Reading to Connect

Description

This is a blended learning course that will meet for 3 hours a week, including a 2-hour on-site class and 1-hour online meeting. It is designed to help undergraduate and graduate students develop fundamental strategies for reading English academic texts more effectively and critically. Reading assignments, practice and activities will explore a variety of English language materials, such as news articles, academic articles, opinions and commentaries across disciplines.

The texts will cover topics related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to address a wide range of social and global issues ranging from poverty to climate change. Topics covered will include comprehension, vocabulary enrichment, close-reading analysis and critical reflection. All the activities and group projects are intended to foster students’ metacognitive awareness of reading and analytical skills. On completion of this course, students will not only develop effective reading skills, but more importantly, grow as proficient and critical readers, while also gaining a better awareness of global issues.

The course will consist of three modules. Each module will cover a set of topics and lessons related to active English reading and comprehension strategies, critical reading and thinking skills, and practical strategies for connecting reading and writing. The content of each learning module is organized as follows:

Introduction provides an overview of the course, including course requirements, policies and student responsibilities.
Module 1: Reading for Meaning introduces fundamental reading strategies: activating, comprehension, review and reflection, critical thinking
Module 2: Reading Critically in a Diverse World explores diverse perspectives and global issues through the reading of various genres (narratives, news articles, commentary and opinions, and academic/scientific texts).
Module 3: Reading to Write presents key elements and techniques that guide students to use their critical reading skills to write effectively.

Course Objectives

The purpose of this course is to adhere to the NTU educational objectives by contributing to students’

CC 1: Independent judgment and ability to innovate

CC 2: Professional knowledge and skills

CC 3: Communicative and team skills

Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILO):

By the end of the course, students should be able to

CILO 1: identify common patterns of organization in texts and develop strategies for reading a variety of genre texts, increasing vocabulary, and responding critically to texts. (CC 1, 2 & 3);

CILO 2: effectively use context clues and other electronic reference materials to determine the meanings of unfamiliar vocabulary and phrases (CC 1 & 2);

CILO 3: analyze and summarize information from texts including main ideas, supporting details & evidence, points of view, biases and arguments (CC 1, 2 & 3);

CILO 4: demonstrate the ability to synthesize information from different sources into writing and provide valid and logical reasonings for arguments (CC 1 & 2);

CILO 5: demonstrate awareness of local and global issues from a variety of genre texts and develop capacity to become a more critical, independent reader and critic (CC 1, 2 & 3).

Schedule

Week	Course Content	Units & Lessons	Tasks
1	Introductory Module: Course Introduction	– Structure and content of the course – Student responsibilities & Class policies – Reading diagnostic test
2	Module 1: Reading for Meaning	Lesson 1: Activating Reading Strategies – Making prediction – Anticipating ideas – Activating prior knowledge – Skimming & Scanning	Weekly task
3	Module 1: Reading for Meaning	Lesson 2: Reading Comprehension Strategies – Posing Questions – Identifying the topic of a paragraph, main ideas & supporting details	Weekly task
4	Module 1: Reading for Meaning	Lesson 3: Vocabulary Building – Identifying definitions or unfamiliar words in texts – Inferring meanings from context clues – Using dictionary and other technological devices	Weekly task
5	Module 1: Reading for Meaning	Lesson 4: Review & Reflection – Summarizing – Paraphrasing – Outlining – Note-taking	Weekly task
6	Module 1: Reading for Meaning	Lesson 5: Critical Thinking – Analyzing purpose and tone in the text – Identifying facts vs. opinions – Making personal & global connections	Weekly task
7	Module 2: Reading Critically in a Diverse World	Topic: Battle Against Poverty – Strategy review & application	Weekly task
8	Module 2: Reading Critically in a Diverse World	Topic: Breaking gender stereotypes – Strategy review & application	Weekly task
9	Midterm Learning Evaluation	Midterm Exam	Midterm Week
10	Module 2: Reading Critically in a Diverse World	Topic: Combating Human Right Exploitation – Critical analysis—current event analyzing	Weekly task
11	Module 2: Reading Critically in a Diverse World	Topic: Defining Social Justice in a Changing World – Extensive reading—reading to make a stance	Weekly task
12	Module 2: Reading Critically in a Diverse World	Topic: To Mitigate or to Adapt? – Act on Climate Change – Extensive reading—our war as the global citizens	Weekly task
13	Module 2: Reading Critically in a Diverse World	Topic: Affordable & Sustainable Energy – Intensive reading—literature reviews	Weekly task
14	Module 2: Reading Critically in a Diverse World	Topic: The Secret Ingredients for Quality Education – Intensive reading: online reviews	Weekly task
15	Module 3: Bridging the Gap: Reading to Write	– Summary & paraphrase – Citation styles – Plagiarism	Weekly task
16	Module 3: Bridging the Gap: from Reading to Writing	– Coherence & cohesion – Logics & reasoning	Weekly task
17	Module 3: Bridging the Gap: from Reading to Writing	– Synthesizing information for writing – Paragraph and essay organizations	Weekly task
18	Final Assessment	Final exam	Final

Textbook and Reference Materials

The mandatory readings are compiled of online articles accessible on the web without any charge. There is no specific textbook for the course.

Evaluation

Types of Assessment	Weighting	CCs to Be Addressed	CILOs to Be Addressed	Descriptions of Assessment Tasks
Online Reading Tasks & Quizzes	20%	1 &2	1, 2, & 3	In-Class Pop Quizzes (20%): Students will be given an in-class quiz weekly after completing online reading tasks.
Class Attendance & Participation	30%	1, 2 & 3	1, 2, 3, 4 & 5	Attendance (10%)
Class Attendance & Participation	30%	1, 2 & 3	1, 2, 3, 4 & 5	Peer-evaluation (15%) Instructor’s Discretion (5%)
Mid-Term Learning Evaluation Task	25%	1, 2 & 3	3, 4 & 5	Midterm Exam (Reading Assessment Test)
Final Learning Evaluation Task	25%	1, 2 & 3	3 & 4	Final Exam (Reading Assessment Test)