English Expeditions - Ritsumeikan University

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English Diploma Course 2 (Technology in the News)

Learning Goals

(Technology as a business) To evaluate technological trends and to consider which aspects of technology consumers value most.

Skills

Research, Newspaper Reading, Writing, Presentation, Listening, Debate, Discussion, Logical Thinking

Classroom Flow

  • Students will be introduced to the unique style of news stories, including the inverted pyramid structure, lead paragraphs, support paragraphs, and headlines.
  • Over a broad range of technology sources and genres, the content and structure of news print stories will be compared and contrasted with that of broadcast news.
  • Students will share their news discoveries in small groups.

Class Projects

  • Students will be split into groups and assigned to investigate companies from various market sectors.
  • They will research the history of that company using online newspaper and news broadcasting resources.
  • Based on that history, students will forecast the direction the company is headed.
  • Using that forecast, students will predict what effect the trend will have on companies.
  • Students will be split into groups and assigned to prepare OEL exercises using news media.
  • Students will present their work via online.

Grading Criteria

Grades will be based on the following:

12 Online Assignments
   (Worksheets, Discussions, & Preparations)
Online Assignments are graded on a 5-4-3-2-1-0 scale. If all requirements of the task are completed at an exceptional level, you will receive 5 points; if they are fully met, you will receive 4 points; if they are somewhat met, 3 points; if they are inadequately or only partially met, 1-2 points; if you do not participate in the task or are absent, 0 points. 60 points
Online Exercise Library (OEL) 10 points 10 points
1 News Discovery Segment Materials 10 points 10 points
1 Market Sector Presentation Materials 5 points 5 points
1 Media Exercise
   (Research Team)
10 points 10 points
2 Media Exercise Quizzes 2.5 point each 5 points
Late assignment submission minus 1 point  

Text

No text is required for this course. All worksheets will be available for download. However, many of the materials will need to be accessed via your EDC2 Student 2021 folder.

Course Schedule Print

Class Weekly Topics Online Assignments Materials/Quizzes OEL Agenda
1 Orientation and Course Overview  
2 Newspaper Formats Meeting 2 worksheet      
3 Types of Technology
Yahoo Finance
Meeting 3 worksheet      
4 News Discovery Segment Workshop I
Yahoo Finance
Meeting 4 worksheet   1+ OEL  
5 News Discovery Segment Workshop II Meeting 5 worksheet      
6 News Discovery Segment I News Discovery Segment
Discussion Questions I
News Discovery Segment
Materials
   
7 News Discovery Segment II News Discovery Segment
Discussion Questions II
     
8 News Discovery Segment III News Discovery Segment
Discussion Questions III
     
9 News Discovery Segment IV News Discovery Segment
Discussion Questions IV
     
10 Science & Technology
Media Resources
Exercise Strategies
Meeting 10 worksheet Example OEL
Article 2021
   
11 Media Exercise Prep I      
12 Media Exercise Prep II      
13 Media Exercise Prep III      
14 Media Exercise Quiz
Media Exercise Revision
       
15 Media Exercise Follow-up   Media Exercise Materials
Market Sector Presentation Materials
   

Course Can-do Goals

Program-wide Standards

Grading Scale

90% or more, A+; 80-89%, A; 70-79%, B; 60-69%, C; below 60%, F

NOTE: At the end of the third year, you will be taking a TOEIC-IP exam. You will then be re-streamed for your fourth-year courses based on the results of this TOEIC-IP and the numerical average of your third-year English courses. Therefore, it is important to strive for not only a high letter grade, but also for the highest numerical grade that you are capable of.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to submit assignments in a timely fashion. Failure to submit timely may result in a reduction of the student’s overall grade. Students will be penalized 3 demerits for each non- submission and 1 demerit for each late submission. Students who accumulate more than 15 'demerits' (the equivalent of 5 absences) will receive an unsatisfactory grade ('F') for the course. As a rule, no make-up work will be given for unexcused absences.

English-English Dictionaries

You are required to use an English-English dictionary for your exercises. The following is a list of quality paper dictionaries for English language learners. You may use any other dictionary or you may elect to use an electronic dictionary.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Oxford University Press.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman Press.
Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, HarperCollins Publishers.

TOEIC-related Extra-Credit Points

The English Expeditions extra-credit system is tied into the TOEIC exercises, in order to encourage all students to practice their TOEIC test-taking skills in preparation for the TOEIC examination. For more information on the TOEIC examination, see the TOEIC Exercises section of your Online Education text. The extra-credit point system is as follows:

Semester One Semester Two Semester Three Semester Four
Correctly complete the following cycles of TOEIC exercises BEFORE their deadlines.

