English has been gaining greater importance globally for communication purposes as never before. Keeping this in view, ICEE developed the curriculum that offers courses in communication skills. The curriculum caters to the needs of the students of different levels and different age groups. It aims to develop students’ ability to use English fluently and appropriately in academic, social and work situations. The course necessitates active participation of students in every task.

The course is divided into six levels.

Level I

Target audience

First semester freshmen university students

Course theme:  Survival English

This course focuses on topics and basic language functions that students need to know in order to interact with their foreign English teacher. Since many freshmen students have had little or no opportunity to interact with a native English speaker prior to coming to college, they feel extremely nervous when faced with the prospect of speaking English with a native speaker. Thus, the goal of this unit is to help equip students with the language tools necessary for interacting with their English teacher (and other English-speakers whom they may meet) and to give them confidence to use their English skills outside of the classroom in real-life interactions.

General components of each lesson

Each lesson is divided into 5 main components:

• Student objectives:  This outlines the skills that the lesson focuses on, and gives the teacher an idea of what the student should be able to achieve by the end of the lesson.
• Warm-up activity:  This activity is designed to help prepare students for the lesson by getting them to think about the topic or the language skills that will be covered.
• Speaking activities: These activities give students the opportunity to use their English to communicate orally with one another. The activities may involve pair work, group work, or whole-class discussions. The main focus is on fluency, and not so much on accuracy, since the students already have a store of English knowledge but have little or no opportunity to transfer that knowledge into real-life situations.
• Listening activities:  Although this course focuses primarily on Speaking, Speaking cannot be viewed apart from its companion skill of Listening. While students will already be exposed to the teacher’s language input and will naturally improve their listening skills by simply being in class, the listening activities in each lesson gives students further opportunities to hone their skills by listening to native English speakers talk about topics related to that day’s lesson.
• Vocabulary:  The vocabulary section in each lesson introduces to the students words related to the topic of the lesson. The teacher may choose to briefly go over the meaning of the words in class or allow the students to learn the vocabulary independently at home by using the Wow! Wonderful Words! Vocabulary Notebook.

 

Level II

Target audience

Second semester freshmen university students

Course theme:

Building on the basic foundation of language skills introduced in Speaking Skills, Level 1, this course introduces a wider range of language functions that the student would use in day-to-day interactions, such as expressing encouragement and appreciation, and diffusing arguments. While the language focus in this course is to improve the students’ speaking skills, it is designed to equip the students with personal skills that will help them be successful first in college and then in life.

General components of each lesson

Each lesson is divided into 5 main components:

• Student objectives:  This outlines the skills that the lesson focuses on, and gives the teacher an idea of what the student should be able to achieve from the lesson.
• Warm-up activity:  This activity is designed to help prepare students for the lesson by getting them to think about the topic or the language skills that will be covered.
• “Learning from the learned”:  This section introduces quotations, usually from well-known people that are related to the day’s topic.  The quotations expose the students to the different perspectives that people hold on an issue. They also serve as a springboard for student discussion.
• Speaking activities: These activities give students the opportunity to use their English to communicate orally with one another. The activities may involve pair work, group work, or whole-class discussions. The main focus is on fluency, and not so much on accuracy, since the students already have a store of English knowledge but have little or no opportunity to transfer that knowledge into real-life situations.
• “My heart on paper”: This journal writing activity is completed at home. It gives students the opportunity to evaluate themselves and to apply to their lives the lessons that they have learned in class.

 

Level III

Target audience

First-semester sophomore university students

Course theme:  The Grand Tour of English-speaking countries

This course adopts a storyline format in which an American college student Champ, inspired by the Grand European Tours, decides to spend part of his life’s savings on traveling to eleven English-speaking countries. As he travels, Champ keeps a detailed blog describing the people and customs of the places that he visits. This blog, with its entries and pictures, serves as the framework for each lesson.

Since many of the students in Indonesia have very limited traveling experience, they are eager to know what the outside world is like. This course, therefore, offers the Indonesian student a glimpse into different cultures and, at the same time, an opportunity to practice English language skills and functions.

