Academic English (EN103)
for
BU113: Critical Thinking and Communication in Business

COURSE OUTLINE 

Required Texts

1. Ebert, R., & Griffin, R. (2011, 8^th ed.).  Business Essentials--Student-Value Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. (loose-leaf version of text with MyBizLab, ISBN 0137066325).
2. Longman Advanced Dictionary of American English OR Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English OR Online dictionaries (see RESOURCES below)

Resources

• a laptop (or iPad); 3-ring binder/notebook & filler paper (standard U.S. size: 8 ½ x 11”) for class notes and handouts; a small holepunch to keep your materials organized; 2-3 highlighter pens; stapler and staples; a flash drive
• connection to SMC network, including Z:drive and O:drive, through Network Connect: https://connect.smcvt.edu/dana-na/auth/url_default/welcome.cgi
• a Gmail account for GoogleDocs: Go to http://mail.google.com to set one up. (NOTE: Remember your username and password!)
• an Engrade account to check your grades

Important notes:

• Students must be able to connect to the SMC network (Z: and O: drives) on the computers they use in order to upload/download files for class.
• It is suggested that you record the BU113 sessions in audio after asking the professor(s) for permission.
• The texts and other materials used in BU113 will be the basis for class work in the EN103 section.
• I also strongly recommend that you use an online dictionary and thesaurus when you are writing; see my links at http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/online_dictionaries.htm, in particular Merriam-Webster’s Learner's Dictionary (with pronunciation): http://www.learnersdictionary.com/  and Merriam-Webster's Online Thesaurus at http://www.merriam-webster.com/.

• Academic English for BU113 Web page: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/cbr/AEP/ac_eng_BU113.htm
• Wiki for EN103 with sample assignments and collaborative projects
• the Gradebook in the eCollege course site at http://smcvtonline.org.  
• Christine’s Links to Useful TESL/CALL Web Sites: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/useful_sites.htm
• The BU 113 Syllabus with course information and schedule
• Your BU113 professor's Web site in eCollege: http://smcvtonline.org

Important other information

• The SMC Writing Center (starting at the end of January): Durick Library 119, Sundays 6-10, M-TH 6-10.  You must sign up for an appointment with a Writing Coach on the posted schedule (door of Durick Library 119. 
  NOTE: Please attach a copy of the report completed by the Writing Coach of your visit to the Writing Center.

Goals of the Course

Being provided with instruction and practice through the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) component of Critical Thinking and Communication in Business, students will be able to

1. summarize the concepts, relationships, facts and details of the Critical Thinking and Communication in Business course;
2. complete course-specific projects: writing a cover letter and resume, writing memos, running and analyzing a business with a group, preparing for site visits to local businesses;
3. employ general academic skills necessary for successfully completing American undergraduate/graduate classes: notetaking, reading and vocabulary strategies, discourse cues in written and spoken English, the writing process, pronunciation, test preparation and test taking, research using the Internet and electronic databases, preparing formal presentations, participating in class discussions, managing time, understanding and managing group dynamics;
4. acculturate to the academic policies and expectations of undergraduate classes and campus life in American colleges/universities, including understanding and managing cultural differences;
5. citing sources (in-text and references) properly, following APA format
6. use computer skills for business applications, including MS-Word (for word processing), MS-Outlook (for e-mail), MS-PowerPoint for presentations, MS-Excel (for spreadsheets and charts/graphs), Web 2.0 tools (GoogleDocs, Wikis for sharing and collaborating on assignments).

Policies and Expectations
Adherence to these guidelines will be reflected in your grades. 

EN103 is a credit-bearing undergraduate course.  It will adhere to all policies/expectations that are in place for undergraduate students.

1. ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION: In order to do well in EN103B it is necessary that you attend 100% of the classes and participate actively in all EN103 sessions.  I will follow the Saint Michael's College Attendance Policy (copied from the Academic Regulations):

   1. Members of the teaching faculty and students are expected to meet all scheduled classes unless prevented from doing so by illness or other emergencies.
   2. The instructor of a course will set the attendance policy for that course. 
   3. The instructor may report excessive absences to the Assistant Dean of the College, who may warn the student.

