Curriculum Design Project

Reading class For first year ESL students in

the Department of Applied Linguistic

Tianyu Fu & Yuanyuan Wang

Contents
Target Students...............................................................................................................3
Goals and Objectives......................................................................................................3
Organization of Content and Activities..........................................................................4
Activities and Materials.................................................................................................5
Evaluation......................................................................................................................5
Syllabus..........................................................................................................................6
Sample Lesson.............................................................................................................10
Lesson Plan - Business World..............................................................................10
Lesson Plan- Comparison and Contrast...............................................................14
Appendix......................................................................................................................19
Reference......................................................................................................................27

Target Students
Our Class is designed for those international students who just enrolled in the first
year of the college. As a second or foreign language learner, their English proficiency
should be at the intermediate level.
For those students who are preparing for study in the field of applied linguistics, the
first semester of the reading class is to help them get familiar with the reading content
and article structure they will meet in the following study years.

Goals and Objectives

The goal of this class is to help the ESL students to get familiar with the reading
content and special article structure they will need to read during their college life.
And it will also help to prepare for their writing class since before they start to write
they firstly need to have a basic knowledge about a particular tests style and have
some basic vocabulary. To achieve these goals, we set a sequence of objectives we
want our students to get during the study.
Predicting and anticipating content
Relating to the cultural background
Taking advantage of their prior knowledge
Guessing the vocabulary
Scanning and skiming for the main idea and specific knowledge
Finding support for conclusion
Exploring organizational patterns
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 Using the certain organizational patterns to express their idea (in the oral way)
Reading critically

Organization of Content and Activities

According to our goals, this reading class has been separated into two parts. The first
part of the classes will be based on the content schemata and the second part will be
based on the structure schemata.
For the first part of reading, the readings will be selected from four general areas:
literature story, everyday living experience, natural science, and basic knowledge in
the business world. Since the students are coming here for Applied Linguistics major,
our choice of readings is intended to engage the intellectual curiosity of this field. In
this part, we want our students to relate their own experience and apply them while try
to get the main idea and supporting details of the reading.
For the second part of reading, we want students to know and apply some certain
structure of reading into their further writing. In this part, the reading will be selected
and separated into four categories: comparison and contrast, analytic essay,
argumentative essay and academic paper.
Each of the units has it completely active design and the basic lesson plan is to cover
one unit in two or three weeks. But the decision of how many units will be covered
during the semester and whether it is necessary to cover all units or introduce a
special unit for a longer time should be based on students needs and interest.

Activities and Materials

The activity is designed to help students internalize the content or its structural
organization during the reading process. At the same time, we want students to
practice and improve their reading skills such as guessing the words, scanning for the
main idea and finding the supporting details. To achieve our goals and objectives, we
divided our class into three parts containing different activities.
All the units begin with pre-reading activities including the prediction of the reading
content; recall your own prior reading experience or cultural background, or your own
understanding about a particular writing structure, etc. These activities aim to help
students relate to prior knowledge and experience.
In-class activity will be included a sequence of step of activities from finding the
supporting details to generalize the main idea. It will include methods like choosing
the correct answers, filling the blanks, finding the correct order, interpreting and using
charts to help organize the reading and thinking critically.
For their homework, students need to think beyond the reading of the class.
Sometimes they will be asked to think of a related article and share in the next class as
a way of evaluation.

Evaluation
During the in-class activities, students are asked to finish them alone or in the small
group. The teacher needs to walk around, participate within their discussion, gain
insight into their perspectives and understandings, and the instructor should offer
guidance if necessary.
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Besides, by the end of the semester, students and instructors will need to fill out an
evaluation form which can help us to improve our course design.

