particular assignment is less than 60% of the maximum and you were not late in submitting it, you may choose to redo the assignment. A 10% penalty will be incurred on the new grade, the cost of a second chance. But if the new grade is better than the previous one, the previous grade will be dropped and the new one will count toward your average.
plagiarism - a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work; the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own
I have a zero-tolerance policy regarding plagiarism. If you are found copying from a classmate or other source without attributing the appropriate credit to that classmate or source, you will definitely receive a zero for the assignment, and may invite even more serious consequences. Do not copy other people's work. JUST DON'T DO IT.
If you complete and submit all homework assignments on time, the highest homework grade you can achieve for the entire semester is 85% of the maximum. In order to receive full credit for homework at the end of the semester, you must complete a number of extensions throughout the course of the semester. Extensions are additional tasks related to homework or other topics discussed in class which go above and beyond the required assignments. Examples might be: reading a story and writing a poem about it, preparing and performing a skit in class, attending English Corner, keeping a journal throughout the semester, or an extension you dream up yourself. I will let you know when possibilities for extensions present themselves. If you have an idea for an extension, I would be happy to entertain it.
The final project for the spring 2004 semester has yet to be determined.
I will maintain a simple webpage for this course, which will contain content that students create over the course of the semester. Content published on the webpage will remain anonymous. You are not required to visit the webpage; however, you may find it interesting, and moreover, some extensions may relate to it. I will announce the web address as soon as possible. Also, any updates to this syllabus will be posted on the webpage.
Last revised 2004.2.9