Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University


2202208  English Conversation and Discussion

 

Puckpan Tipayamontri

Office: BRK 1106

Office Hours: M 1–3 and by appointment

Phone: 0-2218-4703

puckpan.t@chula.ac.th

 

Section 2

TTh 2:30–4:00 (BRK 308)

 

Tentative Schedule

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

Week 1

Jan. 8

Unit 1  Secret Fears

Reading

Jan. 10

Unit 1  Secret Fears

Reading

Workshop: Communication strategies: nonverbal communication
Week 2
 Jan. 15 No class (Intervarsity Games: January 14–18, 2019)
Jan. 17 No class (Intervarsity Games: January 14–18, 2019)

Week 3

Jan. 22

Unit 2  Fashion Passion

Reading

Jan. 24

Unit 2  Fashion Passion

Reading

Zero-Waste Fashion Pilot Discussion (Workshop): Communication strategies: the power of questions, negotiation for meaning; each student prepares to lead a brief class discussion (2 + 7 minutes):
  • Prepare a two-minute introduction of a zero-waste or sustainable fashion designer, project, or company. Include why you think their concept, process and designs are creative or different.
  • Prepare to engage your classmates in a discussion for seven minutes on fashion topics that your introductory talk brings up. Try out what you've learned from your reading on the power of questions and negotiation for meaning in the course packet and from further explorations you may have made through other sources.

Week 4

Jan. 29

Unit 3  Dating and Relationships

Reading

Jan. 31

Unit 3  Dating and Relationships

Reading

PTA Meeting (Workshop): Leading discussion simulation; situation: Thursday afternoon is the first parent-teacher conference at Greater Copenhagen International High School for middle schoolers. The meeting's goal is to come up with policies and guidelines regarding teen dating, relationships and sex education that are reasonable and proactive. Roles: Each student creates the back story of his or her role as parent or teacher such as name, age, occupation or interests (are you a judge, cartoonist, mountain climber?), values, and children/student information before the discussion. Read the article on "The Middle School Relationship," think about what kind of dating and relationship you'd like your children to experience, prepare to listen to others' ideas and share your own.

Week 5

Feb. 5

Unit 4  Cyberbullying

Reading

Feb. 7

Unit 4  Cyberbullying

Reading


PTA Meeting (Workshop): Leading discussion simulation; situation: Thursday afternoon is the first parent-teacher conference at Greater Copenhagen International High School for middle schoolers. The meeting's goal is to come up with policies and guidelines regarding teen dating, relationships, sex education and cyberbullying that are reasonable and proactive. Roles: Each student creates the back story of his or her role as parent or teacher such as name, age, nationality, occupation or interests (are you a judge, cartoonist, mountain climber?), values, and children/student information before the discussion. Read the article on "The Middle School Relationship," think about what kind of dating and relationship you'd like your children to experience, prepare to listen to others' ideas and share your own.

Week 6

Feb. 12

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 each for the listening and for the vocabulary)

Feb. 14

Unit 5  Study and Education

Reading

Leading Discussion: Kasiphat and Chutipa

Week 7

Feb. 19
No class (Magha Puja)

Feb. 21
Unit 5  Study and Education
Reading
 Workshop: Presentation skills

Week 8

Feb. 26

Unit 6  Happiness

Reading

Feb. 28

Unit 6  Happiness

Reading

Leading Discussion: Korsiri and Chatmongkon

Week 9

Mar. 5

No class (midterm week: March 4–March 8, 2019)

Mar. 7

Midterm Group Presentations

  • In two groups of three and one group of four students
  • 12-minute oral presentation per group + 3-minute Q and A
  • Choose your own topic under the idea "Three and More Sides to a Story" but run it by me on or before Tuesday, March 12, 2019
  • Presentation tips
  • Oral presentation rubric Presentation rubric
  • Tentative schedule
    2:30–2:45 p.m.:
    2:50–3:05 p.m.:
    3:10–3:25 p.m.:

Week 10

Mar. 12

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. 14

Unit 7  Fitness Facts

Reading

Leading Discussion: Prissadang and Varanyoo

Week 11

Mar. 19

Unit 8  Crime and Justice

Reading

New Crimes and Justice: What new, weird, terrible, or creative crimes have emerged that we should be aware of? And what justice has been developed to deal with them? Or is there no mechanism yet to address them? Each student has three minutes to tell the class about a crime in this day and age.

Mar. 21

Unit 8  Crime and Justice

Reading

Leading Discussion: Prapussorn and Pattamon

Week 12

Mar. 26

Unit 9  Friendship
Reading

Listening and vocabulary test 2

Mar. 28

Unit 9  Friendship

Reading

Leading Discussion: Apisak and Supharak

Song Lyrics Challenge: Prapussorn

Week 13

Apr. 2

Unit 10  Language and Communication

Reading

Discussion:

Song Lyrics Challenge:
  • Prissadang
  • Chutipa

Apr. 4

Unit 10  Language and Communication

Reading

Discussion:

Song Lyrics Challenge: Kasiphat

Week 14

Apr. 9

Unit 11  The World of Work
Reading

Discussion:

Song Lyrics Challenge:
  • Supharak
  • Pattamon

Apr. 11

Unit 12 The Natural World

Reading

Song Lyrics Challenge: Korsiri

Week 15

Apr. 16

No class (Songkran observed)

Apr. 18

Unit 12 The Natural World

Reading

Discussion:

Song Lyrics Challenge: Chatmongkon

Week 16

Apr. 23

Review
Reading

  • Course packet
Listening and vocabulary test 3

Apr. 25

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. 30

Final Conversations

Instructions:
  • Sign up with a partner from your section for a ten-minute time slot on posted schedules
  • On the day of your designated time at the room indicated on the sign-up sheet, 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.
  • Two instructors 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
  • Unit topics study guides
    • Secret Fears
    • Fashion Passion
    • Dating and Relationships
    • Cyberbullying
    • Study and Education
    • Happiness
    • Fitness Facts
    • Crime and Justice
    • Friendship
    • Language and Communication
    • The World of Work
    • The Natural World
  • 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:
2:40:
2:50:
3:00:
3:10:
3:20:
3:30:
3:40:
3:50:
4:00:
4:10:
4:20: 

May 2

Final Conversations

 

Schedule:

2:30:

2:40:

3:00:

3:10:

3:20:

3:30:

3:40:

3:50:

4:00:

4:10:

4:20:

 

 

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Last updated May 8, 2019