MASTER SYLLABUS
ESL READING
ESL Curriculum Mission Statement :
The mission of the ESL curriculum is to help students whose main language is not English develop their English
reading, writing, listening and speaking skills to enable them to succeed in college level courses and in the
workplace.
1. INSTRUCTOR'S NAME:
Office Hours: Part-timers are not required to have office hours, but they are encouraged to be
available in or near the classroom before and after class sessions.
Telephone Numbers: Part-timers should apply for an NECC telephone extension. Students may use
this number to leave messages for the instructor.
Email Address:
Use your NECC email address.
2. COURSE TITLE AND NUMBER:
(NOTE: Refer to the teaching assignment letter you received for this information.)
3. GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION (ACCORDING TO COLLEGE CATALOGUE):
(NOTE: Copy the course description exactly as it is written below. The 4 class hours and 1 lab hour in
the course description will be done in class by the teacher. Students in reading classes are also
required to go to the ELC lab for one hour of work outside of class time.)
ESL022 ESL Intermediate Reading:
4 credits. 4 lecture hours, 1 lab hour per week.
Prerequisite: ESL Placement Test.
This reading course for non-native speakers of English includes the development of intermediate
skills and strategies in reading comprehension, fluency, and critical thinking; intermediate academic
vocabulary and the application of level-appropriate grammar and mechanics; and the ability to respond
to academic readings through paraphrasing and writing short paragraphs. This course requires
approximately one hour of reading lab work per week outside of class.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a developmental course and DOES NOT carry graduation credit. It is
NOT usually transferable. Since developmental courses are mandated, students who do not meet the
exit criteria with a grade of C or higher for ESL will be required to repeat them.
ESL023 ESL High Intermediate Reading:
4 credits. 4 lecture hours, 1 lab hour per week.
Prerequisite: ESL Placement Test or C or higher in ESL022 ESL Intermediate Reading.
This
reading course for non-native speakers of English includes the development of high intermediate skills
and strategies in reading comprehension, fluency, and critical thinking; high intermediate academic
vocabulary and the application of level-appropriate grammar and mechanics; and the ability to respond
to academic readings through paraphrasing, summarizing and writing paragraphs. This course requires
approximately one hour of reading lab work per week outside of class.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a developmental course and DOES NOT carry graduation credit. It is
NOT usually transferable. Since developmental courses are mandated, students who do not meet the
exit criteria with a grade of C or higher for ESL will be required to repeat them.
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ESL READING
ESL024 ESL Advanced Reading:
4 credits. 4 lecture hours, 1 lab hour per week.
Prerequisite: ESL Placement Test or C or higher in ESL023 ESL High Intermediate Reading.
This reading course for non-native speakers of English includes the development of advanced
skills and strategies in reading comprehension, fluency, and critical thinking; advanced academic
vocabulary and the application of level-appropriate grammar and mechanics; the ability to respond to
academic readings through paraphrasing, summarizing and writing short essays, and basic research
skills. This course requires approximately one hour of reading lab work per week outside of class.
PLEASE NOTE: This course is a developmental course and DOES NOT carry graduation
credit. It is NOT usually transferable. Since developmental courses are mandated, students who do not
meet the exit criteria of C or higher for ESL will be required to repeat them.
4. ALL REQUIRED TEXTS INCLUDING INFORMATION ON PUBLISHER AND EDITION USED:
(NOTE: You may choose your texts, but the following texts are recommended.)
ESL022 INTERMEDIATE ESL READING
1. NEW PASSWORD 3: A READING AND VOCABULARY TEXT w/cds. 2/ed. Butler. Pearson.
ISBN 978-0-13-246303-4.
2. A good bilingual dictionary.
3. BASIC DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH. Longman. Pearson.
ISBN 978-0-582-332515.
4. Teacher selected materials to supplement the texts.
ESL023 HIGH INTERMEDIATE ESL READING:
1. NEW PASSWORD 4: A READING AND VOCABULARY TEXT w/cds, 2/ed. Butler. Pearson.
ISBN 978-0-13-246305-8.
2. LONGMAN ADVANCED AMERICAN DICTIONARY w/PIN. Pearson. 2007. ISBN 978-14479-1313-9.
3. Teacher selected materials to supplement the texts.
ESL024 ADVANCED ESL READING:
1. NEW PASSWORD 5: A READING AND VOCABULARY TEXT w/cds, 2/ed. Bonesteel.
Pearson. ISBN 978-0-13-701173-5.
