Bunker Hill Community College

ESL 079 ACADEMIC WRITING II w/(RWGXC)

w/reading, writing, and grammar across the curriculum

This low intermediate course focuses on the fundamentals of sentence structure and paragraph development. Students will be asked to write paragraphs from personal experience and from readings. Grammar is taught in the context of the readings and student generated writing. This course must be completed with a “C” grade or better in order to take ESL 089.

GOAL
Upon completion of this course students will be able to write paragraphs from personal experience and in response to readings.

OBJECTIVES
I. Personal Writing

1. write in journal at least once a week

2. write paragraphs in class and at home in response to simple prompts

3. write from general to specific, providing details in paragraph form

4. write paragraphs with a topic sentences and controlling idea

5. write simple and compound sentences with correct word order

6. write paragraphs easily understood by native readers of English

7. support topic sentences with relevant details

II. Responding to readings

A. Prior to or after class discussions, students will be assigned a reading passage of 350-500 words related to a writing topic. Over the course of the semester, the length and difficulty of the reading passages should increase in order to challenge the students’ levels of academic literacy. In class activities and homework assignments over the course of the semester, students will repeatedly:

1. demonstrate comprehension by responding in writing to reading passages of 350-500 words

2. relate to the ideas of a reading passage in a paragraph, cite source

3. analyze patterns of organization

4. analyze rhetorical modes

5. demonstrate some critical thinking in written responses to writing prompts designed to elicit opinion of the topic

6. identify topics and topic sentences in readings

III. Writing Process

A. After reading articles on topics related to class discussions, students are expected to write summaries and/or personal reactions to the readings. After class discussions, students may write summaries of the discussion and/or reactions to the topic. In class activities and homework assignments over the course of the semester, students will demonstrate writing proficiency by doing the following:

1. show improvement in using the five steps of the writing process: brainstorming, organizing, writing, revising, editing

2. write at least 3 drafts of each composition

3. practice peer evaluation of drafts

4. practice at least four of the following rhetorical modes: narrative, process, comparison, expository, and/or comparison.

5. write at least a paragraph in response to 2-4 in-class writing assignments

6. score at least 3.6 on the REEP rubric on an in class writing assignment by semester’s end

7. reflect upon personal writing process, revisions, and editing

IV. GRAMMAR/EDITING OBJECTIVES

In the context of the class discussions, readings, and student-generated writing, students will practice or review the following structures:

1. singular and plural forms of nouns

2. simple quotations

3. contrast simple and continuous aspects of present, past, and future tenses

4. placement of adjectives and adverbs

5. all tenses of use to

6. word order: Subject-Verb-Object-Place-Time

7. editing the errors in drafts

8. parts of speech

9. definite/indefinite articles

10. spelling and punctuation

IV. Sentence/paragraph/essay production

1. write simple and compound sentences with correct word order and subject/verb agreement.

2. write compound sentences using coordinating conjunctions: For, and, Nor, but, or, yet, so.

3. distinguish between independent/dependent clauses, and types of clauses: adjective, adverb, and noun

4. use commas, periods, capitalization correctly

5. use connectors: moreover, however, therefore.

6. use paragraph form: topic sentence with controlling idea, adding secondary support to main support, using transitional signals, and a conclusion

7. recognize run on’s and fragments

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS

1. Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs. Folse, Muchmore-Vokoun, Solomon. 2002. Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-618-05617-3

2. Writing to Learn. Book 2. Spaventa. McGraw Hill 2001. ISBN 007-230755-2

3. an English dictionary, American Heritage ESL Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin. 1998. ISBN 0-395-873-7

4. Write Ahead 1, Fellag, Longman, ISBN 0-13-027256-6

5. Eye on Editing 1, Cain. Longman, 1997. ISBN 0-201-62132-0

6. First Steps in Academic Writing, Hogue, Longman, ISBN 0-201-83410-3-X

B. RECOMMENDED TEACHING PROCEDURES

1. Students should write paragraphs in class 4-6X over the semester in response to readings assigned as homework.

2. Readings can be above students’ reading range if faculty allow for class time to aid comprehension; otherwise, readings should be within students’ reading range.

3. Students should write frequently and about topics related to discussions and readings.

4. Students should revise and edit at least three drafts of four different writing assignments.

5. In-class writing assignments should be assessed w/the REEP writing Rubric.

C. RECOMMENDED PORTFOLIOS

1. Final portfolio should be 4-6 compositions of at least one paragraph.

2. Each composition should go through at least three drafts.

3. Compositions should be in at least four of the following rhetorical modes: narrative, process, comparison, expository, and/or comparison.

4. Students should have many opportunities to continuously revise and edit their compositions until the final portfolio is due.

5. Students may need a graded mid-term portfolio, which can later be revised for a better grade, to realize the need to re-write, and the benefit of doing so.

D. RECOMMENDED GRADING SCHEME

1. portfolio 25-40%

2. in-class assessments 15-25%

3. journal 15-25%

4. peer evaluations 10-20%

5. attendance and participation 10-20%

E. RECOMMENDED EXIT CRITERIA

1. Complete a portfolio of four to six final drafts, each at least one paragraph long. Each composition should demonstrate competence in writing in a different one of the following rhetorical styles: narrative, process, comparison, expository, and/or comparison.

2. In response to an open-ended question designed to elicit a reaction to a reading, student relates own ideas to those of reading by consistently writing essays in class, which can be independently scored at least 3.6 on the REEP rubric.