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 In class/Online Tasks
   (Worksheets, Discussions, & Preparations)
In class/Online Tasks 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 2023 folder (coming soon).

Course Schedule Print

Class Weekly Topics In class/Online Tasks 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 2023
   
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

Newspaper Reading

  1. I can understand the standard format of the Inverted Pyramid.
  2. I can recognize different headline styles.
  3. I can understand the different reasons why a story is newsworthy.

Speaking Skills

  1. I can participate in a small group discussion and express my opinions, feelings and reservations about a topic.
  2. I can give clear instructions and directions related to moderately complex, familiar, technical and non-technical tasks.
  3. I can comfortably speak formally or informally, on topics involving problem-solving or decision-making. I can make a detailed comparison.
  4. I can research, develop and deliver a 10-minute presentation.
  5. I can use a variety of sentence structures and idioms.
  6. I can correct myself or rephrase what I said when I know that people do not understand me.
  7. I can use a variety of strategies to keep the conversation or discussion going.

Listening Skills

  1. I can understand the main points and important details of a discussion, presentation, or news clip.
  2. I can identify the situation, relationship, mood and attitude of the people I listen to.
  3. I can understand formal discussions, informal discussions, and presentations on familiar topics if I am involved in the discussions and presentations.
  4. I can understand more complex vocabulary and less-common idioms.
  5. I can predict consequences and outcomes.
  6. I can understand routine, classroom-related conversation.
  7. I can understand native speakers when they speak quickly to one another, although I might still have trouble.

Reading Skills

  1. I can read authentic text that is 1–2 pages long and moderately complex. I can locate and integrate, or compare and contrast information from a variety of visually complex sources.
  2. I can follow everyday instructional texts containing 10 – 15 steps.
  3. I can use an English-English dictionary, but mostly for confirmation and precision.
  4. I can read and understand both concrete and abstract language, dealing with facts, opinions and feelings.
  5. I can sometimes infer the meaning of a new word by the context or by the use of prefixes and suffixes in the word.
  6. I can paraphrase and summarize the main points of a reading section.

Writing Skills

  1. I can summarize longer texts without losing essential information.
  2. I can use complex structures, spelling and sentence mechanics with fairly good control, although my sentences may sound ‘foreign’ to English readers.
  3. I can write down several key points from a news article or video clip.
  4. I can write a report or presentation comparing two products or describing a process.
  5. I can write questions that reflect key points of written articles.
  6. I can write plausible distractors to questions about written articles.
  7. I can write questions that reflect key points of short videos.
  8. I can write plausible distractors to questions about short videos.

Types of Technology

  1. I can understand what destructive technology is.
  2. I can understand what disruptive technology is.
  3. I can understand what sustainable technology is.
  4. I can give some examples of destructive, disruptive, and sustainable technologies.

IT Skills: Google Docs

  1. I can contribute to a shared document using GoogleDocs.
  2. I can create a document and share it with others using GoogleDocs.
  3. I can make a presentation using Google presentation software.
  4. I can use a spreadsheet to track trends.
  5. I can use a spreadsheet to create a graph about trends.

IT Skills: Yahoo! Finance

  1. I can identify different industrial sectors.
  2. I can track the market history of a company.
  3. I can quickly find news related to a company or industrial sectors.
  4. I can identify factors that influence the stock prices of companies.

IT Skills: Google Forms

  1. I can take an online quiz using google forms.
  2. I can create an online quiz using google forms..
  3. I can access the summary of responses using google forms.
  4. I can analyze the data contained in the summary of responses of google forms.

Academic Skills

  1. I can determine whether news media has educational value for EFL students.
  2. I can identify areas of news media to target for comprehension questions.
  3. I can identify key words in news media.
  4. I can paraphrase or reword short sections of a news media story.
  5. I can use a thesaurus properly.
  6. I can create different types of distractors for multiple choice comprehension questions.

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.

Extra-Credit Points

The English Expeditions extra-credit system is tied to your TOEIC®L&R IP Test results, in order to encourage all students to practice their TOEIC-IP® test-taking skills. For more information on the TOEIC®L&R IP test, see the TOEIC® Exercises section of your Online Education text. The extra-credit point system is as follows:

Semester Five Semester Six
No extra-credit points are available for English 9. Score higher on your third-year TOEIC®L&R IP Test
than you scored on your second-year test.

NOTE: Extra-credit points are only available for regularly matriculating (no genkyuufukki) students in all levels of English 3, English 4, English 7, English 8, and Super-Advanced and Advanced-level English 10.

The Extra-Credit points available are outlined in the chart below.
Note: TOEIC® Bridge-IP scores will be converted to TOEIC®L&R IP Test scores for all calculations.

No Academic
Honesty
Violations
TOEIC-IP Exam Extra-
Credit Points
Took Exam Score Gain Score
> 200
Score
< 20% Drop
6
0
0
-5
-5
-5

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。