2007-2008 Syllabus Beginning (Intensive) Thai
FLTH 103-104

Electronic Texts:    Maanii Reader and Spoken Thai for the Internet (student print-outs - no text purchase)
Go to :    www.seasite.niu.edu/thai                        
Office hours:       by appointment & 3.00 p.m. M-W-F
                            Prof. John Hartmann, 314 Watson.
                            Tel 753-6462
                            E-mail:   jhartman@niu.edu

Weekly Schedule

        Monday, Wednesday:      Reading and writing skills
        Tuesday, Thursday:        Practice in conversation and communication skills
        Friday:                          Quiz (occasionally, slides/film/video)

Course Objectives

The overall objective of this course is to achieve proficiency in using spoken Thai in realistic situations and to read and write. Reading and writing exercised will be based on the Maanii Reader and Spoken Thai for the internet. The two sets of materials are to be printed out and practiced by each student on www.seasite.niu.edu/thai . Students are encouraged to explore other resources for Thai on the web as well.

Language Lab

All students will be expected to spend a minimum of 2 hours per week in the language lab starting the second week of classes. Attendance is monitored by computer.  If you use SEAsite at home,  keep a record and e -mail me each week what lessons/pages you have done and the number of hours to  jhartman@niu.edu.

Evaluation/Grading

During the course of the semester we will have weekly quizzes most Fridays covering materials up to that point. These near-weekly quizzes (which cannot be made up) will determine 50% of your overall final grade. (That is, each quiz will be 5% of your final grade, assuming there will be 10 weekly quizzes.)

Homework, class participation, and lab work will constitute 20% of your course grade, and 30% will come from your end-of-semester individual interview and final written exam.   At the end of the semester, each student will have a 1/2 hour
interview with the instructor to demonstrate his or her level of listening and speaking comprehension that has been practiced in class, at home, and in the language lab. The interview will be 1/2 of the final exam grade or 15% of your semester total.

Grading scale:     90-100:              A
                             80-89:               B
                             70-79:               C
                             60-69:               D
                             below 60:           F

Attendance

Daily attendance and active class participation is essential to skill learning, which is what learning a foreign language is. Class attendance will be recorded. You will have 5 days of unexcused absences.  Beyond that, you will need a written excuse from your doctor, parent, or advisor. Unexcused absences in excess of 5 days will result in a lowering of your final grade one full grade. Come and discuss your problems with me early. At least give me or the department a call (753-1501) to let us know what is happening.  This intensive language course, which means that the pace and performance expectations are twice as great as a normal 2-year 3-days-a-week course. I do not give Incompletes.  Nor do I give make-up exams/quizzes.

Getting Help: Don't wait until the end of the semester to come in for help. Come in/ e-mail me ASAP! If you have made mistakes on your quizzes, don't ignore them. Come in and ask for an explanation!

Cheating: Students who cheat will be reported to the NIU Judicial Officer and receive an F.

Links