ESOL Daily Discussion Course

Meets every Monday-Thursday from 7:30-9:00 a.m.

Instructor Contact Information

Instructor:
Email:
Office: Room 12
Office Hours: Mondays 3-5 pm
Wednesdays 3-5 pm
Or by appointment
Course Description
This class is for advanced level ESOL students who want to improve their
discussion and presentation skills. Students will read, listen to, learn about,
discuss, and present on a variety of topics. Students will practice using new
vocabulary and grammatical forms to talk about relationships, society and
culture, history, and current events. They will also learn and practice
presentation skills.

Required Texts
1. McCarthy M., McCarten J., and Sandiford, H.
Viewpoint 2. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Required Materials
1. Notebook
2. Pen or pencil

Student Learning Outcomes

After successfully completing the course, students will be able to:
1. Confidently participate in conversations on various topics, including
technology, relationships, history, politics, culture, and psychology.
2. Use relevant vocabulary to discuss various topics.
3. Know how to interrupt, change the topic, ask questions, and end a
conversation in different social contexts.
4. Participate in conversations with peers by adding new ideas,
expressing opinions, debating, and keeping the discussion going.

5. Show an understanding of what was said explicitly and the intended

meaning by responding appropriately to classmates.
6. Develop an awareness of how culture and personality influence
language use and recognize how English is used differently in different
U.S. regions and around the world.

Method of Instruction
During class, students can expect to

1. Practice speaking with partners, in small groups, and large groups.

2. Read relevant articles and find the main ideas and supporting
evidence
3. Listen to podcasts, TED talks, speeches, and the news, and discuss
the main ideas.
4. Summarize, explain, and compare opinions, beliefs, and ideas orally
and in writing.
5. Assess and prioritize arguments and opinions.
6. Create and defend an argument.
7. Self-assess and peer-assess speaking, discussion, and presentation
skills based on target verbal and non-verbal communication goals.
8. Reflect daily on cultural and personal influences in beliefs,
assumptions, and language use.
Grades and Assignments
This class is Pass/No Pass.
1. Journals (in-class) 20% of
grade
2. Participation during discussions20%
3. Presentations (3)20%
4. Homework.. 10%
5. Final Portfolio.30%
Assignment Explanations
Note: You will receive more details throughout the semester.
Journals: Each day, you will complete an in-class writing journal on
the topic.
Participation: Are you talking with your peers? Do you add to the
group and class discussions?
Presentations: You will give three presentations during the
semester. You will receive more information on these when they
are assigned. You will videotape your presentations.
Homework: You will have homework each week. It is due at the
beginning of class.
Final Portfolio: At the end of the semester, you will put together a
final portfolio. This will include:
1. 5 journals
2. A video of one presentation and a reflection paper

3. A video of a discussion you had with a classmate and an

oral reflection (recorded) of the strategies you used.
Student Responsibilities
We will discuss these as a class. Please write down the student
responsibilities that the class decides on.
1. _______________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________

4. _______________________________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________________________

Help Me Help You

My goal is to provide relevant and worthwhile lessons that will help you
achieve your goals. Help me by telling me about yourself and your goals!
Complete the following questions, and return this half of the paper to me by
________________.
Name:

First Language:

1. Why are you studying English?

2. When and where do you speak English outside of class?

3. How will you use English in the future?

4. What are your learning goals for this class? (List three or more)

5. What is an interesting fact about you?

Week
Week 1

Topic
RelationshipsFamily

Activities and Assignments

Monday: Parenting: Assumptions, Differences,
Similarities.
Page 74 reading and article
Grammar: Hypothesizing
Tuesday: Discussion Contexts: When can you talk
about
parenting?
Vocabulary Building
Wednesday: What is a family? Assumptions and
judgments.
Read: Is My Family Dysfunctional?

Week 2

RelationshipsFriends,
Coworkers,
Acquaintances

Thursday: Pragmatic Problem-Solving: How would

you
approach this situation and what would
you say?
Monday: Friendship: What is a friend?
Watch: Friends Episode
Tuesday: Friends vs. Acquaintances: assumptions
and
definitions
Vocabulary Building
Wednesday: Relationship with coworkers: blurring
formal
and informal
Read: Tips for Work Relationships
Watch:

Week 3

RelationshipsMarriage

Thursday: Pragmatic Problem-Solving: How would

you
approach this situation and what would
you say?
Monday: Weddings
Draw and Describe: Weddings In Your
Country
Assumptions, Differences, Similarities
Presentation Work Time
Tuesday: What is marriage?
Read and Listen: Getting Married?
Vocabulary Building

