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Course Syllabus

ENGL 0991 Beginning Writing

  • Division: Humanities
  • Department: English & Philosophy
  • Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 3; Lecture: 5; Lab: 0
  • Prerequisites: Qualification through Student Support Services
  • Semesters Offered: Fall
  • Semester Approved: Summer 2021
  • Five-Year Review Semester: Spring 2026
  • End Semester: Spring 2027
  • Optimum Class Size: 15
  • Maximum Class Size: 20

Course 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.

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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

  1. Students will write coherent sentences and paragraphs.
  2. Students will be able to write topic sentences.
  3. Students will recognize and correct simple sentence-level errors.
  4. Students will recognize and correct punctuation errors.
  5. Students will learn to combine sentences effectively to add variety to their writing style.
  6. Students will respond appropriately to written and verbal prompts.

Course 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 and linguistic backgrounds. Care should be given to encourage students and not to adopt a deficiency-based assumption about their abilities.