Course Outline of Record

Item	Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date	12/05/2023
Top Code	493084 - English as a Second Language - Writing
Units	4 Total Units
Hours	72 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 72)
Total Outside of Class Hours	0
Course Credit Status	Credit: Non-Degree Applicable (C)
Material Fee	No
Basic Skills	Basic Skills (B)
Repeatable	No
Grading Policy	Standard Letter (S),  Pass/No Pass (B)

Course Description

Formerly: ESL G095. This course is the first course of the ESL Academic Writing sequence for multilingual students who need proficiency in academic English. It is tailored to introduce students to essential academic skills, including reading comprehension, writing proficiency, linguistic mastery, and critical thinking abilities. The primary objective is to equip students with the essential tools required to construct and enhance academic paragraphs effectively, in direct response to prompts closely aligned with the course's reading materials. NOT DEGREE APPLICABLE. Not Transferable.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

1. Course Outcomes
2. Compose a paragraph that demonstrates consistent control of basic verb tenses (i.e., simple present, present progressive, simple past, past continuous, simple future).
3. Compose a paragraph that demonstrates an ability to use coordinating conjunctions and simple subordinating conjunctions.
4. Compose a paragraph that demonstrates an ability to use who, that, which in adjective clauses.

Course Objectives

• 1. Identify how the author uses intent to guide the target audience in an academic text.
• 2. Interpret academic texts by responding to scaffolded reading comprehension questions and activities via blog responses.
• 3. Evaluate how a writer structures and organizes paragraphs and essays in different academic writing genres.
• 4. Apply the writing stages of pre-writing, writing, revising, and editing in various writing tasks.
• 5. Compose a unified, cohesive paragraph controlled by a topic sentence and supported by main points and details.
• 6. Demonstrate revision techniques to improve coherence and unity in writing.
• 7. Employ grammar rules when self-editing to develop awareness of common language errors.
• 8. Apply discourse patterns commonly used in an American academic institution.

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Lecture Content

The Writing Process The writing process such as pre-writing, writing, revising, and editing. Pre-writing techniques to gather ideas such as brainstorming, clustering, outlining, and freewriting. Pre-writing techniques to organize a paragraph that have a clear beginning, middle and end. Pre-writing techniques to organize a paragraph with a well-developed topic sentence and unity. Basic Paragraph Structure Topic sentences with a clear topic and controlling idea that guides the paragraph. Topic sentences that contain a developed thesis that supports a claim. Main ideas and effective supporting details that support the topic sentence. Supporting details that have a logical grouping of ideas that helps support the topic sentence. Concluding sentence that summarizes the main idea and brings the writing to a smooth close. Revision/Editing Strategies Techniques to improve lexical and syntactical styles that create coherence and readability in academic writing. Strategies for self-directed revision. Instructor-guided feedback for revision. Awareness of the need to have linguistic accuracy in academic writing. Peer-editing. Standard Formatting Organize and format assignment submissions. Grammar and Language Common syntactic errors and grammatical structures that are used in academic writing. General verb tenses used in academic writing: simple present, simple past, present progressive and future. Verb collocations such as verb + particle + preposition, verb + gerund/infinitive. Word form in context (e.g., benefit, beneficial, beneficiary, beneficiaries, benefited, benefiting, benefits). Complex and compound sentence structures . Simple adjective clauses using who, which, that as subjects. Gerunds and infinitives in subject and object positions. Subject-verb agreement. Parallel structure with simple conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or)

Method(s) of Instruction

• Lecture (02)
• DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
• DE Online Lecture (02X)

Reading Assignments

Short and focused texts as intensive reading practice to identify how the author uses intent to match audience. Readings from the personal narrative to the expository. Reading exercises and scaffolded activities that require students to read critically and determine the writers intent, target audience, and methods of language use.

Writing Assignments

Short-writing assignments that require students to write a well-developed paragraph controlled by a topic sentence and effective supporting details. Essays that require students to have a focused main idea in the introduction paragraph, coherent support from body paragraphs, and relating conclusion. Peer and self-revision writing exercises to improve coherence and unity in writing.

Out-of-class Assignments

Journal and blog writing exercises that illustrate the students self-editing strategies. Take-home essays that illustrate the students ability to apply the stages of the writing process and produce a short, unified essay. Take-home essays that illustrate the students ability to organize an essay with an introduction paragraph, followed by supporting body paragraphs, and a relating concluding paragraph. Take-home essays that illustrate the students ability to produce a paragraph with a clear topic sentence and supported by main points and effective details.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Students will engage in critical analysis and evaluation of peer compositions, leveraging group discussions and reviews to deepen their appreciation of different writing styles and viewpoints. A fundamental component of the curriculum is the cultivation of abstract thinking in writing, where students will express their perspectives in paragraphs, sharpening their logical reasoning and evidence-based argumentation. Emphasis is placed on the application of correct grammatical structures, prioritizing clarity and style over simple rule memorization. Additionally, the course requires students to meticulously edit and revise their work, focusing on enhancing clarity, conciseness, and coherence. This comprehensive approach is designed not only to improve language skills but also to significantly refine students critical thinking abilities in writing.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Methods to comprehensively assess students skills in writing, problem-solving, and practical application include applied performance, such as following directions and note-taking; various presentation formats evaluated by peers, teachers, or external assessors; in-depth projects and reports; a range of test types including fill-in-the-blank, cloze, dictation, and multiple-choice; observational assessments during individual and group activities; cooperative experiences in focus groups and team projects; and the compilation of student work portfolios. This multifaceted assessment strategy ensures a thorough and nuanced understanding of each students abilities and progress. experience (e.g., focus groups, student teams, study groups); portfolio of students work (e.g., completed assignments).

Eligible Disciplines

ESL: Masters degree in TESL, TESOL, applied linguistics with a TESL emphasis, linguistics with a TESL emphasis, English with a TESL emphasis, or education with a TESL emphasis OR bachelors degree in TESL, TESOL, English with a TESL certificate, linguistics with a TESL certificate, applied linguistics with a TESL certificate, or any foreign language with a TESL certificate AND masters degree in linguistics, applied linguistics, English, composition, bilingual/bicultural studies, reading, speech, or any foreign language OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Ruetten, M.K. Developing Composition Skills - Academic Writing and Grammar, 3rd ed. Heinle ELT (latest), 2011 Rationale: (latest) 2. Required Lane, J. Lange, E. Writing Clearly, 3rd ed. Cengage Learning (latest), 2011 Rationale: (latest)