Listening & Speaking: Goals, Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Goals:

·       The students will acquire necessary listening skills in order to follow and comprehend discourse such as lectures, conversations, interviews, and discussions.

·       The students will develop adequate speaking skills to communicate effectively to follow academic courses at university level.

Objectives:

·       The students will identify main ideas.

·       The students will identify important details.

·       The students will distinguish more important ideas from less important ones.

·       The students will learn to use strategies to listen actively.

·       The students will learn strategies to take clear notes.

·       The students will use their notes to organize their ideas.

·       The students will identify words and/or phrases related to the topic.

·       The students will draw inferences relying on the context.

·       The students will express themselves fluently.

·       The students will express themselves with acceptable accuracy.

·       The students will convey their ides clearly.

·       The students will participate in discussions.

·       The students will analyze and synthesize information presented in different sources.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the program, the students will be able to:

• use cohesion mechanisms to distinguish different ideas.
• distinguish key terms and definitions from dialogues and lectures.
• distinguish the cues that speakers use when drawing attention to examples, cause-effect relationships, and comparison-comparison.
• make predictions based on what they have heard.
• understand the speaker's point of view.
• use symbols and/or abbreviations to take effective notes.
• express their opinions individually.
• express their ideas in group discussions.
• use correct linguistic structures when expressing their thoughts.
• use the right words to express their thoughts.
• explain the important information in the listening text with other words..
• make a speech based on ideas from different sources.

*A listening text refers to any lecture at the upper-intermediate level of at least 600 words.

Integrated Skills: Goals, Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Goal

Students will be equipped with the necessary reading skills to enable them to comprehend academic texts on various academic topics to pursue their undergraduate studies.

Objectives:

·       The students will comprehend important information and facts that are stated in a reading text. The students will understand the distinction between main ideas and supporting details in a reading text.

·       The students will understand the meaning of a word as it is used in a reading text.

·       The students will draw conclusions based on the information given within a statement or section of a reading text.

·       The students will perceive ideas that are suggested but not directly stated within a reading text.

·       The students will recognize the organization and purpose of a reading text.

·       The students will restate ideas from another source in their own words.

·       The students will produce written or oral responses integrating information from different sources.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the program, the students will be able to:

• use context clues to find the meaning of a word and/or phrase in a reading text
• use the information in the text to understand the meaning, details and/or inferences from a reading text
• use the information in the text to understand what items such as certain pronouns in the text, etc.
• skim through the text to find the main idea
• scan the text to find specific information.
• paraphrase important points in a reading text.
• draft and/or complete a reading text.
• classify the information given in a reading text.
• deduce the author's intent and/or purpose from a reading text.
• compare and contrast ideas and/or information from different sources.
• give written and verbal responses by synthesizing information from different sources.

*A reading text refers to an upper-intermediate level of at least 500 words.

Writing: Goals, Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Goal:

The students will develop important writing skills that will enable them to produce academic texts required in their undergraduate studies.

Objectives:

·       The students will brainstorm and organize their ideas.

·       The students will use mechanics of writing appropriately.

·       The students will use appropriate cohesive devices to improve their texts.

·       The students will incorporate appropriate vocabulary to express ideas precisely.

·       The students will write grammatically accurate basic and complex sentences.

·       The students will write coherent and unified paragraphs.

·       The students will learn how to paraphrase to improve their writing.

·       The students will learn how to summarize to improve their writing.

·       The students will write a coherent, logical and organized opinion essay with a thesis statement, introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.

·       The students will produce a written response based on the information in the reading and listening texts.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the program, the students will be able to:

• draft.
• use punctuation, capitalization and spelling rules appropriately.
• use parallel structures correctly and effectively.
• use various conjunctions, transition words, pronouns and articles to improve their texts.
• benefit from a wide range of vocabulary related to the text.
• use word types correctly.
• write texts without using half sentences, loose sentences and/or punctuated sentences.
• write paragraphs consisting of a topic sentence containing the main idea, development sentences with supporting details and a conclusion sentence summarizing the main points.
• use sorting styles suitable for the type of paragraph to be written.
• write clear topic sentences containing the subject and main idea in their compositions.
• develop the development paragraphs of their compositions through examples, specific events, and anecdotes.
• write effective concluding paragraphs that include a summary of the main points, repetition of the thesis-argument sentence, and/or their own comments.
• write short essays stating the main ideas and key points of reading or listening texts.

