Syllabus

=Introduction:=

The two previous courses of English for Science and Technology aimed at helping the USB students reach a certain linguistic threshold and develop reading sub-skills and strategies. Thus, the governing criteria for organization and sequencing of the //**Reading Selections**// guide was the kind of reading sub-skills presented in **//Focus on Reading//** for the first course, and the rhetorical functions commonly found in scientific texts for the second course. In this third course, the criteria for organization are not types of discourse or rhetorical funcitons but rather subject areas where several different articles present a topic from various points of view, or from diverse disciplines and methodological approaches. The emphasis is, then, more on critical and evaluative reading where opinions and judgements are necessary to analyze the validity of the information presented in the texts on the basis of external or internal criteria. The students will aslo be able to predict possible future consequences according to the type of information offered in the texts; detect the author's bias based on how he/she approaches and presents the subject; summarize information from several texts about the same topic; interpret possible consequences resulting from new information on the same subject -for example, new evidence, rejection of a hypothesis, etc.-, and integrate all the reading skills practiced in the two previous courses. Before the four units in the **//Reading Selections//** guide, you will find and introductory section that deals with **//Research Tools//**. This section is specifically about the kinds of publications available for scientific research and some of their characteristics. It is intended to introduce you to such tools which you will have to use (or are already using) as part of your university studies and in your future career. The **broad topic areas selected** might seem too dissimilar, but are indeed connected. They have been selected to represent the nature of science, the never-ending struggle of man to find answers to the most essential questions in life: its origin and its future fate. The first unit, **//The Universe//**, is based on articles from cosmology and astronomy. In here you will read about the different theores that seek to explain the origin and evolution of the universe. The second, unit, **//Evolution//**, includes articles from astrochemistry, anthropology and biology. This unit takes the reader from deep space to the beginning of life on Earth and how the organisms have evolved to come to be what we are now today. The third unit, **//Artificial Intelligence//**, consists of articles on computer science, philosophical aspects realted to the area and future robotic applications. An overarching theme in these texts is that the future evolution of mankind might be more technological rather than biological and that artificial intelligent machines might be the heirs of our world. Finally, the fourth unit is also linked to the future of mankind: **//Sustainable Development//**, a trend that has gained momentum in recent years as concern about the "health" of our planet grows. This all new unit also includes articles from engineering and biology. Each of the units has readings of a speculative nature which were selected from a viriety of sources -textbooks, journals, reviews and newspapers-, with the purpose of promting a comparative evaluation, particularly of the author's intentions and strategies, as well as of the content.

=Objectives:= =Objetivo general del Programa de Inglés de Primer Año=

Al finalizar ID1-111, ID1-112 y ID1-113, el estudiante estará en capacidad de leer con precisión y fluidez textos de carácter técnico-científico en inglés, utilizando la estrategia mas apropiada para sus propósitos en un momento dado.

=**Objetivos específicos del curso ID1-113**= En esta asignatura se hace énfasis en la argumentación como estructura retórica. Además, los contenidos se organizan por unidades temáticas (por ejemplo, Universo, Evolución, Inteligencia Artificial, Desarrollo Sustentable, entre otros). El propósito específico de este curso se centra en el desarrollo de destrezas de lectura critica.

Este curso contempla la lectura de textos completos y de mayor longitud. La instrucción adopata carácter de lectura restringida (narrow reading), que incluye en cada una de las unidades varios textos sobre un mismo tema con puntos de vista diferentes. El estudiante leerá los textos seleccionados para este curso con la intención de:
 * 1) Identificar las formas de razonamiento y los indicadores léxicos o léxico-gramaticales instituidos a través de las conversaciones discursivas de la argumentación.
 * 2) Diferenciar entre hechos e hipótesis expresadas en un texto.
 * 3) Diferenciar entre hechos y opiniones expresadas en un texto.
 * 4) Resumir la información contenida en diversos textos referentes al mismo tema.
 * 5) Comparar textos con base en criterios como la secuencia en la que se presentan las ideas, la coherencia lógica, la capacidad de persuasión y la vigencia de sus argumentos.
 * 6) Expresar juicios sobre la validez de la información contenida en un texto con base en criterios externos, tales como el desarrollo lógico, la coherencia y la pertinencia de los ejemplos.
 * 7) Expresar juicios sobre la validez de la información contenida en un texto con base en criterios externos, tales como opiniones de autoridades en la materia u otras fuentes que confirmen, contrasten o complementen dicha información.
 * 8) Reveevaluar un determinado texto con base en nueva información sobre el mismo tema.
 * 9) Aproximarse al texto científico especializado a través de diversas fuentes de información y herramientas de investigación.
 * 10) Explorar géneros alternativos y complementarios al discurso científico y tecnológico con el objeto de desarrollar el gusto por la lectura.


 * Taken from:**
 * Reading Selections for ID-1113, April 2011**
 * Departamento de Idiomas**
 * Universidad Simón Bolívar (U.S.B)**
 * Caracas, Venezuela**