   Please note: In the case of EN103, the number of absences allowed for the semester equals the number of class meetings per week [= 3]. This means that you may not miss more than 3 classes during the whole semester or I may report you to the Assistant Dean of the College.  Please call me/the Office of the Applied Linguistics Department (654-2300) or email me in case of illness or other absence.

2. PREPARATION: It is necessary that you are always fully prepared for each class meeting (materials available--books, pens, handouts, etc., readings completed, worksheets completed, etc.).
    
3. COMPLETION OF ASSIGNMENTS: It is YOUR responsibility to submit your work when and where it is due—in class and by the specified (DUE) dates. Homework will not be accepted if it is not submitted in class, e.g. under my door. PLEASE NOTE: If homework is submitted after the due date, it will receive an automatic reduction of 10% per day late (e.g. from A to B or B to C. Assignments will NOT be accepted after the instructor has returned the graded assignment, and a grade of "F" will automatically be assigned for this assignment.  Extensions will not be given except in extreme circumstances and only after consultation with your professor. 
    
4. SPELLING/NEATNESS: All written work, including slide shows, must be spell-checked, well-organized, neat and reviewed (proofread) for errors in grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, and capitalization. 

5. LEARNING DISABILITY:
   If you have a documented learning disability, please see the College's Learning Disabilities Policy (http://catalog.smcvt.edu/content.php?catoid=10&navoid=140#coll_poli) and contact the Director of Accessibilities Services in Klein 111 or at 654-2818.
    
6. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
   All work that you submit must be your own.  For written assignments, you may ONLY and are encouraged to receive help from the Writing Center (Klein Building), not from your friends, family members, or other students.  A copy of the report completed by the Writing Coach of your visit to the Writing Center must be attached.  
   The Saint Michael's College Policy on Academic Integrity states the following:

   • The College exists primarily to sustain the pursuit of knowledge. Scholarship, teaching and learning are possible only in an environment of academic integrity characterized by honesty and mutual trust. Simply expressed, academic integrity requires that one’s work be one’s own. It is the responsibility of every member of the college community—faculty members, students and administrators—to ensure that the highest standards of academic integrity are maintained.

   • Because violations of academic integrity threaten the intellectual climate central to the pursuit of knowledge, they cannot be tolerated and sanctions will be imposed for any violation of this important trust. Violations of academic integrity include the following: plagiarism, unauthorized assistance, interference, and multiple submission.

If you use outside sources (Internet, books, articles) for your writing assignments, you must include a complete citation (reference) to these sources, using APA guidelines—see Citing Electronic Sources on my Web site: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/citing_electronic_resources.htm).  In addition, every name or quotation included in your paper must be referenced in a Bibliography or Reference list.  If the written work is not properly cited, using APA guidelines, that particular assignment must be completely revised to avoid charges of plagiarism.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If a student cites improperly a second time or does not submit his/her own work, the assignment will receive a grade of zero; the student may receive an “F” in the course, and the incident will be reported to the Associate Dean of the College.  Such an incident may result in dismissal from the institution.

7. LECTURE/CHAPTER GUIDES:  Assessment of Goals 1, 3, and 4

In order to improve your listening and reading comprehension and to develop your skills at answering different types of test questions (TRUE/FALSE, Multiple Choice, fill-in-the blank, open-ended questions), we will work through the textbook readings and the lectures with the help of Lecture/Chapter Study Guides.  These are found on the class Web site and usually begun in class and completed for homework.  It is expected and necessary that you use your textbook and/or your lecture notes to complete these guides.  Usually I ask you to submit your Lecture/Chapter Study Guides for grading. 

8. MAJOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS and ORAL PRESENTATIONS: Assessment of Goals 2, 4, 5, 6

There will be several written assignments for BU113, some done in groups (5), some individually (5).  For EN103 I will only count the Individual written assignments (the resume/cover letter, ethics memo, team evaluation memo, and a finance application memo), but I may also evaluate your part of the team’s oral presentation.  Please see the Guidelines for Team Presentations, including the links to the Presentation Evaluation Form and the Presentation Rubric for criteria that will be included in your evaluation.

