Foundation English 2 (10131.2)

Required texts

Resources

Students will be expected to have:

• Student book:  KEY TO EAP Foundation: A complete English for Academic Purposes Program. Mooney-Smith, P. & Goss, C. (2014). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.
• an English-English dictionary, such as the Collins Cobuild Students English Dictionary
• an English thesaurus, such as The Essential English Thesaurus
• an Exercisebook (A5) in which you will be expected to complete various tasks assigned by the lecturer and to submit them as required.
• An electronic device such as a laptop or a tablet to bring to classes when needed.
• Students must be able to access the internet both during and outside of class; and will be expected to regularly check Canvas, the UCC online learning platform.
• to complete various tasks assigned by your lecturer and to submit them as required.

You may also find it helpful to have your own copy of:

• Murphy, R (2015) English Grammar in Use. Fourth edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Oshima, A. & Hogue, A. (2007). Longman Academic Writing Series. (5 ed.). New York: Pearson Longman.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

1. Grammar and Writing Tests – 30%

Test dates: Weeks 6, 9 and 12

Grammar and writing tests will be conducted three times during the term and will assess students' knowledge and application of accurate sentence structure, types of sentences, adverbial, adjective clauses, relative clauses, and some participial phrases. In addition, the most common aspects of grammar will be included in these tests.

2.  Listening and Note-taking Test – 5%

Date of test: Week 4

You will be required to sit a test which requires you to listen to an excerpt, and then complete a variety of tasks. More details will be provided in class.

3.  Reading, Note-taking and Summary Writing Test – 5%

Date of test: Week 7

You will be required to sit a test which requires you to take notes of a reading text, and then use your notes to write a summary. More details will be provided in class.

4. Research Assignment – 25%

PART 1:  Research and preparation: article summaries (5%)

DUE DATE: Week 9

1. TOPIC: You must choose ONE topic from the list of e-resources below and then form a research question for your essay. For example:   Topic: Online Safety

Research Question: 'Discuss the problems of online safety, and some solutions to stay safe online.'

• Population Growth
• Marriage and Partnership
• Food Safety
• Ocean Conservation and Management
• Death Penalty Debate
• Housing Affordability
• Marijuana and Health
• The Abortion Rights Debate
• Waste Recycling and Energy Saving
• The Global Refugee Crisis
• Obesity and overweight
• Income and wealth inequality
• Religious freedom and discrimination
• Online Safety
• Crime and Violence
• Young Drivers and Road Safety
• Advertising standards and Ethics
• Dealing with Depression

2. RESEARCH: You must find three sources of information for this research assignment and they must all be electronic sources.

1. Click on the following link:

http://webpac.canberra.edu.au/search/X?SEARCH=(issues%20in%20society)&SORT=D&m=q

Choose a topic from the list and click on the appropriate link to open the book. You will find a series of articles related to your chosen topic. You should skim and scan the articles to find at least three which will help you to answer your research question. Save these articles for use in the Research Assignment, Parts 1, 2 and 3.

3. Complete a Research Assignment Part 1: Article Summaries template for each article you have chosen.

4. Submit these three completed templates on Canvas by the due date as one Word document. Students who do not submit by this date will be penalised at the rate of 5% per day, ie. for each day that Part 1 is late, 5% of the total possible mark (10) will be deducted.

** You will be provided with a template for Part 1 (see Canvas)

** Part One must be submitted before you move on to Part Two.

Submission Information:

You must submit this essay submit an electronic copy of Part 1 via Canvas through the Foundation English 2 Canvas site by 5 pm on the due date. Remember that files can become corrupted so always keep a soft copy yourself on a flash drive or in your student profile to submit to your lecturer, if necessary.

Students who do not submit by this date will be penalised at the rate of 5% per day, ie. for each day that Part 1 is late, 5% of the total possible mark (10) will be deducted.

**NOTE: this assignment must be written in your own words. Suspected plagiarism from other sources or other students' work will be very heavily penalised and could result in a FAIL grade. Assignments are assessed for plagiarism using URKUND text-matching software (see 5g).

