Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus

Academic Year 2011-2013

TOEFL PREPARATION COURSE SYLLABUS

INTERMEDIATE CLASS
68 HOURS

I. Name of instructors and contact details

1. Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan (in charge of Reading, Writing, and Grammar)
Hand phone: 0903 810 201

E-mail: anhloannguyennhu@yahoo.com
2. Thomas Claflin (in charge of Listening and Speaking)

Hand phone: 01264844038

E-mail: thomas.claflin@fetp.edu.vn

II. Time
From 13:30 to 15:30 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday)

From October 5, 2011 to December 29, 2011

III. Objectives:

By the end of the course students will:

 be familiar with the format and directions of the TOEFL test;

 be familiar with the types of questions that are asked in each section;

 figure out their weak and strong areas; and

 develop the English language skills that are necessary to be successful on the test.

Reading purposes

 To practice necessary skills with short reading passages, such as understanding

details, identifying topics and paraphrasing.

 To develop skills with longer reading passages, such as such as understanding

details, identifying topics and paraphrasing, recognizing coherence.

 To improve on summarizing skills, such as completing tables and charts, creating

tables and charts.

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 1

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

Writing purposes

 To practice necessary writing skills of brainstorming, organizing, and paraphrasing.

 To develop writing skills by connecting and supporting ideas.

 To improve sentence structure and word choice.

Listening Purposes

 To demonstrate basic comprehension, such as understanding the main idea, key

points, structure, purpose, conclusion, important facts and relevant details.

 To learn from listening, such as understanding various relationships between ideas

(e.g., compare-and-contrast, cause-and-effect, agree-disagree, or steps in a process)
and tracing the development of ideas or events throughout the recordings.

 To make inferences about an author’s opinion and what is implied in a recording.

Speaking Purposes

 Information Processing – The ability to synthesize and summarize what you have
read in your textbooks and heard in and outside of the class.

 Viewpoint Formation – In some of the speaking tasks, students need to form your
own opinion in response to the information you have processed.

 Delivery - Speech should be clear and have a well-paced flow with only minor lapses
in pronunciation or intonation patterns.

 Language Use - Responses should demonstrate effective use of grammar and

vocabulary.

 Topic Development - Responses should be sustained and sufficient for the task. They
should be coherent and well developed with details and examples. A clear progression
of ideas is also necessary for a high score.

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 2

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

IV. Course books

Edmunds, P. & McKinnon, N. (2009), Developing skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Intermediate, Tre
Publisher, HCMC. (Available at the school library)
Phyllis L. Lim, Mary Kurtin, & Laurie Wellman (ed), (2006), Grammar Workbook for the
TOEFL Exam, 4th ed., Tre Publisher, HCMC.

V. Course outline

Reading
Chapter 1: Short Passage Skill Practice

Chapter 2: Long Passage Skill Practice

Chapter 3: Focus: Summarizing Information

Writing
Chapter 1: Thinking and Writing

Chapter 2: Making Writing Complete

Chapter 3: Focus: Writing Grammar

Listening
Chapter 1: Short Passage Skill Practice

Chapter 2: Long Passage Skill Practice

Speaking
Chapter 1: Thinking and Speaking
Chapter 2: Making Speech Coherent

VI. Requirements and assignments

Students are required to be active in class, and to complete all homework assigned by the
instructors.
The following assignments constitute the final result of each student:

1. Homework and participation: 10% (The instructors will ask students at random to
submit their homework. The average scores of homework tests make up 10% of
the final result.)
2. Mid-term test: 20% (The instructors give a TOEFL like mid-term test (excluding
speaking skill) to assess the progress of students, so that we can adjust our

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 3

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

material, teaching methods; or get students to adjust themselves to get the final
outcome.)
3. Final test: 70% (The instructors give a TOEFL like final exam to evaluate
students’ English proficiency throughout the entire course.)

VII. Reference books and websites

 Books (Available at the school library)

Hall, T. & others (2007), How to master skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Reading – Intermediate,
HCMC General Publisher, HCMC.
Link, W. & others (2007), How to master skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Listening – Intermediate,
HCMC General Publisher, HCMC.
Macgillivray, M., Yancey, P. & Malarcher, C. (2009), Mastering skills for the TOEFL iBT _
Intermediate, Tre Publisher, HCMC.
Putlack, M.A., & others (2007), How to master skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Writing –
Intermediate, HCMC General Publisher, HCMC.
Putlack, M.A., & others (2007), How to master skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Speaking –
Intermediate, HCMC General Publisher, HCMC.
Worcester, A., Bowerman, L. & Williamson, E. (2009), Building skills for the TOEFL iBT _
Intermediate, Tre Publisher, HCMC.

