Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University


2202208  English Conversation and Discussion

 

Puckpan Tipayamontri

Office: BRK 1106

Office Hours: M 13 and by appointment

Phone: 0-2218-4703

puckpan.t@chula.ac.th

 

Section 4

TTh 2:30–4:00 (BRK 311)

 

Tentative Schedule

*Asterisks in front of an item indicates audio clips for listening exercises in the course packet

Week 1

Jan. 5

Unit 1  Secret Fears

Reading

Jan. 7

Unit 1  Secret Fears

Reading

Workshop: Communication strategies
Week 2
Jan. 12 No class (Intervarsity Games: January 11–15, 2016)
Jan. 14 No class (Intervarsity Games: January 11–15, 2016)

Week 3

Jan. 19

Unit 2  Fashion Passion

Reading

T-Shirt Presentations: For Thursday, January 21, in 6 groups of 3 students and 2 groups of 2, you will have designed a fashion item out of a cheap T-shirt (just as in the listening) and make a presentation to your classmates explaining the idea behind your fashion. You can modify the T-shirt however you like, but the T-shirt is the fashion, not just the base upon which you throw a thousand accessories or print patterns. Each group will have five minutes for the presentation (explain your concept, creative process, reasons people would like the item, showcase your product, etc.) in which everyone should have comparable speaking parts. Following the presentation will be a three-minute question and answer session.

Jan. 21

Unit 2  Fashion Passion

Reading

T-Shirt Presentations: In 6 groups of 3 students and 2 groups of 2, present your T-shirt, designed out of a cheap T-shirt (just as in the listening). Explain to your classmates the idea behind your fashion. You can modify the T-shirt however you like, but the T-shirt is the fashion, not just the base upon which you throw a thousand accessories or print patterns. Each group will have five minutes for the presentation (explain your concept, creative process, reasons people would like the item, showcase your product, etc.) in which everyone should have comparable speaking roles. Following the presentation will be a three-minute question and answer session.

Week 4

Jan. 26

Unit 3  Dating and Relationships

Reading

Jan. 28

Unit 3  Dating and Relationships

Reading

Workshop: Leading discussion

Week 5

Feb. 2

Unit 4  Cyberbullying

Reading

Feb. 4

Unit 4  Cyberbullying

Reading

Leading Discussion: Kitinut Onsee, Niyada Jaidee and Kawintida Denduan
High School Cyberbullying Mock Meeting: There have been disturbing cases of cyberbullying at Nadao Bangkok High School. The school administration has called a meeting of various parties related to the cases to discuss the matter and find some acceptable solutions. During this mock coming together of bullies, victims, teachers, parents, and friends of the bullies and victims, explore a variety of motives, behaviors, personalities, ideas and circumstances involved in cyberbullying, and play out some suggestions how this use of technology and its consequences can be handled. 
  • Bullies: Goonwiga, Wirapa, Kongpop, and Jirawan
  • Victims: Radis, Norawit, Arkarin, and Kitinut
  • Teachers: Thanapat, Teerathon, Jenica, and Sittiwan
  • Parents: Puttipong, Pornpreeya, Suwicha, and Suphanut
  • Friends: Wilaiporn, Sarawan, Kawintida, and Niyada

Week 6

Feb. 9

Unit 5  Study and Education

Reading

Listening and vocabulary test 1 (40 minutes at the beginning of class; please arrive promptly; 20–25 minutes for listening, worth 10 points, and 15 minutes for vocabulary, 5 points; there are ten or so questions for the listening, and ten questions for the vocabulary)

Feb. 11

Unit 5  Study and Education

Reading

Leading Discussion: Norawit Suwannakarn, Wirapa Boonyasurat and Goonwiga Auanduengdee

Week 7

Feb. 16

Unit 5  Study and Education

Reading

Workshop: Presentation skills

Feb. 18

Unit 5  Study and Education
Reading
Leading Discussion:

Week 8

Feb. 23

Unit 6  Happiness

Reading

Feb. 25

Unit 6  Happiness

Reading

  • Human, dir. Yann Arthus-Bertrand (2015 documentary; video clips, with subtitles)
    • Vol. 1 (love, women, work, poverty; 1 hr. 23:19 min.)
    • Vol. 2 (war, forgiving, homosexuality, family and life after death; 1 hr. 26: min.)
    • Vol. 3 (happiness, education, disability, farming, immigration, corruption and the meaning of life; 1 hr. 33:20 min.; first speaker on happiness starts at 3:42)
    • Trailer (2:31 min.)
  • David Ives, The Philadelphia, dir. Mike Flores, Pigeon Players Theatre Company (2008; video clip, 12:24 min.)
  • Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project (2009)
  • Martin Seligman, Authentic Happiness
  • The Happiness Formula, BBC (2008)
Leading Discussion: Wilaiporn Najorn and Sarawan Meemak
Play: (7:30 p.m., Sodsai Pantoomkomol Theatre for Dramatic Arts) ชีวิตดี๊ดี [Every Brilliant Thing]

