Syllabus: Adult English A

Syllabus - English A Group Members Roles Commented On Rachel Wise Coleader-Document Design, Syllabus Content, Main Points, Objectives Group 2 Barbara Holly Coleader-Group Collaboration, Syllabus Content, Introduction, Conclusion Group 2, Group 3, Group 4 Misael Arrieta Editor: Syllabus Content and Objectives, Assignments Group 2 Hagan Lawson Editor: Rationale Organization of Syllabus: APA Style Group 2 Introduction Adult English A is an introductory level online course for adult English Language Learners. Whether the adult student is taking English to prepare for further education, business reasons, or personal reasons, this course will build English language skills for these purposes. During this course students will establish resources that will help them progress beyond the basics in their future development of English language skills Students will develop English language skills by intensive online interactions in various formats. Emphasis will be placed on development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. To establish connections with the real world environment, students will watch videos and listen to audio clips on a variety of topics. After completion of this course students will have some of the basics of English and be able to build on this as they make progress toward becoming fluent in the English language.

Write Rationale - Main Ideas of Theory Review English is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world, with over one billion people speaking the language to some extent (Crystal, 2006). This course can improve communication across different cultures, ideologies and professions. As the language becomes increasingly popular, the need for enhanced written and verbal skills will prove to be an asset. It is important that individuals and professionals can communicate effectively and efficiently. This improves relations in the workplace and in day-to-day interactions.  This course will delve into the basis of communication through multiple modes. These include online discussions, readings and audio assignments. The ability to communicate well, heavily relies upon the recognition of each learning style. This course will strongly rely upon active-training, which is shown to promote learning across a plethora of learning styles (Lawson, 2016). Active-training will be emphasized with the utilization of Skype or other similar platforms. The online discussions and readings will encourage students to discover individualized learning styles and habits. This course will allow students to build upon their visual and auditory learning habits. Both of these forms of learning are critical when considering using English as a form of communication in the real-world. It is imperative that students enhance these skills and recognize their learning style. This personal knowledge will be beneficial when further learning the English language.  Educator MacKeracher developed five phases of learning. The way in which this course has been created is wrapped around these five phases, which highlights the learning styles of each student. Descriptions of each phase and their role in this course are described below: Modeling Phase:  Description: The facilitator completes the necessary skills and requirements. Role: English will be spoken across Skype or similar platforms for the students to hear. Scaffolding Phase:  Description: The students attempt to perform the necessary task while the facilitator observes and provides feedback. Role: Students will record their conversations so that the facilitator can hear their acquired skills and provide helpful suggestions.  Fading Phase:  Description: The student attempts to use their skills in a real situation. Role: Students speak English in a real-world environment, as seen with the Skype/ phone conversation with a classmate.  Solo Performance:  Description: The student performs the skill alonne. Role: The student speaks English to the facilitator using an audio platform. Reflection Phase:  Description: The facilitator and student discuss what was learned by the activity. Role: After completing the audio portion, the facilitator will provide feedback on the students’ performance.

- Location, Dates & Times of Class Class Location: Online Class Dates & Time: September 2 – December 20 Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm or email (48 hour reply window)

- Objectives of Course Upon competition of this course, you should: 1.    Be able to ask structured questions in English for basic needs and provide the appropriate response 2.    Engage in verbal and written basic conversation in English 3.    Write grammatically correct sentences for common phrases in English 4.    Verbally communicate the difference between past and present in common statements 5.    Be able to just context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words by using familiar contexts

- Learning Activities, Schedules, Strategies, Methods & Tools Online Discussions: Students will post each week in the online discussions. Each discussion post will provide an opportunity for the student to practice their written English skills and grammar. Students need to create one post and respond to one other student’s post, for a total of two posts.  Dialogue Chats: Students will be placed into groups that will meet over call or Skype for their dialogue chats. Groups will be provided different prompts to practice verbal communication within their groups. It is up to the group to decide when they will meet.   Audio Assignments: Once per unit, students will upload a 1 minute audio clip about a prompt or questions given to them. Each assignment will provide students an opportunity to practice their English skills focusing on pronunciation and practicing sounding natural when speaking English. Students will receive feedback on their submission on areas that they can improve on their English speaking.

