URCE-5102 Language Comprehension & Presentation Skills 3(3+0)

The course aims at developing linguistic competence by focusing on basic language skills in integration to make the use of language in context. It also aims at developing students’ skills in reading and reading comprehension of written texts in various contexts. The course also provides assistance in developing students’ vocabulary building skills as well as their critical thinking skills. The contents of the course are designed on the basis of these language skills: listening skills, pronunciation skills, comprehension skills and presentation skills. The course provides practice in accurate pronunciation, stress and intonation patterns and critical listening skills for different contexts. The students require a grasp of English language to comprehend texts as organic whole, to interact with reasonable ease in structured situations, and to comprehend and construct academic discourse. The course objectives are to enhance students’ language skill management capacity, to comprehend text(s) in context, to respond to language in context, and to write structured response(s).

Contents

Listening skills

Listening to isolated sentences and speech extracts

Managing listening and overcoming barriers to listening

Expressing opinions (debating current events) and oral synthesis of thoughts and ideas

Pronunciation skills

Recognizing phonemes, phonemic symbols and syllables, pronouncing words correctly 

Understanding and practicing stress patterns and intonation patterns in simple sentences

Comprehension skills

Reading strategies, summarizing, sequencing, inferencing, comparing and contrasting 

Drawing conclusions, self-questioning, problem-solving, relating background knowledge

Distinguishing between fact and opinion, finding the main idea, and supporting details

Text organizational patterns, investigating implied ideas, purpose and tone of the text

Critical reading, SQ3R method

Presentation skills

features of good presentations, different types of presentations

Different patterns of introducing a presentation, organizing arguments in a presentation 

Tactics of maintaining interest of the audience, dealing with the questions of audience

Concluding a presentation, giving suggestions and recommendations

Recommended Texts    

Mikulecky, B. S., & Jeffries, L. (2007). Advanced reading power: Extensive reading, vocabulary building, comprehension skills, reading faster. New York: Pearson.

Helgesen, M., & Brown, S. (2004). Active listening: Building skills for understanding. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Suggested Readings

Roach, C. A., & Wyatt, N. (1988). Successful listening. New York: Harper & Row.

Horowitz, R., & Samuels, S. J. (1987). Comprehending oral and written language. San Diego: Academic Press.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Sessional: 20

Mid. 30

Project: 05

Presentation: 10

Participation: 05

Final exam: 50

RULES AND REGULATIONS

75% class attendance is standards for the university.