INTERNATIONAL FIRST YEAR (IFY)

IFY 001 - PRE-EAP

This is a content-based course offers a basic introduction to English language for students who are not ready for a Level 1 course. Its thorough integration of the four basic language skills helps students acquire communication and literacy skills necessary to function in real-life situations. The scope and sequence of the course presents vocabulary, competencies, literacy skills, phonics, and grammar in a gradual progression.

Credits: 3

IFY 011 - READING I

This is a content-based intermediate reading course for English Language Learners who are preparing to enter an American university setting. In this course students will learn and apply the reading skills essential for academic learning, inquiry, and discourse in the context of authentic academic reading tasks. Students will work to build fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary skills through extensive and intensive reading tasks of increasing complexity. Contemporary academic and literary texts will be used to develop students’ critical reading and vocabulary, writing, listening, and speaking skills.

Credits: 3

IFY 012 - READING AND WRITING II

This is a high intermediate literature-based course for English language learners who have begun the process of integration into an American University setting. In this course, students will learn and apply the reading and writing skills essential for academic learning, inquiry, and discourse in the context of authentic academic reading and writing tasks. This course offers a hands-on workshop approach to authentic reading and writing tasks and includes teacher modeling, coaching, and feedback to students throughout the reading and writing processes. Contemporary academic and literary texts will be used to develop students’ critical reading and vocabulary, writing, listening and speaking skills. When possible, materials from courses the students are taking will be integrated into classroom activities and assignments.

Credits: 3

IFY 013 - READING AND WRITING III

This course is designed to help students understand their current abilities to read to and to write English and to provide assistance and practices to facilitate development of these skills that will promote success in their studies at the next level. Students will be required to read to both short and long selections to practice determining the writer’s intended message in addition to comprehending details and facts. Students will be provided opportunities to improve their abilities to express understandings and ideas in academic writings while critiquing the works of others. Students will write research papers to become familiar with aspects of conducting research and following APA guidelines to produce academically acceptable papers.

Credits: 3

IFY 021 - WRITING I

This is an intermediate composition course for English Language Learners who are preparing to enter an American university setting. In this course students will learn and apply the reading and writing skills essential for academic learning, inquiry, and discourse in the context of authentic academic writing and rhetorical tasks. This course offers a hands-on workshop approach to authentic reading and writing tasks and includes teacher modeling, coaching, and feedback to students throughout the writing process.

Credits: 3

IFY 031 - LISTENING AND SPEAKING I

This course provides short and focused activities to help English Language Learners improve their listening and speaking skills. It includes practice in both mastering the larger message and key words, phrases and specific sounds to assist students in developing better speaking and comprehension skills. Students will practice diction using dialogues, development listening strategies, as well as practice speaking in small groups and individually.

Credits: 3

IFY 032 - LISTENING AND SPEAKING II

Listening and Speaking II focuses on the comprehension of oral lectures in a variety of liberal arts disciplines. You will learn how to be prepared for lectures, how to listen better during lectures, and how to recognize what you missed in a lecture. There is a strong emphasis on note-taking strategies and class discussions on the lecture. Wherever possible, recordings of authentic university lectures will be used. Speaking focuses on the clear pronunciation of common words and phrases and continues the development of English pronunciation patterns of stress and intonation. Students will practice English speaking skills in different settings utilizing a variety of online and interactive tools through classroom activities, debates and presentations.

Credits: 3

IFY 033 - LISTENING AND SPEAKING III

Instruction in this Listening and Speaking III course is designed to help students understand their current abilities to listen to and to speak English and to provide assistance and practices to facilitate development of these skills that will promote success in their studies at the next level. Students will be required to listen to both short and long lectures to practice detecting the speaker’s intonations and attitudes in addition to comprehending details and facts. Students will gain experience listening to multiple native speakers at the same time. Students will have opportunities to practice both short and long extemporaneous and researched speeches to develop their speaking fluency. Students will also practice interpreting, maintaining the floor, and adding speech to another speakers ideas on the spot.

Credits: 3

IFY 041 - GRAMMAR I

This course aims to build students’ confidence in their spoken and written English. This course builds on students’ prior knowledge to reinforce basic language skills and improve the fluency and accuracy of intermediate-level students.

Credits: 3

IFY 042 - GRAMMAR II

The instruction in Grammar II is designed to build students’ abilities to speak and write English effectively. This course builds on students’ prior knowledge to reinforce basic language skills and improve the fluency and accuracy of high intermediate-level students. High-interest, academic content area reading lessons, as well as spoken and written assignments keep students involved as they learn and practice the various parts of speech and sentence construction.

Credits: 3

IFY 043 - GRAMMAR III

This course aims to build students’ capabilities in their spoken and written English. This course builds on students’ prior knowledge to reinforce language skills and improve the fluency and accuracy of advanced-level students.

Credits: 3

IFY 051 - COLLEGE LIFE I

Instruction in the College Life I course is designed to familiarize students with the services and resources of Roosevelt University and to assist students in developing the study skills and self-management strategies that will facilitate academic success and person growth. The primary goal of the course is to facilitate each student’s academic success and personal growth by presenting study and self-management skills, and by exploring issues and ideas of importance in the college experience. The course combines classroom lectures, activities, and discussions with class visits to campus agencies for orientation and visits by representatives of campus departments.

Credits: 3

IFY 071 - CRITICAL THINKING I

Instruction in this Critical Thinking I course is designed to help students understand the processes and to develop the necessary skills to interpret, analyze and evaluate ideas and arguments. These skills will be developed by teaching them explicitly and directly rather than indirectly. Students will be exposed to analyzing reasoning and to developing their own arguments. A requirement will be imposed on all students to keep a critical thinking notebook to help them track their progress by answering questions as they are set. Because critical thinking involves attempting to change the ways in which people think, students will be given comprehensive practice and feedback.

Credits: 3

IFY 072 - CRITICAL THINKING II

This course continues the objectives achieved in Critical Thinking I by exploring the process of thinking critically and further guiding international students in thinking more clearly, insightfully and effectively. This course will explore the field of critical thinking from an international perspective, explaining how various cultures define such concepts as effective thinking, problem solving, logical reasoning, issue analysis, and knowledge. Students will develop a rich and culturally diverse understanding of the critical thinking process. They will enhance their own critical thinking abilities by analyzing varied cultural perspectives on events in the world around them. Because the aim of critical thinking is to deepen your skills at everyday kinds of reasoning, the primary learning goals for this course are focused on expanding your capabilities for: • Understanding the logical structures of the primary classes of arguments used in the everyday contexts of life; • Analyzing arguments within these classes for their strengths and weaknesses; • Recognizing common fallacies in reasoning, including reasoning involving determining probabilities; • Constructing good arguments using principles of informal reasoning; • Reflecting on your own thinking practices; and • Listening to the arguments of others without prejudging these arguments in advance.

Credits: 3