Super TOEFL Elective – ELI 089-003 / 099-003 (Spring 2013)
Class:
MW 1:30 – 2:20 in Innovation 318
MW 2:30 – 3:20 in Innovation 318
Focus:
Listening / Speaking
Reading / Writing
Instructor:
Jane Kirsch
Melissa Allen
Contact:
jkirsch@gmu.edu or 703-993-9369
malle2@gmu.edu or 703-993-3642
Office
TR 11:00 – 12:00 or by appointment
MW 3:45 – 4:30 or by appointment
Hours:
Northern Neck 108 (near Starbucks)
Northern Neck 108 (near Starbucks)
Course Description:
In this class, you will learn about and practice skills and strategies necessary for doing well on the
TOEFL and in academic classes. The 1:30 to 2:20 section, taught by Jane Kirsch, will focus on
listening and speaking skills. The 2:30 to 3:20 section, taught by Melissa Allen, will focus on reading
and writing.
Course Objectives:
1) – To familiarize students with the four parts of the IBT TOEFL;
2) – To enable students to use test-taking strategies to maximize their score;
2) – To develop the reading, writing, listening and speaking skills necessary to do well on the TOEFL
and be successful in academic classes.
CEFR – The goal of the course is to help students reach the CEFR level of B2, B2+, or C1,
depending on their starting level.
At the end of the semester, students should be able to:
READING AND LISTENING:


Understand the main ideas of complex academic speech and text (B2)
Identify relationships among ideas in academic passages, conversations and lectures
WRITING AND SPEAKING:


Summarize information and arguments from various sources such as academic reading
passages, conversations and short lectures (B2/B2+)
Give reasons in support of or against a particular point of view and explain the advantages and
disadvantages of various options (B2)
INTEGRATED SKILLS

Identify relationships between ideas in academic passages, conversations and lectures and
coherently synthesize and summarize those ideas in writing and speaking (C1)
Course Expectations
Students should attend class regularly, participate actively and come to class prepared. Students who
miss more than 4 classes will receive an NG (no grade) for the class. Absences during the last week
are counted, too.
If you must miss a class, talk to one of your classmates to find out what you missed. If you must miss
a test, you must contact the teacher, Melissa Allen, (malle2@gmu.edu) or Jane Kirsch
(jkirsch@gmu.edu) on the scheduled test day (or before) if you want to arrange a make-up test.
Make-up tests will only be given if the absence is due to an illness or emergency.
Students should come to class on time. If you are more than 10 minutes late or leave early, it will be
counted as half an absence.
Please turn off your cell phones before you come into class.
Course Textbooks and Materials:
Longman Preparation Course for the IBT TOEFL Test (Second Edition) with CD-ROM and Answer
Key by Deborah Phillips. Students should get new (not used) copies. [verify name of new version]
Course Requirements and Grading
This course will include in-class exercises and activities, homework, and tests.
The midterm exams are tentatively scheduled for March 20 and 25 during the regular class period.
The final assessments will be held the last week of classes during the regular class period. Listening
and Reading assessments will be on Monday, April 29. There will also be an in-class Integrated
Writing Task and an Integrated Speaking Task on Wednesday, May 1 that will be included in the final
exam grade.
At the end of the semester, students will receive a final grade of A (excellent), B (good), C (average)
or NG (no grade). The following grading scale will be used: A= 90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79; NG=0-69
or more than the 4 allowed absences.
The final grade will be determined as follows:
20%
20%
20%
40%
listening/speaking midterm
reading/writing midterm
assessed homework and classroom assignments
final assessments (reading/writing/listening/speaking)
Recommendations:
1) Students are invited and encouraged (but not required) to attend the weekly TOEFL workshops.
The workshop time and location will be announced in core classes and on the ELI bulletin board in
Northern Neck 108.
2) Students are strongly encouraged to use the CD-ROM that comes with their text for further practice
of the skills and strategies covered in class.
HONOR CODE
This class is covered by the GMU Honor Code, which states: “Student members of the GMU
community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal or lie in matters related to academic work.”
http://academicintegrity.gmu.edu/honorcode/