Communicative Skills Workshop A

授課教師：白瑞梅教授 (Professor Amie Parry), National Chiao Tung University 
授課班級：Freshmen, all from Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures 
學生人數：18 
授課地點：F205 
授課時間：Thursdays 1:30-4:30 
聯絡電話：F303 extension 31662 
E-mail: aparry@cc.nctu.edu.tw 

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About the use of Cultural Studies approaches to teaching in this course:  This is 
not a Cultural Studies course, rather it is designed to further students'  skills 
in spoken English; however for reasons explained below, I have come to use a 
Cultural Studies approach to teaching conversation.  As the attached syllabus 
shows, this course is organized according to topics that gradually increase in 
difficulty: art, marriage, death, anger, and possibilities.  (For example, the 
final topic is most difficult because it requires students to make speculations and 
therefore to speak in the conditional voice.)  Rather roughly, these topics are 
based on a few of those in Howard S. Beckerman’s Heartworks: Inspirations for 
English as a Second Language (Englewood Cliffs New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents, 
1989).  This textbook contains many creative assignments and good activities on 
art, cartoons and music (it is however a bit “hippyish,” and it may be hard to 
order unless you do it months ahead of time). In order to expose students to the 
natural use of vocabulary within these topics, I use different media: magazine 
articles, literature excerpts, popular music, one academic article, and most 
importantly, six films (more than one per topic).  I find that these media are 
effective for teaching vocabulary in context and for raising students’ interest in 
speaking about the ideas presented in them.  Film gives the most vivid context for 
new vocabulary and practical language use (my ESL goal).  It also provides a text, 
in both visual and linguistic registers, for teaching students how to view and 
interpret culture as something that reflects, challenges or creates specific, 
although often shifting, meanings in particular contexts and locations.  After 
viewing the films, students are given rather in-depth discussion questions to work 
on in small groups, and then they present some of the insights they have gleaned to 
the class.  This activity is difficult because the films are in English, the sound 
quality varies, and my questions often require students to have understood the 
dialogue fairly well. I deal with this difficulty by first going over a good film 
review in class. This introduces students to the basic plot, some of its literary 
or film references or deeper meanings, and often to some of the important dialogue; 
reading the review together is thus is quite effective because students’ listening 
comprehension improves when they know what to listen for. Ultimately, I find that 
students are much more prone to participate in class discussions when the 
assignment is challenging and piques their interest, and I feel that Cultural 
Studies approaches to understanding culture can provide this challenge.
 

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 The objective of this course is to develop fluency and lexical accuracy in the 
discussion of specific social and cultural topics.  Class activities will include 
short readings and film screenings on the topics, discussions in pairs, groups and 
as a class, role play, and language “games.”  The final exam will be a 
performance based on one of the topics.
 

  課程要求：

 The class activities will be structured around group work that will require the 
full, active and engaged participation of each student.  All conversation in this 
course will be conducted in English.  Grades will be calculated according to 
students’ weekly participation (60%) and the final performance (40%). Attendance 
is mandatory:  two unexcused absences are permitted; a third will result in a 
failing grade for the class.  Three tardies will be counted as one absence.

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unit one: art 
2-25 Introductions and self-portraits; definition of art 
3-4  screening of Amadeus 
unit two: marriage 
3-11 read from A Doll’s House; interpretive performances of Ibsen 
3-18 screening of My Best Friend’s Wedding; discussion 
3-25 “the game of life” 
4-1 Spring Break 
unit three: life after death 
4-8 “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush; discussion activities on topic 
4-15 screening of Wuthering Heights; discussion 
unit four: anger 
4-22 role play enactments 
4-29 read and discuss “Let’s Pie the Polluting Lolly” 
5-6 read and discuss “The Transformation of Silence” 
5-13   screening of Thelma and Louise; discussion 
5-20 screening of Set It off; discussion 
unit five: possibilities 
5-27  discussion of two films’ endings 
6-3 screening of Babe; discussion
final performances 
6-10 final performances and student comments 
6-17  final class (surprise) 

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