Advanced English Composition (ENGL 0349)

Instructor: Karen Amoani Office phone: 713-718-7750

English 0349       

    Email: [email protected]

Course Syllabus CRN # 77992

 

Texts and Supplies

New Directions, Second Edition, by Peter S. Gardner (required)

English collegiate dictionary (no bi-lingual dictionaries)

Loose-leaf notebook papera flash or thumb drive

One manila folder for a comp portfolioan email address

a highlighter markera red pen

Course Goals

English 0349 helps ESL students prepare for American core academic college courses. Students learn composition (comp) skills for writing in a variety of academic classes, such as in the humanities, social sciences, and business. ENGL 0349 is the exit-level comp class for non-native speakers who plan to continue their education and earn a college degree. After passing this course, students should be ready to take ENGL 1301, freshman comp, and to successfully complete any state-mandated writing assessment designed to measure college readiness, such as THEA.

Specific course objectives include:

• read, comprehend, and be able to discuss academic texts
• write well-written 500-1000 word essays in response to those texts
• use of a variety of rhetorical strategies (exemplification, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, argumentative) to develop a thesis
• apply critical thinking skills in writing
• edit comps for accurate grammar, spelling, and punctuation
• expand vocabulary
• recognize the author’s tone in writing
• demonstrate ability to paraphrase and summarize
• use accurate MLA style guidelines to cite sources in-text
• demonstrate ability to address a wide variety of writing tasks (journals, essays, short-answer and test questions, e-mail)

Compositions/Papers

Students will write 4 comps, a midterm, and a final exam. Much of the class time is arranged as a writing workshop in which students discuss ideas for writing, pre-write, draft, edit, and revise their work with assistance from classmates and the instructor. One or two drafts may be written before the final draft. Only the final draft is graded, and students do not revise further after turning in a comp for a grade. All parts of the comp process are kept in a manila folder, called a portfolio, and turned in with the final draft. Unless otherwise directed, students must type or word-process the final draft (except for the midterm and final exam) in 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and identify their work in the upper left corner of page 1 with the student’s name, date, course number, and comp number.

Journal (may differ depending on the instructor)

Students will use e-mail to submit their journal writing. Each week, the journal assignment is due by 12 noon on the Friday in which the topic is given. The weekly topics are included on the course calendar in italics. Length will vary, but in general, each journal response should be between 100-200 words. No late journals are accepted. If the journal is not posted by 12 noon of the week that it is due, I will not respond to it or count it for a grade. The format for responding to journal topics is as follows, for example:

Journal # 1: In order to avoid intercultural misunderstandings, a visitor to (X country) should know that…

Journal # 4: I agree (or I disagree) that students who are accused of plagiarism should get an F for the assignment.

You must make sure that I understand which topic you have chosen by paraphrasing or quoting from the topic in the topic sentence of your journal response.

Homework (may differ depending on the instructor)

Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings listed on the course calendar. Most reading assignments require students to work on some preliminary vocabulary work and answer either pre-reading questions or post-reading discussion questions that are in the textbook. Except for the Althen article, “American Values and Assumptions,” every student will take a turn at leading a small group by using the following 4-step process to discuss one of the reading assignments on the course calendar:

• identify the author and his/her credentials
• summarize the author’s purpose
• locate the thesis and main supporting details
• coordinate the discussion of “Reflecting on Content” questions
  • See the reading assignment titles on the course calendar.

Quizzes

Quizzes generally cover the material from the reading assignments and vocabulary. These reading comprehension quizzes are unannounced. Therefore, students should be prepared for a quiz on every reading on the course calendar whether or not they are leading a small discussion group.

Final Exam

The final exam consists of an impromptu essay based on the reading assignments in New Directions. This essay will have a persuasive purpose and is used, along with the other work done in this class, to determine whether or not a student is ready to succeed in college credit classes. A student who has a passing class average but who does not pass the final exam with a 70% or higher grade will have his/her portfolio reviewed by the Asst. Department Chair for Academic ESL.

Texas Public Universities, Placement Rules

Beginning in the Fall 2003, the Texas legislature instituted new rules for developmental students called the Texas Success Initiative (TSI). Under TSI rules, most new students must be tested for placement (with THEA, ASSET or COMPASS) and placed into developmental courses if they do not score high enough to demonstrate college readiness. Successful completion of developmental coursework, ENGL 0349 and GUST 0342 (or an appropriate test score), enables students to advance to ENGL 1301.

Classroom Policies (may differ depending on the instructor)

Placement in ENGL 0349 is based on not only test scores and previous coursework but also on the in-class assessment during the first weeks of the term. A student who is not qualified to stay in this class will be notified and advised to take the appropriate class. Students who fail to follow the teacher’s recommendations for course placement will be referred to the college counseling department. Also, students are expected to arrive on time to class. I will mark you absent for any time missed after the class is scheduled to begin. If you return from a break, leave early, or fall asleep in class, I will mark you absent for the time you miss. If you are absent from class, you are responsible for contacting me about the missed work. When students are absent on the day of a scheduled in-class assignment, they must come to the next class prepared to make up the work. A comp or paper that is turned in past the due date will be lowered by 10 points for each class day that it is late. There are no make-up tests or quizzes, but I will drop the lowest test/quiz grade for each student at the end of the semester. NOTE: All cell phones and electronic devices must be turned off and out of sight when the class is in session. If you have an emergency and must have a phone handy, please tell me before class begins.

