Passed October 16, 2013
Course Proposal: Level VI Reading/ Writing English through Newspapers and Magazines
Overview:
This course is designed for students who want to improve their reading and writing skills at the advanced level of proficiency, and to apply their grammar skills to reading comprehension and their writing. A heavy emphasis is placed on learning vocabulary and on recognizing the use of metaphor and idiomatic expression. Tone and register will also be addressed, as newspapers and magazines exhibit many varieties of both. Although there will be “essay” writing assignments, students will be asked to write in formats other than the traditional ESL five-paragraph essay. Finally, there will be an emphasis on students’ choosing material to read, and responsibly guiding some of their own development as they explore the wealth of information periodicals have to offer.
Rationale:
This course was created in part to address the uneven balance of skills in the high advanced level as demonstrated by COMPASS reading scores and other assessments. The hope is that newspaper and magazine articles about high interest subjects can help motivate students to read more in their second language. The course is also designed as an alternative to Level VI English for General Purposes, with many similar outcomes but with different materials. Many students repeat level six, and it is important to keep these students motivated by offering them more choices.
Target Students
English through Newspapers and Magazines is meant to be part of the General/Culture track at level six. As such, it should appeal to students who may be interested in attending a university, but not necessarily the University of Delaware. These students would include many of our Turkish, Colombian, Saudi, Taiwanese, and Japanese students. Students who are interested in gaining admission to a school through the TOEFL would also find this course appealing due to its emphasis on vocabulary and content-area reading.
Course Sequence
This course would be open to students who have passed a General track level V reading/writing course or who have passed level six but wish to continue to develop their English skills.
This class would also be open to students who have finished level V, but who have not met the requirements to take EAP VI. I would also recommend that this class be an option for the “all but 6.5” students who have taken EAP VI twice but have not met the 6.5 essay requirement to be admitted to U.D.
Texts
Photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles
Students will be expected to spend up to $35 on newspapers and magazines
Focus on Grammar 5 Fourth Edition by Jay Maurer (Pearson)
Any paper-bound English to English dictionary