2. LONGMAN ADVANCED AMERICAN DICTIONARY w/PIN. Pearson. 2007. ISBN 978-14479-1313-9.
3. Teacher selected materials to supplement the texts.
5. COURSE TOPICS, ASSIGNMENTS AND/OR REQUIRED AND/OR SUPPLEMENTAL READING:
(NOTE: In this section list the topics that you plan to cover in this course. You should use the course
objectives and textbook to do this. Also, detail the assignments and readings, including supplemental
readings, that will be required for the course.)
6. TEACHING PROCEDURES (BRIEFLY DESCRIBE):
(NOTE: You should briefly describe the teaching procedures you will use to attain the course objectives
listed for your course. There are some examples listed under each course, but you can add, delete or
change these procedures depending on how you plan to teach this course.)
ESL022 INTERMEDIATE ESL READING:
Students will:
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MASTER SYLLABUS
ESL READING
read texts which generally include structures and vocabulary covered in ESL012 ESL
INTERMEDIATE WRITING WITH GRAMMAR.
practice reading these texts out loud and will give short, single sentence and multi-sentence
answers to short questions based on them, both orally and in writing.
formulate questions and answers based on the text.
work on unknown vocabulary by using context clues and recognizing word families.
continue to perfect their skills with bilingual dictionaries to help them understand English
vocabulary in context, and they will start to use special English-to-English phrase dictionaries
that show how each English word is used in phrases and sentences.
ESL023 HIGH INTERMEDIATE ESL READING:
Students will:
 read normal materials covering general topics written by native speakers for native speakers and
will practice using the reading skills introduced in this course.
 read and analyze these texts orally in class.
 practice giving short, multiple sentence answers to questions that are based on these texts, both
orally and in writing.
 compose short questions and answers based on these texts.
 review and practice all major English prefixes and suffixes.
 practice the vocabulary strategies learned in Reading 1 and Reading 2.
ESL024 ADVANCED ESL READING:
Students will:
 read and analyze texts of normal English taken from current publications and written by native
speakers for native speakers.
 read and analyze these texts orally in class.
 give short, multiple sentence answers to short questions based on these readings, both orally and
in writing.
 continue to develop their ability to use an English/English dictionary through guided use in class.
 learn how to use the library for researching a topic.
7. INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES:
(NOTE: Copy the objectives for your course exactly as they are written.)
ESL022 INTERMEDIATE ESL READING:
Students who attain a grade of C or better will be able to:
1. Read simplified reading passages at 6.5 grade level equivalency of about 500 words and do the
following:
2. FLUENCY: read these passages aloud with pronunciation, intonation and phrasing that a native
speaker would generally understand. Focus on units or chunks of meaning rather than individual
words.
3. CRITICAL THINKING: apply critical thinking skills to comprehend the passages:
a. Identify main ideas, supporting details, sequence and transitions.
b. Distinguish between fact and opinion.
c. Identify and analyze cause and effect.
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ESL READING
4. GRAMMAR and MECHANICS: apply knowledge of English structure and mechanics known at
this level to comprehend text
5. STRATEGIES: apply a variety of reading skills and strategies appropriate for the text while reading
to improve comprehension
a. Preview to activate prior knowledge.
b. Scan for specific details in the text.
c. Take notes and outline while reading.
d. Think aloud and visualize while reading.
e. Underline or highlight key ideas.
f. Self-monitor what is understood or not.
g. Use prior personal experience and knowledge to make meaning.
6. VOCABULARY: Use the following vocabulary skills
a. Use word families to interpret text.
b. Identify base words and common inflections.
c. Recognize basic function words and explain their use in the passage.
d. Develop vocabulary including antonyms and synonyms, common collocations, idioms and
phrasal verbs
e. Guess meaning of word from context
7. Respond in writing to the passages by answering questions based on the readings
8. Use vocabulary words from Category 1 of the Academic Word List.
9. Demonstrate proficiency in using bilingual dictionaries to locate word definitions and increase
vocabulary.
10. Reach a reading level of 5.5 in 2 out of the 3 reading skills used in the ELC Lab.
ESL023 HIGH INTERMEDIATE ESL READING:
Students who attain a grade of C or better will be able to
1. Read modified reading passages at 7.5 grade level equivalency of about 600 words written by
native speakers for native speakers and do the following:
2. FLUENCY: read these passages aloud with pronunciation, intonation and phrasing that a native
speaker would mostly understand. Focus on units or chunks of meaning rather than individual word.