Cycle 1 (1 point): April 30
Cycle 2 (2 points): May 30
Cycle 3 (3 points): June 30
Correctly complete the following cycles of TOEIC exercises BEFORE their deadlines.

Cycle 1 (1 point): October 20
Cycle 2 (2 points): November 15
Cycle 3 (3 points): November 30
Correctly complete the following cycles of TOEIC exercises BEFORE their deadlines.

Cycle 1 (1 point): April 30
Cycle 2 (2 points): May 30
Cycle 3 (3 points): June 30
Correctly complete the following cycles of TOEIC exercises BEFORE their deadlines.

Cycle 1 (1 point): October 20
Cycle 2 (2 points): November 15
Cycle 3 (3 points): November 30

NOTE: Students who have failed to score higher than 0 on any Homework Assignments or have been found in violation of our academic honesty policy are ineligible for extra-credit points.

The Extra-Credit points available for each course are outlined in the chart below.  Blue cells  only apply to Fall classes.
Note: TOEIC Bridge-IP scores will be converted to TOEIC-IP scores for all calculations.

No Academic
Honesty
Violations
TOEIC Exercises
Cycle Completed
by Deadline
Took
TOEIC-IP
Exam
Extra-Credit Points
1 2 3
6
5
4
3
3
2
1
0
0
 E10 (SA/AD Levels): -5 points; 
E10 (IH/IL Levels)/E42: 0

The Academic Honesty Policy for S&E English Classes

The following will be considered violations of our academic honesty policy:

  1. Copying any answers from another student's exercise, doing any exercises together with other students, or using a textbook from previous years. Exercises are to be completed entirely on your own.
  2. Showing any portion of your exercise to another student.
  3. Using any form of ‘cheat sheet’ in performing an exercise, quiz, etc.
  4. Taking copies of an exercise, quiz, etc. (including unused copies) outside of the classroom. (This includes taking pictures of the exercise, quiz, etc.)
  5. Using writing instruments or telephones during feedback of an in-class exercise, quiz, etc.
  6. Copying answers from another student's exercise, quiz, etc. while it is being administered.
  7. Copying any portion of a homework exercise from another student.
  8. Allowing any portion of your homework exercise to be copied by another student.
  9. Copying (or closely paraphrasing) portions of a homework assignment from other sources (printed matter, the Internet, etc.) and presenting it as your own, regardless of whether you acknowledge the source. This includes using translation software to translate any portion of your submission into English.
  10. Sharing Rainbow or English Expeditions User IDs or Passwords with another student.

Any of the above violations will result in a score of 0 for ALL exercises on that day, as well as forfeiting your chance for extra-credit.

理工学部英語授業における「不正行為」に関する取り決め

不正行為は、いかなる理由があれ一切認められません。以下のような行為は、不正行為とみなします。

  1. 他者に(たとえ一部でも)課題の答えを写させてもらった場合 (課題を複数で一緒にやること、そして、過年度のテキストを使用することも含みます/課題は必ず独力でやること)
  2. 他者に(たとえ一部でも)課題の答えを写させた場合
  3. Quiz, Exercise等において、カンニングペーパー等を使用した場合
  4. Quiz, Exercise等の答案(未使用のものも含む)を不当に持ち帰った場合 (カメラ付き携帯等による撮影も含みます)
  5. Quiz, Exercise等のフィードバックの際、筆記用具、携帯電話等を手にした場合 (正答を盗もうとしたとみなします)
  6. その他、Quiz, Exercise等の実施を妨害する行為、他者の受験を妨害する行為、 替え玉受験等も、不正行為とみなします。
  7. Homework Assignmentにおいて、他者のAssignmentの一部または全部をコピーした場合
  8. Homework Assignmentにおいて、他者に自身のAssignmentの一部または全部を コピーさせた場合
  9. Homework Assignmentにおいて、書籍やWWWのサイトから得た情報をそのまま、 もしくは改ざんの後、断りなく(引用を明記せずに)、自身のAssignmentに盗り入れた(すなわち著作権を侵害した)場合(英語の授業で課されるassignmentの多くは、引用を明記する、しないにかかわらず、一切の引用を認めていません) 。これには翻訳ソフトの使用も含みます。一旦日本語で書いて、それを翻訳ソフトを利用して翻訳して提出することは、それがたとえ一文であっても許されません。
  10. RainbowやEnglish ExpeditionsのユーザーIDやパスワードの授受があった場合

上記、および上記に類する「不正行為」があった場合は、当該学生の当該科目における、その日の得点を0点にするとともに、Extra-credit pointsはすべて無効になります。