Kompetenzerweiterung III (Tuesday Group), Homework for December 7th

For homework, please: 

- try to submit your debate question as soon as possible to me, if you haven't done so already. If you already have, spend some time this week researching content and perhaps already practicing the question with your partner. 

- read the file "Should firms fire staff for their private social media activity" and consider specific examples of social media activity in preparing a debate that answers this question. (Refer back to the article "Why I Have Nothing To Hide Is Wrong" in considering your answer as well.)

- watch the video Should Chocolate Advent Calendars Be Banned? | Good Morning Britain - YouTube and prepare a debate drawing on detail that you see/have seen in your environment regarding this question. 

- read the file "fixed expressions and idioms" and do exercise 35.1 from the file "fixed expressions and idioms exercises". Make it a goal to incorporate more idiomatic expressions into your debates. 

Make sure you're prepared to debate the following questions in next week's class:

1. Should firms fire staff for their private social media activity?

2. Should chocolate Advent calendars be banned?

Kompetenzerweiterung I (Tuesday/Thursday Group), Homework in Week Eight (November 30-December 3)

 In preparation of next Tuesday's session (12/07), please do the following:

Please complete the exercises (i.e. A-O) for Unit 2 and learn the vocabulary for Unit 2(pp. 12-13). Do Review 1 for Units 1 and 2 on pp. 20-21 of your book as well. Please consult the key at the back of the book to check your work AFTER you have given the exercises a go on your own. Bring any questions you have regarding the vocabulary/these solutions with you to next Tuesday's session.

Please also do exercises 3.2-3.5 from the files "present tenses exercises 1_2" and "present tenses exercises 2_2" posted on Ilias. Check your answers using the "present tense exercises answer key" file (the first set of 3.2-3.5 answers in the first column on the page) and bring any questions you have with you to Tuesday's session. 

(It would be a good idea to review Unit 1 this week as well just so that you don't save all of your studying for January.)

In preparation of this Thursday's session (12/02) please do the following (I recommend you complete these exercises during "study hall", i.e. Thursday 9:45-11:15): 

- read at least two essays from the following page and do the following: Is School Reform Hopeless? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

a) identify how the writer either lived up to or did not live up to delivering an argument suggested in their title

b) identify the most impactful/strongest point made in either of the two essays

c) consider how the points made in these essays could be used or inspire arguments for this week's essay prompt

- find a YouTuber who has made a video in English about studying at an anglophone university you would be interested in attending/are curious about. As you listen to their account, do the following:

a) jot down where the student is from and what university/college they attend (make notes concerning their English accent: what are its most distinctive features?)

b) compare and contrast the student life at their university with yours. 

c) compare and contrast their list of courses/reading lists/assignments with yours. 

d) write down one interesting detail/fact mentioned in the video that stuck out to you. 

e) summarize their video in three sentences (see if you can incorporate vocabulary and expressions from Unit 2 in doing so).

Optional essay assignment: In 250-350 words, answer the following question: What is currently not included in your school's/university's curriculum that you think should be? Make sure that your essay a) doesn't exceed the word limit, b) is sent as an MS Word document, and c) is submitted to my email address by Thursday, December 2nd at midnight. Submissions that do not abide by these guidelines will not be read. 

Kulturraumstudien USA, Homework for December 6th

In advance of our next session, please read the seminal texts by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth featured in the Week Eight Reading folder on Ilias and do the following (the texts feature the English of the 19th-century United States, so don't worry about understanding everything word-for-word):

a) see if you can describe what you read in the terminology we've used in class thus far this semester (have a look at the title slides of each lecture and have a look at the slides on discourse from November 15th in particular)

b) what intertextuality is present in these texts?

c) what themes are represented in this first wave of feminism that are relevant for/related to the themes represented today in the fourth wave of feminism?

Kompetenzerweiterung I (Monday/Wednesday Group), Homework in Week 8 (November 29-December 3)

In preparation of next Monday's session (12/6), please do the following:

Please complete the exercises (i.e. A-O) for Unit 2 and learn the vocabulary for Unit 2(pp. 12-13). Do Review 1 for Units 1 and 2 on pp. 20-21 of your book as well. Please consult the key at the back of the book to check your work AFTER you have given the exercises a go on your own. Bring any questions you have regarding the vocabulary/these solutions with you to next Monday's session.

Please also do exercises 3.2-3.5 from the files "present tenses exercises 1_2" and "present tenses exercises 2_2" posted on Ilias. Check your answers using the "present tense exercises answer key" file (the first set of 3.2-3.5 answers in the first column on the page) and bring any questions you have with you to Monday's session. 

(It would be a good idea to review Unit 1 this week as well just so that you don't save all of your studying for January.)

In preparation of this Wednesday's session (12/01) please do the following (I recommend you complete these exercises during "study hall", i.e. Monday 11:30-13:00): 

- read at least two essays from the following page and do the following: Is School Reform Hopeless? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

a) identify how the writer either lived up to or did not live up to delivering an argument suggested in their title

b) identify the most impactful/strongest point made in either of the two essays

c) consider how the points made in these essays could be used or inspire arguments for this week's essay prompt

- find a YouTuber who has made a video in English about studying at an anglophone university you would be interested in attending/are curious about. As you listen to their account, do the following:

a) jot down where the student is from and what university/college they attend (make notes concerning their English accent: what are its most distinctive features?)

b) compare and contrast the student life at their university with yours. 

c) compare and contrast their list of courses/reading lists/assignments with yours. 

d) write down one interesting detail/fact mentioned in the video that stuck out to you. 

e) summarize their video in three sentences (see if you can incorporate vocabulary and expressions from Unit 2 in doing so).