*An essay is at upper-intermediate level and expected to contain minimum 300 words.
*A response is at upper-intermediate level and expected to contain between 150-225 words.

Structure: Goal, Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Goal:
The students will attain useful and efficient linguistic structures and use them appropriately in their undergraduate studies.

·       The students will use linguistic structures to read and understand well-structured texts encountered in academic or social contexts.

·       The students will use linguistic structures to follow and comprehend a well-organized scripted lecture and take notes.

·       The students will use linguistic structures to produce coherent oral responses on academic and social topics.

·       The students will use linguistic structures to produce coherent written responses on academic and social topics.

Learning Outcomes 

By the end of the program, the students will be able to:
·       use correct verb forms in all tenses effectively.

·       use structures in which subjects and verb forms agree.

·       use nouns with compatible pronouns accurately and effectively.

·       use nouns with compatible quantifiers accurately and effectively.

·       use active and passive verb forms accurately.

·       report what others say or ask using a broad number of report verbs.

·       use conditional sentences accurately in appropriate context.

·       use and differentiate between simple, progressive, and perfect modals with different functions.

·       use different word forms accurately and effectively.

·       use gerunds and infinitives in accurate ways and appropriate context.

·       make comparisons using complex comparative and superlative structures.

·       use a wide range of prepositional phrases with adjectives, nouns, and verbs.

·       use relative, adverbial and noun clauses and their reduced forms accurately and effectively.

·       use inversion and fronting to improve their language production.

Vocabulary: Goals, Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Goals:

The students will expand their vocabulary so as to enhance their proficiency in reading and  listening to academic texts, writing, and speaking.

Objectives:

·       The students will become familiar with formal vocabulary that is common in academic texts.

·       The students will attain vocabulary to comprehend academic and social reading and listening texts.

·       The students will become familiar with different spelling patterns for parts of speech.

·       The students will learn strategies to understand vocabulary in the text.

·       The students will use correct form of the words in their oral and written language production.

·       The students will develop an understanding of collocations.

·       The students will understand separate meanings of a word as it is used in a reading and listening text.

Learning Outcomes 

By the end of the program, the students will be able to:

·       use appropriate words to give the correct meaning in speaking and writing.

·       use derivatives of academic words.

·       use a wide variety of words suitable for their written and oral work.

·       find the meanings of words using context clues.

·       use context clues to determine the correct meaning of the word.

·       identify the types of words in the sentence.

·       write sentences using collocation words.

·       distinguish different meanings of words with more than one same word type.

·       write words and different types of words correctly.

·       pronounce words and different types of words correctly.

TOEFL: Goal, Objectives and Learning Outcomes

Goal: 

The students will acquire TOEFL skills to be able to reach the required English proficiency level for admission to academic programs.

Objectives:

·       The students will identify and extract the main ideas and details from a reading and/or listening text.

·       The students will paraphrase what they hear and/or read.

·       The students will summarize what they hear and/or read.

·       The students will relate what they hear to what they read in coherent writing and speech.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the program, the students will be able to:

• use context clues in reading and listening texts to deduce the meanings of unknown words and phrases.
• skim through the text to find the main idea.
• scan the text to find specific information.
• use appropriate note-taking styles for reading and listening texts.
• answer direct and indirect questions about some or all of the reading and listening texts.
• make inferences based on the information in reading and listening texts.
• use complex linguistic structures to understand reading and listening texts.
• deduce the intent and/or purpose of an author or speaker from a reading or listening text.
• use complex linguistic structures to write an essay based on structured interpretation.
• answer a question with an active speech.
• use complex linguistic structures to give structured verbal and written answers based on information in reading and writing texts.
• use various academic words in oral and/or written language use.

*A reading text refers to a text related to academic subjects containing approximately 700.
*A listening text refers to academic lectures and campus conversations containing approximately 500-800 words.

Independent Learning

Goal: The students will develop necessary strategies for successful independent learning.

By the end of the program, the students will be able to:

·       study independently.

·       manage time efficiently.

·       become aware of their strengths and weaknesses as language learners.

·       develop strategies of their own for language learning.

·       use the library effectively.