Teacher: Craig Howard (cd_howard@hotmail.com) Website: http://craighoward.net Office Location: 3106 Office Hours: Mondays 10:40 to 1:40 Text: To be announced in first class meeting
Course description: This is a communicative language course based on acquiring a certain group of skills which promote cross cultural understanding.
Course requirements: All students are expected to participate to a reasonable level and come to class prepared. Preparation for class includes obtaining a clean copy of the course text, the study of lexical items (vocabulary), the preparation of dialogues for speaking activities, and any other assigned tasks. ALL students must have a notebook in which they can collect items taught in class. In other words, students must bring a notebook to class, as well as a pen or pencil to write with.
Evaluation: Rikkyo stipulates general percentages for course grades. Your class will follow this breakdown in most cases:
Attendance: 30%*
Class Participation: 30%**
Final Evaluation: 40%***
In the case of R&L courses, 40% will be based on the R&L Unified Exam
*Attendance: If you arrive to class after I have taken the role, make sure you come to me after class and see that I change your mark from absent to late. I do not stop teaching or other learning activities to change the record book for tardy students. If you do not respond when your name is called, your name will be marked as absent. If you find it difficult to respond to audio stimulus, or you have a hearing disorder, Rikkyo University supplies attendance cards for such students. I can bring these cards for you as an alternative to verbal participation in the class role call. Please note, that I call all absent students names 3 times during role. It is ALWAYS your responsibility to listen during role.**Participation: Classroom behavior is very important. Students must participate in a way that promotes the class atmosphere and encourages other students to try to use English. This includes speaking in English, not Japanese. If a student behaves in a way that DISCOURAGES, or INHIBITS others from participating in class, (shouting out, aggressive behavior, actively mocking others for participation, etc…) I find that not only a lack of participation, but the theft of the chance others have to learn. I will consider this seriously during final evaluation. If you feel you cannot complete tasks in English at all, or are not prepared for language education in English, please see me and we can determine a more appropriate assessment model, and more appropriate activities for you.
***Final Evaluation: Depending on the progression of the class, the final evaluation may take the form of an aural/oral (spoken) examination, a written test, a notebook check, or some combination of the three. Your vocabulary notebook will undoubtedly play some role in your final grade. If you have not worked out an alternative form of assessment with me by week 6 (midterm), you will be graded on the same scales as the majority of the students the class. For further information on grading process of your vocabulry notebook, here is a convenient link which details exactly how I determine your vacabulary notebook grade. Notebook Check Guidelines
written May 4, 2004