Your assignment will be assessed according to the assessment criteria in this outline. Please read this carefully.

PART 2: ORAL PRESENTATION – 10%

DATE OF PRESENTATIONS: WEEK 12

Power- point slides are due  on Canvas at the beginning of this week (the Monday)

 You are required to give an oral presentation based on the same topic as the research assignment. Please refer to ‘Making Oral Presentations' in your Unit Materials Workbook for specific information on how to organise your presentation and make use of visual aids such as PowerPoint.

You should draw on information, ideas and arguments you plan to use in your essay, but you will need to summarise your assignment and make use of cue cards containing brief points to help you give your presentation. The oral presentations will take place in Week 12 of the term and your teacher will advise you about your individual presentation date.

Note that reading your essay to the class is not an appropriate way of making a presentation.

Length of presentation: 5-7 minutes presentation time - TOTAL: 8 minutes

Please do not hesitate to discuss with your lecturer any part of the assignment which you have not understood.

PART 3: The Essay (10%)

DUE DATE: Week 13 Friday on Canvas

You need to ensure that your essay provides a clear statement outlining your point of view and what you intend to write about in the main part of your essay. Then, you should use the summarized articles (in part 1) to support the main points you make in the body of the essay. Remember that if you copy directly from the source you will be guilty of plagiarism. Therefore, your essay will be failed. You should present this section in the form of an essay. Your essay should contain three distinct sections: Introduction, Body and Conclusion.

a. Introduction

In your essay, you should first introduce the topic of your theme generally in the introduction and then provide a specific statement of exactly what you intend to write about in the main part of your essay.

For example,

if your topic is Fast Food, your thesis statement could read ‘Fast food is causing an increasing incidence of obesity among young Australians due to junk food advertising to children.'

b. Body

In the body of your essay, you should discuss the main ideas expressed in your articles (the most important aspects of the articles) and explore the specific issues and arguments raised in your thesis statement.

c. Conclusion

In the conclusion, you should sum up your main points and include what opinions you now have, and what conclusions you have drawn about your chosen unit.

References

You must provide references of the three sources (in Part 1) and all other materials used. The references must be in both the ESSAY as in-text references and in the REFERENCE LIST. in the essay and a list of references at the end of your essay. You are advised to use the sample reference list in your unit materials book to complete this.

Also, we expect you to check for typing mistakes, as well as mistakes in sentence structure and grammar.

Submission Information:

You must submit this essay submit an electronic copy of Part 2, along with Part 1 (again as one MS Word document) via Canvas through the English 1 Canvas site by 5 pm on the due date. Remember that files can become corrupted so always keep a soft copy yourself on a flash drive or in your student profile to submit to your lecturer, if necessary. Your essay must be typed and formatted and include a cover page with your name, student number, course name, lecturer's name, assignment title, topic and due date. You may use the cover page given in this unit outline.

*NOTE: Canvas will be used to check your submission time and date. Therefore, if you submit your electronic copy via Canvas after the due date or time, you will be penalised even if you submit the paper copy on time.

Students who do not submit by this date will be penalised at the rate of 5% per day, ie. for each day by which the assignment is late, 5% of the total mark available will be deducted.  Extreme lateness will result in assignments receiving a FAIL grade.

**NOTE: this assignment must be written in your own words. Suspected plagiarism from other sources or other students' work will be very heavily penalised and could result in a FAIL grade. Assignments are assessed for plagiarism using URKUND text-matching software (see 5h).

Your assignment will be assessed according to the assessment criteria in this outline. Please read this carefully.

Word length for Part 3 – Essay: 500 - 600 words

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5. Participation and Portfolio – 15%

Students are required to attend classes, regularly participate in class and online activities, submit their own version of the portfolio tasks in the appropriate week. Participation will be assessed according to the extent of active and informed contribution to class discussions and completion of portfolio tasks. Specific tasks are indicated in the timetable of activities (see section 3) but your teacher will also give more information about tasks during the term.

* Note: Lack of attendance and punctuality, and failure to submit portfolio tasks can seriously affect your participation and portfolio mark.