Week 9

Mar. 1

Midterm Presentations

  • In pairs
  • 7 minutes oral presentation per pair
  • Presentation Tips
  • If you use PowerPoint as part of your presentation, make compatible with 2010 version
  • Choose your own topic but run it by me on or before Thursday, February 18, 2016
  • Oral presentation rubric presentation evaluation
  • Tentative schedule
    • 2:30–2:37 p.m., “How to Ignite Your Passion,” Kongpop Sueasing and Radis Rutirapong
    • 2:38–2:45 p.m., “Unseen Bangkok,” Kitinut Onsee and Niyada Jaidee
    • 2:46–2:53 p.m., “Hell Joseon,” Arkarin Limnitsorakul and Suphanut Tantikaewfa
    • 2:54–3:01 p.m., “Foot Binding,” Thanapat Wongsangiam and Teerathon Tohtrakul
    • 3:02–3:09 p.m., “Future Trends in Cosmetic Surgery: A Chula Survey,” Wirapa Boonyasurat and Norawit Suwannakarn
    • 3:10–3:17 p.m., “Masculinity in the Twenty-First Century,” Puttipong Oungkanungveth and Pornpreeya Jumnongbut
    • 3:18–3:25 p.m., “Female Stereotypes in Advertising,” Jenica Lien and Sittiwan Jaiwaree
    • 3:26–3:33 p.m., “Should Prostitution Be Legal?,” Wilaiporn Najorn and Sarawan Meemak
    • 3:34–3:41 p.m., “Disappointment in Relationships,” Jirawan Jomsin and Suwicha Sangkayoolakul
    • 3:42–3:49 p.m., "Gestures in Different Cultures," Goonwiga Auanduengdee and Kawintida Denduang

Mar. 3

No class (Midterm week: February 29–March 4, 2016)

Week 10

Mar. 8

Unit 7  Fitness Facts

Reading

Your Physical Fitness Facts: Please bring comfortable clothes and shoes for exercising in and change into them for class.

Mar. 10

Unit 7  Fitness Facts

Reading

Leading Discussion: Teerathon Tohtrakul and Thanapat Wongsangiam

Week 11

Mar. 15

Unit 8  Crime and Justice

Reading

Voice Sample: Record your moral for "The Little Girl and the Wolf" by James Thurber (1939). Spoiler alert!: Read the story from this "The Girl and the Wolf" file only, and do not search online for this story because it will reveal Thurber's moral. You want to record your moral and send it to me before you read what he wrote for the story.

Mar. 17

Unit 8  Crime and Justice

Reading

Leading Discussion: Jenica Lien and Sittiwan Jaiwaree
Conversation Practice: Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, in a short skit on the pilot episode of their show A Bit of Fry and Laurie, explore a Britain in which law enforcement and other public service institutions have been privatized. With one or two other classmates, write your own sketch on crime, justice and friendship, using vocabulary from the course packet where you can. E-mail me your script before class on Tuesday, March 22, 2016.  

Week 12

Mar. 22

Unit 9  Friendship
Reading

Listening and vocabulary test 2
Conversation Practice: As you re-listen to Fry and Laurie's Welcome to the Private Police Force sketch from last week, fill in the blanks in the transcript and consider how the dialogue is put together and delivered. Check your answers here. With your observations of Fry and Laurie's sketch and the editing and delivery checklist in mind, rework a draft of your classmate's sketch with your sketch-mates from last week. We will perform the different versions and discuss their revisions and presentation.

Mar. 24

Unit 9  Friendship

Reading

Leading Discussion: Pornpreeya Jumnongbut and Puttipong Oungkanungveth

Week 13

Mar. 29

Unit 10  Language and Communication

Reading

Mar. 31

Unit 10  Language and Communication

Reading

Street Talk: Class convenes at 2:30 p.m. in Charoen Krung soi 32, part of the Bukruk Urban Arts Festival, at the first wall art by guest graffiti artist J. M. Yes. On the way there, take the Surawong Road route and check out the Fikos mural before you turn onto Charoen Krung. I'm told that it is worth seeing in real life. Familiarize yourself with art work and artists on that strip (and surrounding area within walking distance, if you wish) and the Bukruk Urban Arts Festival in general so that you have plenty of accurate information to share with foreign tourists who are interested in the graffiti art. I will be giving you handouts to record your activity when we meet that afternoon. Have fun working on your language and communication in a bigger classroom!

