Syllabus

 ESL 091 - (Writing I)

 

Level Coordinators:

Maria Mattaliano – Office E-711 

Tel: 908-965-2354

Email:  Mattaliano@ucc.edu

Mahua De – Office E-718A

Tel: 908-659-5143

E-mail: de@ucc.edu

 

Prerequisites

ESL Placement Test or ESL 045 
Co-requisites
ESL 054,055 ESL 081

 

Course Description

ESL 091 is a full-semester advanced academic writing course that is part of the Level 5 sequence designed for students whose native language is not English.  Admission to the class is by placement testing, successful completion of ESL Level 4, or by teacher recommendation.  The course meets once a week for 3 hours for 15 weeks (including exams).  The purpose of this course is to help students express their ideas fluently and accurately in English and understand the writing process.  It is also the goal of 091 to introduce students to a variety of rhetorical styles  and simple library research. By the end of 091, students will be expected to produce texts in which they use both personal experience and information from other sources to support their ideas.

 

Students who pass this course move on to ESL 092.  Students who need more time at this level are required to repeat this course.

 

Course Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes

·       To write an adequately organized essay with simple syntax that uses some details to support a thesis. It may include occasional errors which obscure meaning

·       To use a variety of prewriting strategies

·       To use a variety of revision strategies

·       To use a variety of editing activities and strategies

·       To demonstrate, in at least one graded essay, the ability to write in response to research sources. 

·       To show developing competency in recognizing and citing one or more print or electronic sources

·       To recognize the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarism

·       To manage email, send an attachment, and write papers in a proper format with word processing

 

Information Literacy

By the conclusion of the semester, all students who pass this course will demonstrate, in at least one graded essay, the ability to write in response to research sources.  Students will show developing competency in evaluating and citing one or more print or electronic sources.

 

Requirements

·       Students will write four (4) multi-draft papers (2 to 3 drafts per paper).  The majority of the papers should be a minimum of 5 paragraphs (1 ˝-2 pages)

·       Students will take in-class graded writing tests/assignments.

·       Students will take  a midterm and final exam.

·       Students will have mid-term conferences with their instructor.

·       Students will write journal entries. These should be graded for the quantity.

·       Students will utilize word processing to compose their essays. (Require only last 2 essays if a student has limited typing skills).

·       Students will begin to utilize email and attachments as part of regular class communication. (Send one or more assignments by email as an attachment.)

·       Students will maintain a writing portfolio.  Students must save their portfolio for use

      in ESL 092.  

    

Suggested:

      Students will take the Holistic Writing Exam at the end of the semester.

 

Student Resources

·       Textbooks (Choose one of the following.)

      Boardman and Frydenberg. (2001). Writing to Communicate. Addison-Wesley.

      Reutten. (1997).  Developing Composition Skills.  Boston, Mass.: Heinle and 

      Heinle

 

Suggested Final Grade Calculation

The final grade should be an average of the students’ total performance in the class:
Essays and other writing assignments                        50%

Midterm, quizzes, and in class-writing                       20%

In class participation, homework and journal             10%

Final Exam                                                                  20%

 

The Holistic Writing Test may be given at the end of the semester.  It is a 30-minute in-class writing that is graded by a committee of ESL faculty members using the ETS TWE guidelines.  The holistic scores serve as a guide for the final grade.  The holistic scores are not used as a sole criteria for passing/failing a student.

 

Suggested Methodologies and Activities

Draft Assignments

Students will write multiple drafts using various rhetorical styles and will incorporate writing process strategies, including prewriting, planning, peer review, revising and final editing.

 Journal Assignments

 ·       Writing an Autobiography:

Each student will write weekly on a subject related to a reading assignment or a   motivational prompt.  The topics will draw from the students’ personal experience making the pieces autobiographical.  The students will see the relationship between the experiences of the characters in the story and their own life experiences.  Also, they will share their writing with a partner or small group. 

Students write topics related to the topics they will be writing about in their   compositions.

 Coordination with Reading and Grammar Classes

Students discuss content and practice skills being covered in reading, listening and grammar.   Students write essays in response to readings or media sources, such as film, TV or music.

 Reading

All suggested writings are based on readings, i.e. articles, essays, short stories, biographies and novels

 Grammar

Grammar is taught in the context of student writing.  Students focus on  their most common errors, such as sentence structure, coordination and subordination and verb tenses.

 

Sample Research Project

 

CALL/ALC