- Reading/Learning Material McCarten, J., McCarthy, M. & Sandiford, H. (2014). Touchstone Level 3 Student’s Book (2nd      edition). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.                                                           ISBN-10: 1107665833: ISBN-13: 978-1107665835 Other readings, resources, and videos will be provided on Canvas.

- Assignments & Due Dates Unit 1 Week 1 (Sept 2 - Sept 6) Readings: Unit 1 (pages 1-10) Assignments: Read through syllabus. Discussion: Discussion 1, “About Me” and reply to a classmate by September 8. Week 2 (Sept 9 - Sept 13) Readings: Unit 2 (pages 11-20) Assignments: Write ½ to 1 page paper (double-spaced, 12 pt. font) about your reflection on Unit 2 readings. Prepare for audio recording on natural speaking and vocabulary for Week 3 assignment. Discussion: Discussion 2 and reply to a classmate by September 15. Week 3 (Sept 16 - Sept 20) Readings: Unit 3 (pages 21-30) Assignments: Upload 1 minute audio recording of your response to these questions: “Where in the world would you travel to and who would you take? What places would you see? What kind of people live there?” As you think of your response, be sure to focus on sounding natural and correct pronunciation. Prepare for Unit 1 test next week. Discussion: Discussion 3 and reply to a classmate by September 22 Week 4 (Sept 23 - Sept 27) Readings: No readings this week Assignments: Review Unit 1 through 3 in the textbook. Focus on vocabulary and grammar topics covered in these units. Test 1 will be open September 23 and will close on September 29 at 11:59PM EST. You will have 1 hour to complete the test once you start. NOTE: The test will close at 11:59PM. If you are in the process of taking the test and the deadline approaches, the test will automatically close. Please take this into consideration and plan your time accordingly. Discussion: No discussion this week Unit 2 Week 5 (Sept 30 - Oct 4) Readings: Unit 4 (pages 33-42) Assignments: Complete worksheet “Family Tree”. Fill out both the family tree and the worksheet about “Family Dynamics”.  Discussion: Discussion 4 and reply to a classmate by October 6. Week 6 (Oct 7 - Oct 11) Readings: Unit 5 (pages 43-52) Assignments: Complete the worksheet “My Lunch: Step-by-Step”. This worksheet does not need to super detailed. A basis process and item list will be sufficient. Discussion: Discussion 5 and reply to a classmate by October 13. Week 7 (Oct 14 - Oct 18) Reading: Unit 6 (pages 53-62) Assignment: Upload a 1 minute audio of your response to these questions: “What do you want to accomplish Today? This week? Month? Year?” As you think of your response, be sure to focus on sounding natural and correct pronunciation. Prepare for Unit 2 test next week. Discussion: Discussion 6 and reply to a classmate by October 20. Week 8 (Oct 21 - Oct 25) Reading: No reading this week Assignment: Review Unit 4 through 6 in the textbook. Focus on vocabulary and grammar topics covered in these units. Test 1 will be open October 21 and will close on October 27 at 11:59PM EST. You will have 1 hour to complete the test once you start. NOTE: The test will close at 11:59PM. If you are in the process of taking the test and the deadline approaches, the test will automatically close. Please take this into consideration and plan your time accordingly. Discussion: No discussion this week. Week 9 (Oct 28 - Nov 1) Reading: Unit 7 (pages 65-74) Assignment: Complete your online dating profile assignment. In your profile, be sure to include a small section on your friend circle. Discussion: Discussion 7 and reply to a classmate by November 3.  Week 10 (Nov 4 - Nov 8) Reading: Unit 8 (pages 75-84) Assignment: Complete your one on one assignment with another classmate. Talk about your everyday issues and discuss your time in this course. Discussion: Discussion 8 and reply to a classmate by November 10. Week 11 (Nov 11 - Nov 15) Reading: Unit 9 (pages 85-94) Assignment: Upload a 1 minute audio response to these questions: “What upsets you about technology? What type of technology should be invented next? Are you familiar with email scams? What are your opinions on email scams?” As you think of your response, be sure to focus on sounding natural and correct pronunciation. Prepare for Unit 3 test next week. Discussion: Discussion 9 and reply to a classmate by November 17.  Week 12 (Nov 18 - Nov 22) Reading: No reading this week. Assignment: Review Unit 7 through 9 in the textbook. Focus on vocabulary and grammar topics covered in these units. Test 1 will be open November 18 and will close on November 22 at 11:59PM EST. You will have 1 hour to complete the test once you start. NOTE: The test will close at 11:59PM. If you are in the process of taking the test and the deadline approaches, the test will automatically close. Please take this into consideration and plan your time accordingly. Discussion: No discussion this week.  THANKSGIVING BREAK (NOV 25 - NOV 29) Week 14 (Dec 2 - Dec 6) Reading: Unit 10 (pages 97-106) Assignment: Write a reflection paper (1 - 2 pages) about an article you find in the local newspaper or on an online source. Discussion: Discussion 10 and reply to a classmate by December 8. Week 15 (Dec 9 - Dec 13) Reading: Unit 12 (pages 107-116) Assignment: Write a news article about a fictional natural disaster (1 - 2 pages). Discussion: Discussion 11 and reply to a classmate by December 15. Week 16 (Dec 16 - Dec 20) Final Exam: Opens December 16 and closes December 20. 1 hour time limit will given to complete this test. It will cover only Unit 10 and 12 from the textbook.

