"Academic Skills through Cases in American Studies" is aimed at ESL college students at the Intermediate-high through Advanced levels of language proficiency. It is designed around eight country-specific (U.S.) cases that develop academic skills tested on international exams. The book covers major topics in the areas of academic reading, speaking and writing. Thus, the targeted learning outcome is two-fold: 1) to explore topical issues in American studies and 2) to master key academic skills. The content of the articles in each unit is selected according to the language needs of students majoring in economics, sociology, political science, and the like.The book can be used both as a supplement to a course in American Studies or as a separate curriculum within an academic skills course.

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Introduction......5Unit 1: American Society......6Case: Abercrombie Elite Recruitment......6Reading Skills: Main Ideas and Supporting Details......13Speaking Skills: Discrimination Debate......17Writing Skills: Paragraph Structure and Pre-Writing Strategies......19Unit 2: American Values......22Case: Facebook Raging Transparency......22Reading Skills: Implied Main Ideas and Inferences......29Speaking Skills: Privacy Debate......32Writing Skills: Essay Structure......35Unit 3: Business in the U.S......40Case: Starbucks Monopoly Tactics......40Reading Skills: Transition Signals......47Speaking Skills: Monopoly Debate......51Writing Skills: Patterns of Organization......53Unit 4: Religion in the U.S......55Case: Studying Creationism at Schools......55Reading Skills: Fact and Opinion, Bias......62Speaking Skills: Separation of Church and State Debate......65Writing Skills: Cause and Effect Essays......68Unit 5: American Parties......70Case: The New Tea Party......70Reading Skills: Context Clues and Figures of Speech......77Speaking Skills: Third Party Debate......81Writing Skills: Comparison and Contrast Essays......83Unit 6: American Legislation......86Case: Guns on Campus......86Reading Skills: Purpose and Tone......93Speaking Skills: Right to Bear Arms Debate......97Writing Skills: Argumentative Essays......99Unit 7: Civil Rights in the U.S......102Case: Same-Sex Marriages......102Reading Skills: Interpreting Graphics......109Speaking Skills: Equality Debate......113Writing Skills: Paraphrasing......115Unit 8: Immigration in the U.S......117Case: Anchor Babies......117Reading Skills: Critical Reading......124Speaking Skills: Immigration Debate......127Writing Skills: Summarizing......129Glossary......131Unified Glossary of Topical Vocabulary......131Unified Glossary of Modifiers......136Unified Glossary of Legal Vocabulary......136Unified Glossary of Useful Phrases for Debate......137Unified Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations......138Appendix......140List of American States Abbreviations......140List of Transition Signals......141Essay Check-List......142Acknowledgements......143References......143