Course Syllabus
Course: ESL 0251
Division: Humanities
Department: English/Second Language
Title: Level 1 Writing
Semester Approved: Spring 2021
Five-Year Review Semester: Fall 2025
End Semester: Fall 2026
Catalog Description: This course focuses on the skills of writing in English at the elementary level. The objectives of this course are to help ESL students gain confidence and fluency in writing. Students participate in guided writing activities and creative writing projects.
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 1.5; Lecture: 3; Lab: 0
Prerequisites: Placement in ESL 0251 through the department
Justification: The ESL Department at Snow College houses the intensive ESL program which is accredited through the American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP). The four-level program provides instruction for students at Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 (elementary through exiting levels). ESL 0251 is a core course for Level 1.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be familiar with the American English style of writing. Through journal writing and freewriting activities, they will practice creative and imaginative writing at the sentence level. They will gain a basic understanding of grammatical structures and rhetorical patterns in English. Students will demonstrate the mastery of these skills through completing writing assignments, exercises, quizzes, and tests.
Content:
Through a series of writing tasks, students will learn to respond accurately to questions asked about charts, diagrams and reading passages. They will be introduced to the basics of English writing style, grammatical structures and rhetorical patterns. They will practice writing short answers to questions about reading passages that include culturally and politically diverse topics. By writing daily in a journal and writing short stories, students will improve their writing confidence and develop their writing fluency.
Key Performance Indicators:
The following ranges will be used for the purpose of assessment. In order to pass the course, students must demonstrate a B mastery of course materials. Students who earn a grade below B (85%) will be required to repeat the course.
Attendance and Particpation 10 to 15%
Assignments 25 to 35%
Exercises 15 to 25%
Quizzes 15 to 20%
Tests 20 to 30%
Representative Text and/or Supplies:
Keith S. Folse, April Muchmore-Vokoun, and Elena Vestri Solomon, Great Writing 1, current edition, Cengage Learning.
Pedagogy Statement:
ESL courses consist of students representing diverse cultural, linguistic, and background knowledge which serves as a resource, strength, and benefit. All students are welcomed to share their unique backgrounds and experiences while giving feedback to peers’ work, working in small groups or pairs, contributing to class discussions, or writing short sentences with personal insights. Moreover, various learning needs of all students, regardless of their age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, nationality, race, religion, sexuality, and socioeconomic status are acknowledged and accommodated through uses of various types of teaching methods, learning activities, and modes of evaluation.
Instructional Mediums:
Lecture
Online
Hybrid
Maximum Class Size: 15
Optimum Class Size: 10
