Term (Contact hours) ................. WINTER & SPRING (33 hours each)
Class & Section ........................... READING COMPREHENSION  SA
Instructor ....................................... TBA
Meeting day & Time ..................... Saturdays, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Materials used in this course will be high interest selections such as short essays, newspaper & magazine articles, general stories, etc. The instructor will help students analyze, synthesize and interpret general reading materials including some with abstract concepts; increase speed and comprehension in silent reading; develop the skill to deduce the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary from context; read for enjoyment; and at the same time gain new vocabulary words and sentence structures.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
After a few quarters of this course, you should be able to:
Comprehension
1. Skim for main ideas.
2. Scan for detail.
3. Relate the main idea to supporting details.
4. Summarize and discuss what you have read with direct references to text.
5. Indicate through reading aloud that you understand how words in a passage should be grouped in relation to meaning.

Vocabulary
1. Use context to identify meaning of words.
2. Pronounce familiar words in context correctly when reading aloud.
3. Identify the part of speech of an unfamiliar word by deducing to its function and position in the sentence.

Speed
1. Read aloud at a rhythm and with an intonation pattern understandable to a native speaker of Japanese.

Study Skills
1. Use a Japanese-English dictionary to find definitions and pronunciation.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
1. Handouts prepared by the instructor. (3rd, 4th, 5th, and/or 6th grade KOKUGO readings), newspaper articles (SHASETSU, etc.), Japanese Language Proficiency Tests--2nd & 3rd Levels, and other.
2. Online
a) Read Japanese newspapers
https://sokogakuen.org/newspapers.html
b) Practice Japanese
http://www.manythings.org/japanese/news
c) Dictionary. Japapese<=>English
http://jisho.org
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html
http://www.alc.co.jp
d) Other
http://www.j-texts.com/index.html
http://www.aozora.gr.jp
http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~tera

EVALUATION
1. One final exam (2.5 hours).
2. Upon successful completion (80% or higher attendance rate and 80% or higher final exam score) of the course, a STUDENT PROGRESS REPORT will be written if requested at the time you take the final exam.
3. Your final exam score (%) and attendance (%) will be kept in a digitized form @STUDENT GRADES AND INFORMATION REPOSITORY.

PROCEDURES
# READING PROCEDURE:
1. Prereading.
2. 1st reading (information gathering reading).
3. Comprehension questions.
4. Brief discussion of items causing difficulty.
5. 2nd reading (thorough reading, focusing on understanding and interpreting the material).
6. Analysis of ideas.
7. 3rd reading.
8. Comprehensive exercises such as grammar, style, antonyms, word forms, punctuation (if necessary).
9. Discussion (if necessary).

10. 2-minute presentations from one of the readings of the previous session.

From time to time students will also develop SCANNING and SKIMMING skills through necessary scanning and skimming exercises using appropriate material.

ADDITIONAL COURSE WORK / HOMEWORK:
1. Each week students may receive reading homework assignments.
2. Each week each student prepares for his or her 2-minute presentation.

*Weekly assignments on specific dates may be available from your instructor in class.

PLEASE NOTE
1. You are expected to listen to the audio cassette tapes, memorize new words, read the grammar explanation in the textbook and to complete all assignments before coming to class.
2. From time to time short quizzes may be given in class.
3. Please be on time for class; otherwise, you interrupt the lesson for others. Regular class attendance and participation are essential for language learning.
4. Excessive absences (more than 3 class meetings) may be cause for repetition of the course.
5. The results of your final exam (%) and attendance (%) will be kept in a digitized form @STUDENT GRADES AND INFORMATION REPOSITORY.  Your PROGRESS REPORT will be kept in the Soko Gakuen Records Office, and the Office will release it only upon your request.
6. When you obtain a score of 80% or higher on the final exam, you move up to a higher level class. Soko Gakuen's exit criteria for each class/level are based on the 1987 ACTFL Japanese Language Proficiency Guidelines.