COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: DEVELOPING READING AND WRITING SKILLS

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
ENG 109	A	1	2	0	2	3	5

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	Dr. Mirela Alhasani malhasani@epoka.edu.al
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	M.A. Ada Cara acara@epoka.edu.al
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Compulsory
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years)
Classroom and Meeting Time:
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:
Course Description:	The Development of Reading and Writing Skills in English course is intended for students in the B2 or C levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages to build on their prior English skills and foster academic and life-long learning skills in English. The course focuses on providing students with the theoretical or conceptual basis for working in academic English and practical assignments and activities in which to develop their skills. Specific foci include developing strong academic reading strategies and familiarizing students with different types of academic texts, including essays, reports, and scholarly articles. Furthermore, the course familiarizes students with academic vocabulary, phrases, and style in English. The primary focus is on building reading and writing skills, but the development of speaking and listening skills is also an essential component of the course.
Course Objectives:	To enhance English proficiency from low intermediate to high intermediate towards advanced level - To improve speaking. writing, reading and listening skills - To build up confidence in general English and academic English jargon - To make a smooth gradual introduction to academic writing - To comprehend and use sophisticated grammar knowledge accurately - To enrich vocabulary needed for daily, professional and academic usage

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	Critiquing the logic and evidence of arguments presented in text.
2	Students will have built up verbal interaction confidence in colourful discussions.
3	Drafting a well refined research paper related to a topic of their interest.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Introduction; Review guideline; This section explains and practises all the stages of producing a piece of academic writing, from analysing the title, reading the sources, note-making and referencing through to rewriting and then proofreading the final draft (Bailey, 2024, p.3-11).
2	Every academic writer begins by writing for a captive audience: someone who is literally being paid to pay attention. Long before they set foot in graduate school or venture beyond it, academic writers spend years getting used to a reader who can’t be distracted or discouraged, because that reader receives cash to read to the end. The main problem with writing for a captive audience is that it teaches us to take the reader’s attention for granted. Student writers learn to be long-winded because they know—consciously or not—that their reader won’t quit on them (Cassuto, 2024, p.15-50).
3	In academic writing, the argument makes an essay an essay. Argument is the currency of the realm, the measure of what a piece of writing is worth. Most of all, argument is what academic readers read for. Knowing how to make a good argument (or thesis) is an academic writer’s central skill, which is why it’s taught as the main goal of first-year English (“Composition”), the gateway course to college education (Cassuto, 2024, p.50-86).
4	Students are expected to take a critical approach to their sources, which means challenging what they read, rather than passively accepting it as reliable. This is particularly important when dealing with internet sources. The approach first requires a thorough understanding of the text, using the skills developed in the previous unit. This unit explores and practises the critical analysis of texts (Bailey, 2024, p. 31-60).
5	Summarising and paraphrasing are normally used together in academic writing. Summarising aims to reduce information to a suitable length, allowing the writer to condense lengthy sources into a concise form. Paraphrasing means changing the wording of a text so that it is significantly different from the original source, without changing the meaning. Both are needed to avoid the risk of plagiarism, and this unit practises them both separately and jointly (Bailey, 2024, p.67-76). Exercises
6	Paragraphs are the basic building blocks of academic writing. Well-structured paragraphs help the reader understand the topic more easily by dividing up the argument into convenient sections. This unit looks at: The components of paragraphs. The way the components are linked together. The linkage between paragraphs in the overall text (Bailey, 2024, p. 83-89; Cassuto, 2024, p. 86-108). Exercises
7	An effective introduction explains the purpose, scope and methodology of the paper to the reader. The conclusion should provide a clear answer to any questions asked in the title, as well as summarising the main points discussed. With coursework, it may be better to write the introduction after writing the main body. (Bailey, 2024, p. 89-95; Awad, 2024, p. 30-35).
8	Literature reviews are sections of a paper in which the writer summarises relevant published work on the topic. They are standard in dissertations and theses, and allow the writer to show awareness of the leading authorities in the field and the state of the current debate (Bailey, 2024, p.125-127; Awad, 2024, p. 46-54). Exercises and Review
9	Midterm Exam
10	While essays are often concerned with abstract or theoretical subjects, a report is a description of a situation or something that has happened. In academic terms it might describe: i) a problem that you have studied and developed several solutions for; ii) a survey you have carried out; iii) a proposal for a new product or service (Bailey, 2024, p.134-141). Exercises
11	Students in many subjects, such as Medicine, Business, Humanities, or Agriculture, are required to write clearly and accurately about statistical data. This unit first explains and practises the language of numbers and percentages, and then deals with presenting data in charts and tables (Bailey, 2024, p.175-186).
12	Acceptable academic style can vary from subject to subject, but in all disciplines a good written style displays accuracy, objectivity and clarity. Students should make these criteria their priority, while aiming eventually to develop their own individual ‘voice’. This unit gives guidelines for an appropriate style, and provides practice with varying sentence length and the use of caution (Bailey, 2024, p.192-199). Debrief Semester
13	Research paper presentations- Students will be presenting their final research paper draft submission in a 5 minutes presentation and will be graded individually for their work reflected on the research paper and during their presentation.
14	Research paper presentations- Students will be presenting their final research paper draft submission in a 5 minutes presentation and will be graded individually for their work reflected on the research paper and during their presentation.

Prerequisite(s):	None
Textbook(s):	Dr Dina Awad (2024). Advanced Academic English. Grosvenor House Publishing. Bailey, S. (2022). Academic writing for university students. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, Ny: Routledge. Cassuto, L. (2024). Academic Writing as if Readers Matter. Princeton University Press.
Additional Literature:
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Students will be able to distinguish and to successfully write formal essays, persuasive writing, reports, professional emails.
2	Students will have improved their critical and analytical reading skills through exposure to authentic materials such as newspapers, magazines, journals, books, leaflets, brochures.
3	Students will strengthen collaborative skills, socialization and group coherence in fulfilling the projects and presentations.
4	Students will overall improve the four skills and possess a better command of grammar structured as applied for academic context.

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years) Program
1	Having and using advanced knowledge and comprehension supported by textbooks including actual knowledge in political sciences and international relations literature, materials and the other scientific resources.	4
2	Analyzing data, ideas and concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions in accordance with researches.	5
3	Having knowledge and thought about actual topics and problems together with their historical, social and cultural aspects.	5
4	Introducing those who are interested in politics and international events with the topics of Political Science and IR and teaching clearly the problems and the types of solutions.	4
5	Improving skills of working together with the main social science disciplines and other disciplines which are related to Political Science and International Relations.	5
6	Improving critical thinking and skills in making research independently.	5
7	Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena.	5
8	Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones.	5
9	Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles.	5
10	Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge.	4
11	Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments.	5
12	Having consciousness about human rights and environment.	5
13	Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning.	5

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)	1	30
Presentation	1	20
Term Paper	1	40
Other	1	10
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	4	64
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	14	2	28
Mid-terms	1	9	9
Assignments	1	15	15
Final examination			0
Other	1	9	9
Total Work Load:			125
Total Work Load/25(h):			5
ECTS Credit of the Course:			5

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER

Students will critically discuss research articles and ideas in a seminar format and present their research in an ethical way.