PC ENGLISH PROGRAM — LEVEL 3 SYLLABUS — QUARTER 4, 2023

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Preparation Center for Languages and Mathematics [at MUIC] is to provide
educational experiences which cultivate students’ academic English communication skills; to
foster their ability to be self-reflective and responsible learners; and to stimulate their curiosity
about the world.

LEVEL OBJECTIVES
The main focus of PC3 is to develop the ability to communicate in English from an intermediate to
an upper-intermediate level. Students must pass all of the core requirements in order to pass this
level. Additionally, students must achieve the objectives below in order to progress to PC4. Also
necessary is the ability to use a variety of computer applications, including Google Classroom,
Google Docs, and Exam.net, to participate in classes and complete assignments and assessments.

By the end of PC3, students should be able to do the following in English:

1. Understand and engage with a reading text and a sustained monologue on an academic
topic.
2. Use complex sentence structures and detect errors in authentic contexts.
3. Recognize and use headwords encountered most frequently in sublists 1–7 of the
Academic Word List (AWL).
4. Write an opinion essay using general knowledge and/or external sources.
5. Participate in academic discussions in small groups and ask follow-up questions.
6. Develop a professional and mature attitude.
7. Show awareness of national, regional, and international issues.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
PC3 Integrated Skills (IS) – 6 hours per week
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
● Understand, take notes on, and engage with reading passages and lectures on academic
topics by identifying and incorporating main ideas and evidence into discussions.
● Participate in small group discussions of approximately 20 minutes on various IS themes,
incorporating information from reading passages, lectures, and your own research.
● Recognize and use headwords encountered most frequently in the Academic Word List
(sublists 1–7). Raising the level of your vocabulary is essential, especially if you have to
understand complex lectures and texts at university. Demonstrating effective use of the
AWL words in your discussions will go a long way towards improving the complexity of
your language and, therefore, your overall grade.

PC3 Writing Enrichment (WE) – 8 hours per week

By the end of this course, you should be able to:
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 ● Write an unreferenced argumentative essay of 350–500 words in 90 minutes. Student
essays should be persuasive, coherent, and relatively free of errors that cause difficulty or
confusion for the reader.
● Use complex language in your writing and detect errors in your own and in your peers’
work. This includes using academic vocabulary from the AWL.
● Learn how to effectively paraphrase, quote, and integrate material from external sources
using APA-style citations and references.
● As part of the Integrated Skills exam, after a 20-minute brainstorming period, students
must type a referenced discursive essay of 400–550 words in 1 hour and 50 minutes,
incorporating ideas and evidence from a reading passage and lecture given in IS class.
You must provide an objective analysis of two sides of an issue and also incorporate
evidence and avoid intentional or unintentional plagiarism through the correct use of
paraphrasing and quoting. You will learn how to cite your sources within your essays and
reference your sources at the end of your essays. Refer to the PC3 Referenced Essay
Grading Rubric.

PC3 Academic Reading for Research Skills (ACR) – 6 hours per week
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
● Effectively recognize the main ideas, key arguments, and supporting points from academic
reading passages.
● Be able to correctly infer the meaning of new vocabulary given its context in a passage.
● Refrain from committing unintentional and intentional plagiarism through the correct use of
paraphrasing and quoting (i.e., maintain academic honesty).
● Recognize and use vocabulary from the Academic Word List (sublists 1–7). Knowing a wide
range of academic vocabulary is essential to understanding textbooks and writing essays
once you enter university.

WEBSITES & RESOURCES

For important announcements and schedule changes, please refer to http://pc.muic.mahidol.ac.th.

