SYLLABUS
American University of Central Asia
New Generation Academy
Syllabus Fall Semester 2015
Prep 022/030 Course ID 2833/2836
Course Name: English for Academic Purposes EAP (RW/LS)
Level: Upper-Intermediate
Credit Hours: 12
Meeting Times: Tuesdays 9:30 – 10.45, 11:00 – 12:15, Wednesdays 13:10 – 14:25, 14:30 – 15:45
Instructor: Khurshedsho Qonunov
Material will be provided on a week-to-week basis!
I. Course description:
This course is designed to develop your language skills and to improve your English for Academic
Purposes (EAP). The course focuses on Listening, Speaking skills, as well as Reading and Writing in an
active, student-centered class. The course will also help to prepare for standard exam questions asked in
TOEFL and other advanced English language exams as well as developing soft skills for university.
II. Goals and Objectives:
Upon the completion of this course you will be able to:

Express yourself more elaborately in writing and speech;

infer word meaning from context;

determine main ideas from text and audio material;

introduce, defend, and express pro and con sides of an issue;

use context clues to infer meaning, identify and use synonyms, and commonly confused words,
identify and use idiomatic expressions;

write better essays;

feel comfortable with media language.
As a student in this course, you are expected to complete required readings and assignments and to come
to class prepared.
III. Course requirements:
A. Attendance
Attendance at all classes is mandatory. If you are absent for unavoidable reasons (illness or other), your
instructor must be informed on the same day (the day you miss) by e-mail. Be punctual!
B. Classroom Etiquette
Mobile phones must be switched off or programmed to “Silent” during the class. For everything else,
such as sleeping during class, follow your common sense!
C. Participation
You are expected to take an active part in all classroom activities: ask questions in English, answer
questions of other students voluntarily, express your viewpoint on discussed subjects, and take part in
group activities. All this together makes up your grade for classroom activities. All subjects occurring in
the course of this program are to be discussed in English only.
D. Presentations
Presentations are to be held for 10 minutes. Please prepare a handout which contains the essential
information and the used sources.
Inform yourself about the requirements and fashion of presentations as well as handouts! Every student
has to give a presentation, some topics are suggested in the schedule but you are invited to choose your
own. The subject of each presentation must be discussed and scheduled with the instructor beforehand.
E. Class Exercises
In addition to text-book based exercises, paragraph by paragraph reading and discussions of recent
articles from magazines and papers such as The Economist and Financial Times will be followed by
written responses stating facts, proposing opinion, arguing for a case, and offering criticism. BBC,
Euronews and CNN radio programs will also be part of the class activity, engaging students in active
listening, accompanied by note-taking, vocabulary definition, identification of the story line, argument,
analysis and interpretation.
F. Tests and exams
Ongoing in-class essays and home assignments will be reviewed and provided with detailed feedback on
both content and grammar, in order for students to learn and improve on a continuous basis. Final exam
will foresee a paper written against time and with a thought-provoking topic of perennial significance.
IV. Grading
Grades are based on:
Type of activity
Percent
of
Total Grade
1
Class Participation
40%
2
Home Assignments
30%
4
Student Presentations
10%
5
Tests
20%
Grade/Percentage Ratio:
A
100-94 %
C
73-68 %
A-
93-90 %
C-
67-64 %
B+
89-86 %
D+
63-60 %
B
85-80 %
D
59-54 %
D-
53-50 %
F
49% (or less)
BC+
79-77 %
76-74 %
V. Academic Honesty
Course participants are expected to maintain academic honesty in their course work. Participants should
avoid plagiarism. Articles, books, films, TV/Radio programs and other resources (including Internet
resources) employed in fulfilling assignments must be cited. Copying the writings of others without citing
them is plagiarism. If you are accused of plagiarism for the first time, you get “F” for the assignment; if
you are accused of plagiarism for the second time, you get “F” for the whole course.
VI. Lesson Schedule
This syllabus and class schedule is subject to changes by the instructor. Changes will probably occur
especially in the first weeks while I am getting acquainted with your level of English proficiency.
Details about material will be provided on a week-to-week basis. This is in order to respond to discuss upto-date material as well as to respond to the needs of the students. Every week we will do some exercises
from NorthStar. Additionally, I encourage you to complete all the exercises of each unit. If you questions
upon completion of an exercise you are always welcome to consult me.
In class, we will rather focus on vibrant original material that evolves through everyday life of human
development. Each week your home assignment will be to read a text and/or write an essay. In order to
keep track on your homework you are invited to use this table to actualize it weekly.
Week
Agenda Setting
1
Getting acquainted
Home Assignments
Essay: Expectations towards NGA
and of oneself
Topic: World news;
Essay:
2
a
recent
Class discussion about up-to-date burning newspaper/magazine article
issues in the world
Topic: The refugee crisis in Europe
3
Discuss
Essay: Should majorly Muslim
Discussion: Definitions of such terms and countries
concepts as Refugee, Displaced, Internally responsibility?
Displaced, Asylum, NGO, UN, MSF, Red
assume
more
Cross, Universal Declaration of Human
Rights
Topic: Civil Society
4
5
Presentation
topic:
Essay: The role of Civil Society in
Civil
right
activist
in the world of today (focus on a
Kyrgyzstan (choose an example)
specific example or concept)
Topic: Changing Society
Essay: Cultural changes in your
Debate on Loss, Transformation, Evolution or
home country: Good or bad? Win
Development?
or lose?
Topic: Ecological issues
Essay: Global warming; A distant
Debate: Ecotourism or Mass-tourism?
debate or a threat at the doorstep?
6
Topic: Justice
Debate in class; class is divided in 3 groups,
1.
How can we best rehabilitate prisoners so
that they can be productive members of
society?
7
2.
How can we balance the right for free
speech with the right to not be insulted or
abused?
3.
Essay: Right to live and right to
live a good life. What justice
norms and/or systems do you
know and which do you consider
to be most just?
How can we best address the problem of
terrorism?
Each group discusses their question and
makes a short presentation
Topic: Media
8
Reflecting news cast
- Identify language used
Essay: The press landscape in
your home country. To what
extent is the press part of your
- Ways of presentations
life?
Conveying neutral or biased views?
Topic: Social Media
9
Essay:
Individual
observations
Presentation: Democratic or risky information and assessment from your
experiences of social media
platform?
Topic: Technological advances:
Essay: Dystopias
10
Reading of Isaac Asimov, Belyaev or Wells
Essay:
Topic: The political system of the US
Compare
the
political
system of the US to the one of
11
Presentation: US Presidential Election System
your home country
Topic: The landscape of Faith
Essay:
12
Discussion
on
multiculturalism,
pluralism,
Common
identity
vs.
individual choices
secularism, laicism
Topic: Social Problems; Poverty and lack of
education
Discussion:
13
Inclusion,
integration, Essay: Access to education: The
segregation, enablement, empowerment
case of your home country.
Presentation: How can we integrate disabled
people?
Topic:
14
Racism
and
other
forms
discrimination
of
Essay:
Current
issues
of
discrimination
Discussion on new forms of discrimination
Topic: Evaluation of your achievements so far Homework: Get ready for your
15
at NGA; Goal setting for next term
exams! Good luck!
FINAL EXAM