July 1st lesson

Dear students,
Today we will check the gap fill exercise homework, learn about paraphrasing (Unit 3.5) and then have an end-of-term AWL online matching test. This test is worth 10 points and covers the sublists from 1a to 5b. After that, if you wish, I will grade your third portfolio article which will not be itemized but based mainly on the effort you put into it.

Period 3 Test

Period 4 Test

Period 5 Test

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

June 24th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about cohesive expressions from the textbook, then do an AWL matching practice test. After that you will do an AWL cloze practice test (gap fill). Finally you should work on your third portfolio article the deadline of which is July 8th.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

June 17th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about context clues to word meaning (unit 2.4). Then you will do a practice exercise about context clues, and finally you will take AWL 5B matching test. For homework you may start your third portfolio article which is due in July. This assignment will be marked holistically rather than itemized.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Portfolio article upload form

Dear students,
After your second portfolio article has been graded, please upload it to the portfolio article spreadsheet database.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

June 10th lesson

Dear students,
You will do three things today. First we will check the answers to last week’s print about topics and main ideas (11-20). Then you will show me your second portfolio article for grading - the deadline of which is today. (After it has been graded, you may upload it to the portfolio article spreadsheet database database). Then you will take the AWL practice test AWL 5A.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

June 3rd lesson

Dear students,
Today you will practice identifying topics and main ideas. Please download the prints and bring them to class.

Topics & Main Idea

Then you will start working on your second portfolio article which is due in June. Finally you will take the AWL 4B practice test.

(Period 3 students please do AWL 4A for homework).

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Science News Test - May 2019

Dear students,
Please click on the link below to start the test.

Science News Test - May 2019

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

May 27th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will study about summarizing and then take the Science News 1 test online. This is worth 8 points. Please study the news stories on the CELESE website beforehand.
If there is time, you will take the AWL 4A practice test.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

May 20th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will study about paragraphs and then show me your first portfolio article assignment. You will receive a maximum of nine points for this assignment.

Summary (3 points)
In-text citation in APA (American Psychological Association) format (1)
Opinion (2)
Highlight the Academic Word List (AWL) words in the original article (1)
Dictionary of technical terms, abbreviations and unfamiliar words (1)
Reference in APA format (1)

After you have been assessed, please upload your assignment to the portfolio homework spreadsheet database so that your work can be analyzed digitally.

Finally, please take the practice test AWL3B during the lesson so that both your attendance and progress can be monitored.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

May 13th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about technical terms and abbreviations. Then you will work on your portfolios. The deadline for your first article summary and opinion is May 20th, so today will be the last time for you to let me check your work. After that you will do AWL 3A matching practice test.

***
You should take these AWL online tests in class, using your real name and ID, and submit within 30 minutes so that I have a record of your attendance and progress. Your score is not important at the moment, but if you are not submitting the tests at the right time, you appear to be absent!
***

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin
P.S. Your first Science News Test will be on May 27th, so please make sure to read and understand the articles on CELESE website.

P.P.S.

Here are the results for the 2B AWL test:

May 6th lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about reaction statements (portfolio summaries), work on your reading portfolio in class, learn about APA formatted references, and take AWL 2B online test.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin
PS. Please download the reference print and bring it to class.
PPS. Here are your scores from the previous lesson:

April 22nd lesson

Dear students,
Today you will learn about word types and parts (2.1), topics and main ideas (3.2), APA in-text citations , and take an AWL practice test, AWL2A.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

PS. Your scores from last week (missing data about which class) are below:

April 15th lesson

Dear students,
For homework you should have studied the course outline, reviewed AWL 1A, read the trending science news article on the CELESE website, and chosen a portfolio article.
Today you will study about the academic word list (Unit 2.2), take AWL practice test 1B, and start your portfolio, so please bring your article to class.
By the way, for your portfolio you may find AWL highlighters on the Internet which can save time. One example is from the EAP foundation: AWL highlighter.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

Waseda Academic Reading - Week 1 - April 8th 2019

Dear students,
Welcome to the course. Before we start, I would like to collect some data on you, if you don't mind.

Pre-course survey

WEEK 1

At the end of the term, there will be two assignments based on the Academic Word List; a matching exercise and a gap fill test. These tests will be based on 10 matching exercises that you will do in class. Please study these words carefully in preparation for the tests in July.

Academic Word List 1A matching practice test
(these matching tests - as practice -do not count towards your final grade)

This term you will also be required to write three science article reviews (one per month), which will be worth nine points each. For details, read the previous post.
In order to understand what you have to do, it may help if you take a look at last year's students' homework. Please study it until you are familiar with what you have to do.

