UNIVERSITY OF QUINDIO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

MODERN LANGUAGES PROGRAM

SYLLABUS
READING AND WRITING II
COURSE
Reading
and Writing
II

CODE

PREREQUISITE

CREDITS

HOURS
PER WEEK

WEEKS PER
SEMESTER

HOURS PER
SEMESTER

CEF
LEVEL

160410501

160410401
(Ingles IV)
160410402
(Reading and
Writing I)

16

64

C1

1. PROFESSOR:
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE:
The purpose of this course is to strengthen the students reading and writing skills. The course
focuses on the academic uses of the English language. From the theoretical point of view, it is
expected that the skills will be developed in an integrated and coherent way, but the course will
give special emphasis to practical aspects. This course follows the guidelines and competences
proposed by the Common European Framework (CEF) for this specific level (C1).
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE:
3.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE

To enable students to read, for pleasure and information, different kinds of texts on varied
subjects, which involve narration, description, exposition and mainly argumentation.
To enable students to write mainly argumentative, summary-analysis and short research
papers. Purposely, they will follow the appropriate mechanics and processes.

3.2 Specific Objectives:

To be able to find out the main idea and the supporting details as well as to report on what
has been read.
To develop the necessary micro-skills and strategies to understand concrete and abstract
topics with literal, inferential, analytical, critical and even creative comprehension.
To write effective, coherent and cohesive argumentative essays as well as reports and
summaries on reading materials.
To write a research paper following all the necessary guidelines and procedures
established by the teacher.
To identify stylistic devices and rhetorical appeals in student-produced essays,
teacher-generated texts and teacher-assigned literature.
To master appropriate rules and conventions of academic writing as well as the most
common grammatical structures used in argumentation.

4. METHODOLOGY
COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE
Goals to achieve by the end of the course

Independent User: C1 (Effective Operational Proficiency)

Language
Skill

General
competence

Underlying topics
Specific Competences

Contents

(each topic 2
weeks)

Can summarise long,

demanding texts.

WRITING

READING

Can express
him/herself fluently
and spontaneously
without much
obvious searching
for expressions. Can
use language
flexibly and
effectively for social,
academic and
professional
purposes. Can
produce clear, wellstructured, detailed
text on complex
subjects, showing
controlled use of
organisational
patterns, connectors
and cohesive
devices.

Can understand a
wide range of
demanding, longer
texts, and recognise

Layout, paragraphing and

punctuation are consistent
and helpful.
Spelling is accurate, apart
from occasional slips of the
pen.
Can write clear, wellstructured texts of complex
subjects, underlining the
relevant salient issues,
expanding and
supporting points of view at
some length with subsidiary
points, reasons and
relevant examples, and
rounding off
with an appropriate
conclusion.
Can write clear, detailed,
well-structured and
developed descriptions and
imaginative texts in an
assured, personal,
natural style appropriate to
the reader in mind.

Argumentative
essay
Reasoning logically
Defending oneself
and others
Summary and
analysis essay
Supporting with
textual evidence
Research Paper
Avoiding plagiarism
Formatting
standards
Editing

Logical
fallacies
Rhetorical
appeals
Argument
mapping
The Toulmin
method
Data
collection
techniques
Proofreading
marks
APA citation
style

Skimming
Scanning
Paraphrasing
Understanding

Taboo issues
in general
Social issues
Science and

Can write clear, wellstructured expositions of

complex subjects,
underlining the relevant
salient issues.
Can expand and support
points of view at some
length with subsidiary
points, reasons and
relevant examples.
Can understand any
correspondence given the
occasional use of a
dictionary.

implicit meaning.

Can understand in detail a

wide range of lengthy,
complex texts likely to be
encountered in social,
professional
or academic life, identifying
finer points of detail
including attitudes and
implied as well as stated
opinions.
Can understand in detail
lengthy, complex
instructions on a new
machine or procedure,
whether or not the
instructions relate to his/her
own area of speciality,
provided he/she can reread
difficult sections.

Technology
Education
Psychology
and Human
behaviour
intensively and
extensively
Comprehending
critically and
creatively
Identifying images
Building diagrams

This course responds to the present requirements of foreign language teaching, which is
perceived as an important tool in current communicative environments and encompasses other
abilities that go beyond the simple commitment of accomplishing linguistic needs. For this
reason, this course is based on the Action Method, a methodological approach that ensures the
development of a set of skills to enable communication. During this course, any
methodological procedure used in and out of the classroom will be student-centred. Research
activities will be highly promoted.

5. CONTENTS

6. EVALUATION AND PERCENTAGES

For this subject, assessment will be carried out both in the formative and summative ways.
Mainly, fifty percent of all the grades will be assigned on a follow-up procedure and the other fifty
percent on the mid-term (25%) and the research paper (25%).
Follow-up 50%
Activities
Quizzes
Reading Comprehension Workshops
Written Assignments ( Essays, compositions,
summaries, etc)

Mid-term examination
25%
Reading Comprehension
(teacher-assigned
literature)

Research Paper
25%
Research Paper

Writing Performance
(Academic text
production)

Book Exam
Debates

The nature of the course is theoretical and practical, since students first receive knowledge about
concepts and structures, and then apply this knowledge through the use of English in its different
abilities.
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
8.1 Texts
Bates, Linda. (1997). An interactive Reading, Writing and Grammar Text. New York:
St Martins.
Burton, Larry and McDonald D. (2005). The Language of Argument ( 11th ed.). New
York Pearson.
Cialdini, R. B. (1984). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Diaz, Alvaro (2009). La Argumentacin Escrita. Editorial Unversidad de Antioquia.

 Ellison, C. (2010). McGraw-Hills Concise Guide to Writing Research Papers. The

McGraw-Hill Companies.
Fawcett, S. & Sandberg Alvin. (1992). Evergreen: A Guide to Writing.Houghton Mifflin
Company
Frydenberg, Gro and Cynthia A. Boardman (1990). Youre in charge: Writing to
Communicate Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
MacAndrew, R. Martinez, R. (2003). Thomson Heile. from Amazon's Book Store.
Reid, M (1988). The Process of Composition. Prentice-Hall, Inc. United States of
America.
Rosenthal, Lisa and Susan Blake Rowland. ( 1986 ). Academic Reading and Study
Skills for International Students. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice.
8.2 Database

Proquest, Eric

8.3 Websites

http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/#H2
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/argument/making_argument/three_persuade.htm
http://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/resources/research/research-paper/
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/argument.html