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2022　Oral Expression in English GII 2

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Academic unit or major
English language courses
Instructor(s)
Mitchell Jon 
Class Format
Exercise    (Face-to-face)
Media-enhanced courses
Day/Period(Room No.)
Intensive ()  
Group
2
Course number
LAE.E182
Credits
2
Academic year
2022
Offered quarter
4Q
Syllabus updated
2023/1/10
Lecture notes updated
-
Language used
English
Access Index

Course description and aims

In keeping with the title, all of the “Oral Expression in English” courses are devoted to improving students' skills in speaking. Apart from making presentations, effective speaking also involves effective listening, so the classwork and homework in the course require that students carry out both interactive speech and are engaged in listening exercises. Oral Expression in English GII is offered during the winter vacation as an intensive course.
This course aims to provide students with English oral expression skills necessary to study abroad, with a specific focus on discussion and presentation.

Student learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to discuss and give presentations on the topics of their choices, and thus be better ready to study abroad.

Course taught by instructors with work experience

✔ Applicable How instructors' work experience benefits the course
An instructor with work experience as a journalist, author, and editor will provide hands-on education in writing and presenting about science, based on practice in the field that features critical thinking and logical ways of communicating information to audiences.

Keywords

speaking, listening, discussion, presentation, study abroad

Competencies that will be developed

Specialist skills ✔ Intercultural skills ✔ Communication skills ✔ Critical thinking skills Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

During this course, we will be using a range of communicative styles to investigate contemporary issues and improve our critical thinking skills. Classes will normally begin with a background discussion of a topic from the textbook, Good Bye, Galapagos, followed by a reading of the chapter. Following this, students will work in pairs and small groups to explore the theme via discussions, debates and short presentations. This is not a lecture-style class. This class will enable students to discuss topical issues with the goal of improving both their own critical thinking abilities and English communicative skills. These skills will be very useful for academic situations where students are expected to express an informed opinion supported by relevant research.

Course schedule/Required learning

  Course schedule Required learning
Class 1 Introduction to the course In-class survey to ascertain students’ needs and expectations for the course.
Class 2 Universities in Japan This class will explore the issue of higher education; students will explore the topic based upon the textbook and their own experiences.
Class 3 Fewer Japanese Students Studying Abroad Using a variety of critical thinking strategies, we will investigate the reasons why this trend is occurring and we will propose solutions to encourage more students to study overseas.
Class 4 Galapagized Japan Building upon the critical thinking skills explored in Class 3, we will investigate - and assess - the notion of unique Japanese attributes.
Class 5 Lack of Entrepreneurs Following a review of the chapter, students will work in pairs to begin considering possible topics of their final presentations for the course.
Class 6 Uniformity This class will be the final focus on workplace culture. Students will explore the topic using a balanced approach - i.e. pros and cons - before explaining their own opinion to classmates.
Class 7 Herbivorous Males This day's three classes will explore common media perceptions of Japanese society. Students will assess the accuracy of such perceptions and explore how they have arisen.
Class 8 Disaster Spirit As explained in Class 5, students will give a pair presentation at the end of the course in which they propose an alternative chapter for the textbook. This class will explore the grammatical - and structural - criteria for such writing.
Class 9 Immigrants Needed This class will explore ways to create a persuasive argument in presentations (and writing), including techniques such as powerful introductions, effective counter arguments and escalation of ideas.
Class 10 Good News Japan After examining the textbook chapter, students will finalize the topic of their own pair presentation - under the guidance of the instructor.
Class 11 Presentation Planning – A This class will afford students an opportunity to plan their presentations with their partner; the instructor will be available for any necessary support.
Class 12 Presentation Planning – B Having completed your planning in Class 12, this session will allow students to rehearse their presentation and polish its delivery; advice will also be proffered on how to create an effective slide show.
Class 13 Final Presentations Students will give a presentation to the class and engage in a Q&A session. The presentation will be assessed and students will take notes in order to complete the final reaction paper.
Class 14 Final Presentations and Feedback Following the final round of presentations, students will submit a reaction paper explaining which of the presentations they thought was the most effective.

Textbook(s)

Good Bye, Galapagos: evolving aspects of Japanese society, Paul Stapleton, Cengage Learning, 978-4-86312- 216-1 (To be sold at Tokyo Tech Co-op, 東工大生協で販売予定)

Reference books, course materials, etc.

N/A

Assessment criteria and methods

Presentation: 50%, Final reaction paper: 50%

Related courses

  • LAE.E131 ： Oral Expression in English 1
  • LAE.E132 ： Oral Expression in English 2
  • LAE.E133 ： Oral Expression in English 3
  • LAE.E134 ： Oral Expression in English 4

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

None

Other

I look forward to working with you all during this course!

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