- Grading Criteria & Standards Active participation in all discussion posts AND replies is required. Complete all assignments and readings by the due date in order to stay on top of coursework. All speaking submissions should be submitted with clear audio in order to receive a grade.  Grades for this course will be based on this scale: A: 100-95          A-: 94-90 F: <59 B:  89-85           B-: 84-80 C:  79-75           C-: 74-70 D:  69-65           D-: 64-60 Discussion: 10 discussions worth 2 points each (20 points total)* Assignment: 7 assignments worth 5 points each (35 points total) Audio Submissions: 3 submissions worth 15 points each (45 points total) Tests: 4 tests worth 25 points each (100 points total) *lowest discussion score will be dropped at the conclusion of the semester

- Attendance Policy Students are expected to participate in all online discussions and dialogue chats. Each submission for online discussions and dialogue chats will count for that week’s attendance points. Students that miss one week will be deducted 3 points from total attendance points. After a student misses 5 discussion posts or dialogue chats they will automatically lose all attendance points.

- Reflection The process of designing this syllabus started out with the research that our group did on learning styles.  Our research showed that it is important to include a variety of activities that address the various learning styles. This includes the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities. (Lawson, 2016)  MacKeracher’s five phases of learning include modeling, scaffolding, fading, solo performance, and reflection. (MacKeracher, 2004) It was challenging to try to integrate these concepts into our online course design.   We all had somewhat different ideas as to what learning styles mean when it comes to teaching a class.  One of the challenges was being able to work with everyone in the group and use each other’s input to create a useable syllabus. The group plan we made for the syllabus was a great idea and really helped our group complete the assignment. Our group used email to communicate and we also used a shared Google document to collaborate on our assignment. One thing that we learned is that it is important to make deadlines and stick to them so completing the assignment is less stressful.

- References Crystal, D. (2006). English Worldwide. Lawson, K. (2016). The trainer's handbook (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley MacKeracher, D. (2004). Making sense of adult learning (2nd ed.). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.

 Table 1. Summary of Syllabus Design:

Aims to achieve our design	Main theoretical ideas	Main activities from syllabus	Main methods/tools/strategies from syllabus
Auditory learners	Auditory learners prefer to learn by listening to the information. This can include methods such as audio recordings, lectures or videos.	Dialogue chats, videos and other auditory videos or recordings	Learners will use their own and fellow student dialogue chats to practice hearing and speaking in English. They also will listen to recordings and videos that will provide helpful resources to understand phonetics of the English language. By listening to themselves and others in English, it will help with the organization of speech sound.
Visual learners	Visual learning is experienced through seeing the information they are learning. The best methods for include videos, PowerPoint presentations, photos or text.	Online discussions and text from readings/other assignments	Learners will practice their writing and grammar skills in online discussions to learn common phrases to be able to understand the syntax and morphology in English. They will visually see their own and fellow students post, read and review text and view presentations to assist with their understanding of basic word and sentence structure.
Language Learners	Language learners prefer methods through visual or auditory language, such as written or audio books, lectures and presentations.	Dialogue chats	By practicing speaking and writing in English, the learners will engage in full participation to assist with all the components of language. They will learn the semantics of the language in practicing daily conversations, common phrases and basic needs in English with each other.