Communicative English Program

Basic Level English Syllabus

January - May Semester 2017

Teacher: Diana Quionez

[email protected]

Course objective:
During this course students will discover how to express information about themselves, request information,
describe things, people, places and situations; also, describe past experiences in an appropriate manner while
getting acquainted with the English language culture and everyday expressions taken from corpus . Students
will develop not only accuracy but fluency through language in context, this with the practice of the four skills:
speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Course contents:
PART I
Unit 1 All about you
Unit 2 In class
Unit 3 Favorite people
Unit 4 Everyday life

PART II
Unit 5 Free time
Unit 6 Neighborhoods
Unit 7 Out and about
Unit 8 Shopping

PART III
Unit 9 A wide world
Unit 10 Busy lives
Unit 11 Looking back
Unit 12 Fabulous food

Evaluation:
English logs_______________________________ 20%
Participation, attendance and homework ________ 20%
Evaluations _______________________________ 60%
- Speaking test 15%
- Writing test 15%
- Reading test 15%
- Listening test 15%
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Important dates:
First day of classes: January 16th
Last day of classes: May 20th
Holidays: February 6th, March 20th, May 1st, May 5th, May 15th, May 23rd
Summer break: April 10th April 22th
Evaluation days:
Evaluation week occurs every four units. During these days, each day students will have a different test.

1st evaluation Unit 1 4 Feb 16th and Feb 20th

2nd evaluation Unit 5 8 March 23rd and March 27th

3rd evaluation Unit 9 12 May 11th and May 16th

Note: Take into account that this dates are tentative. They may change depending on the circumstances we
can go through during the semester.

Participation and attendance.

Every day, teacher will hand out a participation and attendance record sheet where students will give
themselves a daily grade evaluating their performance in class. Teacher will evaluate students performance as
well.

Homework.
Assignments will be taken into account as a homework. If students do not bring homework one day, he/she will
have a 6 as a grade in his/her participation and attendance record sheet. Missing 2 assignments will contribute
to have an absence that day.

English Logs will be delivered every Monday. (10 hours per week)
For your English logs you are asked to watch, read, listen or any activity that exposes you to the English
language and report: what caught your attention, something you didnt know about the language, etc.

Examples of activities:
1. Video games
2. Movies
3. Newspaper
4. T.V. Shows
5. Books
6. Sitcoms, etc.
7. Magazines
8. Radio stations (Ex. 104.3, 93.1, 95.5, 102.1, 105.9, 99.1, etc.)

Rules for English logs:

No description of the content of movies, series, T.V. shows, video games, etc. Students must just write only
about what they learn from the activities they do on their English logs. For example: new words, new phrases,
new expressions, American culture, quotes, etc. Everything that is new for them.
Each log has to contain different types of activities like the ones mentioned above. If an activity is repetitive in
more than 2 logs, points will be taken off from the grade.

*English Logs will be delivered to the teacher at the beginning of the class each Monday. It can be written in a
piece of paper or printed. Every student MUST delivered his/her English Logs on Monday. NO EXCUSES
ALLOWED.
This is an example of how activities are reported on English Logs:
 English Log No. ___
Name:___________________________ Date:________________________
Activity: Listening to music Time spent: 30 min.

My favorite music is pop. My favorite band Maroon 5. I listen Ellie Goulding. I like the song Love me like you
do. I learn the word like" it is use for comparison, for example "red like the apple", also it is use when I am
pleased or enjoy an activity. For example I like play basketball".

Class policies:

1. Students must be on time. Attendance will be checked 15 minutes after class has started. If you think
you might have problems arriving on time, please talk to me at the end of the class to talk about how to
help you.
2. Students must not be absent more than 6 classes during the semester. Exceeding this number
represents automatic failure. You may justify your absence if it is a medical issue. You HAVE to bring
evidence.

3. Cell phones should always be turned off or in vibrating mode and all calls should be taken outside. No
text messaging is allowed during class. If youre caught texting you will have an absence for that day.

4. No Spanish can be spoken in class at any time. Strikes: Since no Spanish is allowed in class, you have
a consequence if you speak it. Those who are caught speaking Spanish in class (3 words in Spanish)
will be charged with $5 pesos per word. NO EXCUSES ARE ACCEPTED. The money recollected
during the semester will be used for the benefit of the students such as sharing food at the end of the
semester.

5. Students are expected to have the proper materials in class each day. This includes textbook and
writing utensils. If you do not bring them you will not be allowed to be in class.

6. No translation or any use of translators is allowed. (Google translator, Spanish-English dictionary, etc.)
You may use a thesaurus or an English dictionary.

7. Active participation is a part of your grade in this course. To participate you must attend class having
prepared the materials for the day. Questions and comments must be relevant to the topic at hand.

8. Respect for individual differences and alternative viewpoints will be maintained at all times in this class.

9. Rude language and cursing are not permitted.

10. It is mandatory to have the book required for the class by the 1st week of classes.

Course materials:
Touchstone Students book 1. 2nd edition. Michael McCarthy, Jeanne McCarten, and Helen Sandiford. Ed.
Cambridge University Press

REMEMBER: If you have doubts or questions, please always ask me for help. MY JOB IS TO HELP YOU,
ALWAYS! I have an obligation to be patient always and if I have to explain something 10 times, I will do it with
pleasure every time.
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Students name

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Students signature