Syllabus
Unit
One

Class procedure

Pre-reading activity: Do you agree with the

following statement?
We can be completely independent from society if
that is what we really want. Its a matter of choice
After reading activity:
1. Re-thinking about the statement, have you
changed your ideas?
2. Understanding the intended meaning (there will

Literature: Story
about your own
society
It will deepen the
understanding
towards the society
which people are into

be several sentences selected from the article )

3. Guessing the meaning of the key vocabulary
Read----Re-read for greater Understanding----Discuss

and tell students how

and look up unfamiliar elements

4Filling the blanks (some important idea will be

a way for students to

picked out and the students need to find out the main
idea)
5Determining the Theme
Homework: What kind of society you are in?
Two

Objectives

to describe the
society. Besides, it is
learn about how
others describe their
countries.

Pre-reading activity:
Everyday life: The
1Share your society stories with your shoulder selling world.
partner and then re-tell your partners story in front of
the class.
2Have you ever received a sale call? What kind Based on their own
of language they use to sell goods to you?
experience, students
After reading activity:
will recall their
1 Have you get the right answer? (re-check about
memories with saler.
your pre- reading answers)
Students will be able
2Guessing the meaning of the key vocabulary
Read----Reread for greater Understanding----Discuss and to analyse how sales
sell products. What
look up unfamiliar elements
3Finding the main point of the reading
Topic:

kinds of strategies
they use and will
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A. Selling vocabulary
B. Unleashing the Power of Consultative Selling
________, ________, _________, ________
C. ______________
4Video Play
5Role Play ( Use what you have learned from the

apply the strategies

and communication
skills in their daily
life. For example, if
they choose to be a

saler in the future,

reading content)
they will know how
Further Think
Can you be a successful seller when you have this to persuade people in
the talking, how to
required knowledge?
lead a person to what
you expect and know
how to analyze the
positive and negative
effects of a product.
Three

Pre-reading activity
How can organisms (living things) be survived in the
wild?
In class activity;
1Have you got the right answer?
2Understanding the intended meaning
3Looking at the cause and effect
4Making a concept map about the whole article
5Match the right answer
Critical reading
There would be some questions out of the text and relate
to our own experience.

Natural Science
It will be helpful for
those who want to be
in the scientific field
as their research
direction. From
reading, they will be
able to know more
words about science
and be familiar with
the scientific article,
which they will read
more in their college
study.

Four

Refer to the sample lesson plan

Basic Business world

information

Five

Refer to the sample lesson plan

Comparison and
contrast

Six

Pre-reading Activity:
Asking questions to students about how you learn about

Analytic Essay:
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addictive medicine, like marijuana. Are there all of

Topic is about

negative impacts on people? Do you know any positive

addictive medicine,

effects of these addictive medicines?

In class Activity:
1.
Filling the chart (matching the points and

like marijuana.

2.
3.
4.

details)
True or False
Cloze about the summary paragraph
Recall the main idea of essay(you can use

your first language)

Future thinking:
Search online for more supporting details to fulfill this

From the analytic

essay learning,
students will be able
to learn how to
analyze an analytic
essay and even know
how to write an
analytic essay.

analytic essay.
Seven

Pre-reading Activity:
Showing several comments on Amazon and ask the

Argumentative Essay

students the aim of this product commons

In class Activity (in this class there is a presentation

Argument is a kind

about the argumentative Essay):

1According to the definition do you think those
comments can be taken as arguments?
2Finding the inductive leaps
3Determining point of view
4True/False
5Filling the chart (deduction)
6Class debates
1) The whole class will be divided into four

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of major writing
style and one of the
most powerful
writing styles in the
academic writing.
Before that, they
need to read and get
the main idea of this
kind of essay. They

groups. Each group is going to use

need to know there

inductive or deductive method to convince

are two ways of

one of the teachers to buy or not to buy an

arguments and use

expensive stainless steel vacuum bottle:

Group A: Induction + to BUY
Group B: Deduction + to BUY
Group C: Induction + NOT to BUY
Group D: Deduction + NOT to BUY
Further thinking:
When and in which situation, you can use arguments?

the structure to help

Pre-reading Activity:
Teacher will give students several different types of

Academic Paper

comprehend the
essay.

articles and let students find out which of them is

Students are able to

research paper or academic paper.