3. CRITICAL THINKING: apply critical thinking skills to comprehend the passages:
a. Identify main ideas, supporting details, sequence and transitions.
b. Distinguish between fact and opinion, and distinguish information given in the text from
information that the student might have beyond the text.
c. Identify and analyze cause and effect; comparison/contrast.
d. Skim for the purpose of the text.
e. Identify writer’s purpose and point of view.
f. Summarize and paraphrase passages from the texts.
4. GRAMMAR and MECHANICS: apply knowledge of English structure and mechanics known at
this level to comprehend text
5. STRATEGIES: apply a variety of reading skills and strategies appropriate for the text while reading
to improve comprehension:
a. Scan for specific details in the text.
b. Take notes and outline while reading.
c. Think aloud and visualize while reading.
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MASTER SYLLABUS
ESL READING
d. Underline or highlight key ideas.
e. Self-monitor what is understood or not.
f. Use prior personal experience and knowledge to make and expand meaning.
g. Adjust reading rate depending on purpose.
h. Use context clues to get meaning.
6. VOCABULARY: Use the following vocabulary skills:
a. Use word families to interpret text.
b. Identify base words and common inflections.
c. Recognize most function words and explain their use in the passage.
d. Develop vocabulary including antonyms and synonyms, common collocations, idioms and
phrasal verbs
e. Distinguish between literal and figurative language
7. Respond in writing to the passages by answering questions based on the readings, writing multisentence summaries using paraphrasing, and reacting to the readings with personal experience.
8. Use vocabulary words from Categories 1 and 2 of the Academic Word List.
9. Use English/English dictionaries effectively to identify appropriate word definitions.
10. Reach a reading level of 6.5 in 2 out of 3 reading skills used in the ELC Lab.
ESL024 ADVANCED ESL READING:
Students who attain a grade of C or better will be able to
1. Read academic reading passages at 8.5 grade level equivalency of at least 750 words written by
native speakers for native speakers and do the following:
2. FLUENCY: read these passages aloud with pronunciation, intonation and phrasing that a native
speaker would understand. Focus on units or chunks of meaning rather than individual words
3. CRITICAL THINKING: apply critical thinking skills to comprehend the passages:
a. Identify main ideas, supporting details, sequence and transitions
b. Distinguish between fact and opinion
c. Identify and analyze cause and effect; comparison/contrast
d. Skim for the purpose of the text
e. Identify writer’s purpose and point of view
f. Make inferences and draw conclusions
g. Compare and contrast information with that in other texts
h. Recognize the format of various genres
4. GRAMMAR and MECHANICS: apply knowledge of English structure and mechanics known at
this level to comprehend text.
5. STRATEGIES: apply a variety of reading skills and strategies appropriate for the text while reading
to improve comprehension.
a. Scan for specific details in the text.
b. Take notes and outline while reading.
c. Think aloud and visualize while reading.
d. Underline or highlight key ideas.
e. Self-monitor what is understood or not.
f. Use prior personal experience and knowledge of context to make and expand meaning.
g. Adjust reading rate depending on purpose.
h. Use context clues to get meaning.
i. Outline ideas while reading.
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ESL READING
6. VOCABULARY: Use the following vocabulary skills:
a. Use word families to interpret text.
b. Identify base words and common inflections.
c. Recognize advanced function words and explain their use in the passage.
d. Develop vocabulary including antonyms and synonyms, common collocations, idioms
and phrasal verbs.
e. Distinguish between literal and figurative language.
7. Respond in writing to the passages by answering questions based on the readings, writing complete
summaries of more than one paragraph using paraphrasing, and reacting to the readings with
personal experience.
8. Use vocabulary words from Categories 1, 2 and 3 of the Academic Word List.
9. Demonstrate proficiency in using English/English dictionaries and concordances effectively for
vocabulary development and word choice.
10. Reach a reading level of 7.5 in at least 2 out of 3 reading skills used in the ELC Lab.
11. Demonstrate the ability to research a topic with the guidance of a librarian.
8. BASIS FOR STUDENT GRADING:
(NOTE: Copy this grading system on your syllabus so that students know what their grades mean.)
The following is the NECC grading system:
Grade QP Value
A
4.00
A3.70
B+
3.30
B
3.00
B2.70
C+
2.30
C
2.00
C1.70
D+
1.30
D
1.00
F
0.00
9.
6
P
I
W
NW
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
AU
0.00
Numerical Range
93-100%
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72%
67-69
60-66
59 or less
Comment
EXCELLENT
EXCELLENT
VERY GOOD
VERY GOOD
VERY GOOD
SATISFACTORY
Lowest passing grade for ESL_
Required to repeat
Required to repeat
Required to repeat
Failure; no credit earned.
