NCHU Course Outline

Course Name	(中) 學術英文聽讀(0919)
	(Eng.) Academic English：Listening and Reading
Offering Dept	Language Center
Course Type	Required	Credits	2	Teacher	Ho, TAI-CHUN
Department	General	Language	English	Semester	2026-SPRING
Course Description	With a wide range of classroom activities and exercises, this course is designed to enhance the English listening and reading skills of first-year NCHU undergraduates. The lecturer will guide participants through a wealth of English learning resources and authentic materials. In order to facilitate learning and classroom discussion, students are required to complete listening and reading assignments before coming to class. Every week, participants will have to take quizzes, speak English both in small groups and in front of the class, and engage in a series of tasks.
Prerequisites				self-directed learning in the course	Y

Relevance of Course Objectives and Core Learning Outcomes(%)			Teaching and Assessment Methods for Course Objectives
Course Objectives	Competency Indicators	Ratio(%)	Teaching Methods	Assessment Methods
Course Objectives: At the end of the course, students will be able to: 1) Speaking: -speak more confidently and fluently about various topics -speak with fewer simple grammar mistakes 2) Reading -improve reading skills -become familiar with different genres of English materials and different types of argumentative writing 3) Vocabulary -increase vocabulary, especially vocabulary related to the topics in online English materials and selected readings 4) Grammar -improve usage of already-learned grammar in writing and speaking 5) Listening -improve listening for both main ideas and details on a variety of topics			topic Discussion/Production Networking/Distance Education Discussion Lecturing	Attendance Oral Presentation Assignment Quiz
Course Content and Homework/Schedule/Tests Schedule
Week Course Content Week 1 Introduction What I did during the Winter Break Week 2 Job/Career Richard Chiffman’s “Why We Should Work Less” (2012) Speak about your dream job/the career you want to have in the future Quiz 1: “Flexible working” Week 3 Travel TED Talk: Pico Iyer’s “Where is home?” Speak about your experience of traveling and ideas of home Quiz 2: Should tourists go to Antarctica? Week 4 Gender Emma Watson’s speech on feminism at the UN Speak about the gender equality/problems in Taiwan Quiz 3: “Women’s Right to Vote” Week 5 Gender Obama’s article on feminism Speak about the gender equality/problems in Taiwan Quiz 4: “Men are the Weaker Sex” Week 6 Ecology and Environment Paul Bogard’s “Let There Be Dark” (2012)? Speak about the crisis of nature and environmental problems Quiz 5: “Is there more of the world to explore?” Week 7 Holiday Week 8 Group Presentation 1 Week 9 Library Zadie Smith’s “Northwest London Blues” (pp. 3-10) Speak about your experience of visiting libraries Quiz 6: “What makes a great library?” Week 10 General English Test Week 11 Library Zadie Smith’s “Northwest London Blues” (pp. 10-17) Speak about the importance of libraries Quiz 7: “The human library: Life as an open book” Week 12 Literature Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince” Speak about your experience of reading Quiz 8:“Reading the Classics” Week 13 Literature Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince” Speak about your experience of reading literature Quiz 9: “Literacy Heroes” Week 14 Art, Politics and Taiwan Andrew Solomon’s “Don’t Mess with Our Cultural Patrimony” (pp.181-190) Speak about your experience of visiting Museums Quiz 10: “A History of the World in 100 objects” Week 15 Art, Politics and Taiwan Andrew Solomon’s “Don’t Mess with Our Cultural Patrimony” (pp. 191-202) Retell the National Palace Museum controversy Quiz 11: “Scottish Independence” Week 16 Group Presentation 2 on the text of Smith, Wilde or Solomon self-directed learning    02.Viewing multimedia materials related to industry and academia.    03.Preparing presentations or reports related to industry and academia. Participants of this course should prepare for the group presentations in weeks 8 and 16.
Evaluation
Grades 60% participation (online journal/diary10%; group presentations 10%; class participation 40%) 30% exams (quizzes 20%; General English Test 5%; English Score 5%) 10% attendance (attendance 10%) ＞An online journal/diary: You will have to keep a journal/diary and write entries to keep track of your readings ＞2 Group presentations: week 8 on a well-known/popular text; week 16 on the text of Smith, Wilde, or Solomon. ＞Class participation: I will give points based on your speaking frequency during the in-class activities (including your online contribution to the forum of the I-learning website) A 60-100 scale system is used. 60 = didn’t speak 61-70= spoke a few times 71-85= made a few comments 86-100= talked a lot ＞Sickness: If you can’t come to class because you’re sick, please apply for a leave of absence via the university’s online system and attach a document which shows your doctor’s notes or your visit to a clinic or hospital. On the day of a quiz, you will need to show me absent notes approved by the university; otherwise, your absence will be unexcused. ＞Tardiness: You should come to class on time. If you arrive late after I take attendance, you will be marked absent. If you arrive after the quiz is finished, you cannot retake it. ＞Other reasons: Please discuss them with me beforehand.
Textbook & other References
A course pack is prepared for this course Online English Resources: BBC Six-Minute English; Ted Talks; The New York Times; Washing Post; Vanity Fair, etc. Selected Readings: Zadie Smith. “Northwest London Blues” in Feel Free. Penguin: 2018. Solomon, Andrew. “Don’t Mess with Our Cultural Patrimony” in Far and Wide: Reporting from the Brink of Change. Scribner, 2016. Wilde, Oscar. ”The Happy Prince” in The Complete Short Stories. Oxford Classics, 2010.
Teaching Aids & Teacher's Website
I-Learning 3
Office Hours
Monday 3:10-5:00 pm (by appointment)
Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs(Link URL)
03.Good Health and Well-Being   04.Quality Education   05.Gender Equality include experience courses：N

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Update Date, year/month/day：2026/02/22 23:35:27	Printed Date, year/month/day：2026 / 3 / 10
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