Welcome to Academic Speaking and Listening
(B Class, Brown)

Class Level

This class is intended to help you develop your listening and speaking skills in academic topics. You will practice listening to academic lectures and discussing those topics. There are two levels of this class. Please join the class which best suits your language level.

Class / Language Level / Teacher / Day and Time
A / UNP Level D / D+
(CASEC 525 - 625) / Brown / Thursday, 2nd period
Room 1361
B / UNP Level C or higher
(CASEC 625 ~ ) / Stoeckel / Wednesday, 1st period
Room 1208

Required Text and Online Materials

All students must purchase a copy of the class text book, available from the university Coop.
CONTEMPORARY TOPICS Level 2 (4thEdition)
ISBN 9780134400808
The text book includes an access code for online materials that will be very important for this course.

Grading

Grades for this class will be based on the following criteria.

Class participation 20%
Students are expected to be on time, prepared and active in class.

Unit Quizzes 50%
There will be at total of 8 online quizzes, one for each unit covered in the text book. Together, these will count for half of your final grade.

Final Oral Exam 30%
Your final exam will be a graded discussion. The format will be similar to in-class discussions you participate in throughout the course. The topic for the final exam will be taken from the topic of the text book unit assigned to your group for independent study.

Class Schedule

Week / Topic / Homework / Self Study
Class Introduction
Introduction to Unit 1 / Purchase textbook, register for online materials,
Watch the Unit 1 Lecture Video, answer questions A – E on pp. 6 and 7. / First Self Study Unit
Due Nov 16 (Wed)
Unit 1 Names
Homework Check, video lecture, etc. / Review the Lecture Video
Unit Test
Proficiency Assessment
Unit 1 Names
Review of lecture, pronunciation, discussion etc. / Vocabulary Preview pp. 13-34
Watch the Unit 2 Lecture Video, answer questions A – E on pp. 16 and 17.
Unit 2 Global English
Homework Check, video lecture, etc. / Review the Unit 2 Lecture Video
Unit Test
Proficiency Assessment
Unit2 Global English
Review of lecture, pronunciation, discussion etc. / Vocabulary Preview pp. 23-24
Watch the Unit 3 Lecture Video, answer questions A – E on pp. 26 and 27.
Unit3 Phobias
Homework Check, video lecture, etc. / Review the Unit 3 Lecture Video
Unit Test
Proficiency Assessment
Unit3 Phobias
Review of lecture, pronunciation, discussion etc. / Vocabulary Preview pp. 33-34
Watch the Unit 4 Lecture Video, answer questions A – E on pp. 36 and 37.
Unit4 Success
Homework Check, video lecture, etc. / Review the Unit 4 Lecture Video
Unit Test
Proficiency Assessment / Second Self Study Unit
Due Jan 18 (Wed)
Unit4 Success
Review of lecture, pronunciation, discussion etc. / Vocabulary Preview pp. 43-44
Watch the Unit 5 Lecture Video, answer questions A – E on pp. 46 and 47.
Unit5 How we Learn
Homework Check, video lecture, etc. / Review the Unit 5 Lecture Video
Unit Test
Proficiency Assessment
Unit5 How we Learn
Review of lecture, pronunciation, discussion etc. / Vocabulary Preview pp. 53-54
Watch the Unit 6 Lecture Video, answer questions A – E on pp. 56 and 57.
Unit6 The Silk Road
Homework Check, video lecture, etc. / Review the Unit 6 Lecture Video
Unit Test
Proficiency Assessment
Unit6 The Silk Road
Review of lecture, pronunciation, discussion etc. / N/A
Review and preparation for final exam / Prepare for Final exam
Final exam
Final exam

Self Study Units

The class will be divided into 3 groups at random. Each group will be responsible for 2 text book units as self study. You should watchthe Lecture Video online, listen to the available audio files online and complete all exercises in the unit the text book. You must also complete the Unit Test and Proficiency Assessment for these two units. In addition, questions on your final exam will be taken from the topics covered in the two units assigned to your group.

Group 1 / Group 2 / Group 3 / Due Date
1st Self Study Unit / Unit 7 / Unit 9 / Unit 11 / 11/23
2nd Self Study Unit / Unit 8 / Unit 10 / Unit 12 / 1/19

Signing up for Online Materials

The online materials associated with your text book are mandatory. You will have online practice homework every week and you will have an online quiz every two weeks. These quizzes will count for 50% of your final grade for this class so it is very important that you sign up for the only materials correctly and keep up with the study schedule. You CANNOT pass this class if you do not have a passing grade on the online materials.

In order to sign up for the online materials, you will need to register at

On that page, you should click on the REGISTER button and then you can choose the language you would like to use the site in. You can keep the instructions in English, or switch to Japanese, it’s up to you.

  • When you register, you will need two codes. One is your Student Access Code. This is printed on the inside of the front cover of your text book. The other is the Course ID. For this class, the course ID is 7dfm-6dw2-rgz9-8ayq.
  • When you register, you will have to create a user name and password. Please use your UNP student ID number for your username. You may create your own password.

Once you join the course, you will have access to all of the course materials. The audio and video we use in class will be available online, or you can download it to use later. Also, you will have a Unit Test and a Proficiency Assessment for each unit of the text.

Note that the final due date for all online assignments and tests is always Wednesday at midnight.