Study Skills 4

An Introduction to Language, 5th Edition by Fromkin and Rodman. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1993

Supplementary handouts to be given in class by Instructor

Other Materials

ºThree ring binder/notebook, 200 sheets loose leaf college ruled notebook paper, and five reinforced index dividers

ºNote: Dictionaries whether they be English-English or English-Translation are not allowed in this class.

Course Description and Objectives

The goal of this class is to help you succeed in the American University setting. As I attend the English 311 class with you, I will respond to Professor Hyon’s class by discussing reading and study skills strategies necessary to help you keep up with lectures, readings, assignments, quizzes, midterm and final exams. On a week to week basis we will go over the class lectures by reviewing our notes and we will prepare for all quizzes and exams. This class will address the special problems and challenges that you as a nonnative speaker may face. Some of the topics that we will address in this class may include but are not limited to the following:

UDiscover and use your learning style.

ULearning to adapt to your instructor’s teaching style.

UDevelop a personal note-taking system.

UUse a computer to organize your notes.

UMatch note-taking and learning style.

U Participate in class and group activities.

UMaking the most of your time.

UStudying with power and confidence (i.e. SQ3R The Basic System)

UOrganizing Information and making study guides.

UBecoming an active reader (i.e. textbook marking system)

ULearn to use previewing, skimming, scanning reading techniques

UPreparation for and taking of tests. (i.e. three step system: make a study schedule, decide what to study, and use your study system)

I will have exercises in which you will be able to assess your strengths and weaknesses in many of the above study skill areas. Don’t feel overwhelmed when you discover that you have weaknesses. I will work with you and together we will discover the ways that you, as a nonnative speaker of English who is beginning his/her college career, learn the easiest. Try out the skills that we discuss in our class in the English 311 class to see whether or not they work for you. You will discover the best ways for you to study as you adapt to the ideas that we talk about as you suit them to your own needs and personal style. In other words, you will learn what works best for you.

Requirements

Interviews and papers

Interview #1: Make an appointment within the first two weeks of class to meet with Professor Hyon. Prepare your questions before you go, but also be ready for spontaneous conversation. Ask Professor Hyon the following questions:

1). What was your first year of college life like?

2). At what point in your life did you decide to teach? Why?

3). What steps did you take to become a teacher in your field?

4). What do you like most about teaching? Least?

5). What are some things that keep you busiest outside the classroom?

6). What do you expect from your students? What should they expect from you?

While she answers the questions be sure to take notes on her responses. Afterwards write a short 1-2 two page paper about what you learned and what surprised you the most about Professor Hyon. The paper is due by the end of the third week of class.

Interview #2: Make a second appointment during the week before the midterm exam to meet with Professor Hyon. This meeting is for you to discuss with the professor any problems that you may have had on some of the quizzes. Also you may want to ask the professor any questions that you may have concerning the midterm exam. Remember that the exam is 30% of your final grade so it is important to find out what the test is all about. While she answers the questions be sure to take notes on her responses. Afterwards write a short 1-2 page paper about your interview. Here is a list of possible questions:

1). Are we responsible for knowing all the information from the morphology and syntax quizzes on the midterm?

2). I don’t understand morphology and affix productivity. Could you briefly re- explain that to me so that I will be prepared for the midterm?

3). Is it more important for me to study the textbook or to review my notes for the midterm?

4). What is the midterm going to be like? Are essay, multiple choice, matching, fill in the blank, true or false, and short answer questions going to be on the test?

5). It is hard for me to take notes in class. How could I improve my note taking abilities in your class?

6). Ask her any other questions that you feel may better prepare you for the midterm?

7). Share with Professor Hyon things that you like about her class during the interview. It is important to have a positive relationship with your instructors.

8). How is my grade up to this point? Can I do any extra credit?

The second paper is due by the end of midterm week.

Interview #3: Make a third appointment during the week before the final exam to meet with Professor Hyon. This meeting is for you to discuss with the professor any problems that you may have had on the midterm as well as some of the quizzes. Also you may want to ask the professor any questions that you may have concerning the final exam. Remember that the exam is 30% of your final grade so it is important to find out what the test is all about. While she answers the questions be sure to take notes on her responses. Afterwards write a short 1-2 page paper about your interview. Some of the questions my include:

1). Is the final exam cumulative (comprehensive)?

2). How much information from the first five weeks is going to be on the final? And what about the last five weeks?

3). How would you suggest I best prepare for this last exam?

4). What is my grade up to this point? Can I do any extra credit?

