Bangkok University International College

Course Outline Form

Section 1: General Information
Course Code: IEN105
Course Title: Communicative English
Type of course
: General Education
Semester / Academic Year: Fall 2015
Instructor: A. Rick Broome (richard.b@bu.ac.th)
This course outline is last updated on: July 12, 2015
Section 2: Course objectives
The primary purpose of this course is to enhance students
communicative English competence in four skills: listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. Students who successfully
complete the course will be able to engage in advanced
discussions, debates, presentations, and speeches. Students are
expected to be assertive as English speakers who are able to
communicate proficiently in English at the intermediate level. In
order to achieve these objectives, students are expected to fully
participate during in-class activities and complete all class
assignments.
Section 3: Teaching Approaches
Course description
This course develops the students communicative
competence through effective integrated use of language skills in
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students will learn how to
give discussions, presentations, speeches, and to participate in
debates.
Course credits: 3 credits
Section 4: Students learning development
1. Ethics and Morals
Responsibility, Class Discussion, Creativity
2. Knowledge
Listening Exercises, Drills, Reading and Writing assignments,
Class Discussion
3. Cognitive Skills
Listening Exercises, Drills, Reading and Writing assignments,
Class Discussion

4. Interpersonal Skills and Responsibility

Social Interaction skills, Communication skills
5. Numerical, Communication and Information Technology Skills
Internet Research, Attractive and Creative Class Presentations
Section 5: Teaching Plan and Course Evaluation
5.1 Lesson plan for IEN105 Communicative English Semester
1/Academic Year 2015
Wee
Topic/Description:
Dat Topic/Description:
k
Lecture
e
Lab
1
Class Introduction
Supplemental
Grammar overview
Listening practice
2
Unit 1 Trends
Listening Skill:
Grammar: present
Listening for main
continuous
ideas
Vocab skill: collocations
3
Unit 2 Color
Listening Skill:
Grammar: theres and its
Understanding
Vocab skill: word families 1
cause and effect
4
Unit 3 Courtesy
Listening Skill:
Grammar: modal verbs
Predicting
Vocab skill: synonyms
QUIZ 1
5
Unit 4 Games
Listening Skill:
Grammar: imperative verbs
Listening for names
Vocab skill: word families 2
and dates
6

Unit 5 Family Ties

Grammar: auxiliary verbs
in questions
Vocab skill: word families 3
Individual Speaking Test
Midterm Exam
Unit 6 Self-Reliance
Grammar: comparatives
and superlatives
Vocab skill: using the
dictionary 1
Unit 7 Use and Reuse
Grammar: future with will

Listening Skill:
Listening for reasons
and explanations
Supplemental
Listening practice
QUIZ 2
Listening Skill:
Listening for specific
information
Listening Skill:
Recognizing a

13

Vocab skill: compound

nouns
Unit 8 Storytelling
Grammar: simple past and
narrative present
Vocab skill: fixed
expressions
Unit 9 Numbers
Grammar: modals of
possibility: could and might
Vocab skill: prefixes mis
and dis
Unit 10 Global Health
Grammar: if clauses for
future possibility
Vocab skill: using the
dictionary 2
Group Presentations

14

Course Review

10

11

12

speakers attitude
Listening Skill:
Making inferences
QUIZ 3
Listening Skill:
Understanding
spoken numbers
Listening Skill:
Recognizing facts
and opinions
Supplemental
Listening practice
Supplemental Final
Preparation
QUIZ 4

Course Evaluation:
Assignments
30 %
o Individual Speaking Test
-10%
o Group Presentation
-20%
Participation (LECTURE class)
10%
Online Exercises
5%
Quizzes (LAB class)
20%
Participation (LAB class)
5%
Final
30%
Total
100 %
Section 6: Resources for Instruction
Textbook / Major Documents: Q: Skills for Success Listening and
Speaking Book 2, Margaret Brooks, Oxford University Press
Book / Online: English Language Dictionary
Section 7: Course Evaluation Components

