English at Work A General Introduction to the Course

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English at WorkA General Introduction to the
Course
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This course belongs to English language
communication module, mainly focusing on reading
skills in formal and informal contexts.It is
divided into 8 units.
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Eight Units of the Course

• Jobs
• Teaching
• Food
• Crime
• Healthcare
• The Business World
• Administration
• Life and Work

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What will be expected to get from this course?
At the end of the course, you are required to

• Express yourself in more formal and written
  English about various aspects in work instead of
  colloquial English.
• Read, think,and reproduce by written or spoken
  English.

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Teaching Plan

• The whole course will take 17 weeks (two weeks
  for each unit and one week for general revision
  ).
• Each unit will be followed by some assignments
  for writing practice.
• With your effort for the fulfillment of the
  course, youll be richly awarded earn 4.5
  credits.
• Every tutorial needs your active participation in
  3 or 4 activities.

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Examination (100 points)

• Assignments ( 10 points )
• Activities during the tutorial ( 10 points )
• Oral test ( final ) (20 points)
• Final examination ( 60 points)

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Demanding on you -- distance self-learner

• Everything you need are at hand
• Learning by doing -- practice
• Making your study plans8-week planner weekly
  planner
• Handing in the assignments in time

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Unit Two TeachingActivity I Describing A
School

• Performance Objectives
• Unlike descriptions of different careers,
  describing a school or a workplace may need to
  cover such information as its location, its
  size, its scale (the number of teachers and
  students), its history ( when it was built),
  its special features, its outdoor/ indoor
  components and their location.
• In this activity, youre required to
  master the skills of naming components of your
  workplace and describing their location?

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Can you name out these components of a school?

• ???/ ???
• parking space /bicycle shed
• ??? / ??/ ??
• boiler room /(front)gate house
• ???/ ???/ ??/???/ ???
• sports field/football pitch /
• basketball court/athletestrack
• ?? /???/ ??/??/
• play ground/ flag post/
• flower-beds/ grassy areas
• ???? / ?? /???/ ???
• covered walkway/ wall news-
• Paper/ notice board/ slogan

• ???/ ???/ ???/ ???
• classroom b./ office block /
• laboratory/ comprehensive b.
• ???
• Deans office
• ???
• Assembly Hall
• ???/ ???(???)
• Library/ Sick bay
• (??)??? / ???
• caretakers house/school shop
• ???/ ??/ ?? / ??/ ??
• dormitory/cafeteria kitchen
• showers / toilets

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Useful words and expressions for descriptions of
location

• Verbs
• There is/arewith
• is located
• lies
• is (situated)
• overlooks
• is/are housed
• is/are accommodated
• linksand
• has
• occupies

• Prepositional Phrases
• on the left/right of
• to the left/right of
• on the edge of
• on the outskirt of
• in the front of
• at the back of
• in front of
• beside /behind /near..
• opposite

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Role Play

• Practice in pairs
• Suppose one of you are a parent sending your
  son/daughter to Shantou TV University for further
  study. You want to know as clearly as possible
  what the TVU is like.
• The other of you are supposed to be the
  principal of our university showing the parent a
  map of our campus and try to give a general
  introduction to our university, especially the
  nice surroundings and facilities,etc. ( See a map
  of our campus on the screen )

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Topics for Group Discussion

• How many points can you find an American school
  is different from a Chinese one after the
  comparison of the two information sheets? What
  are they ?
• What do these differences indicate?
• Who spend more time on classroom study, Chinese
  kids or American kids ?
• What do you think might be the reasons for so
  many American Nobel Prize winners and few Chinese
  ones ? Express your own attitude towards the
  present basic education in China, discussing the
  advantages and disadvantages of American ways of
  education.

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You may make use of the following word and
expressions

• to reduce the heavy burden,
• exam-oriented education quality education
• the 9-year compulsory education system,
• to memorizemechanically/to learn by rote
• to have high scores with poor ability
• to cram / spoon feed the pupils
• to inspire / to encourage
• open/close model positive /passive learning
• to cultivate ones ability of creation

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Activity IV Introducing a Course

• Performance Objective
• To get mastery of the writing skills of a
  formal introduction to a course by analyzing a
  sample passage.
• ---What style is the introduction written ?
• The style of such an introduction is usually
  formal, and passive voice is frequently used.
• ---Why is passive voice preferred for such
  introduction?
• 1) It needs to be impersonal.
• 2) It aims to provide general information
  to the public rather than an individual.

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• Write an introduction of about 100 words to a
  listening course according to the following clues
  
• Aim to improve listening comprehension of
  English
• Time 4 sessions a week for 2 semesters
• Book Step by Step (buy from the course book
  section)
• Outline See the contents page of the course book
• Sessions Listening to tape recordings,watching
  TV/ video shows/ slides, exercises, language
  activities
• Assessment regular assignments/ class
  practice(30) final exams(70) at the end of the
  term
• Further Details handouts and individual help
  available from the subject teacher

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Activity V Choosing a Course

• Performance Objectives
• To learn how to write an advertisement of a
  school
• To learn to select the course of your preference
  and give reasons to support your ideas
• Writing an advertisement
• ---What are the language features/style of an ad.
  ?
• a. short / incomplete sentences
• b. frequent use of nouns and noun phrases
• c. seldom use pronouns
• d. choose commonly-used vocabulary
• ---What information should be included in an ad.
  of a school/course? ( Please underline the main
  points at page 89 )

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Practice

• Read the three samples in Task1 (P.86-87) and
  select the suitable course for the following
  students according to their individual
  preferences and explain the reason,using the
  useful structures youve learnt.
• Mary is a new arrival, so she needs a school that
  provides housing.
• Tom is a teacher who acquires professional
  development.
• Stephen is a busy person who has some
  difficulties in finding fixed time for study.
• George intends to get some brush-up before
  entering Cambridge.

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• 5. Tim likes meeting people and he prefers to
  have some social activities outside the course.
• 6. Ivy would like to enter business world in the
  near future.

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Role Play

• Practice in pairs
• Suppose one of you are going to London for
  your further study of English. Give your partner
  your personal profile and ask him/her to help you
  choose a suitable English course from the 3 ads.
  in your course book.( You will have to earn your
  own living)
• The other of you are a native speaker
  who will help your Chinese friend choose a right
  course and tell him/her your reasons for your
  suggestion. ( You may refer to the patterns at
  page 87-88.)

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Activity 6 Choosing a Textbook

• What information in the catalogue or theblurb,
  the preface, the brief introduction and the table
  of contents of a book would help you to decide
  whether the book is worth buying ? ----
  Information about
• a) who the book is designed for ?
• b) what the book aims at ?
• c) what the book concentrates on / stresses
  ?
• d) what the book provides / involves ?
• e) what the book can be used as ?
• f) who the author is ? g) what its
  price is ?

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• Assignment for written work (See page 102)
• Possible information to be covered ( reasons for
  your recommendation )
• target user
• author publisher
• a series or a single book
• content in more detail
• special features
• price of the book
• Language features
• simple present tense
• use of sequence markers
• first, second,third,also,finally,as well
  asthese,besides,furthermore,moreover,in
  addition to this