Are you interested in having a better command of the English language? Athabasca University’s ENGL 146, Reading for Academic Purposes, may be for you. First released in April 2003, Reading for Academic Purposes (ENGL 146) is a non-credit course whose goal is to aid students in improving their English skills, including reading and comprehension.
Reading for Academic Purposes (ENGL 146) consists of 8 practical, hands-on modules. The first several modules will introduce you to an overview of the English language, focusing on improving your vocabulary and becoming familiar with the root words, stems, and suffixes commonly encountered. Next, you will study sentences, with emphasis on comprehensibility. Module 4 covers reading; in this module you will have the opportunity to improve your reading skills and speed, in addition to becoming familiar with paragraph format and inferences made when reading.
After completing the last modules, you will have mastered the skills of scanning paragraphs and gaining the general ideas contained therein; additionally, you will be able to read concisely when the need arises. Altogether, Reading for Academic Purposes (ENGL 146) will give you the skills necessary for good English comprehension and further courses in University English.
ENGL 146’s course coordinator, Veronica Baig, is active in the ESL field. A past ESL and Writing Skills teacher, she currently works at coordinating and developing English courses to enable non-native English speakers to be able to realize their full potential by attending University.
Veronica Baig also possesses an impressive educational background, having graduated from several universities, including the University of Wales, the University of Calgary, and the University of Saskatchewan. Additionally, she also coordinates 2 additional Athabasca University English courses: ENGL 140 and ENGL 143.
Offered by the Centre for Language and Literature, ENGL 146 has no prerequisites, but course coordinator Veronica Baig recommends that you have achieved a relatively high level (such as 450) in the TOEFL test prior to taking the course, or, if you are not an ESL student but wish to enhance your command of the English language, you can try a quick online assessment of your English level at: http://www.athabascau.ca/html/services/counselling/esl
Reading for Academic Purpose’s course evaluation consists of 2 sets of questions relevant to the course readings, the first of which is worth 60% and the second of which totals 10% of your final grade. Additionally, the final exam, worth 30%, makes up the rest of your grade.
For more information on Reading for Academic Purposes (ENGL 146), visit:
http://www.athabascau.ca/html/syllabi/engl/engl146.htm
