Applied Grammar II / LAN 102 02 / Spring 2014
Instructor:
Class Schedule:
Phone:
Office:
Office Hours:
Veronica McCormack
Wednesday, 6 – 8:45, room 3617 / 427-0060, x5127
3-201 - F
M/T/W/TH 10:0 – 10:20; 1:20 – 2:00 or by appointment
Each student must.....
1) do all homework. If you are absent from class you must call or e-mail the teacher or another student and find
out what we did in class, so you can come to the next class prepared.
2) turn off all beepers and cell phones before entering the class.1
3) have the book and other materials. You can buy the books at the RCC Bookstore, in the Student Center.
Required Texts and Materials:
 Focus on Grammar 4: An Integrated Skills Approach
third edition, M. Fuchs and M. Bonner, Pearson Longman, 2006,
o textbook ISBN 0-13-190008-0 or 0-13-190009-9 (with audio CD)
o workbook 0-13-191235-6
 paper, pencil, folder
Suggested Dictionary:
 Longman Dictionary of American English
4) speak only English during the class.
6) take quizzes and exams, attend class, do all writing and speaking assignments.
7) have good attendance.
If it snows you should listen to the radio or watch TV to find out if classes will be cancelled:
WBZ AM radio
WILD AM radio
1
1030
1090
WRKO AM radio
WCVB TV
680
5
WBZ TV
WHDH TV
4
7
If you have an emergency, you may leave your phone or beeper on under the following conditions: 1) You tell the teacher at the
beginning of the class. 2) You sit next to the door, so that you can quickly leave the room if you receive a call.
Course Topics and Tentative Course Schedule:
dates
1/22
material covered2 / important dates / Units from FOG3
basic tenses (Units 1 & 2)
simple past, past continuous, present perfect, present perfect
continuous (Unit 3)
tests
1/29
Monday = last day to add/drop
reported speech (Unit 25)
question formation
written grammar test
2/5
gerunds and infinitives (Unit 9)
passive (Unit 18)
note taking practice
1-minute speech about a
deceased person of
importance
2/12
hope, past perfect, past perfect continuous (Unit 4)
future real conditional (Unit 22)
articles
summarizing another student’s presentation
Monday = Holiday – no classes
taped responses to oral
questions
2/19
reported speech (Unit 26 and review Unit 25)
note taking practice
written grammar test
2/26
passive (Unit 19)
present unreal conditional, wish (Unit 23)
3/5
review of material thus far, with focus on speaking and listening using a variety of tenses
and structures
Mid-term Exams:
- taped conversation with the professor
- taped responses to oral questions
- written exam
3/12
3/19
3/26
Spring Break – no classes
research, reading and writing to prepare for short speeches
embedded questions (Unit 29)
4/2
plan to visit a content course in your major area
reported speech (Unit 27)
note taking practice
4/4
4/9
Friday = last day to withdraw
past unreal conditional (Unit 24)
visits to other classes – note taking, writing about the visit
perfect modals (Unit 16)
reported speech (Unit 28)
visits to other classes – note taking, writing about the visit
4/16
2
3
short speeches on factual
topics (3 minutes)
short speeches on factual
topics
written grammar test
This schedule may be modified according to the pace and needs of the class.
Focus on Grammar - Units in italics are being reviewed, so the workbook will be essential.
dates
4/23
4/30
material covered / important dates / Units from FOG
perfect modals (Unit 17)
preparing final oral presentations about other courses at the
College: writing, speaking, visual support material
tests
taped responses to oral
questions
early registration
passive (Unit 19)
gerunds and infinitives (Unit 10)
last day of instruction
5/1-5
review of grammar and usage
Wed 5/7
6:30 – 8:30 Final Exam
oral presentations to the class
(4-6 minutes)
oral presentations to the class
Teaching Procedures: In class we will discuss and analyze grammar, review homework, have group
discussions, work in pairs and small groups, and create habits of good grammar usage through drills and natural
speaking exercises. We will seek information in the library and/or on line and learn more about our major areas
of study by visiting a class in that area. Students will give an oral presentation based on personal experiences,
items of social interest, and class visits in their majors. The presentations will be increasingly long and require
increasing amounts of written and visual support. In class and in the lab we will use video and audio listening
exercises. Students are expected to generate questions about every aspect of the course, including the
presentations of other students. Authentic conversational use will play an important role in the course.
Instructional Objectives: Given a question or other prompt in spoken English, a student will be able to answer
with the appropriate content and correct grammar, using the grammar points listed above in “course topics.”
Students will be able to talk about past, current, and future events, juxtaposing times, ask for and give
clarification, express desires, and ask questions. They will also be able to differentiate actual from theoretical
propositions and express those differences in their speaking, and paraphrase and summarize material
appropriate to discussions in the college classroom.
Basis/Procedure for Evaluation:
When I prepare your grades I only ask two questions: 1) how much English does the student know? and 2)
what can the student do in English? The quizzes, exams, and speaking projects help me to collect information
for correct answers to these questions. Twelve credits of college work makes you a full time college student.
This means that you should spend at least 35-40 hours each week on your school work: 12 hours in class and 28
hours of independent study.
15%
average of three written grammar tests
(If you miss a quiz you have one week to make it up. It is your responsibility to approach the
teacher and say "I want to make up the quiz." The teacher will not come to you. You must
make up the quiz before or after class, not during class time. If you do not make it up within
one week, your grade for the quiz will be F.)
5%
participation and completion of homework assignments on time
15%
two taped oral quizzes
15%
mid-term exam (written and spoken components)
20%
final examination (all spontaneous speaking)
30%
three presentations to the class (5%, 10%, 15% respectively)
Accommodation for Disabilities:
Speak to the instructor and the College’s disability coordinator in 3-207 if this concerns you.
Attendance Policy:
If you are absent, I do not judge the reasons for absence. I do not decide about good reasons and bad reasons. I
can only know either • you are here, or • you are not here. If you are here, you are a student and you are
learning. If you are not here, I cannot know that you are learning. If, for whatever reason, you cannot come to
a lot of classes, then you should drop the course because you do not have time to be a student. This is a class
only for people who have time to be a student, which, at 12 credits, is a full-time occupation.
All absences will be noted precisely. If you arrive late or if you leave class early the time that you miss will be
noted. More than 6 hours of absence after 1/30 will lower your final grade for the course. If you miss more
than 12 hours you will not receive a passing grade, regardless of your test scores.
Course Description: This is an advanced English language course for students who have a strong foundation in
spoken English. Emphasis will be on academic use of grammatical structures which will be practiced in
contextual conversation activities. Students will be exposed to lectures where they have to take notes for class
discussion. Prerequisite: ESL 033 (or concurrent) and LAN 101 or placement test. Credits: 6