Course Syllabus

Course: ENGL 0991

Division: Humanities
Department: English & Philosophy
Title: Beginning Writing

Semester Approved: Summer 2021
Five-Year Review Semester: Spring 2026
End Semester: Spring 2027

Catalog Description: This course is for students who qualify for Student Support Services only and is recommended for students scoring lower than 17 on the English section of the ACT or below 810 on the SAT. The course emphasizes sentence and paragraph construction and reviews grammar, usage, and punctuation. Students respond to written texts and prompts in preparation for ENGL 1010.

Semesters Offered: Fall
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 3; Lecture: 5; Lab: 0

Prerequisites: Qualification through Student Support Services

Justification: ENGL 0991 offers students who might not be quite ready for college writing a chance to develop those skills necessary for success in ENGL 1010, a required course.

General Education Outcomes:
3: A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Students will write effective sentences and paragraphs. The goal is for student writing to reach the level of beginning ENGL 1010 students. Students will demonstrate this reading and writing ability on informal and formal reading and writing exercises.

5: A student who completes the GE curriculum can communicate effectively through writing and speaking. Students will write effective sentences and paragraphs. The goal is for student writing to reach the level of beginning ENGL 1010 students. Students will demonstrate this writing ability on informal and formal reading and writing exercises.


Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will write coherent sentences and paragraphs.  Students will demonstrate these abilities through formal papers and through informal practice writing.

Students will be able to write topic sentences.  Students will demonstrate these abilities through formal papers and through informal practice writing.

Students will recognize and correct simple sentence-level errors.  Students will demonstrate these abilities through formal papers and through informal practice writing.

Students will recognize and correct punctuation errors.  Students will demonstrate these abilities through formal papers and through informal practice writing.

Students will learn to combine sentences effectively to add variety to their writing style.  Students will demonstrate these abilities through formal papers and through informal practice writing.

Students will respond appropriately to written and verbal prompts.  Students will demonstrate these abilities through formal papers and through informal practice writing.


Content:
Students will complete practice writing exercises in and out of class, including sentence combining. Students then learn the characteristics of the English paragraph and practice paragraph construction. Because of the wide range of abilities typically present in this class, each student will be encouraged to work at his or her own pace to master skills.

Both content and instruction will acknowledge and address multiple literacies that reflect diverse linguistic backgrounds. Care should be given to encourage students and not to adopt a deficiency-based assumption about their abilities.

Key Performance Indicators:
Informal writing exercises 20 to 40%

Formal writing exercises 30 to 60%

Participation and reading exercises 10 to 30%


Representative Text and/or Supplies:
Clouse, Barbara F. Conventions and Expectations. New York: Longman, current edition.

Ingalls, Anna, and Dan Moody. Expectations. New York: Longman, current edition.

Bazerman, Charles and Harvy S. Weiner. Writing Skills Handbook. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, current edition.

Bazerman, Charles and Harvy S. Weiner. All of Us: A Multicultural Reading Skills Handbook. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, current edition.

Langon, John, and Janet M. Goldstein. English Brushup. Boston: McGraw Hill, current edition.

Wilson, Paige, and Teresa Ferster Glazier. The Least You Should Know about English. Wadsworth, current edition.


Pedagogy Statement:
As noted in the content section, this course needs to be taught by an affirming, engaged instructor who can work one-on-one and with groups of students. The course design and instruction should make writing relevant, build on the various literacies students already possess, and avoid deficit-based assumptions about writers coming from vernacular and/or nonstandard backgrounds and experience levels.

Metacognition, goal-setting, study skills, and reflection should be embedded in the course so that students can strengthen their college-success skills.

Instructional Mediums:
Lecture

Maximum Class Size: 20
Optimum Class Size: 15