College Grading System

Students may earn an A, B, C, F, or IP in this class. IP means “In Progress” and is given to the student who makes a good-faith effort to complete the work of the class but is not ready to advance to the next level and could benefit from another semester in 0349. If a student receives an IP, he/she must repeat ENGL 0349. However, if the student is repeating 0349 for the second time and not passing, the final grade will be F.

The W grade is given to the student who exceeds the allotted number of absences (8 hours) before the last day for Administrative Withdrawals. An F is given to students who do not make a good-faith effort to successfully complete work in the class and to those who take 0349 for the second time but fail it. Students are responsible for completing the process to drop a class if they wish to stop attending. See the “Last Day to Withdraw” date in the HCCS Schedule of Classes.

Tutoring and the Language Assistance Center (LAC)

You are encouraged to take advantage of the student services at your campus. Tutors are available to assist you with any reading/writing assignments that you need help with. You may make an appointment in advance or drop in (if no one has an appointment when you arrive). Prepare yourself before you see a tutor to ask specific questions in order to use your time together well. Reminder: the tutor is not your editor and will not write papers for you. In addition, online tutoring is available at: www.askonline.net

Each campus has an LAC where you can use a computer to work on grammar software, online resources, and word processing. No appointment is needed to use an LAC; however, if a teacher schedules a class there while you are visiting the lab, you might be asked to leave. NOTE: Unless otherwise directed by the teacher, students must pay for all copies printed in the LAC. Lab aides manage the labs and are there to assist you with technical questions about the computers.

English 0349 Grading Formula (may differ depending on the instructor)

The final grade is calculated as follows:

Comps 1 & 220%Comps 3 & 430%

Mid-term Essay15%

Final Exam15%Homework, Journal & Quizzes20%

College Grading Scale

90—100A70—79C

80—89B60—69IP or F

Academic Dishonesty

Students are expected to do their own work. The instructor can not help a student unless she knows who is authoring the assignments. Copying another person’s words without giving credit to the source is considered cheating and called “plagiarism.” All other forms of cheating as defined by the Student Handbook are penalized as plagiarism: a grade of 0 is recorded for all forms of academic dishonesty that appear in ANY of the work done in this class. Repeated problems with academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary action, including being asked to leave the class and/or referral to the Academic Dean of Instruction.

English 0349 Course Calendar

June 6 First day of summer semester classes
June 7 Last day to add/drop/swap a class
June 14 Official Date of Record
July 4 Independence Day Holiday
July 26 Last day (by 4:30 p.m.) to drop with a “W”
Aug. 7 Instruction ends
Aug. 8-14 Final Exam Period (See calendar, below)

 

10 weeks Summer Course Calender

Week 1 Diagnostic assessment; introduction to the course; intro. to academic writing

Begin Chp. 1: Read ”American Values and Assumptions,”

by Althen, pp. 5-17

Journal # 1: Establish e-mail contact; introduce yourself

Finish Althen

Journal # 2: Respond to one topic from “Reading Journal,” p. 13

Week 2 Continue Chp. 1: Read “Polite but Thirsty,” by Tang, pp. 36-39

Journal # 3: Read the “Stages of Cultural Adjustment,” p. 38 and identify the stage that you are in now. Which previous stage was hard for you? Explain.

Begin C1D1; see instructor’s handout for the assignment

Complete C1; final draft due______________

Week 3 Begin Chp. 2: Read “How the Web Destroys the Quality of Students’ Research Papers,” by Rothenberg, pp. 68-75

Continue working on the Education chapter by using Web Evaluation Criteria to judge online resources

Journal # 4: choose one sentence (1--10) from “Agreeing and Disagreeing,”

p. 67 and respond to it

Week 4

Read “The Teacher Who Changed My Life,” by Gage, pp. 88-92

Begin C2D1; see instructor’s handout for the assignment

Journal # 5: Who will be the subject of your C2? Why have you chosen this person?In-class

In class Midterm Essay

Week 5 Complete C2; final draft due _____________

Begin Chp. 4: Read “Sex Roles,” by McCubbin and Dahl,

pp. 189-195

Week 6 Journal # 6: Respond to topic # 1 under “Reading Journal,” p. 195

Continue Chp. 4: Read “Sex, Sighs, and Conversation…,” by Tannen, pp. 211-21

Journal # 7: Respond to question # 1 under “Reflecting on Content,” p. 214

Complete C3; final draft due _______________

Week 7 Begin Chp. 5: Read “Our Schedules, Our Selves,” by Walljasper,

pp. 260-266

Journal # 8: Respond to one topic from “Reading Journal,” p. 263

Continue Chp. 5: Read “Los Pobres,” by Rodriguez, pp. 274-277

Begin C4D1; see instructor’s handout for the assignment

Journal # 9: choose one sentence (1--10) from “Agreeing and Disagreeing,”

p. 259 and respond to it

Week 8 Complete C4; final draft due _______________

Begin Chp. 3: Read “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising,” by McClintock, pp. 158-168

Journal # 10: Describe one advertisement (from any kind of media) that EITHER attracts you OR offends you. Explain your reaction.

Week 9 Review and practice writing strategies for the Final Exam

Week 10 Final Exam: ____________________