1. Grammar and Vocabulary Quizzes (conducted in the

lab):
20 points
The total of 4 quizzes will be given only on the dates
scheduled in this syllabus (2 quizzes during week 1-7 and 2
quizzes during week 8-14). Most quizzes will be based on the
lessons previously taught or the extra lessons from the instructors
supplementary practice exercises. An absence or late arrival on
the date of a quiz will result in no points awarded for the quiz that
was missed. For emergency situations, such as severe medical
issues, the instructor may consider alternative options for a
missed quiz.
2. Assignments:
30
points
There are 2 assignments for this course.
2.1 An Individual speaking test (Week 7):
10 points
During the first half of the semester, students need to
practice speaking on each of the topics and be ready for their
individual speaking test on week 7. Before the test date, the
students will be asked to sign up for their time slot.
The list of the topics is as follows:
Unit
1

Topics
You have been asked to give advice to
international students coming to your
country. Tell them about local customs and
traditions for maintaining physical health.
You represent a community service program.
Its your job to encourage students to join
the program. Your talk should cover: what
things they can do; what the activities are;
what they can gain from taking part.
You meet an international student on your
university campus. They have just arrived in
your country and want advice on three cities
to visit. Plan which cities to recommend and
relevant interesting information.

**In Week 7, each student is randomly assigned one topic from

the list to present to the class. The evaluation criteria are
presented below:
Criteria: the performance
shows /is
Interesting content/Ideas
Comprehensible
Fluency: flow of speech
Language accuracy:
grammatically correct
Total

Scores
2
2
3
3
10

2.2 Group Presentation (Week 13-14):

20
points
During the lecture class, students will work in assigned groups
of 4-5 and choose one project from the choices listed below.
Choose only one project:
1.A problem and its solutions
2.How the internet has changed the world
3. How something is made
Students will be asked to decide which project they would like
to do and sign up for the time slot. They will have to start working
outside of class time and report their progress to the instructor
when requested. Then, they will have to present their project with
their group members in front of the class within a fifteen minute
time limit. Students will be evaluated based on the criteria below:
Group
performanc
e

Individual
performanc
e

Content
Prepara
tion
Deliver
y

Present
ation

Interesting
Creative
Teamwork

4 points

Overall
impression
Interesting
presentation
Preparation
Fluency

4 points

4 point

8 points

 Accuracy
Total

20
points

3. Mid-term Exam
There is NO midterm exam for this course
4. Final Exam
30
points
A 30-point final exam is scheduled outside the regular course
meeting time. The final exam for IEN105 has initially been
scheduled for August 3-5 (Time TBD). Be sure to check for exam
schedule updates on the website: http://ursa.bu.ac.th
5. Attendance & Participation
15
points
In addition to attending the class regularly, students are also
expected to actively engage in class discussions. Class attendance
and participation is expected and will be recorded for every class
meeting. Students are expected to attend class on time; arrival 10
minutes after the class start time will result in no score for
attendance or class participation for that class meeting. Please
note that attendance and participation points will be recorded in
both Lecture and Lab classes.
6. Online Exercises
points

Students will need to purchase the official, legitimate copy of the

textbook from the school bookstore. Inside the book, they will find a code
that they will enter into the publishers website, allowing them to register
for the online exercises. All of these exercises from the website will need to
be completed and the results printed out and turned in to the instructor by
the final lecture class of the semester. Completion of all the exercises will
result in a full score of 5 points. Instructors will be able to log on to
students accounts and check whether or not each student has actually
completed the online assignments. Photocopying of other students results
is not permitted.

Grading Policy
ALL students are required to fully study the course lessons
and participate in class activities to earn their best scores. The
instructor reserves the right NOT to give an extra credit
assignment to an individual student who wants to improve his/her

scores for a better or passing grade. Grades for this course

typically are based only on the Course Evaluation Components
outlined above.
Students are required to attend all scheduled assignments,
quizzes, and exams that contribute to the final course grade at the
appointed time and place. Any student who misses a scheduled
test or exam without approval will be given a grade of 0 for any
exam or test missed.
The instructor may allow make-up tests or exams in place of
tests or exams that a student has missed because of severe illness
or personal crisis -- with documentation of the illness or crisis.