The Newman School
Boston
IB English Language B, Year One: How to Do Things With English
Mrs. Gallagher 2012-13 Academic Year
View’d freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race and range of time, and is both the free and compacted composition of all.
Walt Whitman
Course Description:
This course comprises the first segment of the two-year IB course Language B: English (Standard level). If you are enrolled in this course, you are a non-native speaker who has already achieved an intermediate level of competence and confidence speaking, reading, and writing English. You have chosen to pursue study of English at a level that will provide you with the opportunity to gain an advanced level of fluency. Congratulations and commendations for your courage!
The main emphasis of the IB Group 2 modern language courses is on “language acquisition and use in a range of contexts and for different purposes” (IBO website), and this is the focus of our work: learning “how to do things with English.” However,in IB English B, you will not only develop the ability to use English effectively in a variety of different practical communication circumstances. You will also honereading, writing, speaking and listeningskills that will enable you to access some of the world’s greatest works of literature, drama, poetry and philosophy in their original language. Exploration of these texts, alongside examination and analysis of the way English is used in the written and spoken texts of everyday contemporary life, will lead you to a greater understanding of how English came to be the world’s dominant language and, some would argue, its most dynamic cultural force.
Required Materials 2010-11:
We will be reading a variety of full-length literary texts this year, including:
Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
Selected short stories, poetry, literary essays, and speeches
Additionally, editorial news articles, advertisements, films and other media will likely be assigned throughout the year. I will distribute materials or ask you to access them online.
For personal materials, please purchase abinder(at least 1.5 in) stocked with looseleaf paper and pockets. You should also purchase a linedcomposition journal(available at CVS).You may be asked to hand in this journal for completion/evaluation on randomly selected days.
Goals and Objectives, Year One:
In the first year of this course, we will focus on laying the foundation for advanced fluency in English by pursuing work in the following areas:
Reading:You will develop critical reading skills to move beyond decoding text for surface informational meaning. You will begin to analyze how language is used by speakers/writers to shape the reader’s intellectual, emotional, aesthetic and moral response to a variety of text types.
Writing: You will create and revise written text for a variety of audiences and purposes, e.g. journal entries, mock advertisements, letters, poems/lyrics, etc. Longer papers will focus on research, argumentative and personal narrative forms.
Speaking and Listening:You will focus on establishing habits of mind that will improve your word choice, pronunciation, and use of appropriate register for speaking English in varied formal and informal situations. We will emphasize growing and enriching your capacity to communicate and understand complex ideas and opinions effectively.
Cultural exploration and understanding:You will develop an understanding of the chief historical and cultural factors that influenced the development of modern English as it is spoken and written today, with particular attention to commercial, technological and cultural factors driving the spread and dialectical diversification of the language.
Course Policies:
Please be advised that the success of this course depends upon structured active, inquiry-driven classroom discourse. Plan to speak, listen, and question, to get to know the unique experiences and perspectives of your classmates, and to express your opinions to each other on a daily basis.
The workload for this course will include:
o Daily homework involving reading, research, and reflective writing in journals
o Longer formal papers (500-1000 words)--all graded papers/projects must be word-processed and formally formatted, with citations for sources used.
o Mid-term exam and final project or final exam (your choice) each semester
Grading policy:
o Youroverall semester gradewill emphasise active attendance and class participation (25%-50%), daily preparation as measured by quizzes and journal evaluation (25%), and major papers and midterm/final exams (25-30%).
o As you grow to understand the expectations for this course, more and more responsibility for assessment will be put in your hands… you are the best judge of your effort and progress.
o Late papers/projects receive a reduction ofone letter grade per late day.
o You are responsible for seeking out information, notes and assignments on days that you miss; this level of self-direction is an expected skill for IB students.
o Please suggest your ideas for English reading materials, papers and projects—most of the best ideas in my teaching come from my students!!!