Academic Reading

Fall 2023
Academic Reading 101
Semester/Year: Fall 2023

Instructor: Nicholas Andersen

Email: andersen_ni@auca.kg

Office Hours: pending on schedule approval

Course Description:
This course is designed to enhance students' academic reading skills, empowering them to
engage with complex texts effectively. Students will develop critical reading techniques, build
vocabulary, and refine their comprehension skills to excel in various academic disciplines.
Through close reading and analysis of diverse texts, students will gain the ability to extract key
information, critically evaluate arguments, and engage in thoughtful discussions.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course, students will:
1. Develop critical reading skills to analyze and evaluate texts.
2. Expand their academic vocabulary.
3. Improve comprehension and retention of complex material.
4. Identify and summarize main ideas and supporting details.
5. Recognize rhetorical strategies and persuasive techniques in texts.
6. Engage in meaningful discussions about academic readings.

Required materials:
Pending class approval (a vote will take place on the first day of class), the course manual are:
● NorthStar Reading and Writing Level 4. Third edition. Laurie Barton & Carolyn
Dupaquier Sardinas.
● Vocabulary for IELTS Advanced. Pauline Cullen
● Key Words for Fluency - Intermediate Collocation Practice, George Woolaard

Grading Policy:
1. - Class Participation: 15%
2. - Reading Quizzes: 20%
3. - Vocabulary Development Assignments: 15%
4. - Reading Response Papers: 20%
5. - Midterm Exam: 15%
6. - Final: 15%
 Academic Reading
Fall 2023
7.

A 95-100% C 69-73%

A- 90-94% C- 64-68%

B+ 87-90% D+ 60-63%

B 83-86% D 55-59%

B- 78-82% D- 50-54%

C+ 74-77% F <50%
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Fall 2023
Course Schedule:

Week Topic Sub-topic / Contents

Week 1 Introduction to Academic Course orientation and syllabus overview

Reading The importance of academic reading skills
Setting reading goals

Week 2 Active Reading Strategies Previewing, annotating, and highlighting

texts
Taking effective notes while reading
Discussion: Sharing active reading
techniques

Week 3 Building Vocabulary Strategies for expanding academic

vocabulary
Weekly vocabulary exercises
Vocabulary journal assignment

Week 4 Identifying Main Ideas and Understanding the hierarchy of information

Supporting Details Practice exercises on main ideas and details

Reading comprehension quiz

Week 5 Text Structure and Recognizing patterns in academic texts

Organization Analyzing different text structures
Group activity: Text structure analysis

Week 6 Analyzing Author's Purpose Identifying the author's intentions

and Tone Recognizing tone and mood in texts
Discussion: How author's purpose affects
reading

Week 7 Critical Reading and Strategies for critical reading

Evaluating Arguments Identifying and evaluating arguments
Analyzing sample academic articles

Week 8 Mid-term Assessment of reading comprehension and

analysis skills

Midterm Exam
 Academic Reading
Fall 2023
Week 9 Summarizing and Summarizing complex texts
Paraphrasing Practice in paraphrasing
Group activity: Summarizing an academic
article

Week 10 Synthesizing Information Combining information from multiple

sources
Avoiding plagiarism when synthesizing
Synthesis essay preparation

Week 11 Reading Across Disciplines Reading strategies for various academic

fields
Exploring interdisciplinary texts
Reading and discussing articles from
different disciplines

Week 12 Analyzing Visual Understanding charts, graphs, and diagrams

Information in academic texts
Visual information analysis exercises
Discussion: Visual literacy in academia

Week 13 Effective Reading Strategies Research reading techniques

for Research Note-taking for research papers

Week 14 Final Review and Course Course reflection and individual progress
Reflection assessment

Course expectations:
1. Attendance and others:
Attendance is mandatory, students are expected to be present in all classes. This will be taken
into account in the final grade and in cases of low attendance (5 unexcused absences) it will most
likely result in an F. Absences should always be notified before class via email and it is always
the responsibility of the student.
Tardiness and the use of cell phones is not permitted during class unless it is specifically used for
learning (which will be specified by the instructor). Recurrent use of phone or frequent tardiness
will result in lowering the final grade.
2. Academic honesty:
Students are expected to respect and follow recognised academic honesty rules during this course
and reflect so in their work. This includes but is not limited to avoiding plagiarism.
According to the AUCA Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct: [a] student must
not adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without appropriate
 Academic Reading
Fall 2023
acknowledgment. A student must give credit to the originality of others and acknowledge
indebtedness whenever he or she does any of the following: quotes another person's actual
words, either oral or written; paraphrases another person's words, either oral or written; uses
another person's idea, opinion, or theory; or borrows facts, statistics, or other illustrative material
from work of the other student, unless the information is common knowledge. .

Important Dates:
- Midterm Exam: Week 8
- Course End: 15th of December

**Note: This syllabus is subject to change at the instructor's discretion. Any changes will be
communicated to students in advance.