Course Description

ESL 111-001 is designed to assist ESL learners in the development of reading for academic purposes, emphasizing science fact and fiction. Student will develop their reading skills and strategies in and outside the classroom environment as well as improve their vocabulary. Students will be introduced to the concept of skepticism. They will be provided with the foundation of the scientific method. Students will also read various science-fiction short stories. Online science guides will supplement their understanding of certain concepts.

Primary Goals - By the end of the Spring 2009 semester, ESL 111-001 students should be able to perform all of the following tasks:

• read fiction and non-fiction at the level of an American high school student
• preview fiction and non-fiction texts
• identify the main idea of fiction and non-fiction texts
• identify general and specific statements
• guess vocabulary from the context of the reading materials
• identify contrasting statements
• identify causes and effects
• identify support for the main idea of the reading materials
• summarize fiction and non-fiction texts
• identify the setting, character, and conflict in fiction
• identify themes in science-fiction

Secondary Goals - By the end of the Spring 2009 semester, ESL 111-001 students should be able to perform most of the following tasks:

• practice and use their newly acquired reading vocabulary
• make inferences based on the reading
• infer conclusions from the reading
• make outlines of the readings

Tertiary Goals - By the end of the Spring 2009 semester, ESL 111-001 students might be able to perform some of the following tasks:

• demonstrate an appreciation for the sciences
• apply skepticism when encountering pseudoscientific claims or statements
• seek out science readings or science-fiction stories on their own