Wednesday: Watch: TED Talk: What You Dont Know

About
Marriage
Assign Presentation 1 and review
rubric

Week 4

Presentations

Thursday: Individual work time for presentation 1

choose
topic, begin outline
Monday: Presentation Styles: Who is your audience?
What is
a good presentation?
Vocabulary Building: oral transitions
Practice with informal presentations
Tuesday: Practicing your speech
Watch: prepared vs. unprepared speakers
Read: responding to audience questions
Wednesday: Student Presentations

Week 5

SocietyPressures and
Culture

Thursday: Student Presentations

Monday: Social Pressures
Read: p. 30 What are some of the social
pressures
youve resisted?
Using participle clauses to link ideas (p.
31)
Tuesday:

Social Pressures and Culture

Listen: Peer Pressure in the U.S.
Does culture explain why you do or
dont do some
things?
Vocabulary Building
Wednesday: Talking about your culture
Responding to Stereotypes
Conversation Strategy: Changing
Views (p 3435)
Watch: Identify how people explain
their
Cultures to Americans
Thursday: Pragmatic Problem-Solving: How would
you approach this situation and what would you do?

Week 6

SocietyLanguage

Monday: What is language? Language and Culture

Watch: language influences culture
Tuesday: Language Use: forms, grammar, accent
Read: Language and Society (p. 36)
Language and Gender: Analyze Videos
Vocabulary Building
Wednesday: Untranslatable word from your culture
Write, explain
Assign Presentation 2 and Review
Syllabus

Week 7

Society- New
Societies and
Cultures

Thursday: Pragmatic Problem-Solving: How would

you
approach this situation and what would
you do?
Monday: New Experiences
Listen and Read: p. 32
Personality and new experiences
Tuesday: Culture Shock
Listen: Stages of Culture Shock
Vocabulary Building
Wednesday: Explaining your experience and giving
advice
Adding emphasis
Giving advice

Week 8

Presentation
Week

Thursday: Pragmatic Problem-Solving: How would

you
approach this situation and what would
you do?
Monday: Explaining in Dialogue vs. Presentations
Compare speech about culture to dialogue
about
Culture
Dialogue Writing
Tuesday: Refining Your Presentation:
Introductions, Outlining, Concluding

Week 9

Current EventsNews Sources

Wednesday: Student Presentations

Thursday: Student Presentations
Monday: What is news?
Types of news sources: Is it reliable?
Pre-reading strategies for reliability
Scanning for main idea, then reporting
out

Tuesday: News and Fear

Listen: What are we to Believe? P. 116
News, Fear, and Culture
Vocabulary Building
Wednesday: Language of the News
be to p. 117
Passive Voice
Prepare for Thursdays assignment

Week 10

Current Events
Comparing
news around
the world

Thursday: Reporting on current event in your country

Monday: News sources from your country
Comparing subjects/content to U.S.
newspapers
Tuesday: News sources from your country
Comparing articles on the same subject:
issue of
Reliability
News and Culture
Wednesday: Well, I heard
Giving different points of view,
explanations on
Events
Watch and Identify: Questioning
Reliability in
Conversation
Create Dialogue

Week 11

Historical
Events

Thursday: Pragmatic Problem-Solving:

discussion/debate
with a partner about a current event
Assign Presentation 3
Monday: Important Historical Events
Read: Events that Changed the World (p.
86)
Discuss and persuade: Important
Historical Event
Tuesday: Different Perceptions of History
Listen: two versions of the same story
Identify word choice, tone, intonation
Vocabulary Building
Wednesday: What if? Historical Events and Culture
Linking events to cultural
development
Discussion Strategy: What if

Week 12

Presentation
Week

Thursday: Pragmatic Problem-Solving: How would

you
approach this situation and what would
you do?
Monday: Explaining Culture through History and
News
Academic and formal expressions of
because
Listen and Watch: Identify because
phrases
Tuesday: Using graphs and charts
Labeling, lay out
Vocabulary for describing graphs and
charts
Wednesday: Student Presentations

Week 13

Debates

Thursday: Student Presentations

Assign Final Portfolio Expectations
Monday: Types of Debates, When to Debate
Watch: Various debates, formal and
informal
Identify strategies: tone, intonation,
expression
Tuesday: Comparing Debate Strategies across
Cultures
What is effective?
Vocabulary Building
Wednesday: Avoiding debate in conversation
Read Dont Get Me Started p. 88
Watch: avoiding debates in sitcoms
Gender Differences in tone and word
choice

Week 14

Portfolio
Compilation

Thursday: Pragmatic Problem-Solving: How would

you
approach this situation and what would
you do?
Monday: Review Portfolio Expectations
Student conferencing
Discuss portfolio reflection ideas with a
peer
Tuesday: Oral Reflection: Write, record, peer-review,
revise
Wednesday: In-Class Work Time and Student

Conferencing
Thursday: Portfolios Due
Class Party