Course Descriptions

Grammar in an Academic Context 1 GAC1001

Course Description
Grammar in Academic Context (GAC) 1001 is an intensive English language course extending over a semester of 75 contact hours at the rate of 5 hours per week. Students taking this course must have a TOEFL score ranging from 420 to 477. GAC 1001 syllabus consists of basic verb tenses, basic components of the noun phrase, pronouns, simple forms of modals, adjectives and adverb forms, basic conditional forms, prepositions of time and place, and question forms.

GAC 1001 focuses on communicative tasks which privilege “use” rather than “form”. It is also learner-centered; therefore, most of the activities aim at developing the learner’s ability to use English in appropriate contexts, rather than just mastering language forms.

Course Objectives
GAC 1001 aims to equip students with language skills so as to be successful both in their academic courses and in a global multicultural society through

• helping them understand and use in an academic context the basic grammatical structures of English at an intermediate/high-intermediate level of language proficiency;
• endowing them with the basic language tools that will enhance their listening and speaking, reading, and writing skills.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
By the end of the course, students will be able to

• understand and correctly use verb tenses;
• understand and use different types of pronouns, nouns, articles, and quantifiers;
• understand and use simple modal forms;
• understand and use equatives, comparatives, and superlatives;
• understand and use different types of adverbs in appropriate contexts;
• understand and use basic conditional forms;
• understand and use question forms in appropriate contexts;
• understand and use prepositions of time and place;
• proofread texts for accuracy;
• produce accurate sentences in appropriate contexts;
• use the grammar learnt in speaking and listening, reading, and writing.

Evaluation

Midterm portfolio quizzes & homework         20%
Midterm Exam                                              20%
Final portfolio quizzes & homework               25%
Final exam                                                     25%
Teacher evaluation                                         10%

Course Materials
1- Focus on Grammar 3: An Integrated Skills Approach (Course book & Workbook).
2- Focus on Grammar 4: An Integrated Skills Approach (Course book & Workbook).

3- Supplementary Material.