In-class Activity
1The instructor will cut the paper into different

have an awareness of

separate parts and ask students to number them.

2Give student one part of the article and a piece

paper. This lesson

of worksheet. Ask students to fill out which part is

introduced, which is a data analysis and which is the

the structure of
academic (research)
plan uses the
practices as students

need to know the

conclusion,
importance of
3Using the answer from previous activity, helping
structure in reading
students find out the main idea of this part of the article.
comprehension. The
4Re-read this part of the particle and find out all
goal of the lesson,
the conjunction the author has used to make the part
and subsequent
cohesion.
5Students need to fill out a part of the essay with lessons, would not be
just for students to
some blanks, using the given conjunctions.
Further thinking
The instructor will have students practice the other parts

recognize the

of data filling out the work sheet.

paragraphs, but have

structure of
the ability to use it to
better understand
the academic paper.

Sample Lesson
Lesson Plan - Business World
Class
First-year ESL students in the Department of Applied Linguistics, 25 students, 70min
class
Teaching Aim
The reading exactly suits for these students who are newcomers to the United States.
First of all, they have basic experience about a banking issue in their home countries.
Second, they can have access to English conversation, but probably lack of some
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professional banking knowledge, like how to apply credit cards, or debit cards and
online accounting. So these articles are kind of like background knowledge that helps
these students know more about banking issues in America and even help these
students ease their worries about living in a new place. And this class is based on the
students needs and the articles that we have chosen served as the tools for students to
understand American life.

Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to have awareness of the difference of living in America
and the life of their home countries.
Students will be able to consciously use what they have learned in class into
their life.

Materials and Tools

Chalk and chalkboard

Worksheets practice

Procedure & Time

Orientation (10 min)
First, the teacher will ask students. How

Purpose

This orientation question will have

do you deal with banking issue in your

students to recall the banking issues that

home country? And students will share

they deal within their hometown and

their own stories about opening an account

attract students attentions.

or dealing with issues of the bank.

Next, the teacher will give students some
examples about the banking system and
introduce the American banking system

Open discussion will allow the instructor

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briefly.
to see whether students can awareness of
Instructors will give students a few
minutes to discuss and share with their

the difference about American banking

system and banking in their hometown.

ideas when they talk about their own

stories.
Presentation (20 min)
The instructor will begin by showing students

This presentation is used to help students

the whole article, The Credit Card Economy,

get familiar with the content, like new

money transaction of the future.

words, real American banking system and

structure.

First is the introduction of the new words

of this passage, especially the word, like

Students should recognize the difference with

Social Security number, which students are the banking system and know how to survive
in America if they are going to deal with
not familiar with.
Second is about the content of this article;

banking issues here.

what this passage talking about, some

content that students do not understand.
For this part of the presentation, instructor will
teach what the American banking is based on
the article. And then the instructor will then
analyze the structure of this article. But in this
class series, the content is more important.
Instructors will select some parts to illustrate
this idea, making students more clear about the
structure of this article and know what the
difference with the banking systems.
Engagement (40 min)
True or false: based on the content of the
article, choose true or false.
Cloze: Instructor will give students some
words that are in the article and students

Through these activities, the students will

have a better understanding of the basic
American banking system.
And students need to acquire the skills of

need to fill in the blanks based on their

how to communicate with people working

understanding and familiarity towards the

in the bank, which the main purpose of this

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article.
Instructor will organize all students to
have a pair role play, that one person is

class.
The instructor will guide the students to
understand well and master the basic ideas.

like working in the bank, and the other

acts a client who comes to bank to deal
with issues about bank accounts. They are
required to simulate a situation that would
happen in the bank, using the words,
sentence structure or professional
knowledge that learn from the reading.
Through this situational practice, students
can have chance to experience it and apply
the new words and the knowledge that
have learned in the class.

