Chabot College
Fall 2010
Course Outline for ESL 149L
INTERMEDIATE READING AND WRITING
Catalog Description:
149L- Intermediate Reading and Writing
3 units
A continuation of the study of logical paragraph development; reading fiction and nonfiction;
emphasis on the development of vocabulary and grammatical structures of written English.
Prerequisite: A grade of pass in ESL 149K . 3 hours.
[Typical contact hours: 54]
Prerequisite Skills:
Before entering the course the student should be able to:
1. Use a paragraph as an organizing convention in writing;
2. Use coordination and subordination to show relationships between ideas;
3. identify basic sentence components in own writing;
4. use present perfect, past perfect, future perfect verb tenses appropriately for specific
purposes;
5. demonstrate understanding of concept of count and non-count nouns, singular and plural
forms;
6. use a variety of approaches to read texts, such as previewing, scanning, discovering
meaning through context;
7. have reading experience that includes both short and long works of fiction and nonfiction;
8. able to analyze and comment on the organization of another student’s writing
Expected Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:
1. write more than one paragraph on a topic all related to one thesis;
2. distinguish between a dependent clause and an independent clause
3. form present, past, & future verb tenses and of modals can, could, may , might, will,
would;
4. use modal auxiliaries to alter meaning of verbs for advice, ability, permission, regret;
5. distinguish when the definite article the is needed and when it is not;
6. have reading experience that includes both short and long works of non-fiction;
7. critically analyze a reading for the author’s opinion and logical use of support
Course Content:
1. Writing multiple-draft paragraphs
2. Dependent vs. Independent clauses
3. Present, past and future of verb tenses and of modals can, could, may, might, will, would
4. Modal auxiliaries used to express advice, ability, permission, regret
5.
Definite and indefinite articles and the need / lack of need for them
6. Read long selections on academic subjects, fiction and nonfiction
7. Critical reading of assigned texts
Methods of Presentation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Lectures
Discussions
Group work
Daily writing and reading assignments
Typical Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
1.
a. Read a chapter from a textbook or novel. Write a summary of the main ideas or events
in the chapter. Then write a personal response to what they have read.
b. Read a given article in the news. Identify the main ideas in the article; circle transitions
that show movement from one point to the next.
2 . Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
a. Homework and participation..10%
b. Writing assignments…25%
c. Vocabulary Quizzes………15%
d. Grammar Tests….25%
e. Final examination (in-class writing test) …25%
Recommended Textbooks:
FUTURE 4: English for Results, Beatriz B. Diaz, Irene E. Shoenberg.
Pearson Longman (2010) with cd-rom.
Issues for Today, third edition, Lorraine Smith and Nancy Mare, Thompson/ Heinle, 2004