ALC 2007

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Program Information

welcome letter/course descriptions/attendance policy/the honor code/avoiding plagiarism/library hours

Stanford, CA
July, 2007

Dear EFS Student,

Welcome to EFS 687, Stanford University’s program in American Language and Culture. We hope you will find it to be of significant value in your goal to understand U.S. culture and to improve your English proficiency.

We know you will be very busy with important cultural and social activities in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends. However, you must also set aside time to do your homework and to get enough rest so that you can participate actively in your morning classes and afternoon labs. We have three specific expectations of you.

•  Use only English in class.

• Attend all of the classes you are scheduled for, be on time, and complete all assignments.

• Accept responsibility for your own learning. Your teacher’s job is to provide the environment in which learning can take place, but it is up to you to take advantage of that environment.

This morning, we will be testing you and talking with each of you briefly in order to place you into groups with others who speak and understand English at about the same level.

First you will have a listening test. As you listen, try to understand as much as you can and give your best answers to the questions. After that, we will be talking with each of you to find out how well you speak. Try to relax and say as much as you can.

We will use the results of the test and interview to place you into sections with others whose speaking ability is about the same as yours. Please note that regardless of what section you are placed in, this four-week program represents a short but rich opportunity for learning and interaction. We are looking forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Course Descriptions

Effective Communication

Monday through Friday:  9:00-10:20 am

This class is concerned primarily with developing spoken language fluency and increasing your listening ability.  Using a variety of materials, you will work interactively with your instructor and classmates to improve your understanding of spoken English, to participate in group discussions, and to make oral presentations.

Topic Development

Monday through Friday:  10:30-11:50 am

This class will help you gain a sociological perspective on various topics associated with the themes of the program.  Through discussion of selected readings you will explore and analyze issues of immediate concern in the US.  You will produce an individual project of your research on a topic of your choice as your final project.

Individual Projects

To enable you to explore your individual interests as well as class topics in greater depth, you will be asked to complete an individual project.  With the help of your Topic Development instructor, you will choose to design and conduct library-based research combined with a community survey or interviews.  Your project will probably be delivered as a written report for the Topic Development class and as an oral presentation to your instructor and classmates in Effective Communication.

Weekly Lectures and Discussion Sections

On Wednesday (ALC 1) or Thursday (ALC 2) mornings you will attend a lecture presented by an advanced graduate student instructor from the Department of Sociology.  Topics have included social stratification in the US, the digital divide, the American family, and media images among others.  For one hour on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons, you will also meet with your graduate student instructors for follow-up activities and discussion on the lecture topics.

Compliance with University Regulations

Registration as a student constitutes an agreement to abide by University regulations such as those concerning admissions, registration, academic performance, student conduct, public health, use of the libraries, operation of vehicles on campus, University facilities, and the payment of fees and assessments.  Many of these regulations are set forth in the Summer Session bulletin while others are available in relevant University offices

The University reserves the right to withhold registration privileges or to require the withdrawal of any student who is not in compliance with its regulations.

Attendance Policy

In order to maximize your learning and to receive credit for your classes, you must do the following:

1. Attend at least 90% of classes, including lectures and sections.

2. Be on time and participate actively in all classroom activities.

3. Complete all assigned homework, including making up any work missed due to absence

4. Show substantial progress in your use of English and communication skills

Grading

At the end of the program, you will meet individually with your Effective Communication  and Current Issues instructors for feedback on your progress and overall English proficiency.  Credit for the course is based on the quality of your completed assignments, regular attendance, active class participation, and overall effort.  The individual project is evaluated as an oral report in Effective Communication and as a written report in Current Issues.  Grades are awarded on a scale of A, B, C, D, and no pass (failure), with + and - modifications.

The Honor Code

Students are expected to observe the Fundamental Standard of student conduct, which was stated by Stanford's first President, David Starr Jordan, as follows:

"Students are expected to show both within and without the University such respect for order, morality, personal honor, and the rights of others as is demanded of good citizens.  Failure to observe this will be sufficient cause for removal from the University."

The Stanford Judicial Council has ruled that the Fundamental Standard should be enforced with reference to the Stanford community and not with reference to other communities with which students may otherwise identify themselves.

The Honor Code at Stanford is essentially the application of the Fundamental Standard to academic matters.  Provisions of the code date from 1921, when the honor system was established by the Academic Council of the University Faculty at the request of the student body and with the approval of the President

By their registration at the University, all students affirm the Honor Code:

1.  The Honor Code is an undertaking of the students, individually and collectively:

a) That they will not give or receive aid in examinations; that they will not give or receive unpermitted aid in class work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other work that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of grading;

b) That they will do their share and take an active part in seeing to it that others as well as themselves uphold the spirit and letter of the Honor Code.

2.  The faculty on its part manifests its confidence in the honor of its students by refraining from proctoring examinations and from taking unusual and unreasonable precautions to prevent the forms of dishonesty mentioned above.  The faculty will also avoid, as far as practicable, academic procedures that create temptations to violate the Honor Code.

3.  While the faculty alone has the right and obligation to set academic requirements, the student and faculty will work together to establish optimal conditions for honorable academic work.

As further classification: The formal Stanford University statement on Student Conduct Policies lists “representing as one’s own work the work of another” as a violation of the Honor Code. Plagiarism, the usual term for this violation, is the failure to credit the original source of ideas or words. This means that in an academic paper a writer may not use either ideas or words without citing the source adequately.  Even if the violator does not understand the importance of the issue or the appropriate procedure for acknowledging ideas or work, the university considers such behavior unacceptable and may discipline violators by failure in that course or suspension from the university. Therefore, it is crucial for all students to know how to avoid a charge of plagiarism.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the action of using without due acknowledgment the thoughts, writing, scholarship, inventions of another. It is often the result of carelessness or ignorance: a person does not fully understand the importance of the issue or does not know the appropriate procedure for acknowledging ideas or work of someone else: this is cheating and/or theft. The University considers plagiarism a serious moral issue. It is up to you to know how to avoid it.

General rule:  Provide enough information so that the reader can identify and refer to all sources you have used in writing a particular paper.

 Guidelines on when to cite the source

I. Word-for-word quotation: When you incorporate phrases, sentences, or paragraphs which belong to someone else, you must use quotation marks around the borrowed words and you must identify the source either in the text or in a footnote.

II. Paraphrase: If you have relied on another person’s ideas or train of thought but changed the actual words used or the order of those ideas, you still must acknowledge your source with a citation.

III. Borrowed ideas: When your ideas or opinions have been shaped by what you have read or lectures you have heard, you must acknowledge your source. In this case you might give credit simply by stating the PERSON’s name.

IV. Material: If you use factual material gathered and organized by another person, you must acknowledge your source.

V. Common knowledge: When a fact or piece of information is known to all, you do not need to cite a source. For example, statements of ideas such as “Hamlet  is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies” or “Widespread use of personal computers has taken place since 1980” do not need to be credited. Ideas well known in a specialized field, but not known to the larger educated audience, should be credited.

Assistance in preparing academic papers

It is assumed that students will do their own work. In particular, students are required to work alone in courses where writing improvement is one of the objectives. A student who wishes to receive even limited assistance from a friend, a tutor, a host, or another teacher must ask the instructor for permission and/or guidelines in advance. In this course, you do not have such permission

Students are allowed to work together on their assignments only if their instructor gives permission to do so. In this course, you do not have such permission

Students in English for Foreign Students who submit final papers “representing as one’s own work the work of another” will receive no credit for the course.

Library Hours