Course Description

ESL First-Year Writing Sequence (English 1300, 1301, 1302) focuses on the special needs of non-native speakers of English, offering additional practice in reading comprehension, vocabulary development, grammatical accuracy, and conversational and compositional "fluency." The ESL sequence of First-Year Writing aims to provide students with the tools they will need to successfully complete writing assignments required of them during their university coursework. At the beginning of each term, students recommended to take the ESL sequence are given a written assessment to accurately place them in the level most appropriate to their needs. The ultimate goal of ESL First-Year Writing is to bring students’ analytical reading and writing skills in line with the standards expected of their native English-speaking peers.

Students complete assigned papers and projects using the process approach, involving pre-writing activities, revising, and editing. Work on papers is done at home, in class (individually and with peers), and in private consultation with the course instructor. Students are also required to complete regular journal entries to develop writing fluency and accuracy. In general, an interactive student-centered approach is adopted in the classroom to bolster confidence, encourage involvement, and promote a constructive atmosphere of learning. Successful completion of this course requires a grade of C- or above.

ENGL 1302 - Voices of America closely examines three novels concerning different ethnic groups and their experiences in America. Students become skilled in close reading, analysis, and research and learn ways to create effective essays using these skills. Students will write three essays outside of class, three in-class essays, and take weekly reading quizzes.

TEXTS
In addition to Criteria, as required in regular First-Year Writing courses, students will have a course reader that contains essays suitable for generating ESL writing assignments, a college-level writing handbook, and a supplementary ESL grammar handbook for individual work outside of class. Additional materials may be required for certain classes.

INSTRUCTORS
First-Year Writing faculty of the English Department are specially qualified and experienced as instructors of English as a Second Language.

METHOD OF STUDENT EVALUATION
Students’ work will be evaluated as is done with regular First-Year Writing courses, with special attention given to improvement in sentence-level mechanics and vocabulary usage. Graded oral presentations provide students with training essential to their academic success.

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