During this last interview take some time to thank Professor Hyon for her time and effort in teaching the class. Share with her some interesting things that you have learned about second language acquisition, morphology, syntax, phonetics, etc.

The third paper is due on the last day of class.

Time Management Exercise:

Make a quarter calendar. Follow instructions on page 74 of handout "Making the Most of your Time."

Make a weekly schedule. Follow instructions on page 75 on handout "Making the Most of your Time."

The Time Management is due exercise by the end of the second week of class.

Weekly note-taking reviews

Turn in your notes at the end of each week. I will review your notes for the Adjunct Eng 311, Reading, and Study Skills classes asking the following questions:

1). Did you date your notes and number the pages?

2). Did you write the course name or number on your notes?

3). Did your write down the topic of the lecture?

4). Did you use 8½ by 11" paper to keep notes in a loose leaf binder?

5). Did you take notes with a ball point pen?

6). Are your notes easy to read?

7). Is this set of notes in the same notebook as all your other notes for this class?

8). Are you able to distinguish Professor’s Hyon/Buckhoff’s main ideas from the examples that separate them?

9). As you read your notes, are you able to reconstruct in your mind what the lecture was about?

10). Are your notes organized into an informal outline or other logical format?

When you turn your notes in for review, write down three skills that you are having trouble with and tell me how you are going to improve and strengthen these skills. You may refer to the handout on "Sharpening Your Classroom skills" for reference. See the below example for an idea:

Problem

I have trouble listening for main ideas.

Solution

I can practice listening for repeated terms or ideas. Maybe if I concentrate on the facial expressions and gestures of the professor I can better guess which words and ideas are going to be emphasized. I can also listen for signal words such as most important, above all, a key idea, of primary concern etc. These words are an intro to main ideas.

Note: You need to do this every week.

Weekly Success Journal

At the end of each week, you will have an opportunity to write in a success journal. This is a 1 page writing assignment that requires you to think about your learning. You should write the journal based on your experiences with the study skill/reading strategies as you attempt to use them in the Open University English 311 class. You must hand this in to me for evaluation each week. The weekly journal will give you a complete record of your language and study skill progress. It will be an important tool for reference for to use later in other academic classes.

The weekly success journal will be graded according to the following simple set of criteria. Grades will not be affected by the nature of your response; you should feel completely free to say anything you wish, as long as you say something related to the readings/study skills in each assigned chapter. Neatness and editing are not important, as long as you and your instructor can make out what you are saying.

Grade of A: The journal shows attentive summaries of the reading assignment and shows real, thoughtful responses. The journal includes specific experiences with how reading/ study skill strategies have been used in the Adjunct Eng 311 class.

Grade of B: The journal shows skimpy readings and summaries, along with some responses. The journal includes some personal application of the reading/study skill strategies but it isn’t specific as to how they are being used in the Adjunct Eng class.

Grade of C: The journal is mostly summary with little if any response to the readings. Has little if any personal application of how the reading/study skill strategies are being used in the Adjunct Eng 311 class.

Grade of NC: Shows no evidence of the readings.

Grading

The number letter grading scale is set as follows:

A 95-100

A- 90-94

B+ 87-89

B 84-86

B- 80-83

C+ 76-79

C 70-75

NC 69& below

Scoring Grade

Your final grade will be calculated as follows:

Class participation 10%

Interview #1 and paper 10%

Interview #2 and paper 10%

Interview #3 and paper 10%

Weekly Success Journal 20% (2% each)

Time Management Exercise 10%

Weekly Note-taking Reviews 20% (2% each)

Quizzes 10% (1.4% each)

Total 100%

Late Work

Assignments submitted after the due date will not be accepted. In other words, you will receive no points. I will only allow you to make up missed work if you have a written documented excuse from someone stating the urgency of the situation (e.g. Doctor’s note, CHP accident report, etc.).

Attendance

Your attendance is required at all class meetings. Only written documented excuses for an absence may result in your making up an assignment or graded daily work. Absences endanger your grade simply because you are missing out in the learning process. Three absences will result in an overall reduction of one full letter grade and five absences will result in a failing grade for this class.

Quizzes

There will be 9 quizzes during the quarter in Reading and Study Skills classes. As Indicated in the syllabus, each quiz will cover the readings assigned for that week. For example, on Friday January 19, there will be a quiz on Time management. The quizzes will be either multiple choice, true/ false or matching. They will cover for the most part, the main ideas of the reading. This is a good exercise to assess your reading comprehension abilities. I will only allow you to make up a quiz if you have a written excuse stating the urgency of the situation. I will drop your two lowest quiz scores at the end of the quarter before I calculate your final grade.

