AC

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Advanced English Conversation (Spring 2020)


Prof. Kent Lee

Dept. English Language & Literature, Pukyong National University

Time: S. 103: Tue/Thu 12.00-13.15pm; S. 104: 15.00-16.15pm

Mailbox:

Office & office hours: by appointment

Syllabus: See the link in an LMS announcement.

This website will go along with my syllabus and materials in our LMS for this course, as well as materials that supplement my course book.


1 Weekly lessons

1.1 Assignments

Everyone should fill out the following Google Form, which asks for general information about you, and some survey questions about your attitudes toward English. If you are taking more than one course from me this semester, you only need to fill this out once.


Click on the 'Expand' button on the right to show past contents.

1.2 Week 3, Day 2

You can look at the handout, and view the lecture video. At times you will need to pause the video, think about the question, and talk to someone. You can arrange to talk to a classmate that you in the department, especially if you know someone taking this course. Otherwise, please find friends, classmates, or other persons, and discuss the questions with them.


Based on the MBTI, you will fall into one of sixteen personality types, e.g., INTP, ESFJ, INFP, etc. You should discuss your results with a partner or classmate. Think about these, and discuss whether you think this classification of your personality is accurate.


1.3 Week 4


1.4 Week 5


1.5 Week 6


1.6 Weeks 7-15

Lecture videos are available in the LMS or on my Youtube channel.


2 Midterm

Click on the 'Expand' button on the right to show past contents.

We have been talking about fallacies and misconceptions this semester, and lately we have been examining commercial advertisements and political examples. For the midterm, you will discuss some fallacies, misconceptions, or other problems, either in advertising, or in the politics of your country. This can be based on one of the topics of your previous recorded assignment on logical fallacies (the one that was due on 27 April), or a new topic, if you like. Your talk should be about 4-7 minutes long.

For example, you can discuss one of these problems in a particular area (of media, politics, or advertising):

  • Regular use of logical fallacies
  • Sexism, sexualization, sexual objectification: using women (or men) as sex objects in advertising
  • Sexism, racism, xenophobia (외국인 혐오(증)), homophobia, or other forms of discrimination - in popular media, politics, or advertising
  • Popular misconceptions that are exploited by popular media, advertisers, other companies, or politicians
  • Cognitive biases (We have not discussed this yet in the course, but you are welcome do try talking about this.)


Your talk can focus on one area, such as:

  • A particular type or area of advertising
  • A particular segment of the media, e.g., popular TV shows or movies, or more specifically, a particular genre such as comedy shows, dramas, or such
  • A particular group of politicians, political parties, or political groups
  • A particular segment of the general public, e.g. one that is targeted by media or politicians, or to whom such media / adverts / political discourse appeal


For this, you will record a video of yourself, in which you give a presentation about this. You can discuss examples from your own country, or a country and culture that you are familiar with (if you have lived elsewhere). You should not just discuss one example, but discuss several examples that illustrate a trend, tendency, or cultural problem. The number of examples will depend on your topic and how complex the examples are, but I would recommend at least three examples to develop your ideas. Summarize your examples briefly, and then analyze and critique them. Some possible points to discuss include:

  • The effects of these misuses of communication - e.g., how did the public or news media react, was it effective for the company or politician, was there a backlash (a reaction against it), or did it have any long-term negative effects for the company / product / politician / political party or for the culture?
  • Cultural attitudes, cultural problems, or the effects of this on the culture
  • How widespread these attitudes, problems, or misuse of language or communication are
  • Harmful or negative effects - why is this unhealthy, e.g., for the society or culture?
  • Possible solutions to this problem (Note: If you address this, then avoid common, vague or general solutions, and instead come up with some specific, unique ideas that could actually work.)


Due date
10 May (11:59pm)


General criteria
  • Your talk should be recorded and uploaded to the LMS assignment space for the midterm. Your talk should be about 4-7 minutes long.
  • Your talk should have clear, persuasive explanation, details, and examples.
  • Your talk should have a clear focus on a particular issue, problem, or area of media or politics.
  • Your talk should have clear main points or objectives.

You should refer to the video lectures from Week 7, where I talk about the midterm assignment and tips for speaking.