Last year's AR portfolio assignment homework

Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

P.S. Here are your results from Week 1:

Welcome to Academic Reading - Spring 2019

Dear students,
Welcome to Academic Reading.
In order to succeed in this course, you should familiarize yourself with what the requirements are. Please read the course outline carefully.
Kind regards,
Chris Elvin

AR syllabus

Academic Reading 1

Spring 2019

Chris Elvin

Contact:before or after class, or email via CELESE website

Class blog: http://elvinar.blogspot.jp/

Required textbook:

Rose, R. (2016). Academic Reading in Science and Engineering Book 1. Tokyo: Waseda University.

Course Description

Welcome to Academic Reading 1. This course has been designed to help you improve your academic reading ability through study and discussion of newspaper, magazine, and journal articles of varying lengths related to important issues in science and engineering. Emphasis will be placed on developing a deep understanding of sentence and text structure, and on developing micro and macro reading skills, so that relevant information can be found quickly and effectively without the need for translation into Japanese. In particular, you will be urged to start understanding English in English. You will also be encouraged to read beyond the target texts to gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered. After completing the course, you should be familiar with a wide range of academic texts, be able to understand and apply a wide range of reading skills necessary to tackle such texts, and have an understanding of recent issues in science and engineering.

Course Goals

Goal 1: To Learn the first 300 words of the Academic Word List

Goal 2: To guess word meaning from context

Goal 3: To recognize technical word definitions

Goal 4: To understand pronouns and restatements

Goal 5: To understand logical connectors

Goal 6: To understand topics and main ideas

Goal 7: To develop fluency in comprehending academic texts: your portfolio.

Grading

a) Portfolio

Your portfolio should contain 3 articles*. Make sure to include the source and date of your article, and do not use articles that were published earlier than the date of the beginning of the semester. If you read an article from a website, please cite the URL, as well as printing it out. You should number the articles, and for each article, you should highlight all the academic words (those which appear in the Academic Word List 570). You should identify the technical and unfamiliar words and write a definition of these words, or translate them into Japanese. Finally, in your own words, you should write a one paragraph accurate summary of at least 150 words, and a reaction statement of similar length. This means that you should not copy from the original text (not one sentence, or even part of a sentence). At the end of the semester (or earlier), you will hand in your portfolio to me for final assessment. Your portfolio should be entirely your own original work, and it should not be recycled from other courses or colleagues.

* The length of the articles that you read should be over 1000 words.

* Do not recycle old articles from previous semesters or from fellow students.

* Do not use the CELESE Trending Science News articles.

* Do not use English language learning websites that provide learning support.

(You may use such sites for studying English, of course).

* Choose articles which you find interesting.

* Your portfolio should demonstrate your integrity: responsibility, respect, trust, honesty, fairness, and courage.
• Each article should include its in-text citation and its reference in APA format.

How to avoid plagiarism:

Do not copy sentences.

Do not copy sentences and change the words.

Do not copy strings of words of more than five words long.

Your summary should be in your words.

Portfolio Grading Procedure:

There will be three deadlines for grading your portfolio this semester. Please show your portfolio article to your teacher who will grade it out of 9 points. 

Highlighted academic words - 1
Dictionary of unfamiliar words - 1
Summary - 3
Opinion - 2
In-text citation - 1
Reference - 1

After that, you should upload your article to a database using the portfolio article upload form below. 

Portfolio Article Upload Form

b) Science News Quizzes

There will be two tests during the semester. These tests will be based on the linked articles that are uploaded to the CELESE website on a weekly basis.

Science News Test 1 (8 points)

Science News Test 2 (8 points)

c) Intensive Reading

Students should complete five intensive reading exercises in the textbook and show them to her teacher. (5 points)

d) Academic Word List Quizzes

There will be many practice exercises for you to master the Academic Word List. At the end of the semester, you will have two Academic Word List tests.

a)  Match Academic Word List words with their definitions. (10 points)

b)  Fill in the blanks of a text with Academic Word List words that you can choose from the list provided. (10 points)

e) Final Test

This test is prepared by CELESE department and is scheduled after our final lesson as a class. For further information, and to view previous copies of the test, please check the CELESE website. (32 points)

Evaluation and Grading Criteria

a)  Portfolio: 27%

b)  Science News Quizzes 16%

c)   Intensive Reading 5%

d)  Academic Word List Quizzes 20%

e)  Final Test: 32%

Cheating:

The maximum grade for anyone suspected of cheating will be “C”.

Please do your best, be honest and diligent, and good luck!