ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Spring 2004
Professor Asif Siddiqui
Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies
New Millennium Building
Office Hours - Thursday: 6:00-7:00 PM, Room: 507
Course Description and Objectives
The goal of this course is to develop the English communication skills of graduate
students in the four areas of language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading and
writing. Multi-media materials such as segments from movies as well as other items are
used to improve conversational ability. Written material providing guidance on the
technical aspects of writing an academic paper is also provided. Students also write a
critique of a chapter in a book or an article from an academic journal. They must then
present it to the class. This improves all four language skills. The emphasis of this
course is on developing writing ability.
Over the duration of the course, students are expected to fulfill certain
requirements. Specifically, students must:
1) not only attend but actively participate in class discussions and ask questions;
2) participate in one or more debate(s) - this means not only making points
supporting a position but also making logical counter-arguments against what the
other side is saying;
3) write one or more 2-3 page (500 - 750 words) critique(s) and present it to the
class - this means not only summarizing what is written but spending an equal
amount of time stating why the piece is good or bad as well as giving your own
opinion on the subject (other class members should prepare three written
questions for each critique);
4) write a 5 - 10 page (1250 - 2500 words) term paper produced in three stages this means: a) PAPER ONE: writing a one or two page outline of your paper
containing the title, the thesis and the topic sentences of each of the paragraphs
you expect to write in the final version - please follow the instructions for writing
an outline given in class lectures and not those in the book (due Week 7); b)
PAPER TWO: writing a first draft of the paper with proper footnotes and
bibliography - please give me the original of the outline (due Week 10); and, c)
PAPER THREE: submitting the final draft by Week 13 with all final changes
completed (please give me originals of all previous papers). [Please Note: To
facilitate grading, both the critique and all versions of the term paper must be
double-spaced, written on A4 paper in font equal to or larger than Times New
Roman 12-point, and have a minimum of 3 centimeter margins all around.];
5) write the final exam based on the debates OR originally write, memorize and
perform a skit in a group of 2-5 people in front of the class (if you choose the
latter option, everyone should speak approximately the same amount of time and
the skit itself should be 7-8 minutes in length for each person in the group - for
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example, 3 people in the group times 7 - 8 minutes = 21 - 24 minutes). The
dialogue of the skit must be submitted by Week 13. You must also submit a VHS
tape of the skit in Week 15 and perform it in front of the class in Week 15 or 16.
[To facilitate grading, students doing the skit should each say at the beginning of
the videotape: “My name is__________. My ID Number is __________.]
Textbook
1. English Communication Skills (Fall 2003 edition). This is a reader that will be made
available by early next week. It contains material on how to write an academic paper as
well as book chapters and academic journal articles for students to critique.
Evaluation
1.
2.
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5.
6.
7.
Attendance and Participation
Debate(s)
Critique (s)
First Paper (outline)
Second Paper (first draft)
Third Paper (final draft)
Final Exam or Skit
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10%
20% (10% x 2 = 20%)
20% (10% x 2 = 20%)
5%
10%
15%
20%
Class Schedule
Week 1:
a) Overview;
b) Introducing a classmate;
c) Further writing exercise.
Week 2:
Technical aspects of academic writing.
Week 3:
a) Debate 1: Gattaca: "All research for genetic enhancement must be
allowed” - can go outside of movie to make points.
b) Critique 1: "Preparing for the next Attack" by William Perry in
Foreign Affairs 80, 6: 31-45.
Week 4:
a) Debate 2: The People vs. Larry Flynt: "The Supreme Court of the
United States was correct in allowing for so much freedom of speech."
b) Critique 2: "The End of History" by Francis Fukuyama in The
National Interest 16: 3-18.
Week 5:
a) Critique 3: "Re-engineering the Work Week" in The End of Work by
Jeremy Rifkin (pp. 221-235).
b) Critique 4: "Gray Dawn: The Global Aging Crisis" by Peter G.
Peterson in Foreign Affairs 78, 1: 42-55.
Due Date: Voluntary Assignment
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Week 6:
a) Debate 3: Casablanca: "Ilse should have stayed with Rick in
Casablanca."
b) Critique 5: "Sexual Harassment Law in America: Thirty Years of
Evolution" by Asif Siddiqui in Asian Journal of Women's Studies 4, 2:
87-102.