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General components of the lessons

• Champ’s blog entry:  Each lesson typically begins with Champ’s blog entry, which introduces the lesson topic.
• “The Lingo Lounge”: Because the course adopts a blog-style format, vocabulary words related to the day’s topic are introduced in pop-up boxes within each lesson. 
• Speaking activities: Speaking activities are planned around Champ’s travels. These activities give students the opportunity to use their English to communicate orally with one another. The activities may involve pair work, group work, or whole-class discussions. The main focus is on fluency, and not so much on accuracy, since the students already have a store of English knowledge but have little or no opportunity to transfer that knowledge into real-life situations.
• “Blog it!”:  At the end of each lesson, students are given questions to write about in their own blog. These questions help students to reflect on the day’s topic and discover their own opinions on life.

 

Level IV

Target audience

Second-semester sophomore university students

Course theme: Sharing Cultures through the Internet

This course is structured topically, and the lessons revolve around the Internet-based communications of two college students: an Indonesian student Risky Putra and an American student Gabe.

The two students are e-pals, and they use different media, such as chat, emails, and Internet telephone, to communicate with each other. Because Risky Putra and Gabe come from different countries, the students will be exposed to different cultures and worldviews. The different media used will also introduce students to different types of discourse. As Gabe and Risky Putra communicate with each other, they grapple with issues relevant to college students, such as relationships, academics, and life decisions.  Since Indonesian university students are often highly involved and interested in chatting online, the Internet-based format of this course will offer students a media tool that is relevant to their lives, and it will allow them at the same time to practice their language skills and functions.

General components of each lesson

• Email:  The lessons typically begin with an email from either Gabe or Risky Putra, introducing the topic for that day’s lesson.

• Speaking activities:  The speaking activities revolve around the topic of the lesson. These activities give students the opportunity to use their English to communicate orally with one another. The activities may involve pair work, group work, or whole-class discussions. The main focus is on fluency, and not so much on accuracy, since the students already have a store of English knowledge but have little or no opportunity to transfer that knowledge into real-life situations.

• Reading and writing activities: Since the lessons are based on different forms of communication using the Internet, reading (the emails and attachments) and writing (chats and emails) practice are inherent in each lesson.
• At-home project: Found at the end of the lesson, the at-home project typically requires students to express their opinions about a topic in the form of an email addressed to either Gabe or Risky Putra.

 

Level V

Practical Writing

Building Up Your Writing

Target audience

First-semester Junior university students

Course theme:  Practical Skills and Practical Writing

The aim of this course is to help students write clearly and confidently in everyday situations. Unlike typical university writing courses that focus on research writing, this course focuses on practical writing skills and genres.

The first part of the course introduces students to the essential elements of a good paragraph. A “model house” concept of writing is introduced, which compares the construction of a model house to the writing of a model paragraph. This model house concept of writing is reinforced throughout the course as students are introduced to different genres of writing that they encounter in daily life, such as emails, thank you cards, and business letters.

The lessons revolve around the life of Liv, an American student in her final year of college. The life situations and issues that Liv faces serve as the motivation for the different topics and skills introduced in the lessons.

General components of the lesson

• Student objectives:  This outlines the skills that the lesson focuses on, and gives the teacher an idea of what the student should be able to achieve from the lesson.

• An email/journal entry:  The lessons typically include an email/journal entry by Liv or Kara (Liv’s friend), introducing the topic for that day’s lesson.

• Writing activities:  Since this is a writing course, the goal is to give students the opportunity to put into practice the principles of writing that are introduced in the lesson. The writing activities include both in-class and out-of-class assignments.
• “In a nutshell”:  The main points of the lesson are summarized in a textbox at the end of each lesson.

 

Level VI

Creative Research Writing

Writing Out of the Box

Target audience

Second-semester university students

Course theme:  Creative Approach to Research Writing

In essence, this course is a research writing course, but with a twist. Instead of the usual serious approach to research writing, this course aims to approach researching writing in a creative way.

The first few lessons in the course help students to understand that research is everywhere, and that they can search both within and outside themselves for materials to support their writing. The following lessons then go on to show that research writing can be reflected in and practiced using different genres, such as poems, summaries, and movie reviews.

General components of the lesson

• Student objectives:  This outlines the skills that the lesson focuses on, and gives the teacher an idea of what the student should be able to achieve from the lesson.
• Writing activities:  Each lesson first presents the students with principles of writing, and then gives them the opportunity to put these principles   into practice both in-class and out-of-class assignments.

Conclusion:  The main points of the lesson are summarized at the end of each course.