Topics for Topic Talk 1 (Tentative)

Topics for Group Topic Talk 1 
(Advanced to 4/8, 4/15; FINAL outline due on 4/22)
4/8   Groups 4, 3, 6, 5
4/15 Groups 7, 1, 2, 8

~ From: Studio Classroom (March 2015)

1. The Sound of Music
2. Inline Skating (Group 5)
3. The Computer Gets Personal
4. Say It Politely (Group 4)
5. Emma Watson (Group 6)
6. The Sugar Bush Fair
7. Natural Mosquito Repellents
8. Costa Rica (Group 7)
9. Banksy and Street Art (Group 3)
10. Eating Habits (Group 2)
11. Good Decisions (Group 8)
12. California Here I Come
13. Your Friends and Their Phones (Group 1)

Idioms and Phrases: Body Idioms (from The Teacher [Online])

This week, VOA Words and Their Stories taught us a lot about DOWN TO EARTH.
How is being down to earth different from having a big head?
Why is it a big HEAD?
Can we use any other word for the body part in making an idiom?

Let's find out more about it on the website, The Teacher!
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/theteacher/)

WELCOME BACK ON BOARD!

The spring semester has begun!
Welcome back!

Reminder: Grading Policy (Last edited on 1/16)

The following presents our grading policy as shown in the course syllabus.

• Attendance (20%)
• Class participation (quiz performance included) (10%)
• Group topic talks (30%)
• Midterm (15%) + pretest (5%)
• Final (20%)

Reminder: FINAL Preparation

Our final is coming! Please note that the final will take place on 1/14!

Also remember that the final will cover
(a) all the word lists (topics 1-15), and 
(b) both November magazine (11/1-30) and December magazine (12/1-31).

The exam will include both listening and reading comprehension questions (4 question types each, similar to our pretest, though only 25 questions in total).

• Listening: picture description (2 questions), question and response (5), short conversation (3), short talk (2)
• Reading: sentence completion (6 questions), reading comprehension (2), text completion (5), Chinese-to-English translation (EXTRA 5 for a total of 10 bonus points)

For more information, please check our announcement made earlier.
(Click the link here: http://ncuefreshmanenglishwed.blogspot.tw/2014/09/course-syllabus.html)

Reminder: Outside Reading from Topic Talk 1-2

Read outside readings for our final exam! 
Be sure to read ALL the outside readings shared by the groups during their topic talks 1 and 2!

Note that the teacher will pick out 1 to 2 articles to test your reading comprehension ability in the final exam.

Useful Expressions for Presentation (Cont'd)

More of the expressions are to be discussed in class!
They are provided in the order below:

1. Introducing the topic
2. Giving an overview
3. Finishing a section
4. Starting a new section
5. Analyzing a point and giving recommendations
6. Giving examples
7. Summarizing and concluding
8. Paraphrasing and clarifying
9. Inviting others to discuss/ask questions

Find the expressions HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/business/talkingbusiness/unit3presentations/expert.shtml

(Major reference: BBC Talking Business [Online])