ESOL. 0354, ADVANCED E.S.L. COMPOSITION

"A continuation of ESOL 0351.  This course concentrates on elements of organization, research methods, rhetoric, and sophisticated language use.  Students are required to produce well-ordered, well-substantiated, multi-paragraphed essays containing thesis statements and topic sentences.".

A satisfactory score on the CELSA or successful completion of  ESOL 0351

ESOL 0354, Advanced Composition, seeks to prepare students for college composition courses and academic writing in general by accomplishing the following objectives:

•    Strengthening students' awareness of the basic notions of paragraph development, particularly the role of the topic sentence and the internal logical development of the paragraph.

•    Introducing to students the basic principles of the multi-paragraph composition, focusing especially on the role of the introductory and concluding paragraphs, drafting an effective thesis statement,, and organizing the composition according to a clear logical pattern.

•    Honing students' sentence combination skills, especially in the area of the strategy and techniques of subordination within complex sentences.

•    Increasing student awareness of the nature of the writing process, especially in the area of effective topic construction and in the necessity and techniques of revision and editing.

Not available

•    Writing Academic English , Oshima (Addison-Wesley)
•    Longman Dictionary of American English (Longman) - optional

One of the five instructional hours per week is a computer lab hour in which students work on editing essays utilizing a word processor, or on other writing projects as directed by the teacher.

Students who require reasonable accommodations for disabilities are encouraged to report to Disability Counselor to make necessary arrangements.  Faculty are only authorized to provide accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office.

Any form of copying, cheating, or plagiarism will result in a 0 for the assignment.  See the HCCS Student Handbook. 

After taking ESOL 0354, Advanced Composition, the student should:

1. Be able to write a well-organized, substantially fluent and grammatical essay of between 300-500 words;
2. Be able to choose a topic and write an appropriately limited thesis statement about it;
   
3. Exhibit familiarity with the following modes of development of a thesis in academic writing: process description, narration, classification, comparison/contrast, cause & effect.
   
4. Be able to write a concise, accurate outline of his/her essay;
   
5. Exhibit familiarity with the main stages of the composing process: pre-writing; composing; revising; proofreading.
   
6. Exhibit proficiency in logical devices and coherence markers, including connecting words such as conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs and prepositions;
   
7. Be able to detect and correct intra- and inter-sentential errors in their writing, and assist others to do so in a peer revision process.
   
8. Exhibit familiarity with basic rules of capitalization, punctuation and proper academic essay format.
   
   SUGGESTED GRADE PERCENTAGES
      

   In-class compositions	40%
   Daily Work	15%
   Journal	10%
   Mid-term Exam	15%
   Final Exam	20%
   Total:	100%

A written diagnostic test is given on the first day of the semester to confirm students' placement into ESOL 0354.  Students in ESOL 0354 will write at least 6 graded compositions in class:  

•    2 in-class paragraphs (175-300 words)
•    1 mid-term composition
•    2 in-class multi-paragraph essays (300 - 500 words)
•    1 final composition

Students are required to revise and rewrite their in-class compositions (excluding the midterm and final compositions).  It is up to the teacher whether to use the original draft or rewrite as the basis for the grade of each composition, but teachers should offer sufficient incentive to encourage students to take the revision process seriously.

Students should also be made to keep a journal which will be inspected regularly by teachers.  How this journal is assessed will be up to the teacher, but teachers are generally not expected to correct and grade each entry.