Evaluation
The instructor will be walking around
during the active listening to the
students discussion.
Besides, at the end of the class,
instructor really wants all students to
share their experience in the bank, no

The instructor will be able to identify

students understanding towards the article.
The instructor will be able to see if further
clarification or practice is needed in
learning about it.

matter the positive things or negative

things that are impressive for them.

Expansion
For homework, the instructor will have

Students will be able to appropriately use the

students practice the other part of exercises at

knowledge in reading comprehension of this

the end of the unit.

article.

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Lesson Plan- Comparison and Contrast

Class
First-year ESL students in Department of Applied Linguistics, 25 students, 70min
class
Text choose
There are two texts: one is about the comparison and contrast between the vacation
At the Beach And in the Mountain and the other one is Consuming Fresh Foods
Instead of Canned Foods. They are written in two different styles. One is subject to
subject and the other one is point to point. Students will read different articles and
present to their classmates.

Learning Objectives:
Have the ability to guess the unknown words
Get familiar with two different structures of comparison and contrast essay

Search the detailed information and use the structure to predict the position of
certain information

Understand and recognize the conjunction words using in this kind of essay

Materials and Tools

Passage

Charts

Two pictures
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Procedure & Time

Orientation (5min)

Purpose
Firstly, it will help students to recall their
memory of comparing two different objectives.

Showing students two pictures and asks them

to find the differences between two pictures

Secondly, when they describe the difference

and describe them.

between two pictures, try to encourage students

Engagement (45 min)

to use more conjunctions.

Pre-reading activity
It will help the students to have a brief idea

Pre-reading activity (15min)

about what is going to talk about in the

Where will you go in your vocation?

points will list in the essay.

What kind of element will you consider

when you choose your vacation
destination?

After-reading activities (30):

essay and also help them to predict the

After-reading activities:
Firstly, students will learn how to guess the
meaning of unfamiliar words according to
related texts.

Guessing the meaning of the key

vocabularies
Students will not allow to use dictionary in
their first reading, and then they can discuss
with their shoulder partners the meaning. Then
they can look up their unfamiliar elements.
Read----Reread for greater Understanding---Discuss and look up unfamiliar elements
True or False Questions
a) The warm weather in the mountains is the
first barrier to enjoying them, but the
climate and the temperature of these zones
also determine the types of activities they
offer.
b) Canada is a country located in North
America and contains many mountain

Secondly, students need to search the

detailed information and the teacher
introduces the students to find the answer
using the specific structure of a
comparison and contrast essay.

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vacation sites where people can go and

have fun.
c) The temperature in those places is always
hot.

Filling the chart and add your own support

information under those you find in the
essay

Change subject-to subject chart into point

to point one

Role play:
The students will be divided into several
groups and image you as a tour guide to
introduce the vacation destination to your
guests.

The chart is made according to the subjectsubject structure essay and students will
use this specific feature to find the
information and think more supporting
ideas.
After they learn the first way of writing
they need to change it to the other one by
themselves so that they can learn both.

You need to introduce both beach and

mountain to your guests and you can choose
subject to subject way or point to point.
Nevertheless, you should choose the
conjunctions from the chart as more as

In the comparison and contrast essay, the

conjunction words are really important.
They should learn to express the similarity
and difference between two target subjects.

possible.
Expansion

Review what they have learnt in the class and

try to use the conjunctions during their

Read essay Consuming Fresh Foods Instead

presentation.

of Canned Foods and filling the chart and

paraphrase the essay in the other way of
writing. Then the group will present in the next
class using the different way they present in
this class.

Pictures:
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Chart filling:
Vacationing at the Beach or in the Mountains
Beach

Mountain

i.

Climate

i.

Climate

ii.

Types of Activities

ii.

Types of Activities

iii.

Location
iii.

