In this course, you will improve your reading comprehension and vocabulary development. You will also improve your reading proficiency to a level which will allow you to function adequately in the ESL 52 reading class and other college courses.

You will learn through practice, online activities, group activities, and critically thinking about and writing about what you read.  In a typical on-campus reading course, students discuss what they read; in this online course, you will write critically about what you read.   Writing critically means that you examine the deeper issues of what you read and you make connections to yourself and the world around you.  Therefore, there is a large writing component to this course.  You will participate with your classmates in group reading rooms where you will interact about assigned readings.  You will react through discussion to what you read and you will react to your classmates' opinions and ideas.  Online, you will explore different reading strategies through interactive exercises, and you will search for websites related to reading that could benefit your learning and your classmates' learning.  Above all, you will practice reading.  You will critically read, think, and write in this course so that you will leave this course with the ability to read, comprehend, and respond to reading more easily.

Prerequisite :

This course requires a sense of paragraph structure and development, appropriate use of verb forms, and a command of basic sentence structures with some coordination and subordination, as indicated by a placement exam and writing sample, or teacher recommendation from a previous level.

1. Students will acquire the reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills necessary to succeed in the reading-related requirements of advanced ESL reading courses and some other college courses.
2. Students will integrate their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to promote thinking and learning.
3. Students will be active, independent learners able to apply integrated strategies appropriate to the reading-related task.
4. Students will increase their self-confidence in their ability to be effective readers.
5. Students will understand the role of reading in their academic, professional, and personal lives.

Other materials _______________delete this line if there is no other materials.

To pass this course, you must complete all assignments and achieve a minimum of 750 points (75%). Simply receiving 750 points will not be enough if you do not complete all of the assignments. Because course feedback is of utmost importance, you are also asked to complete the evaluation at the end of the course.

Because many of the assignments in this course involve discussion or collaboration with your classmates, it's important that everyone follow the same schedule. Assignments are due by the end of the week unless otherwise noted. I consider 11:59 p.m. on Sunday to be the end of a week for this course. Some assignments require completion on a specific day of the week.  If your work is late (and you have not made prior arrangements with me), a grade penalty of 10% each day may be enforced.

There are 3 exams in this course.

Last Updated: August 1, 2011