Grading will be based on the following criteria:

1. Rationale, goals, objectives Clear rationale & explanation for your application, e.g., specific objectives, goals, and personal potential; clear focus
2. Contents Sufficient overall contents & preparation; enough good contents for a two-minute personal statement
3. Support Sufficient details & explanations about your strengths, abilities, e.g., your personal and/or academic strengths, skills, accomplishments, and your future potential.
4. Details Sufficient details & explanations about your plans, objectives, e.g., your personal and/or academic strengths, skills, accomplishments; a persuasive explanation of your potential in carrying out your plans. For projects, this can also include, for example, details about your project, plans, rationale, feasibility, etc.
5. Clarity Clear explanations, easy to understand follow; clear wording & vocabulary
6. Organization Well-organized and structured, good flow; flow indicated by intro, transition words & expressions; clear intro and conclusion
7. Speaking & vocal delivery Clear, audible voices; clear speaking & delivery; good vocal volume & intonation; the presentation quality indicates adequate rehearsal and preparation; no excessive fillers, pauses (uh, um), pauses, unfinished sentences; good pace
8. Interaction with audience Eye contact, body language, posture, etc.
9. Value Overall personal, social, artistic, academic, practical, commercial, and/or scientific value & benefit of your application and/or project and/or plans; creativity and originality; feasibility of your plans or project
10. Effectiveness How effective is your talk; its persuasiveness and informativeness to members of a potential scholarship committee. I will also consider (1) how well you answered questions from the audience or interviewers; and (2) how audience members evaluated your presentation.


3 Final project: Popular misconceptions

For the final presentation, you will chose a popular misconception and write about it. I suggest that you work in groups to identify similar or related topics, so that at the end of the semester you and your teammates can do a group presentation on your topics. (Note: I am deleting or striking out some sentences that are intended for a group version of this assignment, but because of the Spring 2020 online semester, these are being deleted.) See the s page for ideas, e.g.:

  • Urban legends, popular myths
  • Pseudoscience
  • Pop psychology
  • Myths or misconceptions about science, medicine, health, etc.
  • Conspiracy theories


In your presentation, you will need to address the following points.

1. Background
  • Important details about the misconception, how many people / what kind of people believe it
  • The origins of the false belief.
  • How common is this belief in Korea, or elsewhere? What kind of people believe it?
  • However, keep this part reasonably brief, especially if it is a misconception that is fairly familiar or common (or one that I am familiar with).


2. Analysis
  • Why is this belief wrong? (Note - You may not need to spend too much time describing the misconception, or why it is wrong, if it is fairly well known (and I am familiar with a number of these), or if it is fairly obvious why it is wrong.)
  • Why is the topic important, why is this belief unhealthy, or what is the social value or importance of this issue?
  • Why do so many people believe in it? Why does it have popular appeal?


3. Solutions

Your proposed solutions can address one or more of these aspects. For the presentation, one specific idea will suffice, as it is difficult to cover this comprehensively in a short presentation.

  • Awareness & prevention. How can we educate the public to prevent people from falling for it?
  • Intervention. How can we reach and persuade those who already believe it? How can it be debunked (shown why it is wrong) among believers? The emphasis here is not explaining fairly obvious reasons about why it is wrong, but how you would attempt to persuade people who actually believe in it.



3.1 Criteria

  • Due date: ?
  • Length: 6-10 minutes
  • Format: Recorded video (any video forma), uploaded to the LMS assignment space


General criteria
  • Your talk should be recorded and uploaded to the LMS assignment space for the midterm. Your talk should be about 4-7 minutes long.
  • Your talk should have clear, persuasive explanation, details, and examples.
  • Your talk should have a clear focus on a particular issue, problem, or area of media or politics.
  • Your talk should have clear main points or objectives.

You should refer to the video lectures from Week 7, where I talk about the midterm assignment and tips for speaking.


Grading

Grading will be based on the following criteria:

1. Rationale, goals, objectives Clear rationale & explanation for your application, e.g., specific objectives, goals, and personal potential; clear focus
2. Contents Sufficient overall contents & preparation; enough good contents for a two-minute personal statement
3. Support Sufficient details & explanations about your strengths, abilities, e.g., your personal and/or academic strengths, skills, accomplishments, and your future potential.
4. Details Sufficient details & explanations about your plans, objectives, e.g., your personal and/or academic strengths, skills, accomplishments; a persuasive explanation of your potential in carrying out your plans. For projects, this can also include, for example, details about your project, plans, rationale, feasibility, etc.
5. Clarity Clear explanations, easy to understand follow; clear wording & vocabulary
6. Organization Well-organized and structured, good flow; flow indicated by intro, transition words & expressions; clear intro and conclusion
7. Speaking & vocal delivery Clear, audible voices; clear speaking & delivery; good vocal volume & intonation; the presentation quality indicates adequate rehearsal and preparation; no excessive fillers, pauses (uh, um), pauses, unfinished sentences; good pace
8. Interaction with audience Eye contact, body language, posture, etc.
9. Value Overall personal, social, artistic, academic, practical, commercial, and/or scientific value & benefit of your application and/or project and/or plans; creativity and originality; feasibility of your plans or project
10. Effectiveness How effective is your talk; its persuasiveness and informativeness to members of a potential scholarship committee. I will also consider (1) how well you answered questions from the audience or interviewers; and (2) how audience members evaluated your presentation.


Example
I have created an essay as an example here. This is not exactly a serious misconception in the sense that we've talked about; it is a sort of misconception among children that adults use, though sometimes the Santa story may be used inappropriately. But this shows some of the elements needed for this paper.
Links
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