Course Descriptions

Academic Reading 2 (ARD1002)

Course Description
Academic Reading 1002 (ARD 1002) is a 75-hour intensive reading course designed for students who have successfully completed ARD1001 course or, if newly admitted, have a minimum TOEFL score of 480 and 527.  The course adopts a learned-centered communicative approach, and ranges from expanding the students’ word stock and developing their critical reading strategies to producing and presenting book reports.

Course Objectives
ARD1002 aims to help students:

• develop their critical reading skills to comprehend and interpret a wide range of reading material closely related to their fields of study;
• reinforce and integrate the other skills (grammar, writing and speaking);
• expose them to culturally diverse and authentic material.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
By the end of the course, students will be able to

1. apply various reading strategies to comprehend academic texts;
2. infer the meaning of unfamiliar words;
3. identify the author’s thesis statement;
4. identify patterns of organization (definition, description, narration, illustration, etc…);
5. recognize the author’s tone, bias, intent, and attitude;
6. evaluate texts critically;
7. make inferences and draw conclusions;
8. distinguish facts from opinions and judgments;
9. paraphrase text extracts;
10. distinguish between literal and figurative language;
11. give an oral report on reading material.

Evaluation
Quizzes & Homework up to Midterm exam                  20%
Midterm exam                                                              20%
Quizzes & Homework                                                  20%
Final exam                                                                    30%
Teacher evaluation                                                        10%

Course Materials
- Developing Reading Versatility, Adams, W. Royce and Patterson, Beckt  Harcourt 10th ed.