PASS; credit earned.
Incomplete, in non-punitive period (the following semester).
Withdrawal from course.
Non-participation Withdrawal grade assigned by instructor
BEFORE the withdrawal date.
Audit; no credits earned.
PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATING STUDENT PERFORMANCE:
NOTES:
a. You are responsible for developing an evaluation procedure that includes exams, quizzes, homework,
participation and whatever else you want to include in your grading procedure. A suggested formula for
the final grade is below. This system gives greater weight to the skill level attained at the end of the
course.
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ESL READING
Average of grades on in-class exercises and writing assignments
Any other exams
Final exam
Attendance, participation, homework
b.
In addition to receiving a passing grade in the reading courses, students must attain a standard reading
level as follows in two out of the three reading skills developed in the English Language Center (ELC).
In order to complete this requirement, students will be required to complete the lab work on their own
time outside of class. This must be clearly stated in your syllabus.
Grade Level Equivalency
5.5
6.5
7.5
10.
20%
20%
50%
10%
Exits Reading Course:
ESL022 ESL READING 2
ESL023 ESL READING 3
ESL024 ESL READING 4
TENTATIVE TEST SCHEDULE/ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE:
(NOTE: You should develop a detailed schedule for this section Below is a possible format.)
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Diagnostic test/quiz/exercise
(Midterm)
Final Exam
11. ATTENDANCE POLICY:
(NOTE: You are responsible for developing your attendance policy including lateness and make-up
work. A sample policy follows.)
NECC POLICIES summarized from the NECC Student Code of Conduct & NECC Policies &
Procedures:
ATTENDANCE: Students are expected to attend each meeting of each class in which they are enrolled.
In every case, the class instructor has full and final authority to decide whether a student is permitted to
make up work missed through absence or lack of participation, and on what terms.
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ESL READING
NON-PARTICIPATION: Faculty have the academic authority to remove students from their class for
non-attendance or non-participation.
A non-participating (NP) student is one who has excessive absences, has missed quizzes, tests or
papers, or otherwise has failed to meet the participation standard clearly delineated in the course
instructor’s syllabus.
An NP grade can be assigned up to a specific date in the middle of each semester. After that date
the student must receive a passing grade or an F.
REMOVAL FROM CLASS: A student may be removed from a course for disrupting or disturbing the
classroom. A faculty member has the right to remove a student from class and refer him/her to the Vice
President/Senior Student Affairs Officer for inappropriate classroom behavior. Faculty must follow
notification procedures as prescribed in the code.
12.
CHEATING:
(NOTE: Copy this statement in your syllabus.)
Cheating will not be tolerated. Any student caught cheating will be dropped from the class or given a
class grade of "F."
13.
PLAGIARISM:
(NOTE: Copy this statement in your syllabus.)
Plagiarism means using the work of another person as if it were your work. It will not be tolerated. If
the teacher can prove plagiarism, the student may be dropped from the course, or given an "F."
14.
WITHDRAWAL:
(NOTE: Copy this statement in your syllabus.)
If you leave the college, do an official WITHDRAWAL FORM. Failure to do this form could give you
"F" in all courses and affect your financial aid.
15.
NECC Outcomes Assessments Note for Students:
(NOTE: Copy this statement in your syllabus.)
Northern Essex Community College’s commitment to student success involves the evaluation of student
work to help ensure that students are achieving the learning outcomes identified by our programs and the
college. This process may involve the collection of student classroom products for evaluation at the
program, department, and/or college levels. When collected for this purpose, students’ names will be
removed from the products so that the assessing is done anonymously. Evaluations carried out at the
program, department, and/or college levels will not impact students’ course grades. The process of
assigning grades will continue to be the responsibility of the course instructor.
The following are optional additions to your syllabus:
16. Technology in Classes: Note for Students
All current and potential Northern Essex Community College students should be prepared to complete
assignments, exams, and projects using a variety of computer technology formats for any course in
which they are enrolled. As part of the learning experience, a faculty member may use technology to
enhance his or her course. There are various formats that can be used:
Online: Completely online with no classroom meetings
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ESL READING
Hybrid: Online course with some limited classroom meetings
Web Enhanced: Traditional class meetings with required web assignments
Web Companion: Traditional class meetings with supplemental web assignments
This course uses the following format:________________
17. Learning Accommodations
Students who have needs because of a documented disability should feel free to come to discuss this
with their instructor and/or directly contact the appropriate office: Learning Accommodations Center
SC111-Student Center – phone: 978.556.3654 / email: lacenter@necc.mass.edu
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