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Learning Outcomes

The main goal of English 620 is to help students improve their communication, language, and presentation skills to enable them to communicate more effectively as a professional. At the end of this course students will be able to: 

  • State their strengths and weaknesses in oral English;
  • Identify and work on the specific aspects of pronunciation, prosody, grammar, listening comprehension, and vocabulary (depending on your strengths and weaknesses);
  • Identify specific learning strategies for developing language skills;
  • Develop communication and presentation skills and strategies, namely question and answer skills, negotiation skills, compensatory strategies, paraphrasing skills, and nonverbal skills;
  • Compose and assess presentations and interaction appropriate for a variety of professional contexts;
  • Act and behave professionally in instructional contexts in higher education in the United States;
  • Identify the characteristics of students and TA assignments in higher education in the United States.

Course Assignments

Major assignments for this course include: 1) four presentations; 2) presentation self-assessments; 3) participation in discussions with undergraduates about effective communication; and 4) informal reports on TA assignments in the students’ program or department. Additional assignments will be determined by students’ instructor and may include lexical work, leading group discussions, or other assignments based on students’ needs and interests.

Individual Tutoring and Conferencing

An important and valuable component of ENGL 620 is the individual meeting time students have scheduled with their course tutor and classroom instructor each week. In addition to 4 hours of class time each week, each student will also arrange a weekly 50-minute appointment with their course tutor and a 30-minute conference time with the classroom instructor.

By working individually with their tutors, students have the opportunity to expand upon what is learned in class. The course tutor works with each student to set individual goals and to develop skills to meet these goals.

Conference times with the course instructor are often spent preparing for class activities such as oral presentations and to review the student's progress in ENGL 620.

Course Grades

The course grade is based upon 1) course attendance and participation; 2) conference attendance and participation; 3) attendance and participation at weekly tutoring appointments. Given your attendance and participation, a grade of "P" (pass) or "N" (not pass) will appear on your transcript. A grade of "P" however, does not necessarily mean you have been certified for English proficiency (see the next item).

English Proficiency Certification

At the end of the semester, the OEPP Director determines whether or not students will be certified for English proficiency. The factors that determine this decision are 1) the classroom and tutorial instructors' evaluations of each student; 2) student performance in the course; 3) a review of the student's recordings and files; and 4) a review of the student's performance in classroom presentations. Students not certified at the end of the course may be directed to re-enroll in ENGL 620. The course may be taken up to 3 times.