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6. Final test - 20%

Week 13

Examinations will take place in the final week of each term and the Foundation English 2 exam will be

2 hours in duration. The final exam will consist of two sections: a reading part and a writing part. In the reading part, students will be required to answer comprehension questions and take notes of key ideas. The writing section, students will compose an argument essay based on the text provided. 

Academic integrity

Students have a responsibility to uphold University standards on ethical scholarship. Good scholarship involves building on the work of others and use of others' work must be acknowledged with proper attribution made. Cheating, plagiarism, and falsification of data are dishonest practices that contravene academic values. Refer to the University's Student Charter for more information.

To enhance understanding of academic integrity, all students are expected to complete the Academic Integrity Module (AIM) at least once during their course of study. You can access this module within UCLearn (Canvas) through the 'Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism' link in the Study Help site.

Use of Text-Matching Software

The University of Canberra uses text-matching software to help students and staff reduce plagiarism and improve understanding of academic integrity. The software matches submitted text in student assignments against material from various sources: the internet, published books and journals, and previously submitted student texts.

5d. Special assessment requirements and penalties for late submission

The allocation of marks and grades is a matter for the exercise of academic judgment by teaching staff.  This applies both to the marks awarded for individual assignments and to the grade for the unit as a whole.

Assessment will be based on:

• grades obtained for set tasks and assignments;
• contributions to tutorials;
• and in-class tests.

NOTE:

To satisfactorily complete the unit, students must:

• satisfactorily attempt ALL assessment components, and
• achieve 50% overall, and
• achieve 50% on the combined scores of the test and exam.

End of unit results will be awarded on a five-point scale:

High Distinction - HD                       (85 - 100)

Distinction - DI                                 (75 - 84)

Credit - CR                                      (65 - 74)

Pass - P                                           (50 - 64)

However, all test and exam scores will be moderated across each unit group to ensure consistency.

In the event that the student receives a FAIL grade (below 50), one of the following may be used in the final grading:

   NX –      Fail result based on failure to reach a pass grade in the unit having completed all assessment.

                NC -       Fail result based on failure to complete one or more of the assessment                 requirements.  

                NN -       Fail result based on non-participation.

Others include:

                WH -     Withheld result

Additional information for assessment:

• Dates for submission of continuous assessment will be set by your lecturer. 
• Late Submission of Assignments: you will be penalised for handing in your assignments (Descriptive essay and Research Assignment) AFTER the due date.  For each day by which the assignment is late, 5% of the total mark available will be deducted.  Extreme lateness will result in assignments receiving a FAIL grade.
• Presentation of assignments: Please ensure that your assignments are typed using 1.5 line spacing and that on the first page of your assessment item you include your name, student number, course name, lecturer’s name, assignment title, topic, and due date. You may use the cover page included in this outline or you can design your own.
• Please retain a hard copy of all assignments submitted. Do not rely on computer files, which can be lost or corrupted or emails which can be lost.
• Extensions will only be given for valid, documented reasons such as serious illness. An approval for an extension must be obtained from the lecturer in writing before the due date and must accompany the assignment when it is submitted.

Participation requirements

Course participants on Student Visas are required to attend more than 80% of all classes. The College will check student attendance every fortnight and is required to inform the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) of any students who breach the attendance regulation. In cases where a student is unable to provide appropriate documentation and a satisfactory explanation, the Student Visa may be canceled. Students need to be aware that attendance is taken over the three terms. If attendance was poor in one term but excellent in the other two the poor attendance is still taken into account so students can end up below the 80% mark if they are not careful.

In addition, there is a strong correlation between poor attendance and failure in a unit because students who have a poor attendance record find it difficult to keep up with the work being presented. Since Intercultural Communication includes a continuous assessment component as part of its overall assessment, poor attendance means that students will not be in class to participate and this will make it difficult for a student to fulfill the requirements of this part of the assessment.

Please consult the UCC Student Handbook for further details.

Required IT skills

Students need the use of a laptop and be able to use Word at a minimum.

Work placement, internships or practicums

None

• UC College Trimester 2, 2023, On-Campus, UC - University of Canberra College, Bruce (215980)