Procedure: We will begin working on the individual written projects one week before they are due to the business professor.  These written assignments must be submitted to me as a first draft 3-5 days before they are due in BU113.  The memos will be graded according to rubrics designed for each task-type and will include Task Compliance, Topic Development, Organization, Discourse Control, Vocabulary, Sentence Structure, and Mechanics (proper documentation methods, and punctuation, capitalization—see the Business Memo Scoring Rubric).  I will make comments and suggestions for correction.  The written assignments must then be revised for a second draft, which is submitted to me on the due date specified in the BU113 Syllabus.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Visits to the Writing Center to get help with your written work will improve your grade.  You must attach the Writing Coach's comments on your visit.

Grading/Performance Evaluation

There will be a course grade for EN103 which will be entered into your GPA (grade point average).  The following criteria will be used for performance evaluation in the course (subject to change):
            
            50%      Quizzes on Academic Strategies/Study Skills (1^st two weeks); Completion of lecture/chapter guides
            30%      First drafts of individual written assignments for the BU113
            20%      Second drafts of written assignments for BU113
           100%

These criteria as well as their weighting may be adjusted by the instructor as necessary.  Students will be notified of any changes in weighting.

Grading system: 

Important notes for a successful start

First impressions often form the basis of people's judgment, so I would make the following recommendations:

• Don't be late for class!  Be in your seat 2-3 minutes early. Coming to class early will give you valuable time to review your notes.  Have your notebook and pen ready to take notes.
• In order to be able to understand and follow the syllabus of BU113 and its explanations, please prepare the following vocabulary:

• Buy your textbooks and materials today so that you get a head-start on the heavy reading load.
• Set up your MyBizLab--Study Guide.
• Check your SMC email daily.  Send a reply to my email.
• Think about a type of business that you would like to open up (and run) in a group.
• Check your grades often!

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

for Wednesday, January 18, 2012

1. Log into Engrade with the account information, username, and password sent to you by me to your SMC email on Dec. 20, 2011.
2. Take notes on the PowerPoint slides during the Resume lecture on Wednesday. 
3. Bring your laptop to EN103 class.
4. On your computer, establish a connection to the SMC network, including Z:drive and O:drive, through Network Connect: https://connect.smcvt.edu/dana-na/auth/url_default/welcome.cgi. Use your SMC username and password to log on. Then click Network Connect > Start.
5. Set up a Gmail account for GoogleDocs: Go to http://mail.google.com to set one up. (NOTE: Remember your username and password!)
6. MyBizLab--Study Guide: Set up your MyBizLab on your computer.
7. Preparation for the Resume lecture and writing:
   • Review the Jobs/Roles in BU113 Teams/Groups that you will be applying for and choose one that fits your skills/talents and previous experience.  Most likely your skills/talents/experience will be in the Marketing area. Here are some examples of skills that each of the manager jobs requires.
     • Finance Manager: basic math skills, cashier, bookkeeping, record keeping, spreadsheets, tracking revenues & expenses
     • Marketing Manager: sales, customer relations, communication skills
     • General Manager: communication skills, leadership, organization skills
   • In MS-Word (and saved to your Z:drive or flash drive), list 3 jobs or activities you performed in clubs, volunteer organizations, or for pay--during or after high school. Bring the file to class.
     • Give yourself a job title, e.g. Salesclerk, Cook, Student Council Member, Teacher Assistant,  Organizer, Bookkeeper.
   • Next to the job title, list the name of the business/organization and its location.
   • List the dates (month/year) that you worked for this business.
   • Review two Sample Resumes in the class wiki (http://en103-bu113.pbwiki.com/Cover-Letters-Resume).

1. Complete Wednesday's work above.

2. Read Chapter 5 (Management).  Use the following READING TECHNIQUE for ALL your reading assignments:

• PREVIEW the chapter (titles, pictures, headings, subheadings, different font sizes to indicate organization)..
• READ the chapter CAREFULLY.  Underline or highlight topic sentences,  circle (or highlight in a different color) key phrases.
• ANNOTATE important paragraphs if possible--put notes on key ideas in the margin; use bullets.  Remember--the most useful book is one that is all marked up with comments and underlines.  It'll make the review for a test a lot easier.
• REVIEW the key terms and definitions in the green boxes as well as additional terms/concepts in the text that you have highlighted.
• Put question marks (?) in the margin for passages that you did not understand or would like more elaboration on in your EN103 class.  Underline the specific passages you did not understand.
• STUDY GUIDE: Work through the assignments for Chapter 5.

© Christine Bauer-Ramazani; Date last accessed: January 6, 2012