A level website containing detailed explanations, example tests, and supplementary materials is
available at this link: https://sites.google.com/muicpc.io/studentcentral/pc-3-home Please note that
you will only be able to access these materials by signing in with your xxxxxx@muicpc.io account.
Your teachers may use some Google Doc textbook chapters and materials in the links below:

● For your Writing Enrichment class, the Get It Write textbook chapters in Google Docs
help you to learn and practice appropriate grammar points and essay structure elements.
Additional writing resources are below:
PC Writing Style Guide
Online Writing Resources
”Top 20 Grammar” Chapters
”Writing Academic English” Chapters

● For your Academic Reading class, the Right to Read textbook chapters in Google Docs
help you to practice the core reading comprehension skills, paraphrase, understand APA
citations and references, incorporate evidence, and practice AWL sublists 1–7. Additional
reading resources are below:
Sonia Millet's Speed Reading Resources
Online Reading Comprehension Resources

● Extra grammar exercises are available on the student website or here:

PC3 SYLLABUS page 2

 Online English Grammar Resources

● For additional practice with the AWL, also make use of these resources:
AWL Word Forms for Quizlet Live Folder
More Word Form Quizlet Materials
Word Forms, Definitions and Collocations for Sublists 1-10
Online AWL Study Resources

● Pronunciation lessons will be integrated into your IS class:

Pronunciation Lessons for PC Students
Online Pronunciation Resources

ASSESSMENTS
There are 15 forms of assessment in total, but the five core requirements must all be passed in
order to pass PC3 and progress to PC4. The passing score for all assessments is 65%.

Core Requirements Assessment Items & Weighting Weeks

1. Essays Unreferenced Essay Midterm Exam (20%) Week 5

Referenced Essay Exam * (30%) Week 9

Unreferenced Essay Final Exam (50%) Week 10

2. Academic Reading Midterm Reading Comprehension Exam (20%) Week 5

Final Reading Comprehension Exam (80%) Week 10

3. Discussions * Academic Discussion Exam 1 * (20%) Week 6

Academic Discussion Exam 2 * (80%) Week 9

4. Term Project Term Project Outline (20%) Week 4

(to your advisor)
Draft Slides 1 (20%) Week 5

Draft Slides 2 (20%) Week 6

Final Presentation (40%) Week 8

5. Portfolio AWL Sublists 1–4 Midterm Exam (33%) Week 5

AWL Sublists 1–7 Final Exam (33%) Week 10

Professionalism: Midterm & Final (34%) Weeks 1–10

* Students must attend both the reading and lecture inputs of the I.S. Exams in order to take the
Referenced Essay and Discussion exams.

TERM PROJECT
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Part of being a good student is knowing something about the world. During this quarter, you will
need to research an internationally relevant issue, integrate your research with your own
knowledge and experience, and prepare a term project presentation of approximately 8 minutes
before the end of the quarter. Your presentation must incorporate information from a minimum of
five correctly cited and referenced academic sources. To help you accomplish this task, you will
have regular advisory sessions with either your IS or ACR teacher throughout the quarter. During
these sessions, you will be assigned a term project topic, given guidance on the project structure,
and recommended a research process to follow. There is a detailed schedule and recommended
outline along with other important information about the term project on the student website.
Throughout the project, you are expected to follow MUIC’s policy on academic honesty, which
means that you must not plagiarize your work in any way for any reason.

RULES & REGULATIONS

Make sure that you carefully read the PC student handbook, which is under Downloads here.

Here are some important rules and regulations:

1. For all classes, students need a laptop computer, extension cord, charger, and
headphones or earbuds. You should also have the following items: pen or pencil and a
paper notebook.
2. Install the Google Classroom app on your mobile devices (phones and tablets) to keep up
with your classes.
3. You must be dressed in the proper PC student uniform in order to attend classes.
4. You have to be in class on time. If you come late you will be marked “late.” One late mark
is equal to ⅓ of an “absent” mark. If you are more than five minutes late, you will be
marked “absent.” You are only allowed to be absent for 20% of your classes during a
quarter (8x for WE, 6x for ACR, and 6x for IS). If you are absent too many times, you will
NOT be able to take the final exams. Note that medical certificates cannot be used to
justify an absence, except if you were admitted to a hospital.
5. Inappropriate use of electronic devices is not acceptable. Receiving phone calls from
anyone, including parents, is not an acceptable reason to answer a call during classes. We
have procedures in place through the PC office in case you must be contacted in an
emergency.
6. You are responsible for regularly checking your PC email account, Google Classroom, and
PC Online as teachers and staff will communicate with you through them.
7. Submit work before deadlines and be prepared for term project advisory classes. Not
doing so could cause you to fail your Term Project and therefore fail PC3.
8. You must speak English as much as possible. If you do not make a good enough effort,
you will not be able to pass the level.
9. If you are caught cheating at any time, you will fail.