 Websites

No Websites Introduction

1 www.nonstopenglish.com You can practice your English grammar and

vocabulary skills with interactive tests on this free
website. You can receive free interactive email tests.
If you register and login you can see which tests you
have done and how successfully. Learning English
with these free online tests is really motivating. New
tests are added every week.

2 www.englishclub.com EnglishClub.com is a wonderful club. Please feel

free to use it in any way you wish to learn English.
They answer all of your emails and try to give you
the support you need in learning English.

3 www.english-at-home.com Learn English grammar, vocabulary, verbs and

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 4

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

speaking with ESL games, an English newsletter

and more.

4 www.learn-english-today.com Free lessons and activities designed to help you

learning English better.

5 http://www.examenglish.com/ Free practice for international certificates.

6 http://www.eslbee.com/index.htm It’s good for learning and practicing writing skill.

7 http://www.bbc.co.uk Enjoy this wonderful website. You can practice your

English through news.

8 http://gocsm.net/sevas/esl/gramch There are a lot of grammar exercises on this

eck/#singpl website.

9 http://gmat- You can find useful grammatical points here,

grammar.blogspot.com/2006/07/w especially confusing ones.
hether-vs-if.html

10 http://www.freerice.com You can do charity while learning vocabulary here.

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 5

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

VIII. Course diary

Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Week

1 English
placement test

2 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Writing Listening

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Chapter 1:

Skill A Skill C Skill A

Speaking Speaking
Introduction - Introduction
Practice - Practice
reading out reading out
loud, focus on loud, focus
pronunciation on
pronunciatio
n

3 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Reading Listening Grammar

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: - Adjective
Skills A & B Skill B /Adverb
confusion
- Adjectives
Speaking
after verbs of
Organizing – sensation
independent
- Noun
speaking –
adjectives
personal
experiences - Hyphenated
or compound
adjectives

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 6

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

- Few, little,
much, &
many

4 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Reading Listening

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Chapter 1:

Skill C Skill C + Skill C
Review A - C

Speaking Speaking
Synthesizing Synthesizing
information – information
summarizing –
written summarizing
passages – written
restating in passages –
own words restating in
own words

5 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Reading Listening Writing

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Chapter 1:
Skills D & E Skill E Skill D

Speaking

Integrated
speaking –
listen to
passage, orally
express
opinions

6 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Reading Listening

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 7

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Chapter 1:

Skill E Skill F + Skill E
Review A - F

Speaking Speaking

Integrated Structuring
speaking – of oral
listen to responses –
passage, orally independent
express speaking –
opinions personal
preferences –
focus on
transitions

7 No class

8 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Grammar Listening
- Cause and Chapter 1: Mid-term test
result Skill D
- Articles Speaking
- Too, very, and Structuring of
enough oral responses
- Negation – independent
speaking –
- Practice
personal
- Writing preferences –
correction focus on
transitions

9 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Reading Listening

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Chapter 2:

Skill A Skills A & B Skill B

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 8

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

Speaking Speaking

Integrated Integrated
speaking – speaking-
state key conversations
points , focus on
written/spoken problems
passages, focus and solutions
on similarities/
Contrasts

10 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Writing Listening Reading

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Chapter 2:

Skill B Skill C Skill C &
Review A – C

Speaking
Integrated
speaking-
conversations,
focus on
problems and
solutions

11 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Writing Listening

Chapter 2: - Vocabulary Chapter 2:
Skill C review Skill D
- Writing
practice
Speaking Speaking
- Chapter 3:
Integrated Integrated
Focus A: Verb
speaking – speaking –
form
listen to listen to

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 9

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

lecture, lecture,
summarize in summarize in
own words own words

12 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Reading Listening Writing

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Chapter 3:

Skills D, E & F Skill E Focus B

Grammar

Speaking Chapter 4:
Speaking Verbs
naturally –
specific
pronunciation
points
13 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening & Reading FINAL TEST

Speaking - Chapter 2:
Review and Review A – F
practice tests - Chapter 3:

Focus A & B

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 10

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

TOEFL PREPARATION COURSE SYLLABUS

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE CLASS
68 HOURS

I. Name of instructors and contact details

3. Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan (in charge of Reading, Writing, and Grammar)
Hand phone: 0903 810 201

E-mail: anhloannguyennhu@yahoo.com
4. Thomas Claflin (in charge of Listening and Speaking)

Hand phone: 01264844038

E-mail: thomas.claflin@fetp.edu.vn

II. Time
From 13:30 to 15:30 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday)

From October 5, 2011 to December 29, 2011

III. Objectives:

By the end of the course students will:

 be familiar with the format and directions of the TOEFL test;

 be familiar with the types of questions that are asked in each section;

 figure out their weak and strong areas; and

 develop the English language skills that are necessary to be successful on the test.

