This course presents a wide range of authentic reading materials in order to comprehend contrasting viewpoints and to predict and identify main ideas. It also aims to equip students with intensive and extensive reading habits. Critical thinking skills such as synthesizing information or analyzing a problem as well as reacting on the basis of evaluation are fostered. Reading and study skills such as previewing vocabulary and content, analyzing sentence meaning and text organization, understanding and creating graphic organizers, scanning and skimming, and writing summaries are introduced. Students also analyze and produce different types of writings; build up writing skills emphasizing the organization, coherence, and cohesion and such sub-skills as summarizing, outlining, and paraphrasing.