Course Syllabus

APLNG 802: Focus on Language: Teaching Form, Meaning, and Use

Course Overview

CATEGORY	INFORMATION
Credits	3
Prerequisites	None
Delivery	Web (Canvas, https://psu.instructure.com)
Dates	See the Calendar.
Instructor	See the Orientation module under the Modules tab.

Description

This course explores various domains of the English language (phonological, lexical, grammatical, pragmatics) in relation to adult English language learning and teaching. Attention is paid to the various components (form, meaning, and function) of these domains and how each component works within larger stretches of discourse. Students will come to understand: language as communication, meaning-making, social practice; grammar as structure, arrangement, rules and choices; and language teaching concerned with both language form and language use. The major topics covered include the sound system, lexicon, grammar, tense and aspect, modality, spoken and written texts, discourse and genre, and pragmatics. Students will engage in a variety of data analysis activities that assess their knowledge of the various domains of language and engage in practical activities that require them to apply these understandings to adult English language teaching. Finally, the course will also offer an overview of research into second language learning and applications to teaching and learning additional languages.

Objectives

At the end of this course, students will have engaged in a range of theoretical, pedagogical, and reflective activity that will enable you to:

Develop an awareness of the properties of language in use; how language is embedded and inseparable from culture and context and how language changes.
Recognize the relations between language form and meaning, the systematic patterns within the English language, but also the arbitrary nature of meaning and individual choice in language use.
Demonstrate a basic understanding of the various components within the various domains of the English language: the sound system, lexicon, grammar, and pragmatics/discourse.
Demonstrate a basic understanding of how such domains (and their individual components) combine to make meaning in discourse.
Apply knowledge of the domains and properties of the English language to pedagogical situations and English teaching strategies.
1. Identify areas of potential difficulty for second language learners of English.
2. Explain patterns of language that may be useful classroom teaching of ELLs.
3. Analyze published teaching materials to recognize approaches to language that are implicit in their development.
Demonstrate an understanding of the variety of language backgrounds that learners may come from (multilingual/monolingual; standard/non-standard) and how learners backgrounds influence learning English.
Explain the historical development of research into second language learning and some primary theoretical orientations.
Explain stages of language learner development, awareness of patterns of L2 learner error, and appropriate response to errors in classroom situations.

Organization

This course is made up of TWELVE lessons, each scheduled to be completed in one week.

Each week you will have Lesson pages to read on the course website, readings from the textbook and additional articles, and activities to complete. The types of tasks include short quizzes, lesson activities (Stop and Think and Discussion Forum activities), course discussion blog posts, and individual reflective blog entries. Some combination of these will be required each week. These activities will give you the opportunity to work with the material and take an active part in this course each week.

In summary, your coursework will include:

Reading the assigned chapters from the textbook and/or additional readings found on the libraries' Course Reserves.
Reviewing the online lectures for each lesson.
Completing the weekly assignments by the due dates listed on the course calendar.
Completing an Applied Teaching Assignment in which you analyze the advantages and drawbacks of a specific learning activity as described in the Applied Teaching Activity.
Tutoring an English language learner and developing an English Learner Profile and Global Assessment of your tutee as an English language learner as described in the Final Project: Developing an English Learner Profile.

Be sure to check out the list of assignments in the course calendar (Due dates can be also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.). It clearly lays out all the Lessons and their various assignments, and it indicates when each assignment is due.

This course uses three resources for blog posts and course assignments:

Course Discussion Blog: short entries designed to create engagement among the students and instructor
Individual Reflection Blog: longer entries designed to foster critical reflection on lesson content
Canvas Assignment Dropbox: course assignments, completed as a document (Word), uploaded into a dropbox, then read, responded to, and graded by your instructor

In order for your instructor to locate, respond to, and grade all course blog posts and assignments it is important that you label everything correctly and post it to the correct resource. Refer to the directions for each assignment for the instructions on how to label and post.

A further description of the assignments and grading criteria can be found in the Syllabus (click on the Syllabus tab in Canvas).

Online Learning and Attendance

This course has been developed to promote asynchronous learning. The instructor and students do NOT meet on a designated day and time each week. For each lesson, there is a timeframe to complete all activities and assignments, and you may work at your own pace within that timeframe. However, you must adhere to the due dates outlined on the Calendar. (Due dates can also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.) You should log into the course daily to check for updates, review lessons, and participate in activities.

A Course Roadmap

This course moves very quickly; each topic is treated for only a few days before we move on to the next lesson. To help you keep track of the course assignments, a weekly schedule is provided in the Course Calendar, which can also be viewed in the Schedule Table at the bottom of the Course Syllabus.

To be successful in the course, you will need to look ahead to note when work will be due the following week, planning your time to work on the course according to your own daily schedule. You will be able to access the work one week ahead, but you will not be able to go back to assignments after the due date. Please do not post or submit assignments before the week’s lessons actually begin (Monday-Sunday). Ideally, you should work on the course every day. Since many of us are working or studying full-time in addition to taking this course, many of the assignments are due on Sunday at midnight. The course is set up in Penn State’s online system, called Canvas.

