English 1 defines and solidifies the foundational skills for effective communication in English as well as fosters international awareness, as both are typically required in the globally expanding domain of scientific and technological research activities. It also prepares students to study or do research abroad in the future. Students are assigned training exercises that cover the four language skills — reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The reading and listening materials include topics such as international and intercultural issues as well as the fundamentals of science and technology. Practice exercises in writing and speaking are provided so that students can develop confidence and competence to participate in discussions and conferences where opinions are exchanged through both text and speech. TOEFL-type exercise problems are also used in the course.
This course aims to establish a base on which students can build toward a higher level of communication competence specifically in an English language environment. The base is composed of three elements: (1) identifying relevant information accurately, (2) exercising fair judgement to form a valid opinion, and (3) stating opinions clearly and persuasively. English 1 covers these three elements, and the communication abilities acquired will help students in the future when they have to assume positions of responsibility in group activities.
Each student is assigned to a group led by an instructor. Instructors for each group conduct the course using the "Course description and aims" and "Student learning outcomes" as the basic framework. "Class direction," "Course schedule," and other information below explain the features of each class.
By the end of this course, students will:
・Become aware of the degree to which practical English abilities are required for learning at university and for research activities both in Japan and abroad
・Be able to grasp the main ideas and arguments of written and spoken materials in diverse areas including international and intercultural issues, science, and technology
・Have increased their knowledge of effective vocabulary and expressions to actively communicate their ideas and opinions in English
・Have gained confidence in using English to state their opinions
・Be able to understand the structural characteristics of good paragraphs and write their own short paragraphs with unity and coherence
Four language skills, fostering international awareness, communication skills, studying abroad, TOEFL
Specialist skills | ✔ Intercultural skills | ✔ Communication skills | Critical thinking skills | Practical and/or problem-solving skills |
Students are required to read a passage in the textbook, solve exercise problems and submit the answers to the instructor before each class. The instructor will explain the key points of each unit, useful expressions, grammar and answers to the exercise problems in class. The class activity will also include discussion, writing and viewing news videos in English.
Course schedule | Required learning | |
---|---|---|
Class 1 | Introduction / paragraph writing | to read the passage in Unit 1 and solve the exercise problems |
Class 2 | Unit 1: Flowers sweeten up when they sense bees buzzing | to read the passage in Unit 2 and solve the exercise problems |
Class 3 | Unit 2: Sorry, the Mona Lisa is not looking at you | to read the passage in Unit 3 and solve the exercise problems |
Class 4 | Unit 3: Nearly one-third of Americans sleep fewer than six hours per night | to read the passage in Unit 4 and solve the exercise problems |
Class 5 | Unit 4: There's no limit on longevity, but getting super old is still tough | to read the passage in Unit 5 and solve the exercise problems |
Class 6 | Unit 5: Chinese city wants to launch fake moon to illuminate its streets | to review the overall content of the course |
Class 7 | Review | term paper |
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Science at Hand: Articles from Smithsonian Magazine's Smart News, Keiko Miyamoto, Kinseido.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Activities in class 40%
Homework 40%
Term paper 20%
None