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One of the underpinning ideas for its enduring presence in the curriculum is the belief that putting learners Into touch with “original” news texts found in Western newspapers would (A) enrich language input in learning, which, at least theoretically, could maximize the chance Of successful language learning; and (B) provide a chance for learners to “learn about” cultures shaping the news texts. Thus, this course has traditionally been regarded as a course that prepares learners for further development in language and intercultural communication skills.
However, this skill orientated positioning of the course is not congruent to current understanding of university education. If university courses like this only focus on language and communication skills, then what is the core competency of graduates? How do they distinguish themselves from trainees in non-university institutions? What is their distinct competitive advantage compared with an experienced practitioner?
As an attempt to answer these questions, this course is designed around the assumption that ‘thinking’ is the core competency of the graduate, more specifically, ‘applied critique’. Applied critique is knowledge that stands the test of time by providing the generic skill to evaluate any particular problem, technique, fad or common-sense solution that comes over the horizon, whether at home, at work or in a community. Graduation means developing this competency to critique tomorrows problems constructively. Thus, courses for undergraduates need to be designed help with this task.
While the date and venue of the term-end examination is subject to further instruction of the administration, a detailed guideline for the essay assignments is available in the Appendix which is attached at the end of this document. The weights of the exam and essay assignments are specified as follows: Exam score (70%) + Score of Essay 1 (15%) + Score of Essay 2 (15%) = Your Total Score This is to say, no score is given on the basis of your attendance, which is justifiable because attending a lecture is by default one of the obligations of a dutiful student. Course Coordinator Mr..
CHINE Yoking (MA Hon.. Of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Lecturer) Office: TAB East 7 C 310 Office Hour: 8:00 am-9:30 am, every Friday Extracurricular discussions on topics in this course are also available with a prior appointment either by E-mail or a phone call E-mail: chenyixiong@swust. Du. CNN Cell: 18281597216 Appendix Guideline to the Essays Motivation behind the Reflective Essays The reflective essays are designed to assess your learning of basic ideas in critical reading, which naturally constitute the required material evidence for your academic performance in this course.
While there might be other alternatives for this purpose, reflective essay assignment has been celebrated in universities around the world as a reliable tool to gauge the development of ideas among students in their learning. More on theoretical considerations and empirical findings that gave birth to this type of assignment in education are available in a book titled Writing as a Learning Tool (2005) published by Gluer Publishing. What you need to do in the essay The sole purpose of your writing is to demonstrate your thinking and reflections when you are reading a news text.
Of course, the thinking and afflictions are preferably guided by principles and ideas you learned from the lectures (c. F. , the Schedule for Topics for details on these ideas and principles). To be specific, you are advised to work on the essay assignment through following procedures: (1 ) Find a news article that really interests you; note necessary bibliographical information of the article (including, but not exclusively, the author, publisher, date and source). 2) Read the news article critically with insights drawn from this course. (3) Write your reflections on the news article by refereeing to ideas generated in the critical reading. Assessment criteria While the length of an essay (I. E. , words in an essay) is not to be considered in the assessment of your performance, following criteria are crucial in the scoring of an essay: Focus – Is there a clear focus to the essay? Is it visibly about some aspect of the writer’s development of idea as a critical writer?
Clarity – grammaticality and language use – Is the expression clear? Is the language grammatical? Has language been used effectively to convey ideas, stances and emotions in the essay? Demonstration of critical thinking – Is there any evidence demonstrating how the writer has thought over the issue tit a critical stance? Use of readings to illuminate points in the narrative – Has reference been made to at least two Of the assigned readings?
Does the writer effectively and appropriately draw on ideas from the field of critical reading in order to support / provide insights into / shed light on the narrative that is being constructed? Originality – are all the words in the essay written by the writer? Did the writer fail to give clear signaling when any ideas or words from other writers were borrowed in the writing? Appeal for scores Scores for the assignment are subject to appeal from the writers, with preference to the abovementioned assessment criteria of course.