EL500:
Writing I (0 credits)
Michelle
Morita, Adjunct Instructor in ESL
Winter 2006 Pasadena
DESCRIPTION:
This Intermediate level writing course is a
practical workshop on how to write one of the most important types of writing
in an American seminary: the academic essay. Students develop basic skills in
the writing process--from prewriting, organization, development, to revision
and editing. In addition, students learn how to construct the three most common
essay formats: expository essay, summary-analysis essay, and
persuasive-argumentative essay. Step by step, students write and read and
rewrite to gain the confidence to do competent academic work, the skills to
write well, and the eye to refine writing. Ultimately, students learn and
practice principles of producing good writing that meet the expectations of an
academic audience in terms of content, form, and language. This 10-week course
prepares students to advance their writing skills from essay formats to longer
(research) papers.
LEARNING
OUTCOMES:
•
Applying
pre-writing strategies to paragraphs and essays
• Developing thorough thesis statements
• Developing and Supporting ideas
• Organizing main and supporting ideas in paragraphs
to essays
• Self-editing grammar errors
• Writing expository essays, summary/analysis essays,
comparison/contrast essays, cause/effect essays, and argumentation essays
• Write and revise paragraphs and essays that explain
a topic, evaluate written material, and argue an opinion about a controversy
• Demonstrate skills in writing essays under timed
“exam” conditions
• Become an informed, independent reader of one’s own
writing, with an ability to improve one’s own writing proficiency
COURSE
FORMAT:
This class adopts a workshop approach to learning.
Thus, students learn through lectures, class discussion, small group work,
mini-conferences between teacher and student, peer activities, and individual
“hands-on” practice in writing. Reading and grammar are addressed in the
context of writing; that is, reading and grammar exercises focus only on those
issues that are directly related to the production of written English. Both “timed”
first drafts and revised, final papers reflect the kinds of writing tasks
common in seminary.
REQUIRED
READING:
Byrd, Patricia and Beverly Benson. Problem/Solution:
A Reference for ESL Writers. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers,
1994.
Reid, Joy M. The Process of Composition. (2nd edition) Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall Regents, 1988.
RECOMMENDED
READING:
Fuchs, Marjorie, and Margaret Bonner. Grammar
Express. White Plains, NY: Longman, 2001.
Reinhart, Susan. Test Your Grammar. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press, 1985.
Core, Deborah. The Seminary Student Writes. St. Louis: Chalice Press,
2000.
An English or bilingual college dictionary.
An English thesaurus.
ASSIGNMENTS:
This noncredit course is “Satisfactory” or “Not
Satisfactory.” The following requirements are designed to strengthen cultural
and English language fluency, particularly reading skills:
1. Class participation and preparation (weekly reading, oral and written
assignments)
2. A minimum of 10 writing assignments.
PREREQUISITES:
None.
RELATIONSHIP
TO CURRICULUM: Meets partial requirements to advance within the ESL Program
FINAL
EXAM: ESL Exit Exam.