READING BRAINWAVES 2 TEACHAR

To the TeachernnThis Reading book is for high beginning students of English as a foreignnnlanguage. It contains 5 units, each containing 4 lessons, featuring not longernnthan one page reading texts on topics of high interest to university studentsnnin Saudi Arabia. The book has been designed with great care taking accountnnof cultural sensitivity.nnThe rationale of this book is that University students in Saudi Arabiannneed to improve their communicative competence for the purposes not onlynnof participating effectively in tutorials, seminars and teacher-led classes,nnbut also of survival within the system professionally. Therefore, each of thenn5 thematic units in this book contains readings which introduce students tonntheir immediate academic environment.nnIn the first unit, students are introduced to resources commonly found innnuniversities. These lessons guide students in dealing with issues such asnnuniversity registration, using the library and building awareness of thenndifferent academic and support departments in universities. The second unitnncarries on with university resources. In the first lesson of this unit studentsnnare guided in the process of using such resources. The unit then promptlynnshifts to content subjects that university students study in theirnnOrientation Programme –i.e. Mathematics and Computing. This part of thennsecond unit is designed to serve Preparatory Year students by helping themnngrasp basic principles in mathematics and computing. Therefore, it can bennstated that this unit addresses a specific purpose which is acquaintingnnstudents with their content subject areas through specific reading textsnnand their accompanying activities.nnUnit three goes into more detail about these two subject areas bynnproviding reading texts related to these areas. The activities howevernntarget students’ understanding of the language forms used in these areasnnwithout heavily relying on the jargon associated with these topics. Unit fournncontains lessons which support students’ understanding of mathematicalnnlanguage and analysis. The approach however emphasises linguistic andnncommunicative tasks which test students’ understanding of the readings.nnThis is done through the introduction of activities which require students tonninteract with the readings and infer meanings to support theirnncomprehension. Unit five however includes a variety of readings which arennnot entirely linked to content subject areas University Preparatory Yearnnviinnstudents take in their first year. This unit features selected readings whichnnaim at broadening students’ understanding of scientific processes and somennpatterns of social behaviour in Middle Eastern societies.nnThis Reading book provides the students with intellectually stimulatingnnreadings which are not far beyond their understanding. The focus in thennentire book is on strategies that make reading easier for the students. Tonnthis end, both vocabulary and grammar have been carefully controlled to bennat the students’ level of comprehension. Throughout the book students arennexposed to limited vocabulary items which are continuously recycled tonnenable them to improve rapidly. High frequency vocabulary has been recyclednnthroughout the units of the book to give students the opportunity to see newnnvocabulary many times and in a variety of contexts.nnThe tasks that students are required to perform are not too exigent. It isnnhoped that students will move through the units of this book with a growingnnsense of confidence and achievement as they discover that they can findnnmain ideas, guess meaning from context, make inferences, recognise topics,nnand understand the vocabulary used. In addition, some of the pre-readingnnactivities allow students to practice dictionary skills in an attempt to fosternnlearning independence through self-directed learning activities.