Whole and small group instruction will be combined with individual assistance and student-directed learning. Students will receive assistance with reading difficulties that arise from lack of familiarity with the structure, lexicon and cultural content of the reading passages, and the instructor will facilitate, observe and evaluate students’ participation in classroom activities. Students will participate in the setting of goals by identifying their communicative and language development needs, and in the selection of learning activities. Students will discuss personal rights and social responsibilities in their area of study, intended occupations and personal life; this may depend on course materials used.
This course emphasizes reading for main ideas and using new vocabulary strategies. There are extensive reading assignments.
Reading Skills
- To follow the ideas and information in readings
- Follow written assignment instructions
- Use pre-reading techniques to prepare for a reading task
- Recognize topic, main ideas, key details
- Follow sequence of information and ideas
- Scan for specific information
- Identify and distinguish between facts and opinions
- Describe events and characters in short stories
- Comprehend simple graphs and tables accompanying reading materials
- Recognize the differences between supported and unsupported opinions
- To determine meanings of unfamiliar words in course materials
- Use an English-English dictionary
- Use prefixes to determine meanings and suffixes to identify grammatical uses
- Use simple context clues such as definitions, synonyms and punctuation
- To find materials in the library
- Use both digital and print resources
- To use study skills
- Take notes: mark and label text to make margin notes
- Explain visual text material
- Prepare for tests: T/F, completion, matching, multiple choice, and short answer
- Learn content from text/class materials
Writing Skills
- To write short compositions from personal experience or readings, demonstrating sub skills such as:
- writing topic sentences
- developing unity
- creating coherence
- monitoring accuracy
- following formats
Classroom Skills
- Takes responsibility for the following:
- attendance and punctuality
- class work and assignments
- participation and teamwork, collaboration in groups and decision-making
- Follows instructions, communicates with peers and instructors and asks for clarification
- Shows an awareness of cultural differences and general features of their culture and the world
Overall Objective
Extend fluency and confidence in reading and writing for a range of personal, educational, and/or employment purposes.
Specific Objectives
- Read and understand short authentic material on relevant and practical topics to obtain and record information, learn about ideas and issues and expand vocabulary
- Use strategies to learn academic material
- Monitor and apply strategies to improve accuracy in grammar, sentence structure and word choice to a specified level of accuracy
- Participate effectively in a college classroom.
- Assess progress
- Complete assigned skill-development tasks
- Prepare reading reports on assigned articles
- Use common software to communicate and to complete simple information management tasks, ie: to word process at least one assignment, send e-mails, sign in to MyDouglas or write a resume
- Complete quizzes, both skill and content-based.
- Maintain a journal to self-monitor progress in skills, language use and learning strategies.
- In student-teacher conferences, identify their own strengths and weaknesses as communicators.
- Complete at least one self-assessment of learning strategies, progress and classroom skills to be discussed with the instructor.
This is a Mastery Graded Course.
Students may be required to purchase textbooks to be determined by the instructor.
ELLA Assessment