Course Syllabus

Week 1:

Jan 8 Reading prep Eng Study skill strategies

9 Lecture prep for 311; Eng 311 lecture

10 Lecture review; Reading prep for Eng 311

11 Lecture prep for Eng 311; Eng 311 lecture

12 Lecture review of Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and Eng 311 note-taking review #1

Week 2: Handout "Making the Most of your Time"

15 Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday-No class

16 Lecture prep for pp. 68-71 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

17 Lecture review; Reading prep for pp. 72-79 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

18 Lecture prep for pp. 80-91 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

19 Lecture review of Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and Eng 311 note-taking review #2; Time Management Exercise; Quiz 1 on Time Management

Week 3: Classroom Skills

22 Reading prep Eng 311; Study skill strategies pp. 46-52 of handout

23 Lecture prep for pp. 53-58 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

24 Lecture review; Reading prep for pp. 59-61 of handout

25 Lecture prep for pp. 63-67 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

26 Lecture review of Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and Eng 311 note-taking review #3; Interview #1 and paper due; Quiz 2 on Note taking

Week 4: Becoming an Active Reader

29 Reading prep; Eng Study skill strategies pp. 277-279 of handout

30 Lecture prep for pp. 280-291 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

31 Lecture review Reading prep for pp. 291-296 of handout of Eng 311

Feb 1 Lecture prep for pp. 296-299 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

2 Lecture review of Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and Eng 311 note-taking review #4; Quiz 3 on Active Reading

Week 5: Study System

5 Reading prep; Eng Study skill strategies pp. 143-145 of handout

6 Eng 311 Lecture prep; pp. 145-157 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

7 Lecture review; Reading prep for pp. 158-162 of handout Eng 311

8 Eng 311 Lecture prep for pp. 163-165 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

9 Lecture review of Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and Eng 311 note-taking review #5; Interview #2 and paper due; Quiz 4 on Study System

Week 6: Motivating to Learn

12 Reading prep; Eng Study skill strategies pp. 3-6 of handout;

13 Eng 311 Lecture prep for pp. 7-17 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

14 Eng 311 Lecture review; Reading prep for pp. 18-19 of handout

15 Eng 311 Lecture prep for pp. 21-24 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

16 Lecture review of Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and Eng 311 note-taking review #6; Quiz 5 on Motivation

Week 7: Taking of Tests

19 Reading prep; Eng Study skill strategies pp. 347 of handout

20 Eng 311 Lecture prep for pp. 348-354 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

21 Eng 311Lecture review; Reading prep for pp. 355-360 of handout

22 Eng 311 Lecture prep; pp. 361-367 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

23 Lecture review of Eng 311;Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and Eng 311 note-taking review #7; Quiz 6 on Test Taking

Week 8: Concentration

26 Reading prep; Eng Study skill strategies pp. 207-214 of handout

27 Eng 311; Lecture prep for pp. 215-217 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

28 Lecture review of Eng 311; Reading prep for Eng 311; pp. 217-222 of handout

29 Eng 311 Lecture prep; pp. 223-226 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

March 1 Lecture review of Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and Eng 311 note-taking review #8; Quiz 7 on Concentration

Week 9: Vocabulary

4 Reading prep Eng 311; Study skill strategies pp. 184-191 of handout

5 Lecture prep for Eng 311; pp. 192-198 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

6 Lecture review of Eng 311; Reading prep for pp. 199-202 of handout

7 Eng 311; Lecture prep for pp. 203-206 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

8 Eng 311 Lecture review; Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and note-taking review #9; Quiz 8 on Vocabulary

Week 10: Organizing Information and Making Study Guides

11 Reading prep Eng 311; Study skill strategies pp. 166-167 of handout

12 Eng 311 Lecture prep; pp. 170-176 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

13 Lecture review of Eng 311; Reading prep for Eng 311; pp. 177-181 of handout

14 Eng 311 Lecture prep; for pp. 182-183 of handout; Eng 311 lecture

15 Eng 311 Lecture review; Study skill strategies; Weekly journal and note-taking review #10; Quiz 9 on Study Guides

Finals Week

Homework Assignments and Readings

18 Last Day of Fall Regular Classes Interview #3 and paper due

19-21 Final Exams for Reading/Study Skills: Date to be announced

21 English 311 Final Exam @2:00 P.M.