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English for International Business

*****
FALL 2011: High Intermediate (with Jacquie LoConte)
FIELD TRIP, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 7TH, to Genzyme Center in Cambridge: see hand-out below for directions/details
Our Syllabus and Class Contact Info:
Listening Log Assignment (weekly, due Thursdays, starting 10.13, skipping Thanksgiving and ending 12.8, for 8 total):
LLog You can use the following format to write up your log: LLogFormat
Also, here are some online business news sites you could use to find interesting things to listen to:
Links to our textbook audio:
ASSIGNMENTS:
12.5.11 HW: Revise “My Life in 10 Years” draft, in response to my feedback and corrections.
12.1.11 HW: Prepare for Monday’s BR Unit 8 quiz; Read the Boston Globe article and do the exercises:
12.1.11 MLL: Listening to learn about Genzyme — listen to at least one of the following stories and write it up like
a listening log (i.e, name/source of story, vocab, summary and reaction). This can count as one of your 8 logs. Due
at the end of the lab. Be prepared to contribute what you learned to our discussion of the Genzyme on Monday:

1) Interviews with employees at Genzyme Ireland: http://www.genzyme.ie/
2) Genzyme Center (Cambridge) Facilities Manager discusses their eco-friendly ways: http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10022
3) Acquisition of Genzyme by Sanofi and the future of biotech:
4) CEO Corner: lessons learned at Genzyme:
11.21.11 HW:1) Prepare for Achievement Test on Future tenses
2) Revise “My Life in Ten Years” based on feedback and corrections from Monday’s class
3) Finish BR Listening #32, p.50 (#3, 4 and 5)
11.17.11 HW: FOG pp. 82-86: Part 2 Review Test (we will take the Part 2 Achievement Test the Monday after Thanksgiving; bring any questions you have about the future tenses to class this coming Monday).
11.17.11 MLL: Writing: Your Life in Ten Years — Given your goals and dreams, what will your life look like
in 10 years? What will you have achieved? Will you have completed your studies and gotten a job? How long will you
have been working? doing what? Will you have gotten married? Had children? Describe what you will have accomplished in
those 10 years and what you will be doing at that point in your life. DUE in class on Monday.

11.9.11 HW: BR 1) pp.38-39, do listening #25 and ex.#3,4 and 5; 2) p.40, ex. #1 and 2.

10.26.11 MID-TERM REVIEW/TEST PREPARATION: FOG pp. 46-50; There will be a MID-TERM TEST on grammar and vocabulary on Monday, October 31st.
10.24.11 HW: FOG pp..43-44, Exercises #1 – #3.
10.20.11 Listening: The Day I Turned Down Tim Berners-Lee (a TED talk)
10.19.11 HW: Revise the paragraph about your partner’s recent activities and goals, correcting the verb tense errors
and expanding it to include 2-4 activities that he/she had never done before arriving in Boston/at CELOP. Also do the
final corrected revision of your Learning Goals for this course.

10.17.11 HW: FOG pp.33-37, Exercises #3, 4 and 5 (reminder: pp.28-33 had been assigned in class last week).
10.13.11 MLL: 1). Take all your revised and unrevised autobiographical writing (important events in your life, interests & hobbies, studying English) and now combine it into one unified essay of at least 3 paragraphs. HARD COPY DUE TO ME
NO LATER THAN FRIDAY.
2) Have you finished and handed in Listening Log #1 ? (DUE TODAY!)
10.13.11 HW (for Monday): 1) Revise and type up your Study Plan memo, making sure to have very specific action steps (i.e., how often or how long will you do a concrete, particular activity?) and to use parallel structure in your list;
2) BR: Finish p.20 listening started in class (#1-4); Then complete p.21 #1-3 and p.22 #1+2.

10.6.11 MLL: 1) Review your English Learner Autobiography verb tense usage and correct as necessary;
2) After completing a timeline with some important events in your life (FOG p.18, #8), draft a more general
autobiography (250 words). Pay careful attention to verb tenses. DUE AT THE END OF CLASS (attached to your corrected
Engl. learner autobiography) .

10.6.11 HW:1) FOG p.26-27, #5 and a variation of #8: To the general autobiography you drafted in the MLL on Thursday, add
a section or paragraph describing your interests and hobbies; use the simple present, present perfect and present perfect tenses as necessary or appropriate.

10.5.11 HW1) Review our proposed Class Principles: Are any revisions needed?
2) FOG pp.20-26, ex.# 1, 2 and 3.

10.3.11 HW (for Wednesday, 10.5): 1) BR pp.12-18, read and do ex.#3 and #4;
2) Read the article below and answer the Comprehension Questions on pp.74-76:
9.30.11 HW: Before Sunday night (9pm), email me (maks@bu.edu) a brief introduction of yourself as an English language learner: How long have you been studying English? What do you enjoy about English and language learning? What do you
dislike? How do you feel when using English? What do you find challenging or difficult? fun and exciting? uninteresting or boring? What are your learning goals for this semester? Imagine yourself 3 months from now, communicating in English:
What do you see and feel? To give you some ideas, attached is an example of a much more general portrait of a learner:
9.29.11 MLL: 1) Listen to Business Review Unit 1, Audio 1 and answer the questions in #6 and #7 on p.7 in the book.
(If the audio file below does not work, use the Firebox browser, or try the file in our group folder).
Then, find a partner and do #8.
2) Start and Complete for HW:Revise your writing on cultural gaffes (making the corrections and improvements noted in my feedback) AND expand your draft to include some examples from your own culture and experience; THEN, add another paragraph on some business-related gaffes or bad impressions people doing business in your country should be aware of. Print out and bring to class Friday.
9.27.11 MLL: Watch this video on cultural gaffes around the world, take notes and then write a brief summary (5-6 sentences) of the essential information (for someone who has not seen/heard this presentation); DUE AT THE END OF CLASS.