Location

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Consuming Fresh Foods Instead of Canned Foods

Flavor

Health benefits

cost

a) Fresh Foods

a) Fresh Foods

a) Fresh Foods

b) Canned Foods

b) Canned Foods

b) Canned Foods

Conjunction Chart:

Similar to; like; both ... and ...;in addition;moreover;besides;likewise;similarly;in the

same way; different from;in contrast to;compared with;unlike;but;on the other
hand;conversely;in contrast;however

Appendix
Reading material

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18

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Reading materials:

Vacationing at the Beach or in the Mountains

People are always looking forward to their vacation period. There are many options
where to choose. I think that the two most common places people choose for taking a
vacation are the beaches and the mountains. Both places offer a variety of fun
activities. The beach offers activities that the mountain cannot offer and vice versa.
The mountain and the beach are totally different. The purpose of this essay is to
contrast the climate, types of activities and locations of beaches and mountains.
I am going to discuss mountains first. The three aspects I am going to discuss are
climate, types of activities and location. Climate is always important in order to enjoy
vacations. If a person dislikes cold weather, he or she might have a hard time in the
mountains. The cold climate in the mountains is the first barrier to enjoying them, but
the climate and the temperature of these zones also determine the types of activities
they offer. Snow boarding, mountain climbing, mountain biking, hiking, and skiing
are some activities people can enjoy when going to the mountains. There are many
regions that have mountains where people can go and have a great vacation. Canada is
a country located in North America and contains many mountain vacation sites where
people can go and have fun.
I am going to discuss the beach second. The three aspects I am going to discuss are
climate, types of activities and location. Warm climate is one of the most important
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features that the beach has. Sun and fun are two words that describe the beach. The
temperature in those places is always hot. The sea and the warm climate determine the
activities that are available at the beach. People can swim, play volleyball, play
soccer, and ride water bikes. In most coastal sites, there are discos and restaurants
where people can dance or party throughout the night. Mexico offers many amazing
coastal sites to visit. Acapulco and Cancun are two of the most beautiful and famous
beaches in the word.
It does not matter what place a person decides to choose. The fun is 100% guaranteed.
People often choose one of these two options to spend their vacations. Depending on
what the person likes is what he or she will choose. I like the beach better than the
mountains, but sometimes it is better to take a risk and try a different place to enjoy.

Consuming Fresh Foods Instead of Canned Foods

Eating is an activity that we as humans do at least two times a day. We live in a
world where the variety of food is immense, and we are responsible for what we eat.
We decide what we are about to eat and how it will affect our bodies. The purpose of
this essay is to compare and contrast the differences between eating fresh foods
instead of canned foods. The three main differences are flavor, health benefits, and
cost.

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The most notable difference between these two kinds of foods is their flavor. Fresh
foods have great flavor and taste because they keep all their natural conditions.
Canned foods however, lack a lot of its flavor characteristics because there are some
other chemical products added to the natural foods. It is logical that the fresh foods
will have a greater taste and flavor when consumed just because of the time in which
they have been prepared.
Comparing both types of foods we notice another difference. There is a health factor
that affects both of them. Canned foods lose some of the original fresh food nutrients
when stored, and also it has to be tinned with many conservatives and chemical
factors that prolong the shelf life and apparent freshness of the food but could also
become toxic if consumed too often.
Yet another difference between these two types of foods is the cost. Canned foods are
much more expensive than fresh foods. Here the benefit of buying tinned foods is that
they are easier to find, for example, in a supermarket instead of the market like the
fresh foods, and they require less work to prepare than fresh foods, just open and
serve.
Here are the main three differences between buying fresh foods and buying canned
foods. As we can see it comes down to a personal choice, based on the time each
person has, the money and the importance he/she gives to his/her nutrition and health.
Therefore it is important that you consider your possibilities and choose the best type

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of foods for your convenie

Reference
Ferreira, L. A., & Vai, M. (1979). Read on, speak out: comprehension, vocabulary,
and discussion for adults learning English. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House
Publishers.
Richard-Amato, P. A. (1990). Reading in the content areas: An interactive approach
for international students : Advanced. White Plains, N.Y: Longman.

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