Bunker Hill Community College

ESL 096 ACADEMIC NOTE TAKING II w/(RWGXC)

w/reading, writing, and grammar across the curriculum

This advanced course focuses on listening and note-taking skills. Students will continue to develop a system for academic note-taking and learn how to use their notes to answer comprehension questions and summarize lectures. Students will listen to academic lectures, take notes, and learn how to write essays assimilating the information presented in the class lectures and readings, with their own opinions. All listening and note-taking activities will include reading and writing exercises. Grammar is taught in the context of the materials used for listening activities and in student generated writing. This course must be completed with a “C” grade or better in order to independently take college level courses. Prerequisite: A grade of C or better in all ESL level II courses or ESL Placement test.

GOAL
Upon completion of this course, students will be prepared to take notes in academic content courses, and write summaries and critiques in short essay form based on the information from academic lectures presented in class and readings assigned as homework as well as their own opinions.

OBJECTIVES
I. Listening/Note taking

After being introduced to various techniques and methods of Note-taking, and after extensive practice with lectures of 20-40 minutes, students will be able to:

1. take accurate, concise, and organized lecture notes

2. identify main ideas, subtopics, and supporting details in outline form

3. re-state main ideas using own words

B. After listening to dialogues, lectures academic in nature, and movies, TV Programs, or radio broadcasts, students should be able to:

1. comprehend at least 75% of the information presented in various formats

2. recognize:

a. wordsruntogether

b. idioms

c. slang

d. recognize humor and off topic comments Over the course of the semester, students will demonstrate significant improvement in understanding lectures of increasing difficulty approaching the level of introductory college level courses by practicing the following skills:

1. Note-taking while listening to lectures

2. Outlining lectures

3. Summarizing lectures in writing based on notes

4. Critiquing lectures verbally and in written form

II. READING

A. Prior to or after listening to an academic lecture, students will be assigned a reading passage related to the topic of 750-1000 words. Over the course of the semester, the length and difficulty of the reading passages should increase in order to challenge the students’ levels of academic literacy, so that it approaches the level of introductory college level courses. In class activities and homework assignments over the course of the semester, students will repeatedly:

1. demonstrate 75% comprehension of the assigned readings

2. relate the ideas of the lecture to the reading passage and vice versa

3. understand and use the college catalog

4. make significant progress on the ESL 098 reading curriculum objectives

5. research and read several articles on a topic related to class activities

III. WRITING

A. After listening to lectures, students will write summaries and critiques of the ideas presented based on their notes. After reading articles on topics related to the lectures, students are expected to write personal reactions to the readings in a journal. In class activities and homework assignments over the course of the semester, students will demonstrate writing proficiency by doing the following:

1. write summaries of lectures based on notes taken in class

2. answer essay type questions by learning to turn the essay question into a topic sentence, identifying the topic and controlling idea, and answering the question by writing from general to specific with specific supporting details

3. write critiques of lectures, relating one’s own ideas to those of the lecture and reading passages in essay form, with an introduction, body, and conclusion both as in-class assessments and as homework.

4. write freely and frequently about topics related to classroom activities

5. score at least 5.6 on the REEP rubric on an in class writing assignment

6. write a report as part of a project that involves extending a topic related to class activities

7. write several drafts of a 3-4 page report on a project

IV. GRAMMAR/EDITING OBJECTIVES

A. In the context of the class lectures, readings, and student-generated writing, students will practice or review the following structures:

1. past real conditional/past unreal conditional clauses

2. reported speech

3. perfect, and modal aspects of present, past, and future tenses

4. passive voice

5. subordination with adverb and noun clauses

6. logical connectors

7. editing the errors in drafts of a report on a project

V. PROJECT-BASED LEARNING OBJECTIVES

A. Students will extend their knowledge of a topic related to class activities by doing research and writing a report. In doing so, students will:

1. use resources such as the library, Office Of Career Services, Student Support and Retention Services and internet to gather information

2. choose a topic related to personal interests, career/educational goals, plan for transition out of ESL courses

3. evaluate the usefulness and relevance of primary and secondary sources to one’s topic

4. revise at least two drafts before submitting a final draft

5. paraphrase and cite sources

6. base report on notes taken from readings

RECOMMENDATIONS
A. RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS

1. Noteworthy. 2nd ed. Lim/Smalzer. ITP. 1996. ISBN 0-8384-5613-8

2. Contemporary Topics 3, 2nd ed. Beglar/Murray/Michael Rost. Longman. 2002 ISBN 0-13-094862-4

3. Quest L/S in the Academic World, Book 3 Hartmann/Blass McGraw-Hill 1999. ISBN 0-07-006262-5

4. an English dictionary, American Heritage ESL Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin. 1998. ISBN 0-395-81873-7

5. The Real Thing. ISBN 0-618-01268-0

6. Learn to Listen, Listen to Learn. 2nd ed. Roni S. Lebauer. Longman. 2000. ISBN 0-13-919432-0

B. RECOMMENDED TEACHING PROCEDURES

1. Prior to listening to lectures, students should be given a reading passage related to the topic as homework.

2. Some lectures may be delivered by audiotape or videotape, while others should be delivered by live speakers. Lectures can be tapes, teacher reading script, student presentations, or guest lecturers - professionals from the Office of Career Services, Student Support and Retention Services, or the community.

3. Students’ notes should be evaluated by the teacher periodically.

4. Students should write summaries of the lectures based on their notes both in-class and as homework.

5. Students should frequently free write in a journal connected to class topics and activities, reacting to and readings for example.

6. Students should revise and edit a project-based writing assignment.

7. Students should be given 2-4 in-class writing assignments, which should be assessed w/the REEP writing rubric.

C. RECOMMENDED PROJECTS

1. mini-research paper of 3-4 pages on topic related to class activities

2. conduct interviews on topic related to class activities, write report

3. watch movie and write movie review

4. listen to and then review of book on tape

5. prepare and give a lecture to the class

6. critique a TV series

D. RECOMMENDED GRADING SCHEME

Note taking portfolio 15-25%

Lecture summaries 20-40%

Journal 15-25%

Project 10-20%

In-class assessments 15-25%

Attendance and participation 10-20%

E. RECOMMENDED EXIT CRITERIA

1. By taking notes and writing a summary of a lecture prepared for students of an advanced level of ESL, student demonstrates at least 75% comprehension of the information presented.

2. In response to an open-ended question designed to elicit a reaction to a lecture or reading, student assimilates own ideas to those of the lecture by writing an essay, which can be independently scored at least 5.6 on the REEP rubric.