Globalization has affected every aspect of life, particularly higher education. New values and aspirations came to shape learners’ attitudes towards education, exemplified by slender engagement in classes. Algerian EFL students are a good case in point. This urged teachers to make strenuous efforts to create convenient learning environments. Regarding the course of Western civilization, they had to equip themselves with new skills. This paper aims to explore, through the specific experience of the author, the nature of the adjustments made, pending both approaches and educational strategies. To conduct this investigation, the researcher used both a self-assessment and a student questionnaire destined for first-year students. The findings indicate the possibility of creating student-centered classes through the use of different teaching techniques such as outline composition, text analysis, discussion sequences, and summary writing. The paper demonstrates the necessity of constant updating of one’s teaching approaches and strategies. Keywords:   Globalization; higher education; new skills; student-centered classes; Western civilization.

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Writing an appropriate research paper requires evidently the mastery of effective synthesis. This paper intends to highlight students’ hindrances in producing a sound synthesis, particularly weak critical reading and proposes equally outlets for a sturdy comprehension. The motivation is linked with the slenderness of studies addressing critical reading/effective synthesis binary. This will have pedagogical implications regarding the teaching of synthesis. The researchers used purposive sampling with master two didactic students (39 students). Self-assessment of the teaching strategy, corpus analysis, and an eight-item student questionnaire were used. The findings indicated that the major problems surrounding the internalisation of good synthesis were related to the different operations required for critical reading. The paper put into evidence the necessity of integrating the subject of academic writing into the syllabi of Master didactic students, the design of adequate critical reading tasks, and urged equally the necessity of more condensed practice, both in-class and off-class.   Keywords: Critical reading, effective synthesis, paraphrasing, shortness of instruction, master 2 students.