Course Outline
BS International Relations
Course
Title: Comprehension, Reading and Prose
Course
Instructors: Mr Riaz Laghari
Semester: BS 2nd
Course
code: IR 102
Credit
hours: 3 hrs
Significance
of the Course
Reading is a fairly advanced skill among all language skills.
Reading is at heart of any academic program. It is very important to comprehend
correct meanings of a given text. Language teachers and researchers agree that
reading acts as an input for writing. In order to place our students at the top,
learning to read with greater comprehension is a skill that will surely give
our students an edge over others. In today’s world speed reading is another
associated skill which gives students a great opportunity to excel their
colleagues.
Course
Objectives
Besides overall training and improvement of reading skills of students,
the course intends to beef up several reading sub-skills as well. On successful
completion of the course the students will be able to:
(a) Comprehend the given text and answer the questions based on
the text;
(b) Learn how to read for specific information and how to read
for general information;
(c) Guess meaning of the unknown words and sentences from the
context using inferential strategies;
(d) Speed read the given text with maximum comprehension;
(e) Summarize the given text in a correct way;
(f) Look for useful vocabulary items and language expression
while reading.
Course Contents
What is Reading Comprehension?
Reading comprehension passages
Oral reading to an audience, oral reading to oneself
Silent reading
Avoiding bad reading habits e.g. loud reading for better
understanding or retention.
Pre-Reading Techniques
Skimming, reading for general information
Scanning, reading for specific information
Develop Ability to Anticipate and Predict
Vocabulary building through reading
Common Organizational Patterns in texts
Annotation and denotation
Language and Style
Prose, model essays for reading
Speed Reading
Class Wise Syllabus Breakup
|
Sr. No.
|
Date
|
Topic
|
Remarks
|
|
1
|
|
Intro to the course / basic reading techniques
|
|
|
2
|
|
Speed reading test 1
|
|
|
|
|
Gazetted Holiday/ Pak Day
|
|
|
3
|
|
Reading comprehension passage 1,2
|
|
|
4
|
|
Selected Short story 1
|
|
|
5
|
|
Selected Essay 1
|
|
|
6
|
|
Reading comprehension passage 3, 4
|
|
|
7
|
|
Selected Short Story 2
|
|
|
8
|
|
Selected Essay 2
|
|
|
9
|
|
Reading comprehension passage 5,6
|
|
|
10
|
|
Midterm exam
|
|
|
11
|
|
Seminar / group presentation
|
|
|
12
|
|
Selected Short story 3
|
|
|
13
|
|
Selected Essay 3
|
|
|
14
|
|
Reading comprehension passage 7,8
|
|
|
15
|
|
Selected Short story 4
|
|
|
16
|
|
Selected Essay 4
|
|
|
17
|
|
Reading comprehension passage 9,10
|
|
|
18
|
|
Selected Short story 5
|
|
|
19
|
|
Selected Essay 5
|
|
|
20
|
|
Reading comprehension passage 11
|
|
|
21
|
|
Reading comprehension passage 12
|
|
|
22
|
|
Reading of model essay for writing I
|
|
|
23
|
|
Reading of model essay for writing II
|
|
Suggested Readings
Select Essays and Short stories
Selected Essays from St. Martin’s Model for Writers, Boston,
2012
Handouts of Reading Passages provided by the Instructor
The Speed Reading Book, Tony Buzan, BBC, 2010
Marks Distribution
|
Particulars
|
%Marks
|
|
1.
Assignment
|
10
|
|
2.
Quizzes
|
10
|
|
3.
Project/Seminar
|
10
|
|
4.
Midterm Exam
|
30
|
|
5.
Final Exam
|
50
|
|
Total
|
100
|