Reading purposes

 To practice necessary skills with short reading passages, such as understanding

details, identifying topics and paraphrasing.

 To develop skills with longer reading passages, such as such as understanding

details, identifying topics and paraphrasing, recognizing coherence.

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 11

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

 To improve on summarizing skills, such as completing tables and charts, creating

tables and charts.

Writing purposes

 To practice necessary writing skills of brainstorming, organizing, and paraphrasing.

 To develop writing skills by connecting and supporting ideas.

 To improve sentence structure and word choice.

Listening Purposes

 To demonstrate basic comprehension, such as understanding the main idea, key

points, structure, purpose, conclusion, important facts and relevant details.

 To learn from listening, such as understanding various relationships between ideas

(e.g., compare-and-contrast, cause-and-effect, agree-disagree, or steps in a process)
and tracing the development of ideas or events throughout the recordings.

 To make inferences about an author’s opinion and what is implied in a recording.

Speaking Purposes

 Information Processing – The ability to synthesize and summarize what you have
read in your textbooks and heard in and outside of the class.

 Viewpoint Formation – In some of the speaking tasks, students need to form your
own opinion in response to the information you have processed.

 Delivery - Speech should be clear and have a well-paced flow with only minor lapses
in pronunciation or intonation patterns.

 Language Use - Responses should demonstrate effective use of grammar and

vocabulary.

 Topic Development - Responses should be sustained and sufficient for the task. They
should be coherent and well developed with details and examples. A clear progression
of ideas is also necessary for a high score.

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 12

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

IV. Course books

Edmunds, P. & McKinnon, N. (2009), Developing skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Intermediate, Tre
Publisher, HCMC. (Available at the school library)
Phyllis L. Lim, Mary Kurtin, & Laurie Wellman (ed), (2006), Grammar Workbook for the
TOEFL Exam, 4th ed., Tre Publisher, HCMC.

V. Course outline

Reading
Chapter 1: Short Passage Skill Practice

Chapter 2: Long Passage Skill Practice

Chapter 3: Focus: Summarizing Information

Writing
Chapter 1: Thinking and Writing

Chapter 2: Making Writing Complete

Chapter 3: Focus: Writing Grammar

Listening
Chapter 1: Short Passage Skill Practice

Chapter 2: Long Passage Skill Practice

Speaking
Chapter 1: Thinking and Speaking
Chapter 2: Making Speech Coherent

VI. Requirements and assignments

Students are required to be active in class, and to complete all homework assigned by the
instructors.
The following assignments constitute the final result of each student:

1. Homework and participation: 10% (The instructors will ask students at random to
submit their homework. The average scores of homework tests make up 10% of
the final result.)
2. Mid-term test: 20% (The instructors give a TOEFL like mid-term test (excluding
speaking skill) to assess the progress of students, so that we can adjust our

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 13

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

material, teaching methods; or get students to adjust themselves to get the final
outcome.)
3. Final test: 70% (The instructors give a TOEFL like final exam to evaluate
students’ English proficiency throughout the entire course.)

VII. Reference books and websites

 Books (Available at the school library)

Hall, T. & others (2007), How to master skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Reading – Intermediate,
HCMC General Publisher, HCMC.
Link, W. & others (2007), How to master skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Listening – Intermediate,
HCMC General Publisher, HCMC.
Macgillivray, M., Yancey, P. & Malarcher, C. (2009), Mastering skills for the TOEFL iBT _
Intermediate, Tre Publisher, HCMC.
Putlack, M.A., & others (2007), How to master skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Writing –
Intermediate, HCMC General Publisher, HCMC.
Putlack, M.A., & others (2007), How to master skills for the TOEFL iBT _ Speaking –
Intermediate, HCMC General Publisher, HCMC.
Worcester, A., Bowerman, L. & Williamson, E. (2009), Building skills for the TOEFL iBT _
Intermediate, Tre Publisher, HCMC.

