PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA MADRE Y MAESTRA

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, HUMANITIES, AND ARTS

SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES

COURSE SYLLABUS

ILE- 205-T T P C
English I 4 0 4

Pre-requisite: ILE-203-T
Co-requisite: None

I. JUSTIFICATION

This compulsory subject corresponds to the general training cycle of all careers at the Pontificia
Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), except Law, which requires French. It is the first
course of the English language curriculum offered at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
(PUCMM) and it is the third of the sequence constituted by ILE-103-T Basic English I, ILE-203-T Basic
English II, ILE-303-T English II, ILE-305-T English III, and the English for Academic Purposes course
depending on the career.

ILE-205-T English I is located in the fourth academic period (first period of the second year) and can be
exonerated through the English level exam. This course, ILE-205-T English II, provides student with
strategies, practices and activities for developing their reading skills and enhance their vocabulary by
analyzing and interacting with English texts of various genres, also participants will continue to develop,
in an integrated way, the oral comprehension (Listening), and written production (Speaking and Writing)
competencies at the High-Intermediate level.

The specific competencies of this course emphasize the Reading comprehension skills of texts, giving
consideration not only to the development of these comprehension skills but also to the creative processes
and critical thinking skills aspects and always keeping in mind the relationship between the written and
the oral contexts since reading skills are so closely related to the writing ones.

These competencies include the ability to develop active reading strategies such as, making inferences,
predicting and drawing conclusions, summarizing and paraphrasing, defending one’s opinion on different
topics. The content of the course will be presented from a critical thinking perspective.

II. COMPETENCIES
2.1. Generic competencies:

G3. Performance in a foreign language

Domain Level 1: Communicates correctly, orally and in writing, in a foreign language in
daily exchanges and simple texts.
G8. Diversity and Interculturality
Domain Level 2: Accepts cultural and social diversity as structural, volitional and
reasonable relations of the human condition.
2.2. Course specific competencies:
SC1. Analyzes texts about various topics and issues, using reading strategies.
SC2. Presents orally, the analysis of texts and states its point of view.
SC3. Summarizes oral and written texts, about various topics and issues.
SC4. Writes simple texts about familiar issues citing sources consulted.

III. COURSE CONTENT

UNIT 1: BECOMING AN ACTIVE READER.

Recurrent reading strategies:
1.1 Making predictions
1.2 Scanning and Skimming
1.3 Identifying main idea/ identifying main idea of paragraphs
1.4Identifying cognates and false cognates
1.5Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words through context clues
1.6Understanding /Using transition words/phrases
1.7 Activating critical thinking
1.8 Identifying word synonyms and making associations
1.9 Making inferences

Specific reading strategies:

1.10 Associating Word partnerships for vocabulary building
1.11 Classifying information
1.12 Understanding conditional relationships
1.13 Understanding cause and effect relationships.

Cross unit themes and functions:

1.14 Present Tenses (Simple and continuous)
1.15 English mechanics: spelling, punctuation rules and marks.
1.16 Descriptive writing

UNIT 2: VOICING THE WRITER’S AND ONE’S OPINION.

Recurrent reading strategies:
2.1 Making predictions
2.2 Scanning and Skimming
2.3 Identifying main idea/ identifying main idea of paragraphs
2.4 Identifying cognates and false cognates
2.5 Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words through context clues
2.6 Understanding/ Using transition words/phrases
2.7 Activating critical thinking
2.8 Identifying word synonyms and making associations
2.9 Making inferences

Specific reading strategies:

2.10 Summarizing a writer’s point of view
2.11 Expressing opinions as opposed to facts
2.12 Identifying the writer’s point of view
2.13 Understanding an author’s use of quotes
2.14 Understanding Pros and Cons
2.15 Using examples to support claims
2.16 Paraphrasing a text
Cross unit themes and functions:
2.17 Summarizing a text (Writing)
2.18 Past Tenses

UNIT 3: TEXT ANALYSIS AND REACTING TO IT.

Recurrent reading strategies:
3.1 Making predictions
3.2 Scanning and Skimming
3.3 Identifying main idea/ identifying main idea of paragraphs
3.4 Identifying cognates and false cognates
3.5 Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words through context clues
3.6 Understanding /Using transition words/phrases
3.7 Activating critical thinking
3.8 Identifying word synonyms and making associations
3.9 Making inferences

Specific reading strategies:

3.10Differentiating explicit from implicit information
3.11 Identifying definitions
3.12 Sequencing information
3.13 Using prefixes and suffixes: uni-, -ic/-atic
3.14 The use of quotes.

Cross unit themes and functions:

3.15 Phrasal Verbs.
3.16 The Present Perfect tense.
3.17 Writing about goals and achievements

IV. TEACHING-LEARNING STRATEGIES

The teaching-learning process will be carried out through the following learning methods:

 Task-based learning: Students will carry out the following project:

o Project I: Students will research and analyze a text on a topic related to the course
content, by following the reading strategies presented in this course, to then summarize it
and present it in a formal oral presentation to the class.

 Expository method: The professor will complement the work done by the students with
presentations and explanations on specific contents of the syllabus, as well as and comments and
feedback, following adequate criteria that supports and complements the work done by the
students.
 Collaborative learning: students are responsible for their learning and that of their classmates.
They will be involved in simulated situations where they have to come up with solutions to
problems or tasks. They must actively participate in group and individual activities of research,
reading and writing that lead to the search of creative alternatives to solve current world
problems. By doing so, it is expected that participants will develop critical thinking skills and
high social awareness.

The activities of this course are the following: a) teacher’s lectures to explain and/or clarify concepts and
processes necessary to support participants’ in-class performance, b) study and group work, c)
independent study, d) individual support through tutoring.
This course requires the presence of students in class.
V. EVALUATION SYSTEM

The course evaluation system combines different assessment strategies that are carried out in a continuous
and formative way.
The following chart shows the association between the levels of domain established in the PUCMM
academic degree courses’ competencies map, and the specific competencies that have been designed for
this course. In addition, for each of the specific competencies, the percentage of the total of the evaluation
is indicated.
EVIDENCES % COMPETENCIES
I. Project I (Oral Presentation) 10 SC2 (G3)
SC1 (G3, G8)
IV. Mid-term exams, ( 2) (Reading skills) 40
SC3 (G3, G8)
SC3 (G3, G8)
V. Final exam (Reading skills) 20
SC4 (G3)
VI. Class performance and in class tasks: Quizzes, homework, SC1 (G3, G8)
participation, assignments, note taking, reading comprehension SC2 (G3)
30
exercises, written production exercise, overall performance in tasks in SC3 (G3, G8)
all 4 skills. SC4 (G3)
Total 100

VI. RESOURCES
Equipment:
Laptops, projectors, speakers, home theater.
Resources in Campus solutions and PVA posted and uploaded by professors.

Basic Bibliography:
Nancy Douglas and David Boehlke. (2015). Reading Explorer 3. National Geography Learning, a part of
Cengage Learning. Boston, MA, USA.

Webgraphy:
Company, T. N. (2017). The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2017, from nytimes.com:
https://www.nytimes.com/
Corporation, T. B. (2017). BBC Learning English. Retrieved august 23, 2017, from
bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/
Life, F. f. (2015). Values. Retrieved august 23, 2017, from Values.com: https://www.values.com/
Limited, T. N. (2017). The Times & The Sunday Times. Retrieved August 23, 2017, from
thetimes.com: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/

December, 2019