Syllabus

 ESL 082/083/084 - (Reading II)

 

Level Coordinator:

Debbie Kemp-Jackson 
Office E-716   

Phone: 908-659-5144

E-mail: kjackson@ucc.edu

 

Other coordinators at Level 6:        

064/065  (Level 6 Grammar)

092 (Level 5 Writing I)

Ellen Stavitsky

Office  E-211                            

908-659-5122

Email: stavitsky@ucc.edu

Maria Mattaliano

Office E-711  #4

Tel: 908-659-5145

Email:  mattaliano@ucc.edu

Mahua De

Office E-718A

Tel: 908-659-5143

de@ucc.edu

 

Prerequisites
ESL Placement Test or ESL 081

Co-requisites
ESL 064, ESL 065, ESL 092

 

Course Description

Level 6 Reading (ESL 082) is a full semester advanced academic sequence for students whose native language is not English.  ESL 082 or [ESL 083 (Reading for Business 101) or 084 (Reading for Psychology 101)] and ESL 092 meet once per week for 3 hours.  ESL 064/065 meets twice per week for 6 hours.  All three courses meet for 16 weeks including exam week.

The general objective of 082 is to continue to reinforce reading skills introduced in level 5 and to prepare students to handle college level material.  Accordingly, students will also be expected to keep reading journals, do oral reports or a library project.

 

Students who are successful in passing this course are finished with ESL reading, but students may require Eng 088 or ENG 089 or no further reading course depending on their performance.  Students who need more time at this level must repeat the entire course.

 

Course Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes

§       To comprehend authentic college-level fiction, non fiction and academic texts.

§       To apply reading strategies, such as skimming, scanning, finding main ideas, drawing conclusions, summarizing, paraphrasing, and using context clues

§       To make connections between texts and real-life experiences, and to understand the wider cultural, political and social implications

§       To respond to texts using various writing activities, such as freewriting, journals, note taking, and outlining

§       To summarize and paraphrase the significant ideas and/or events orally or in writing

§       To identify varied American cultural and historical themes to develop an awareness of multiculturalism through fiction and non-fiction

 

Information Literacy

By the conclusion of the semester, all students who pass this course will demonstrate an understanding of the research process in at least one graded project, oral or written.  This will include attending a library orientation, doing basic research, evaluating sources, appropriately incorporating those sources into the project without plagiarism, and preparing a bibliography.  Some of the sources used must be electronic, including a database and the internet.


 

Requirements

·       Students will take a midterm and final exams.

·       Students will take frequent quizzes and complete homework assignments.

·       Students will complete a research project which will be presented in oral or written form.

·       Students keep weekly journals, responding to readings.

·       Students will take a standardized reading test (ETS ELPT) at the end of the semester.

 

Suggested:

Students will have midterm conferences with instructors to discuss their progress. 

 

Student Resources

Textbooks (Choose from the list.)

Topics for Today, 3rd Edition, by Smith and Mare

Reader’s Journal

Academic Encounters

Reader’s Choice, Split Edition, Book 2

 

Novels

Growing Up by Russell Baker

The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier

 

Other appropriate materials:

Articles from Newsweek, Time, journals, newspapers, academic texts, online articles, etc.

 

Suggested Final Grade Calculation

To pass the course and go to ESL 082, a student must receive a passing overall final average for the semester. Student work for the complete semester will determine the final grade.  Possible final grades are: A, B+, B, C+, C, D+, D, and F, or Stopped Attending (UF). Students who receive an F or UF must repeat the entire course. 

Midterm                                    20%

Final Exam                                20%

Homework and Quizzes            20%

Journals                                     15%

Attendance/Participation           15%

Oral/Written Research Project  10%

 

Final Exam

Students will take exams which follow the format below

a) Questions related to the novel(s) read during the semester.

b) A new reading from a journal, magazine or academic text, with new questions

c) Optional- a journal activity where students produce a journal entry on their exam.

 

The ETS ELPT Test is required at the end of ESL 082.  It is a 45-minute multiple choice test that is graded by ETS.   The ELPT scores serve as a guide for the final grade.  The scores are not used as a sole criteria for final grade or placement.

 
Based on the student reading performance in class, exams and ELPT, students completing a semester of ESL 082 are placed in the in one of the following categories.
 

NRR- no more reading is required                            

089- one semester of Developmental reading required

088- two semesters of Developmental reading required

082- repeat level 6 reading, (or students can also take 083 or 084)

 

Suggested Methodologies and Activities 

Reading Strategies

Students will apply reading strategies that they will use throughout their college careers. These strategies include skimming, scanning, identifying main idea, increasing reading speed, recognizing word forms, building vocabulary, and inferencing. These strategies will be applied to academic contexts including novels, authentic readings from newsmagazines and journals, and  academic texts.  

Coordination with Writing and Grammar Classes

Students discuss content and practice skills being covered in writing, listening and grammar. 

 

Popular themes from the novels which have been used successfully in ESL 082:

1)     Biography of famous people

2)     A cross-section of American literary traditions and experiences. 

3)     Social Issues such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Child Abuse, Adoption, American Legal system etc.

4)     Minority rights/issues 

Journal Entries

Students will write an assigned number of pages or journal entries per week in response to readings.  Journals will be graded by quality and quantity.  

Examples of Journal assignments

·       Reaction journal- students choose sections of the text and respond to it personally.  No summary of text allowed.

·       Write a letter to a character

·       Pretend to be a character in novel and write journal entries as that character

·       Finish the story (if mystery or open-ended)

·       Project endings of story (what will happen in 5 years, etc.)

·       Summarize a particular chapter or section of the book to check comprehension.

·       Keep a vocabulary list of new/important vocabulary words

·       Make questions- make up questions for your classmates from each chapter.

 

Reports and Projects

Students are required to do research on a theme related to the novels being read.  Projects may follow one of the examples below:

 

 CALL/ALC