 Websites

No Websites Introduction

1 www.nonstopenglish.com You can practice your English grammar and

vocabulary skills with interactive tests on this free
website. You can receive free interactive email tests.
If you register and login you can see which tests you
have done and how successfully. Learning English
with these free online tests is really motivating. New
tests are added every week.

2 www.englishclub.com EnglishClub.com is a wonderful club. Please feel

free to use it in any way you wish to learn English.
They answer all of your emails and try to give you
the support you need in learning English.

3 www.english-at-home.com Learn English grammar, vocabulary, verbs and

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 14

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

speaking with ESL games, an English newsletter

and more.

4 www.learn-english-today.com Free lessons and activities designed to help you

learning English better.

5 http://www.examenglish.com/ Free practice for international certificates.

6 http://www.eslbee.com/index.htm It’s good for learning and practicing writing skill.

7 http://www.bbc.co.uk Enjoy this wonderful website. You can practice your

English through news.

8 http://gocsm.net/sevas/esl/gramch There are a lot of grammar exercises on this

eck/#singpl website.

9 http://gmat- You can find useful grammatical points here,

grammar.blogspot.com/2006/07/w especially confusing ones.
hether-vs-if.html

10 http://www.freerice.com You can do charity while learning vocabulary here.

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 15

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

VIII. Course diary

Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Week

1 English
placement test

2 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Writing Listening Reading

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Chapter 1:
Skill C Skill A Skills A & B

Speaking

Introduction -
Practice
reading out
loud, focus on
pronunciation

3 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Grammar Listening

Chapter 1: - Adjective / Chapter 1:
Skill A Adverb Skill B
confusion

- Adjectives
Speaking Speaking
after verbs of
Introduction - sensation Organizing –
Practice independent
- Noun
reading out speaking –
adjectives
loud, focus on personal
pronunciation - Hyphenated or experiences

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 16

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

compound
adjectives
- Few, little,
much, & many

4 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Reading Listening Reading

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Chapter 1:
Skill C + Skill C Skills D & E
Review A - C

Speaking

Synthesizing
information –
summarizing
written
passages –
restating in
own words

5 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Writing Listening

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Chapter 1:
Skill C Skill D Skill E

Speaking Speaking

Synthesizing Integrated
information – speaking –
summarizing listen to
written passage,
passages – orally
restating in express
own words opinions

6 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 17

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

Reading Listening Grammar

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: - Cause and

Skill F + Skill E result
Review A - F - Articles

Speaking - Too, very,

and enough
Integrated
speaking – - Negation
listen to - Practice
passage, orally
- Writing
express
correction
opinions

7 No class

8 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Reading
Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Mid-term test
Skill E Skills A & B

Speaking

Structuring of
oral responses
– independent
speaking –
personal
preferences –
focus on
transitions

9 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Reading Listening Writing

Chapter 2: Chapter 1: Chapter 2:

Skill C & Skill D Skill B
Review A – C Speaking

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 18

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

Structuring of
oral responses
– independent
speaking –
personal
preferences –
focus on
transitions

10 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Writing
Chapter 2: - Vocabulary Listening
Skill A review Chapter 2:
- Writing Skill B
practice
Speaking
- Chapter 3:
Integrated Speaking
Focus A: Verb
speaking –
form Integrated
state key speaking-
points conversations
written/spoken , focus on
passages, focus problems
on similarities/ and solutions
Contrasts

11 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Reading Listening Writing

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Chapter 3:

Skills D, E & F Skill C Focus B

Grammar

Speaking Chapter 4:
Verbs
Integrated
speaking-
conversations,
focus on

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 19

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program English Course Syllabus
Academic Year 2011-2013

problems and
solutions

12 Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas

Listening Reading Listening

Chapter 2: - Chapter 2: Chapter 2:
Skill C Review A – F Skill D
- Chapter 3:

Speaking Focus A & B Speaking

Integrated Integrated
speaking – speaking –
listen to listen to
lecture, lecture,
summarize in summarize in
own words own words

13 Ms. Anh Loan Mr. Thomas Ms. Anh Loan

Reading Listening

Practice Chapter 2: FINAL TEST

Skill E

Grammar
- Chapter 6: Speaking
Basic patterns Speaking
naturally –
specific
pronunciation
points
Listening &
Speaking
Review and
practice tests

Nguyen Nhu Anh Loan, Thomas Claflin 20