Having already written a complete essay in their 2nd year, students in their 3rd year will write a much longer, more involved essay about a unique subject of interest.
In this course, we'll watch one of my favorite films, Arrival, discuss the various ideas in the film about language and learning language, and write an essay focusing on the hypothesis mentioned in the film. The essay will answer the following question:
Which is more correct: the idea of Cognitive Relativity or Cognitive Determinism?
The essay will follow the standard 4-paragraph rule, but breaks the format a little bit. In the Introduction, the above question will be posed, but will not be answered until the Conclusion. The two paragraphs in the body will focus on each opposing ideas before making a decision about which one is correct. Please read this description post about further details of the movie and its concepts for writing the essay.
This class is only taught once or twice a week. In general, students will turn in their notebooks once a week. Although, depending on students' progress, it may be more often to reach deadlines. This class is expected to take around 7 or 8 months.
| Contents | Materials |
| 01 | Introduce the Film / Watch the First Part (Time 0 - 1980)
Review the story / Watch the Second Part (1980 - 4572)
Review the story / Watch the Rest (4572 - 6654) | Dual Language Subtitles (Description) |
| 02 | Discuss the film - Characters/Story, Alien's Perception, Language Acquisition | |
| Discuss the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - Linguistic Relativity and Determinism | Definition |
| 03 | Introduce Essay Criteria | Essay Criteria |
| Write Introduction | |
| 04 | Connect Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis to Cognition, in terms of study | |
Write paragraph 1 describing Cognitive Relativity
Write paragraph 2 describing Cognitive Determinism | |
| 04.1 | (Optional) If time is short, combine paragraphs into the Conclusion | Short Essay |
| 05 | Write Conclusion | |
| 06 | Typed Report - Create an APA formatted document of your essay | Typed Format |
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Essays are first written in notebooks, and each part of the paragraph is written step-by-step. When sections of paragraphs are okay and make sense, students can proceed to the next section and next paragraph. Notebooks shall be turned in on a regular basis to keep steady progress and meet deadlines.
As notebooks are turned in, I will mark various spelling and grammar errors, and make notes where the contents are weak or don't make sense. When receiving your notebook, write the contents again while answering questions and including contents written in my notes.
Only until the current paragraph is complete will we continue to the next paragraph.
Grades
Grades are created from the overall progress of your essay in your notebook. In the notebook, each paragraph is worth 15 points. 10 points from finishing the paragraph, 3 points from finishing the paragraph on time, and 2 points from finishing it before the deadline. Again, paragraphs aren't finished until I mark them with an "ok."
The final typed report has a total of 90 points. Each paragraph is 15 points, and points are deducted from spelling, grammar, and format errors, and from any missing contents. 10 points are giving if the report is completed on time, or deducted if your printed report has too many errors and I return it to you to fix. The last 20 points are from the earlier progression in your notebook, listed above with each paragraph being 5 points.
Examples of Student Work, cover page removed: 1 2 3
Epilogue - Debate
It should take around 7 or 8 months for students to complete their essay. Starting in March, they'll most likely finish by the end of November, leaving another 2 months of classes left until their final tests and graduation. If there are enough classes remaining, they can be used for an English Debate.
Students are split into two teams. One team thinks that Cognitive Relativity is more correct. The other team thinks that Cognitive Determinism is more correct.
| Contents | Materials |
| 00 | Explain Debate format / Make Teams
| |
| 01 | Opening Statement - What are your 3 best reasons for your opinion?
Teams discuss and make a list of their 3 reasons. 3 students deliver a speech of each reason | |
| 02 | Attack Speech - Why are your opponent's reasons weak or incorrect?
Teams discuss the opposing team's best points and how to attack them.
Again, 3 students deliver a speech for each attack. | |
| 03 | Defense Speech - Why is the opponent's attack weak or incorrect?
Teams discuss the opponent's attack, why it was wrong, and reinforce their own points.
Again, 3 students deliver a speech for each attack. | |
| 04 | Summary - Restate and reinforce your reasons
Show why your ideas are the best, why the opponent's attack was weak, why the opponent's reasons are wrong, and how they didn't defend their reasons correctly.
Overall, this becomes a lot, so I will do it to finish the class. | |
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Within their groups, students are expected to talk about the contents of their essay, find some commonality from the arguments made in their essay, and create a list of their 3 best arguments. These points are then attacked by the other team. After, the team must defend their points from the attack. This follows the Japanese English Debate structure.