PROFESSIONALISM
At PC, we want you to learn more than just how to communicate in English. We also want you to
become professional and mature students. This means you should be able to analyse your own
behavior, identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and develop ways of improving your study

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methods. In short, we believe that you should take responsibility for your studies and learn how to
work independently in order to be successful here and at MUIC.

You will receive grades at the middle and end of term for your level of professionalism. They will
be overall measures of your behavior, and the grades will be averages of the individual grades
given by your classroom teachers.

To positively affect your professionalism grades, you can: participate enthusiastically in classroom
activities, ask relevant questions, attend classes punctually, help and support other students,
complete and submit homework assignments on time, and pay attention to your teachers.

Actions that could negatively affect your professionalism grades include: arriving to classes late,
not completing assignments on time, being uncooperative or unproductive during classes, not
participating in learning activities, skipping classes, using phones outside of academic activities, or
forgetting to bring textbooks or other materials to class.

MUIC EVENTS
Students are encouraged to join MUIC events while studying at PC. These include Open House,
Open Days, Club Expo, and Job Fair events, as well as others each year. Details about upcoming
events will be shared by the PC staff and teachers, and further information can be found on the
MUIC website.

ACADEMIC WORD LIST (AWL) Sublists 1–7 Below are the words you are responsible for in PC3.

Sublist 1 Sublist 2 Sublist 3 Sublist 4 Sublist 5 Sublist 6 Sublist 7

analyze achieve alternative access academy abstract adapt
approach acquire circumstance adequate adjust accurate adult
area administrate comment annual alter acknowledge advocate
assess affect compensate apparent amend aggregate aid
assume appropriate component approximate aware allocate channel
authority aspect consent attitude capacity assign chemical
available assist considerable attribute challenge attach classic
benefit category constant civil clause author comprehensive
concept chapter constrain code compound bond comprise
consist commission contribute commit conflict brief confirm
constitute community convene communicate consult capable contrary
context complex coordinate concentrate contact cite convert
contract compute core confer decline cooperate couple
create conclude corporate contrast discrete discriminate decade
data conduct correspond cycle draft display definite
define consequent criteria debate enable diverse deny
derive construct deduce despite energy domain differentiate
distribute consume demonstrate dimension enforce edit dispose
economy credit document domestic entity enhance dynamic
environment culture dominate emerge equivalent estate eliminate
establish design emphasis error evolve exceed empirical
estimate distinct ensure ethnic expand expert equip
evident element exclude goal expose explicit extract

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export equate framework grant external federal file
factor evaluate fund hence facilitate fee finite
finance feature illustrate hypothesis fundamental flexible foundation
formula final immigrate implement generate furthermore globe
function focus imply implicate generation gender grade
identify impact initial impose image ignorant guarantee
income injure instance integrate liberal incentive hierarchy
indicate institute interact internal license incidence identical
individual invest justify investigate logic incorporate ideology
interpret item layer job margin index infer
involve journal link label medical inhibit innovate
issue maintain locate mechanism mental initiate insert
labor normal maximize obvious modify input intervene
legal obtain minor occupy monitor instruct isolate
legislate participate negate option network intelligence media
major perceive outcome output notion interval mode
method positive partner overall objective lecture paradigm
occur potential philosophy parallel orient migrate phenomenon
percent previous physical parameter perspective minimum priority
period primary proportion phase precise ministry prohibit
policy purchase publish predict prime motive publication
principle range react principal psychology neutral quote
proceed region register prior pursue nevertheless release
process regulate rely professional ratio overseas reverse
require relevant remove project reject precede simulate
research reside scheme promote revenue presume sole
respond resource sequence regime stable rational somewhat
role restrict sex resolve style recover submit
section secure shift retain substitute reveal successor
sector seek specify series sustain scope survive
significant select sufficient statistic symbol subsidy thesis
similar site task status target tape topic
source strategy technical stress transit trace transmit
specific survey technique subsequent trend transform ultimate
structure text technology sum version transport unique
theory tradition valid summary welfare underlie visible
vary transfer volume undertake whereas utilize voluntary

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