2021 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses English language courses
English 2 14
- Academic unit or major
- English language courses
- Instructor(s)
- David Pomatti
- Class Format
- Exercise
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 1-2 Mon (W331)
- Class
- 14
- Course Code
- LAE.E112
- Number of credits
- 010
- Course offered
- 2021
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
English 2 follows English 1 to solidify the foundational skills for effective communication in English as well as to foster international awareness, as both are typically required in the globally expanding domain of scientific and technological research activities. It also prepares students to study or do research abroad in the future. Students are assigned training exercises that cover the four language skills — reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The reading and listening materials include topics such as international and intercultural issues as well as the fundamentals of science and technology. Practice exercises in writing and speaking are provided so that students can develop communication competence to participate in discussions and conferences where opinions are exchanged through both text and speech. TOEFL-type exercise problems are also used in the course.
This course aims to establish a solid base on which students can build toward a higher level of communication competence specifically in an English language environment. The base is, as mentioned in "Course description and aims" of English 1, composed of three elements: (1) identifying relevant information accurately, (2) exercising fair judgement to form a valid opinion, and (3) stating opinions clearly and persuasively.
Each student is assigned to a group led by an instructor. Instructors for each group conduct the course using the "Course description and aims" and "Student learning outcomes" as the basic framework. "Class direction," "Course schedule," and other information below explain the features of each class.
Course description and aims
By the end of this course, students will:
・Strengthen practical English abilities that are required for learning at university and for research activities both in Japan and abroad
・Be able to accurately grasp the main ideas and arguments of written and spoken materials in diverse areas including international and intercultural issues, science, and technology
・Have increased their knowledge of effective vocabulary and expressions to actively communicate their ideas and opinions in English
・Be able to write their own short paragraphs with a clear purpose
・Be able to state their opinions with good organization
Keywords
Four language skills, fostering international awareness, communication skills, studying abroad, TOEFL
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
This course is built around the authentic listening in TED Talks. The lessons use these talks to develop students’ listening, reading, writing, speaking, grammar, vocabulary, and presentation literacy through relevant activities, exercises, thinking, and discussions.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Unit 7: Imagination (TED: “Talking imagination seriously”). Points of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, listening, speaking, and writing. | Inferring meaning from context, reading between the lines |
| Class 2 | Unit 8: Working together (TED: “Building a tower, building a team”). Points of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, listening, speaking, and writing. | Understanding contrastive stress, supporting the main idea |
| Class 3 | Unit 9: Stress and relaxation (TED: “All it takes is 10 mindful minutes”). Points of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, listening, speaking, and writing. | Understanding mid-sentence changes in direction, understanding the speaker’s technique |
| Class 4 | Unit 10: Risk (TED: “Protecting Twitter users (sometimes from themselves”). Points of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, listening, speaking, and writing. | Avoiding frustration while listening, thinking in analogies |
| Class 5 | Unit 11: Vision (TED: “How to build with clay... and community”). Points of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, listening, speaking, and writing. | Dealing with accents with different stress patterns, relevance in thinking |
| Class 6 | Unit 12: The future (TED: “Image recognition that triggers augmented reality”). Points of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, listening, speaking, and writing. | Listening for grammatical chunks, thinking about the speaker’s motivation |
| Class 7 | Review and personal views of this quarter’s topics. | Individual presentations, final exam |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Keynote Advanced with DVD-ROM, 1st Edition (CENGAGE)
ISBN: 978-1-305-39915-0
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Other materials may be suggested or uploaded for students by the teacher during the term.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Evaluation based on in-class work (30%), assignments (30%), and the final exam (40%)
Related courses
- LAE.E111 ： English 1
- LAE.E113 ： English 3
- LAE.E114 ： English 4
- LAE.E211 ： English 5
- LAE.E212 ： English 6
- LAE.E213 ： English 7
- LAE.E214 ： English 8
- LAE.E311 ： English 9
Prerequisites
None
Other
None