Houston Community College

Intensive English Program

ESOL 0341: Beginning Conversation

Instructor:  Kalpna Patel

E-mail:  kalpna.patel@hccs.edu

Office hours:  by appointment and after class

Class times:  Monday and Wednesdays 8.30 – 1.20, Room 103

Computer Lab:  Mondays 11.40 -12.30

Audio Lab:  Wednesdays 11.40 -12.30

 

 

Course Description:

ESOL 0341 is a course developing conversational skills in simple English with emphasis on vocabulary and grammatical structures used in day-to-day living.  Vocabulary, pronunciation, simple sentence structure, and intonation patterns are stressed. 

 

Course Goals:

Beginning Conversation seeks to prepare students for college classes and speaking in general by accomplishing the following objectives:

  • Developing students’ conversational skills through the use of vocabulary and grammatical structures used in every day living. 
  • Introducing students to real life situations through the use of in-class presentations and role plays. 
  • Developing students’ listening comprehension skills through exposure to recorded and teacher-generated listening comprehension material.   
  • Giving students an awareness of the basic principles of English pronunciation as well as common stress and intonation patterns.  

 

Course Outcomes:                                              

At the end of this course, you should be able to do the following:

  1. Be able to conduct simple conversations in familiar day-to-day situations;
  2. Be able to get the gist of short conversations or talks that use familiar vocabulary and grammatical structures;
  3. Be familiar with common day-to-day vocabulary;
  4. Be familiar with basic English pronunciation and stress and intonation patterns;
  5. Be able to present short presentations on familiar topics
  6. Be able to be generally understood by someone used to dealing with non-native speakers of English. 

 

Grade Breakdown: 
Your grade will be calculated as follows:                           

Oral Presentations                            30%                           100-90%           A

Listening/Vocabulary                        20%                            89-80%             B

Lab                                                     10%                            79-70%             C

Participation                                      20%                            69% or below   IP or F

Final Exam                                         20%

 

Course Requirements:

Students will have at least 5 Vocabulary/Listening quizzes and will have at least 3 graded speaking assignments in class:

  • 1 individual presentation
  • 1 paired presentation
  • A final exam

 

Textbooks:

Interchange Intro, J C Richards, (Cambridge) Third Edition

 

Class Policies:

 

Attendance:  You must attend class regularly. If you miss eight hours or more of class, you may be dropped.  If you must miss a class, please speak to your instructor.

 

Tardiness:  You must be on time for class.  If you are more than 15 minutes late or leave the room for more than 15 minutes, you will be marked “late”.  Three “lates” will count as an absence. 

 

Withdrawals:  The last day students can withdraw or be dropped from a class with a grade of “W” is 3 April, 2008.  Students who have excessive absences after that date will receive the grade that they earn. 

 

Cell Phones:  Please turn off all cell phones and pagers. 

 

Makeup Tests/Homework:  If you are absent during a quiz, test or presentation see your instructor as soon as you return.  Arrangements will be made for makeups on the following class day.  If you are absent, please call a classmate to get the assigned homework. Come to class prepared. 

 

Academic Honesty:  Any form of copying, cheating, or plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment. 

 

Students with Disabilities:  Students with a learning or physical disability which might affect their performance in class should contact the HCCS disabilities counselor, Dr Becky Hauri at 713-718-7909, FAX 713-718-7781

 

Repeating Classes:  Students who repeat a course three or more times are required to pay an additional $75 tuition fee. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESOL 0341:  Beginning Conversation

Weekly Course Outline

 

This syllabus is subject to change to reflect the needs of the class. 

 

Week 1:          Unit 1:  It’s nice to meet you.                                   

 

Week 2:          Unit 2:  What’s this?

 

Week 3:          Unit 3:  Where are you from? 

Unit 4:  I’m not wearing boots!

 

Week 4:          Quiz 1 Units 1-4

Unit 5:  What are you doing? 

 

Week 5:          Oral Presentation #1

                        1-2 mins about a holiday in the U.S or your country

 

Week 6:          Unit 6:  My sister works downtown. 

Unit 7:  Does it have a view?

 

Week 7:          Quiz 2 Units 5-7

Unit 8:  What do you do? 

 

Week 8:          Oral Presentation #2

                         3-5 mins about “My Country”

                                   

Week 9:          Quiz 3 Unit 8

Unit 9:  Broccoli is good for you. 

             

Week 10:       Quiz 4 Unit 9

Unit 10:  I can’t ice-skate very well. 

 

Week 11:       Unit 11:  What are you going to do?

                        Unit 12:  What’s the matter? 

 

Week 12        Oral Presentation #3 (Paired)

6-8 mins about a place to visit in Houston or somewhere else in the U.S.A.

 

Week 13        Unit 12:  What’s the matter? 

                        Unit 14:  Did you have fun?

             

Week 14:       Quiz 5 Units 10-14

Unit 15:  Where were you born? 

 

Week 15:       Exam Preparation

 

Week 16:       Final Exam Week