Week 14

Apr. 5

Unit 11  The World of Work
Reading

Apr. 7

Unit 11  The World of Work

Reading

The New World of Work: Students share future work trends from different cultures around the world, making use of information written in other languages. Bring lists and numbers to share with class that show what the work world looks like or will look like that you have learned from ideas being discussed in countries outside of Thailand and the United States, and in different disciplinary cultures. For example, in Spain, in Pakistan, in the food industry, in biomedicine, what kinds of jobs are emerging, what benefits can we expect, and what environments will be the workplace of the future?

Week 15

Apr. 12

Unit 12  The Natural World

Reading

Discovering the Natural World: Each student brings a piece of information about the world of nature that you have learned from one of the websites below to share in class. Prepare so that you can relate what you find in two minutes.

Apr. 14

No class (Songkran Day)

Week 16

Apr. 19

Review
Reading

  • Course packet
Listening and vocabulary test 3

Apr. 21

Review
Reading

  • Course packet
Speaking Workshop: speech training, useful topical vocabulary, useful conversation phrases, eliminating flow-disrupting speech habits, mock final conversations, evaluating mock final conversations

Week 17

Apr. 26

Final Conversations

Instructions:
  • Beginning on Monday, April 11, 2016, sign up with a partner from your section for a ten-minute time slot on posted schedules for "Acharn Andrew and Acharn Gail's groups" on the office door of acharn Jill Metcalfe (BRK 1123).
  • On the day of your designated time at the room indicated on the sign-up sheet (BRK 308), you will draw a prompt on one of the twelve unit topics in your reading packet.
  • You will have a minute to think and prepare with your partner before discussing that topic prompt/question with him or her for no more than five minutes.
  • Acharn Jill Metcalf and acharn Laurie Takagaki will evaluate you on your general fluency, vocabulary range, language accuracy and pronunciation. What that means is you want to
    • develop the topic throughout your conversation
    • speak clearly and with a smooth flow
    • articulate, enunciate well; pronounce the final consonants properly and stress the right syllables
    • use appropriate vocabulary correctly and idiomatically
    • form grammatical and varied sentences
    • minimize or avoid filler words and crutch phrases such as um , uh, like, well, see what I'm saying, know what I mean, and you know?
    • have equal speaking parts between you and your partner
  • Sample final conversation prompts
    1. How have your fears changed from your earliest memory to now? What things were you afraid of when you were little compared to now?
    2. Why should we care or not care about fashion?
    3. Do you think speed dating will become as popular in Thailand as it has in other countries around the world?
    4. How is cyberbullying different from ordinary bullying? How should we deal with this problem?
    5. How does the lack of sleep effect your mental and physical health?
    6. Do you think that in general the concept of happiness changes for people as they get older?
    7. Why do you think Thai people these days are more concerned with exercise than they were 10 or 15 years ago?
    8. Should teenagers be tried as an adult if they commit a crime. Why or why not?
    9. You may have heard of the saying, “Friends are forever”. Do you think it’s an overstatement or do you think there’s truth to it?
    10. What can schools do to help improve students’ English proficiency?
    11. What would you like to do if money weren't an issue? How would you really enjoy spending your life?
    12. Why should we worry if animals become endangered?  What are the contributing factors to this problem and what can we do about it?
Schedule:
2:30: Cholatep and Sarita
2:40: Kritaporn and Sommarat
2:50: Kitinut and Niyada
3:00: Supatra and Yatita
3:10: Purita and Prapatson
3:20: Thanaporn and Anisong
3:30: Goonwiga and Kawintida
3:40: Wanwisa and Arisa
3:50: Surakan and Putsakan
4:00: Lugsana and Nattapon
4:10: Pornpreeya and Puttipong
4:20: Thanapat and Teerathon

Apr. 28

Final Conversations

 

Schedule:

2:30: Thanyaporn and Dheeraporn

2:40: Norawit and Wirapa

2:50: Sarawan and Wilaiporn

3:00: Natchanon and Kittiya

3:10: Sittiwan and Jenica

3:20: Suphanut and Arkarin

3:30: Kongpop and Radis

3:40: Jirawan and Suwicha

3:50:

4:00:

4:10:

4:20:

 

 


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Last updated April 24, 2016