CCOG for ESOL 120A Winter 2025


Course Number:
ESOL 120A
Course Title:
U.S. Culture in Action Level Two (Part A)
Credit Hours:
3
Lecture Hours:
30
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Introduces U.S. culture and academic expectations to F1 international students. Expands understanding of U.S. culture through reading, discussion, writing, videos, and experiential activities in and out of the classroom. Corequisites: ESOL 102A.

Addendum to Course Description

F1 students require 12 credits at each level in order to advance to next level.  The students will receive 9 credits in ESOL 102A and 3 credits in ESOL 120A.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

  • Apply a beginning-intermediate understanding of U.S. culture in order to interact and function inside and outside the classroom.

  • Identify and interpret components of U.S. culture and compare and contrast with one's own culture.

  • Respond to level-appropriate written and spoken English

  • Apply a beginning-intermediate understanding of academic expectations in order to succeed in a U.S. classroom.

  • Participate in level-appropriate discussion of culture.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

Outcome Assessment Strategies

  • Prepare and deliver a public presentation

  • Produce journal entries (written/drawn/audio/video)

  • Perform at 70% or above on quizzes and tests

  • Complete homework

  • Engage in conversation, small and large group discussion, and classroom activities

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)
  1. Cultural Themes and Values

  2. Public Speaking and Discussion

  3. Listening Comprehension

  4. Critical Thinking Skills

  5. Writing

  6. Reading Strategies

  7. Academic Study Skills

Competencies and Skills

A. Cultural Themes and Values:

Relate course materials to the following themes and values:

  1. Surface culture themes:

    1. Food, flags, festivals, fashion, holidays, music, performances, dances, games, arts & crafts, literature, and language

  2. Deep culture themes:

    1. Communication styles and rules

    2. Notions of courtesy and manners

    3. Concepts of time

    4. Attitudes towards others

    5. Approaches to social constructs

B. Public Speaking and Discussion

  1. Contribute to and show satisfactory evidence of benefiting from small group and one-on-one discussion or exchange

    • Participate by contributing and connecting ideas

    • Develop strategies to achieve intelligibility

  2. Present information orally

    • Give an informative presentation

    • Perform role-plays and skits

C. Listening Comprehension

  1. Comprehend and respond appropriately to presented audiovisual materials

  2. Understand main ideas and details of oral presentations and videos

  3. Demonstrate listening skills by taking notes and asking clarifying questions

  4. Contribute to and show evidence of benefiting from small group and one-on-one discussion or exchanges

D. Critical Thinking Skills

  1. Demonstrate an awareness of cultural values

  2. Compare and contrast cultural values

  3. Recognize facts, opinions and beliefs related to American culture

  4. Relate course materials to personal needs and experiences

  5. Form ideas and opinions about topics that have been introduced

E. Writing

  1. Write journal entries

  2. Prepare level-appropriate presentation outlines

  3. Write short responses to prompts, topics, experiences, etc.

F. Reading Strategies

  1. Use available resources to find information

  2. Identify topics and key points in written material

G. Academic Study Skills

  1. Read, understand and follow directions

  2. Develop questions based on class materials

  3. Work in groups to extract relevant cultural information

  4. Appropriately use spoken and electronic communication with instructor