Teacher’s Choice (Week 7 – tentative)
Week 7:
a) Debate 4: Sleeping with the Enemy - "Laura did the right thing by
killing Martin."
b) Critique 6: "Women in Power: From Tokenism to Critical Mass" by
Jane S. Jacquette in Foreign Policy 108: 23-37.
Due Date: Paper 1
Week 8:
Class canceled for Mid-term Week (tentative)
Week 9:
a) Critique 7: "Women in Poverty: A New Global Underclass" by Mayra
Buvinic in Foreign Policy 108: 38-53.
b) Critique 8: "The Clash of Civilizations" by Samuel Huntington in
Foreign Affairs 72, 3: 22-?.
Week 10:
a) Debate 5: The Firm - "Mitch McDeer should have told the FBI
everything."
b) Critique 9: "The Kosovo Crisis: The End of the Post-Cold War Era"
by Alexi Arbatov, an Occasional Paper, The Atlantic Council of the US.
Due Date: Paper 2
Week 11:
a) Debate 6: Shakespeare in Love - "Traditional arranged marriages
(through parents) are the best."
b) Critique 10: "A Microeconomic Approach to Foreign Policy Crisis
Behavior" by Asif Siddiqui in Journal of Economics and Business 16, 2:
193-203.
Week 12:
a) Critique 11: "The Second Nuclear Age" by Paul Bracken in Foreign
Affairs 79, 1: 146-156.
b) Critique 12: "America the Boastful" by Paul Krugman in Foreign
Affairs 77, 3: 32-45.
Week 13:
a) Debate 7: The English Patient - "Lazlo de Almasy was perfectly
justified in his behavior after Geoffrey Clifton tried to kill him by crashing
the plane on top of him."
b) Critique 13: "Asia’s Reemergence" by Steven Radelet and Jeffrey
Sachs in Foreign Affairs 76, 6: 44-59.
Due Date: Paper 3 & Final Skit Dialogue Script
Week 14:
a) Debate 8: You’ve got Mail - "Resistance to Globalization is pointless."
b) Critique 14: "Korea: The Chinese Company Within" in Trust by
Francis Fukuyama (pp. 127-145).
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Teacher’s Choice (Week 15 – tentative)
Week 15:
a) Debate 9: Wag the Dog - "Sometimes it is good for the government to
lie to its own people" - can go outside of movie to make points.
b) Critique 15: "Friction-Free Economies" in Trust by Francis Fukuyama
(pp. 149-160).
Due Date: VHS Tape (for those doing Final Skit) & All Late Papers
Week 16:
Final Exam or Skit.
Suggestions for doing well:
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Come to all classes. Even if you miss one class, the attendance and participation
component of your final grade will suffer unless you have a legitimate excuse
(discussed below).
Come to class on time (before attendance is taken). Attendance is normally taken
around 10 to 15 minutes after class starts. If you come in after attendance is
taken, you will be marked “late” for the class. One “late” is not a problem.
However, every 2 times you are “late,” this will equal 1 absence.
Do all assignments on time. You cannot miss a debate or critique in which you
are participating without a legitimate excuse. Otherwise, you will receive “zero.”
You can hand in Paper 1, 2 and/or 3 late (until the end of Week 15). However,
there will be a 20% penalty on anything that is handed in late, unless you have a
legitimate excuse.
Only the following will be accepted as legitimate excuses (with documentation):
- you have a medical illness;
- someone in your immediate nuclear family (mother, father, sister, brother)
has passed away;
- you must enter the military;
- when you are not participating in a debate or critique, you can miss class
to attend a conference, but, you must provide written materials from the
conference, which might be used for critiques in the future.
If you plan to do the Final Exam, do feel free to obtain the scripts of the segments
of movies we watch in class. If you study the dialogues carefully, you could
improve your score dramatically.
If you plan to do a Final Skit, please make sure you get everything finished well
ahead of time. That means you should check out whether or not everything has
been taped properly and is ready for submission by the due date.
Please note: It is your decision to do the Final Skit instead of the Final Exam, so
it is your responsibility to obtain the necessary equipment and finish all your tasks
on time. If you do not submit your VHS tape by Week 15, you will be expected
to do the Final Exam in Week 16, not a skit.
You might also consider doing the Voluntary Assignment, although this will only
help those students whose grades are B (84-86%) or lower. The Voluntary
Assignment can add up to 5% (to a maximum of 89%, B+) to your final grade.
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But, you must have everything ready & available on time. Otherwise, you cannot
do the Voluntary Assignment. Please don’t ask for an extension of the deadline.
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