SYLLABUS

American University of Central Asia

New Generation Academy Syllabus

Academic Year 2015 – 2016

FallTerm

Course ID: 2842 Course code: Prep 041

Course Name: / Test Preparation - TOEFL
Level: / Intermediate
Credit Hours: / 12
Meeting Times: / Tu. Fr. 9:00 – 11:45
Instructor: / Aichurek Kadyrova
PhoneNo: / 0773750525
E-mail: /
Office hours: / By appointment

I Texts & Materials

1. Delta’s Key to the TOEFL Test. Nancy Gallagher, Delta Publishing Company, 2000.

2. Building Skills for the TOEFL iBT,John Beaumont, Pearson Education, Inc., 2006

3. English skills with readings, John Langan, McGraw-Hill,Inc., 1995

4.Handouts

5. E-course materials

II Course description

This course starts the one-year program in Preparation for TOEFL and is designed to further developrequired skills in the semester. It includes work on skills required by the three main sections included in the TOEFL Exam, being reading comprehension skills, and skills needed to discern and solve problems given under structure/written expressions section. The course will also introduce more advanced vocabulary, as well as abilities needed for efficient academic activities in any language.

III Goals and Objectives

  1. To develop the general skills to the following degree as listed:
  2. Structure and Written Expression: Students should be able to solve problems connected with common misuse of the sentence components. They should also refresh their knowledge of advanced grammar and acquire the skill of intuitively locating parts in conflict with the rest of the sentence.
  3. Reading Comprehension: Students should be able to make logical conclusions based on the information stated in the passage and guess the meaning of the unfamiliar words. They should also learn the specific vocabulary used in various fields of human activity.
  4. Writing: Students should be drilled to spawn ideas quickly and be able to categorize and organize ideas within the limited period of time.

Expected Outcomes: having taken this course, students should be able to get higher grades on TOEFL exam and improve the abilities tested by the respective exam (i.e. retrieve more information from informal conversations or lectures delivered in class, read academic texts critically, and be able to edit their own writings).

IV. Course requirements:

A. Attendance

Attendance at all classes for the NGA Program is mandatory. If you are absent for unavoidable reasons (illness or other), your instructor must be informed on the same day (the day you miss). This should be done by telephone, or via e-mail (telephone number and e-mail address are given at the beginning of this syllabus).

It is also NOT allowed to be late for the classes. Being regularly late for the classes affects your grade. The longer you are absent, the lower your grade for classroom activities will be.

If your unjustified absences exceed 30%, you automatically get “F” and are not allowed to take the Final Test.

B. Classroom Etiquette

It is prohibited to eat or drink during the class as it may distract you or your classmates’ attention. Mobile phones must be switched off or programmed to “Silent” during class.

C. Participation

You are expected to take an active part in all classroom activities: ask questions in English, answer questions of other students voluntarily, express your viewpoint on discussed subjects, and take active part in group activities. All this together makes up your grade for classroom activities. All subjects occurring in the course of this program are to be discussed in English only.

D. Home Assignments

Home assignments are an integral and important component of the instruction. All home assignments should be completed on time. If you miss, or do not understand, a home assignment, you must check with your instructor or with another student.

E. Class Exercises

In-class writing and exercises should be done in a special exercise book or on the handouts. If you are absent for any reason, consult your classmates or your instructor to find out what you have missed.

V. Individual issues

If you have any problems concerning the course material or the classroom instruction, you are encouraged to immediately discuss it with your instructor, or your advisor, outside of class time—during “office hours” (days and times can be found at the beginning of this syllabus).

VI. Grading

Grades are given based on:

1)Attendance

2)Class Participation

3)Home Assignments

4)Exams

Type of activity / Percent of Total Grade
1. / Attendance: / 20%
2. / Class Participation: / 20%
3. / Home Assignments: / 20%
4. / Exams / 40%

Grade/Percentage Ratio:

A / 100-95 % / C / 69-65 %
A- / 94-90 % / C- / 64-60 %
B+ / 89-85 % / D+ / 59-55 %
B / 84-80 % / D / 54-50 %
B- / 79-75 % / D- / 49-45 %
C+ / 74-70 % / F / -44% (or less)

VII. Academic Honesty

All academic dishonesty (such as plagiarism, cheating, using others’ works to compose your own, the use of oral or written quotations without proper citations, using others knowledge to get a good grade, the use of crib notes in a quiz or on an exam) is strictly prohibited and shall be subject to disciplinary action which may include suspension or dismissal.

VIII. Course Schedule

Week, Dates / Class Topics and Material to Be Covered / Home Assignments
Week 1 / Introduction to TOEFL. Information about the course.
Tests contents. Self-assessment activity. Diagnostic pre-test.
Discussion of the results. Students’ problems and questions / Students have to review their class notes.
Students prepare their problem zones in English.
Week 2 / Subject and verb agreement exercises
Subjects and objects; appositives; plurals.
Topic and main ideas.(reading)
Essay: Punctuation and capitalization / Structure quiz 1
Reading quiz 1
Handout exercises.
Week 3 / Articles; verbs and auxiliaries; passives
Vocabulary in context
Essay: prewriting
( brainstorming, outlining) / Structure quiz 2
Reading quiz 4
Handout exercises
Week 4 / Infinitives and gerunds; main and subordinate clauses
Supporting ideas
Essay: main idea
Quarter – Term Exam / Structure quiz 3
Reading quiz 2
Write a paragraph
Handout exercises
Review all notes
Week 5 / Noun clauses; adjective clauses
Referents
Essay: Introduction / Structure quiz 4,5
Reading quiz 3
Reading quiz 5(review )
Handout exercises
Week 6 / Adverb clauses; conditionals
Inferences(reading)
Essay: Body and conclusion / Structure quiz 6
Reading quiz 6
Handout exercises
Week 7 / Inverted subjects and verbs; pronoun agreement
Words and categories
Essay: Paragraph and sentence structure / Structure quiz 7,8
Handout exercises
Write a paragraph
Week 8 / Revision of all reading and structure skills
Essay: Using transitions
Mid-Term Exam / Full-length Test
Write a short essay
Review all notes
Fall Break / NO CLASSES
Week 9 / Adjective word order; participial adjective
Organization and purpose
Essay: Word choice / Structure quiz 9
Reading quiz 7
Handout exercises
Write a paragraph
Week 10 / Negative modifiers;
Equatives, comparatives, superlatives
Coherence
Essay: Word choice / Structure quiz 9
Reading quiz 9
Write a short essay
Week 11 / Conjunctions; prepositions
Coherence
Essay: Cause-effect paragraph / Structure quiz 10
Reading quiz 10
Write a cause-effect paragraph
Week 12 / Word form; word choice; redundancy; parallel structure
Progress assessment
Essay: Effective word choice / Structure quiz 12,13
Reading quiz 8,9,10
Write a short essay
Week 13 / Review of all grammar structures
Reading skills review
Essay: Vocabulary development / Structure quiz 14
Structure review test
Reading review test
Week 14 / Practicing TWE: Writing and Scoring Essays
Essay: Argumentative Essay / Write an essay
Handout exercises
Week 15 / NTC’ s Practice Tests
Practicing Standardized Tests: TOEFL
Final Exam / Students prepare for the final exam reviewing all the course material
Full-length test

NOTE: This schedule is subject to adjustments and changes without notice.