Elc501 Course Info (030216)

UHEK_BHEA_2013

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

COURSE INFORMATION Confidential

Course Code

:

ELC 501

Course Name

:

English for Critical Academic Reading

Level

:

Degree

Total SLT

:

Equivalent to 2 Credits Face-to-Face (F2F): 28 Hours Non Face-to-Face: 19.5 Hours Guided and 32.5 Hours Non Guided

Part

:

Course Status (Core/Non Core)

:

Prerequisite

:

None

Nama Fakulti: Akademi Pengajian Bahasa Nama Program: © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA

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Course Learning Outcomes At the end of the course, students should be able to: 1.

analyse and synthesise the elements of critical reading in a text; (C5)

2.

write a critical article analysis; (A3)

3.

evaluate an argument in a text by applying critical reading strategies. (C5)

Course Description This course is designed to develop students’ ability to read analytically and think critically. It focuses on the relationship between reading and critical thinking and provides students with a structured method for interpreting content and organization of written texts. Tasks and activities suggested are discipline-based.

Syllabus Content 1.

Interpret the meaning of words (CLO1, CLO3, C2)   

2.

Recognise main ideas and supporting details in texts (CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, C2, C4, A3)    

3.

Determine the topic of a paragraph Identify the stated main ideas and supporting details in texts Recognise types of supporting details in texts Formulate the implied main ideas of texts

Determine author’s purpose, tone, point of view, intended audience and issue involved in an argument (CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, C4, A3)     

4.

Define meanings of words using the dictionary Analyse word structure Use contextual clues

Determine the issue in a given argument Identify author's purpose for writing the text Determine author's tone from the language used in the text Determine author's point of view or position in the argument Determine author's intended audience from the given argument

Identify and apply critical reading skills in reasoning through inferencing, drawing conclusions, analysing assumptions and language when evaluating an argument (CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, C4, C5, A3)

Nama Fakulti: Akademi Pengajian Bahasa Nama Program: © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA

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    

Identify the logical reasoning and assumptions used in texts Make inferences and draw conclusions Recognise and apply critical reading skills Analyse the language for author’s bias Analyse and evaluate the arguments in texts

Assessment

Week

Assessment

Duration

Weightage

The test requires students to answer 12 questions based on a given text (approximately 1000-1200 words in length) that is pitched at higher Intermediate to advanced level. It is either expository or argumentative in nature and deals with a contemporary issue.

1½ hours

35%

5 weeks

25%

Test

8

Students are required to determine the meaning of words from context; identify the topic and the main ideas (stated and implied); analyse the supporting details, the types of reasoning and the assumptions, as well as make inferences and draw conclusions.

Written Article Analysis The assignment involves pair work where students analyse a given text (approximately 700-900 words in length) that is argumentative in nature and deals with a contemporary issue.

8-13

The text is pitched at higher Intermediate to advanced level and is assigned by the lecturer. The type- written critical analysis of the article must be approximately 600-800 words. Students are required to identify the issue and the writer’s argument and discuss the tone, the purpose, the intended audience, assumptions, inferences, and conclusions involved in the reasoning as well as the validity, credibility and quality of the support. The scoring of the assignment is based on the Grading Scale for the Written Article Analysis where the allocation of marks is as follows:

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Content (12 %) Language (10 %) Organisation (3%)

Final Examination The final examination requires students to answer 17 questions based on a given text (approximately 1000-1200 words in length) that is pitched at higher Intermediate to advanced level. It is argumentative in nature and deals with a contemporary issue.

-

2 hours

40%

Students are required to determine the main ideas (stated and implied) and the meaning of words from context; identify the issue, the writer’s argument, the tone, the purpose and the intended audience; analyse the supporting details and the language; make inferences and draw conclusions, as well as evaluate the validity, credibility and quality of the support. Total

100%

Recommended Text Elder, J. (2008). Exercise your college reading skills. NY: McGraw-Hill. Teoh, S.A., Chai, M.H., Azlina Abd. Rahman & Paul-Evanson, C. (2010). Reading and critical thinking. KL: McGraw-Hill. Summers, D. (Ed.) (2009). Longman dictionary of contemporary English (4th ed.). London: Pearson Education.

References Barnet, S. & Bedau, H. (2010). Critical thinking, reading and writing: A brief guide to argument. (7th ed.). USA: Bedford/St. Martin’s. Browne, M. N. & Keeley, S. M. (2009). Asking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking. (9th. ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Carter, C.E. (2010). Mindscapes: Critical reading skills and strategies. (11th ed.). USA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Diestler, S. (2008). Becoming a critical thinker: A user friendly manual. (5th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Lunsford, A., & Ruskiewicz, J. (2009). Everything’s an argument. (5th ed.). Bedford: St. Martins. Nama Fakulti: Akademi Pengajian Bahasa Nama Program: © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA

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Mather, P. & McCarthy, R. (2011). The art of critical reading. (3rd. ed.). Boston: McGrawHill. Moore, B.N. & Parker, R. (2009). Critical thinking. (9th. ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Ruggiero, V.R. (2011). Becoming a critical thinker (7th ed.). USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Spears, D. M. (2008). Developing critical reading skills (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Internet Sources http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php http://www.criticalreading.com/critical_reading_thinking.htm http://wps.ablongman.com/long_licklider_vocabulary_2/0,6658,416421-,00.html http://wps.ablongman.com/long_licklider_vocabulary_2/4/1105/283083.cw/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRmhB3MW6GE&list=PLpbtRdN7xWUcPT0qWBfC52Fub Qxcgdgjk http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073513474/student_view0/index.html http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073047678/student_view0/index.html http://grammar.about.com/od/tests/a/Exercise-In-Eliminating-Gender-Biased-Language.htm http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-deductive-reasoning.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbeD20mTTRk http://www.internetlogic.org/argtypes.html http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples/examples-of-inductive-reasoning.html

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