Thus ESL students learn skills that they will need and use throughout their college years. Each of the ten disciplinary units contains three readings on different topics within that discipline. Each reading is accompanied by vocabulary and comprehension questions, as well as an essay prompt that requires students to explore the topic of the reading text in an expository written piece. The use of computers and the Internet is an integral component of my discipline-based ESL course, and so the readings in the area of computer science hold particular interest for my students. The chapter then offers a general view of what may happen if the Millennium Bug is not fixed by the year 2000.
Students begin by reading and discussing the textbook chapter.
They engage in vocabulary building and express their understanding of the text through written answers to open-ended comprehension questions. They must learn how to enter keywords to identify the information they want. In this process, students are also involved in reading English, developing vocabulary, and interpreting linguistic structures used in the printed and electronic texts. As stated previously, the Internet contains a plethora of material on the Year 2000 problem. The Millennium Bug and its potential effects are discussed in web sites from businesses, computer companies, and governments, to name just a few.