Course Description
This course is for students who wish to upgrade their reading and writing skills for personal, educational and/or employment purposes. The course focuses on extending reading and writing skills to improve confidence and develop proficiency in reading and writing. Course activities will include reading at Canadian Language Benchmark Levels 4 and 5 and writing at Canadian Language Benchmark Level 4. The reading and writing practice will also provide opportunities for language skill development including grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary.
Course Content
Reading Skills
- Identify main idea, key information, and supporting details in descriptive and narrative texts.
- Identify purpose, topic, key information, factual details in business/service texts (eg. brochures, bills, pamphlets, and letters).
- Identify purpose, gist, factual details and inferred meanings in moderately complex notes, e-mail messages and letters containing compliments, invitations, likes, dislikes and preferences.
- Locate 2 pieces of information in ESL software or selected www sources, or from print reference sources or tables of context, indexes and glossaries.
- Demonstrate understanding of standard maps, basic diagrams and pie or bar graphs.
- Follow 7-10 step everyday instructions and procedures, including instructions on a computer.
- Scan for details (eg. words, phrases, numbers).
- Determine meanings of unfamiliar words in course materials.
- Continue to use an English-English dictionary.
- Guess meaning from context.
Writing Skills
- Write informal and formal personal messages, short notes or letters (e.g. Invitations, thank yous, regrets, cancellations, apologies)
- Fill out moderately complex forms (e.g. a college application)
- Copy short texts (e.g. from dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks) to record information for personal use, to complete tasks, or to learn information (e.g. record information from an encyclopedia entry).
- Write informal descriptions of people, places, objects or personal situations.
- Write informal personal narratives.
- Write informally about past and future events.
- Keep a journal.
Accuracy
For explicit instruction and evaluation:
- Verb tenses (simple present, present continuous, simple past, simple future).
- Basic parts of speech and basic sentence parts.
- Simple and compound sentences (and, but, or, so).
- Simple spelling, capitalization, and punctuation (period, comma, question mark) conventions.
Classroom Skills
- Take responsibility for the following:
- Attendance and punctuality.
- Classwork and assignments.
- Participation and teamwork, collaboration in groups and decision-making.
- Follow instructions, communicate with peers and instructors and ask for clarification.
- Show an awareness of cultural differences and general features of their culture and the world.
Learning Activities
Whole and small group instruction will be combined with individual assistance and student-directed learning. Students will participate in the setting of goals by identifying their communicative and language developments needs and will participate in the selection of learning activities. Students will receive assistance with difficulties arising from lack of familiarity, structure, lexicon and cultural content. The instructor will facilitate, observe, and evaluate students’ participation in classroom 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.
Means of Assessment
- Complete assigned skill-development tasks
- Write at least two informal compositions that meet instructor specified criteria for content, organization, language use, accuracy and format. These assignments could include the following:
- describing a person, place, object or personal situation.
- writing a story based on personal experience in present , past or future tense.
- writing a formal or informal invitation, thank you note, or apology.
- Write at least one informal or formal personal e-mail message (e.g. a short letter or note expressing invitation, thanks, regrets, cancellations or apologies) that meets instructor specified criteria for content, organization language use, accuracy and format
- Fill out a moderately complex form such as a college application or an application for tenancy
- Complete quizzes, both skill and content-based
- Maintain a personal journal
- 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
Student achievement will be assessed using the mastery grading system in accordance with college policy.
Learning Outcomes
Overall Objective
Extend fluency and confidence in reading and writing for a range of personal, educational, and/or employment purposes.
Specific Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Read and understand short text materials on familiar topics to obtain information and expand vocabulary.
- Write short compositions on familiar everyday topics.
- 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 class.
- Assess own progress.
Textbook Materials
Students may be required to purchase a textbook to be determined by instructor.