Optional essay assignment: In 250-350 words, answer the following question: What is currently not included in your school's/university's curriculum that you think should be? Make sure that your essay a) doesn't exceed the word limit, b) is sent as an MS Word document, and c) is submitted to my email address by Wednesday, December 1st at midnight. Submissions that do not abide by these guidelines will not be read. 

Kompetenzerweiterung III (Wednesday Group), Homework for December 1st

  ***Please be advised that there are no Zoom meetings in the Project Week (November 22-26). Registration for our exam opens during the Project Week, so please register by the deadline on PSSO!***  

- make it a priority to find a partner for the exam and decide on a prepared debate question together. One of the partners should send me an email including 1) both partners full names, 2) the prepared debate question (must be in the form of a question; do NOT send me a mere topic/debate category), 3) the dates/times you would prefer your 30-minute time-slot to be scheduled during (time-slots are given on a first-come, first-served basis, but I cannot make any guarantees that you will receive your "first pick" time-slot).

- prepare the following two debate questions for our next session (both stem from previous exams): "Should higher education be tuition free?" and "Should personal finance be a mandatory subject in schools?" Please seek out quantitative and qualitative data. Keep a list of the sources you consult in compiling data and arguments for the questions (hopefully, they are sources/outlets you can use for your own prepared debate question as well). 

- read the file "words for discussions" and do exercises 16.1, 16.3, 16.9, 16.11, and 16.12 from the "words for discussions exercises 1 of 2" and the "words for discussions exercises 2 of 2" files. Check your answers using the file "words for discussions answer key". Bring any questions you have with you to our next session. 

- read the file "Can we trust online reviews" and prepare to debate this question next week in a 5-minute debate in which you consider reviews other than product reviews. 

Make sure you're prepared to debate the following questions in next week's class:

1. Should higher education be tuition free?

2. Should personal finance be a mandatory subject in schools?

3. Can we trust online reviews?

Kompetenzerweiterung III (Tuesday Group), Homework for November 30th

 ***Please be advised that there are no Zoom meetings in the Project Week (November 22-26). Registration for our exam opens during the Project Week, so please register by the deadline on PSSO!***  

- make it a priority to find a partner for the exam and decide on a prepared debate question together. One of the partners should send me an email including 1) both partners full names, 2) the prepared debate question (must be in the form of a question; do NOT send me a mere topic/debate category), 3) the dates/times you would prefer your 30-minute time-slot to be scheduled during (time-slots are given on a first-come, first-served basis, but I cannot make any guarantees that you will receive your "first pick" time-slot).

- prepare the following two debate questions for our next session (both stem from previous exams): "Should higher education be tuition free?" and "Should personal finance be a mandatory subject in schools?" Please seek out quantitative and qualitative data. Keep a list of the sources you consult in compiling data and arguments for the questions (hopefully, they are sources/outlets you can use for your own prepared debate question as well). 

- read the file "words for discussions" and do exercises 16.1, 16.3, 16.9, 16.11, and 16.12 from the "words for discussions exercises 1 of 2" and the "words for discussions exercises 2 of 2" files. Check your answers using the file "words for discussions answer key". Bring any questions you have with you to our next session. 

- read the file "Can we trust online reviews" and prepare to debate this question next week in a 5-minute debate in which you consider reviews other than product reviews. 

Make sure you're prepared to debate the following questions in next week's class:

1. Should higher education be tuition free?

2. Should personal finance be a mandatory subject in schools?

3. Can we trust online reviews?

Kompetenzerweiterung I (Tuesday/Thursday Group), Homework in Week Seven (November 16-19th)

 ***Please be advised that we will have no Zoom meetings during the Project Week (November 22-26). Registration for our January exam opens during the Project Week, so please register by the deadline on PSSO!***  

In preparation of next Tuesday's session (11/30), please do the following:

Please complete the exercises (i.e. A-K) for Unit 15 and read the grammar details for Unit 15 (pp. 122-123). Please consult the key at the back of the book to check your work AFTER you have given the exercises a go on your own. Bring any questions you have regarding rules/these solutions with you to next Tuesday's session.

In preparation of this Thursday's session (11/18) please do the following (I recommend you complete these exercises during "study hall", i.e. Thursday 9:45-11:15): 

- Come to class with a working definition of satire (ideally with some concrete examples to support it). The following videos might help you: 

"What is Satire?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers - YouTube

"What is Irony?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers - YouTube

- Do a close reading of the article "Bitter Brew", which you'll find on Ilias. Identify where humor is employed in the text and try to pinpoint how it was crafted (e.g. does the humor lie is the way the sentence sounds out loud, a choice of words, a specific example, a combination of factors?)

- Bring a list of the anglophone comedy you consume on a regular basis. (This can be TV shows, series, films, podcasts, blogs, etc.) What type of humor is represented in the comedy you consume (e.g. dark humor, sarcasm, word-play, etc.)? Do you notice (inter)cultural differences in the humor you consume? If so, try to pinpoint what these are. If not, what is universal about the humor you consume?

Optional essay assignment: In 250-350 words, write a piece inspired by "Bitter Brew", in which you give your reader insight into a world you are familiar with (and they are most likely not) in a humorous manner. (Your essay needs a thesis, i.e. one key point/take-away that you wish to share with the audience.) Make sure that your essay a) doesn't exceed the word limit, b) is sent as an MS Word document, and c) is submitted to my email address by Thursday, November 18th at midnight. Submissions that do not abide by these guidelines will not be read.