EL500: ESL:
Writing I (4 units, 0 credits)
Michelle Morita Cho,
Adjunct Instructor in ESL
Winter 2007 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 will meet twice each week for two-hour sessions. 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.