Course Communications

Email: Please use Course Mail (Canvas Email) for all private correspondence with the instructor. Only use the psu.edu email address above in an emergency.
Instructor Response Time: Your instructor will reply to your questions, concerns, and comments in a timely manner, not to exceed TWO business days.

Texts and Other Materials

The following texts are required:

Folse, K. (2016). Keys to Teaching Grammar to English Language Learners: A Practical Handbook. 2nd ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN: 978-0472036677
Zimmerman, C. B. (2009). Word Knowledge: A Vocabulary Teacher’s Handbook. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN#: 978-0194703932
Other articles and readings as posted on Canvas.

Supplemental Resources

Many of the lessons (but not all) in the course include Supplemental Resources. These are optional readings and websites that relate to the topic covered and which might help you in completing assignments. They are not required reading, but you are strongly encouraged to explore them.

Library Services

Penn State Libraries provides a wide variety of services and resources. To learn how to take advantage, refer to the Online Student Library Guide (Links to an external site.) at http://guides.libraries.psu.edu/onlinestudentlibraryguide. This guide serves as your starting point for access to all that Penn State Libraries can offer you as an online student. Use this guide if you have questions on library services offered to you, how the library can help you, how to use the library, or what resources you can access via the library! The guide will connect you to important pages and resources within Penn State Libraries and save time from you searching for the information you need.

Course Reserves

There are electronic resources on reserve for this course that can be accessed through the Penn State Libraries. To access your Course Reserves, please go to the XGER/RUS 143 Course ReservesX at Xhttp://cat.libraries.psu.edu/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/57/82/GER+143/124749?user_id=WEBSERVERX.

DELETE THE NOTE BELOW FROM A LIVE SECTION
Note for Design Team: As a reminder the link can be obtained from the PSU Libraries' Course Reserves page by clicking on Link to Page. Copy the permalink and add it above as 1) an active link with descriptive text and 2) plain text with the full URL. Each semester you will need to replace both links with course-specific, instructor-specific info. The example above goes to the GER/RUS 143 Course Reserves.

For any questions you may have about searching, viewing, or printing your Course Reserves, refer to the Viewing/Printing Electronic Reserves page at https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/reserves/usingreserves.html.

Grading

Final letter grades will be assigned based on the scale below.

Scale

LETTER GRADE	MINIMUM PERCENT	MINIMUM POINTS
A	95	760
A-	90	720
B+	88	704
B	82	656
B-	80	640
C+	78	624
C	70	560
D	60	480
F	0	0

Due Dates

All assignments are due by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the date indicated on the Calendar. (Due dates can be also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.) Please be aware that Canvas follows the Eastern Time (ET) time zone. Assignment due dates adhere to this time zone, and it is your responsibility to submit assignments accordingly. If you are outside of the ET time zone, you can set your Canvas account to sync to it. Refer to the Set a Time Zone article in the Canvas Guide at https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2891.

As a general rule, you will NOT be able to go back and make up missed assignments. It is your responsibility to keep up with your assignments. Students with an excused absence (e.g. hospitalization, jury duty, family emergency, or military service) may be asked to produce proper documentation in order to make up graded work. All make-up work is at the discretion of the instructor.

Veterans and currently serving military personnel and/or spouses with unique circumstances (e.g. upcoming deployments, drill/duty requirements, disabilities, VA appointments, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to communicate these, in advance if possible, to the instructor in the case that special arrangements need to be made.

Notes

To Do List: Some assignments may not appear in the To Do list under the Home tab. Use the Calendar or Syllabus to ensure that you are fully aware of assignment due dates.
Late Assignments: Late assignments are generally not accepted. Contact your instructor with any questions.

Assignments

Basic information about each assignment group is provided below. For detailed directions about an individual assignment, see the assignment information under the Modules tab.

You can expect meaningful feedback on all written assignments within TWO days of the deadline.

ASSIGNMENT GROUP	PERCENT	POINTS
Course Discussion Blog Posts (CDB) (9)	22%	180
Tutoring Project - Individual Reflective Blog Entries (IRBE) (10)	19%	150
Quizzes (4)	10%	80
Data Analysis Assignments (3)	19%	150
Applied Teaching Assignment (1)	10%	80
Final Learner Analysis (1)	20%	160
Total	100%	800

Course Discussion Blog Posts

Value: 9 x 20 PTS, 180 PTS total

Each week, you will interact with members of the class to discuss a topic or share answers to a reading or a language analysis task you have completed. The discussion will be structured so that you are sharing ideas with a subgroup within the larger class. You will make a post on your personal blog space by Thursday of each week and have until Sunday to respond or comment on your group members’ postings on their blogs. The Blog Post pages in the course lesson give you the questions to which you should respond or the task that you will complete. At times, you will complete a task or problem and share your answers with class members. At other times, you will be asked to post a “critical question” from the readings and discuss the questions within your class. The instructor will visit your individual blog sites weekly and may post comments, but will give you feedback only at the end of each section of the course on your course blog postings and participation. The Course Discussion Blog Rubric will serve as a guide to your participation in this discussion space. The rubric can be viewed within each Course Discussion Blog assignment.

Note: After the first week, points will be deducted for late posting of blog entries. One point per each day late will be deducted from the grade for that assignment.