Contra Costa College
Course Description and Syllabus
ESL-149 – Reading III - 4 units
Semester:
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Office Phone:
E-Mail:
Class Dates:
Holidays:
Schedule:
Final Exam:
ADVISORY:
Successful completion of ESL 146 or appropriate score on the ESL Placement Test
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course provides instruction in reading skills development for high-intermediate ESL students.
Comprehension, vocabulary, and writing are stressed.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will demonstrate the ability to comprehend simple authentic texts on topics related to daily
life and introductory academic topics.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
At the completion of the course, the student will be able to:
1. Read and understand professional, academic, and literary texts in English at the highintermediate ESL level including simple authentic texts.
2. Connect the content of reading passages to their own experiences, both orally and in writing.
3. Extract, analyze, and evaluate information in order to respond appropriately to prompts.
4. Recognize and use 4000 high-frequency word families.
5. Apply reading strategies appropriate to the text and purpose of the reading.
6. Write a summary of a text.
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION:
1.
2.
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4.
Text reading and discussion
Pair and small-group work
Lecture
Individual conferences
TEXTBOOK AND SUPPLIES:
1. Textbook:
2. Instructor-prepared handouts
GRADES AND ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Tests and quizzes
2. Homework and classwork
3. Final Exam
50%
30 %
20%
90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, Below 60% = F
70% and above = Credit
Below 70% = No Credit
Course expectations: [Optional – can be modified]
I expect you to be present in every class meeting and participate actively in class activities. You must
come to class on time and complete your homework before class begins. This is a four-unit course, so you
will have to spend approximately eight hours a week doing homework and preparing for class.
Attendance policy: If you miss class often, regardless of the reason, you will not learn the material
covered by the course. For that reason, there are no excused absences in this course. If you miss more
than three class meetings/six hours of class, you may be dropped from the class. When you are late to
class, I will add up the number of minutes you miss. Each fifty-minute period will count as an hour of
class. If you miss class, contact a classmate or me to find out what the homework is. I expect you to
complete the homework even if you miss class.
When students are late, unprepared, or distracted, they can’t learn and they don’t let other students learn, so we
must all do our part to create a good learning environment. This includes respecting and supporting other
members of the class, doing our share of the work in groups, staying on task, speaking English, and listening to
the instructor or other students when they are speaking to the class. Telephones and beepers must be turned off
and put away before class begins.