Course

Lower Intermediate Reading and Vocabulary for English Language Learners

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
English Language Learning and Acquisition
Course Code
ELLA 0012
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
22
Method(s) Of Instruction
Seminar
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
This course is designed to help English language learners upgrade their reading skills and extend their vocabulary for personal, educational and/or employment purposes. It aims to improve confidence and develop overall proficiency in reading through focused work on reading sub-skills and lexical structures. The reading practice will also provide opportunities for language development including grammar, speaking and writing skills.
Course Content

Students will receive instruction in skills and strategies in the following areas:

Reading and Vocabulary Skills

  • Understand most simple, clearly organized connected discourse.
  • Identify topic, purpose, main idea, key information, and supporting details in descriptive and narrative texts related to everyday familiar and personally relevant situations and topics.
  • Identify sequence of events in adapted literary texts.
  • Determine meanings of unfamiliar words in course materials by using an English-English dictionary, by occasionally guessing meaning from context, and/or by occasionally identifying some very common idioms and collocations.
  • Identify meanings of connective words between sentences in a narrative structure.
  • Skim to determine text purpose.
  • Scan to locate specific information (e.g., words, phrases, numbers).
  • Identify the topic and find 1 – 2 pieces of information in simple, clearly labelled formatted texts, relying on graphics and other visual clues when interpreting meaning.
  • Get the gist and identify specific important details in social messages.
  • Identify words that indicate politeness and tone.
  • Show an emerging understanding of cultural references, as well as how tone, mood, attitude, and opinions are conveyed by specific words and phrases.
  • Show an emerging understanding of the differences between formal and informal language.

Study Skills

Take responsibility for:

• Attendance and punctuality

• Class work and assignments

• Participation and teamwork

Use common software to communicate and to complete information management tasks such as word processing assignments, sending emails, or signing in to an online learning management system. 

Learning Activities

Some or all of the following methods will be used:

• whole-class instruction

• large- and small-group discussion

• pair work on tasks

• computer-assisted learning

• instructor feedback

• revision of submitted work

• monitor-led experiential tasks

Means of Assessment

Student achievement will be measured using the mastery system in accordance with College policy. Students will receive ongoing feedback from the instructor throughout the course. Evaluation will be based on learning outcomes and course content. Mastery will be granted to students who achieve an average of at least 70% on the items listed below. Evaluation will include, but need not be limited to, completing the following tasks:

-A collection of practice reading and vocabulary assignments (such as short answer questions, multiple choice, matching, true/false, or outlines with a list of main ideas and key details) from at least 2-3 written texts of up to 1 page in length, demonstrating an understanding of the sequence of events in narration or main points in description. At least 1 of the assignments must include an explanation of a form, a table, a schedule, or a short business brochure and flyer.

-At least 3 in-class reading and/or vocabulary quizzes to demonstrate mastery of skills (such as identifying main ideas and supporting details in written texts, scanning to find information, understanding newly acquired vocabulary, or guessing the meaning of vocabulary from context).

- At least one literary project in which students are engaged with adapted literary texts in reading circles and complete assigned reading and vocabulary tasks.

-A final exam to demonstrate mastery of reading skills. This may be comprehensive or based on several skills only.

 

Sample grade breakdown:

A collection of practice reading assignments worth up to 25% (total)

Reading and vocabulary quizzes worth up to 25% (total)

A literary project worth up to 20%

A final exam worth up to 20%

Participation worth up to 10%

Learning Outcomes

Reading and Vocabulary Skills

By the end of the course, successful students will:

  1. Understand modified descriptive and narrative written texts that are about 1 page in length and on familiar topics to obtain information and expand vocabulary.
  2. Understand modified literary texts (such as adapted short stories or graded readers).
  3. Get information from simple formatted texts (such as forms, tables, schedules, or short business brochures and flyers).
  4. Understand simple personal social messages (such as invitations, thanks, apologies, quick updates, and arrangements) within predictable contexts of daily experience.

Study Skills

  1. Participate effectively in a college class.
  2. Assess own progress.
Textbook Materials

Text Books\Materials

Students may be required to purchase one or more of the following materials:

• lab software

• a dictionary such as Cambridge Learner's Dictionary

• textbooks at the CEFR A2 level such as Interactions Access, Trio Reading 2, or Pathways R/W 1. See Instructor Guidelines for the textbooks designated for each term.

Requisites

Prerequisites

ELLA assessment

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

None

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for ELLA 0012
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.

Course Offerings

Winter 2025