Course Title: Reading and Listening Comprehension/ Spring 2014
Course Code: 2201116
Instructor’s Name: Inas Ababneh Office Hours: 12- 1:00 Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday
E-mail: inas.ababneh@ju.edu.jo & i_ababneh@hotmail.com
Course Description:
This is a course that aims at upgrading students’ reading and listening skills.
Student will get acquainted with the following techniques that can make them better readers: skimming and
scanning, understanding the meanings of new words through examining content and punctuation marks, and
determining the topic and topic sentences in a text. In addition, students will get to read texts that belong to
different genres, like poetry, fiction, newspaper articles, and popular magazines articles. As to the listening part
of the course, students will listen to a variety of audio material that represents the different dialects of the
English language on a variety of topics.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs): By the end of this course students should be able to
A. Knowledge and Understanding:
 appreciate the important role that the reading and listening skills play in human communication,
 identify different types of reading genres,
 understand the process of skimming, scanning and reading for specific information,
 identify both the main and supporting ideas in a variety of reading material,
 learn the skill of listening for gist vs. specific information in an audio material,
 understand that different genres use language differently. Here, students are expected to be familiar with
connotation vs. denotation, idioms, and shades of meanings, and
 recognize topics, ideas, tone, accents, and levels of formality in authentic listening material,
B. Intellectual Skills:
 apply reading and listening strategies/ techniques to a variety of texts,
 analyze and evaluate information in the reading and listening texts, and
 answer questions with different degrees of difficulty.
C. Transferable Skills:
 acquire effective strategies and techniques for a better communication,
 adopt life-long reading habits,
 apply critical thinking skills in real-life situations.
The Reading Textbook and the Listening Material:
 Fairbairn, Gavin J. and Susan A. Fairbairn. Reading at University: A Guide for Students. Rpt. ed.
Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press, 2010.
 A number of reading texts has been especially compiled for students in a file.
 A variety of listening assignments will be given to students during every listening class.
 Students are advised to practice listening to different texts on AOV learning English, BBC, and TED.
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References for the e-library:
 Bonet, Diana, Debbie Woodbury, and Jill Zayszly. Business of Listening: A Practical Guide to Effective
Listening. 3rd ed. Boston: Course Technology / Cengage Learning, 2001.
 Feathers, Karen M. and Dyanne Rivers. Infotext: Reading and Learning. Toronto: Pippin Publishing
Corporation, 2004.
 Fisher, Douglas, Nancy Frey, and Diane Lapp.Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading. Newark, DE:
International Reading Association, 2012.
 Hoppe, Michael H.. Active Listening: Improve Your Ability to Listen and Lead.
Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership, 2006.
Evaluation:
Midterm exam:
30%
Two Quizzes (one of them is optional):
10%
Responses to Five Texts:
10%
Final:
50%
Course Plan
Week 1 (Feb. 16-20): Orientation and Different Reading Genres
Week 2 (Feb. 23-27): Developing Skills for Reading and Listening (1)
Week 3 (Mar. 2-6): Active Reading: Developing a Relationship with Texts
Agatha Christie Sleuth Poirot to Return in New Novel
Listening (2)
Week 4 (Mar. 9-13): Deciding What to Read and Listening (3)
Shakespeare Scholars Try to See off the Bard’s Doubters
Week 5 (Mar. 16-20): Reading and Note Taking (Part 1)
The Marlowe Papers Wins Desmund Elliott Prize
Richard Cory and Listening (4)
Week 6 (Mar. 23-27): Reading and Note Taking (Part 2)
A Man Who Had No Eyes
We Wear the Mask and Listening (5)
Week 7 (Mar. 30- April. 3): Christchurch Quake: “We Can’t Shake the Worry”
Coca-Cola and Coco Frio and Listening (6) & (7)
How to Do Well on a Job Interview
Week 8 (April. 6-10): The Midterm Exam on April 8th and April 10th
Week 9 (April. 13-17): Inside the Minds of Babies & Born to Be Different
Listening (8)
Week 10 (April. 20-24): Reading Your Own Work & Listening (9)
Um Al-Mu’taz and Gentle Communion
Listening and Reading Quiz (1) on April 24th
Week 11 (April. 27-May 1): Japan Media: Euphoria over Olympics
City Gardens Provide Healthy Food & Listening (10)
Kitchen Chemistry: The Science of Herbs and Spices
Week 12 (May. 4-8): Student Zombies & Listening (11)
Listening and Reading Quiz (2) on May 8th
Week 13 (May. 11-15): Cat in the Rain
Definition of a Football Fan & Listening (12)
Week 14 (May. 18-22): Slipping & Listening (13)
'Play Lady' Calls for Old-Fashioned Play
Week 15 (May. 25): Revision
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