GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION
ENSL B70 Fall 2011
Jeannie Parent
CRN: 75082Class: MW 10:30-12:35, FACE 20
Office Hours: MTWR 8:30-10:00 and BAOffice: FA 70
Email: hone: 395-4543
Course Description
ENSL B70 is a writing course for international andmulti-lingual students (whose first language is NOT English) at the high-intermediate level of English who require grammar and composition skills necessary to take essay exams, improve personal written communication, or prepare for ENSL B60 or ENGL B60. Prerequisites: Placement based on the Bakersfield College English as a Second Language Placement Test, or a minimum grade of “C” in ENSL 80. Hours: (72) 4 lecture.
Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Disabled Student Programs & Services located at Student Services Building, 1st Floor, Counseling Center (661-395-4334), as soon as possible to better ensure such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.
Student Learning Outcomes for ENSL B70
Upon completion of ESL 70, students will be able to:
- Respond to a given topic to write a well-organized paragraph using a topic sentence, relevant details, and a concluding sentence.
- Write grammatically accurate simple, compound, and complex sentences.
- Use verb forms and past and present verb tenses correctly
- Use cohesive devices and sequence ideas logically in a paragraph.
Required Texts:
Focus on Grammar 3, by Fuchs, Bonner, and Westheimer
Chew on This (paperback version), by Eric Schlosser
Longman Dictionary of American English (4th Edition) (recommended) or Oxford American English Dictionary
ENSL B70 Class Pack, Instructor: Jeannie Parent
Required Materials
***** FLASH DRIVE in order to save your work in the language lab
Stapler – work must be stapled!
Blue or black ballpoint pens for in-class paragraph writing
Notebook for vocabulary (unless you use a computer and printer)
Class policies
Homework is due at the beginning of the class period, and will not be accepted late. If you are going to miss a test or quiz, you must notify me the day of the test by phone or email, and the test must be made up within a week. All work due during absences is your responsibility. Find out what is due by emailing me or asking a classmate.
Keep all homework, tests, quizzes, and papers until the semester is over. That way, if there is a grade discrepancy, you have a record. Lost assignments are the students’ responsibility.
Cheating and plagiarism are not allowed and will result in automatic failure of that assignment. This includes cutting and pasting from the internet without quoting and citing the source. It also includes copying words from the book we are using. Plagiarism has become a problem recently with the widespread use of the internet, and I have had to fail more students on assignments than ever before. Don’t become one of those students. Do your own work.
Children are not allowed to be in the classroom during class; therefore, make daycare accommodations when they have holidays when you are in class.
Also, cell phones are very disruptive and must be set to vibrate or turned off during class. Disruptions from ringing phones will not be tolerated.Texting will also not be tolerated. If you persist on texting instead of participating in class, I will ask you to leave and you will be marked absent for the remainder of that class period, just as with any other unacceptable behavior. No ear buds are allowed during class(whether the iPod or iPhone is turned on or off). This is not high school. No one is forcing you to be here. You have enrolled in this class; now bring your mind where your body is. Turn the iPod and cell phone off and leave them in your backpack.
You will be required to log on tothe computer as soon as possible so that you can use the Language Lab when we go as a class. Do this day one by going online or to the library commons; otherwise you will not be able to log on and participate in class when we are in the language lab, nor will you be able to do your online homework, and you will fall behind. Know your BC email logon and password – and don’t forget them! Store them in your phone!
Attendance
Adding or dropping this class is your responsibility. The date for this is published online.
Your success in this class depends greatly on your attendance and participation in this class. If you miss more than eight (8) hours of class, you maybe dropped. In fact, you will be dropped with the 9th hour (the fifth day absent).
It is inconsiderate and disruptive to arrive late or leave early, so please be punctual. Also, do not make counseling or tutoring appointments during class. If tardiness becomes a problem, I will lock the door, and you will not be allowed in the class; your absence will be unexcused.
Course Goal
Your goal and mine is to help you write more proficiently in standard American English so that you can take ENSL B60, ENGL B60, or pass various writing competency tests. All of your assignments will be designed to help you do this. You will improve your vocabulary, reading fluency, your ability to use English grammar to compose sentences and paragraphs, and your skill at revising and proofreading your own writing. By improving these skills, you will become a more independent writer – and reader.
Grading
All assignments, whether at-home or in-class assignments will be graded on a point scale, from 10 point quizzes to 50 point essays and tests. These points will be assigned the following values:
Grammar and vocabulary tests and quizzes20%
In-class practice paragraph writing and revisions30%
Homework and participation30%
Final paragraph20%
90% and above = A
80% - 89% = B
70% - 79% = C
60% - 69% = D
below 60% = F
You MUSTALSO pass the Final Paragraph at the end of the semester in order to pass the class. It is part of the class. However, passing the Final Paragraph does NOT guarantee your passing the class.
The Final Paragraph exam consists of writing two paragraphs on two separate days: one paragraph on a topic in the present tense, and one paragraph on a topic in the past tense. The paragraphs are read by instructors in the ESL department (other than your own).The scores from the two paragraphs are then combined into one score that is given either a passing or failing grade.
Writing
Your main writing assignments will consist of paragraphs, summaries, and responses to various topics in the textbook and tothe book, Chew on This. The paragraphs are very important because they will prepare you for your final written test for this class as well as for other writing competency tests. You will write these both in class and at home, a first draft and a final copy.You will also be required to make grammar corrections on the paragraphs once they are graded and handed back. You will also learn how to write a short essay by the end of the semester. Everything is given a point value; therefore EVERYTHING counts. Do your homework.
Grammar
You will have regular assignments, quizzes, and tests from various chapters inFocus on Grammar 3. Although we will not go over every assignment in the book, you will also be able to use this book as a reference.You will also have regular assignments and quizzes online from the grammar text.
Homework and in-class assignments
Homework and in-class assignments will help you practice and learn concepts. I will collect homework assignments randomly (not every day), so it pays to do your homework consistently. You’ll never know if I’m going to collect it or not. Failure to complete these will affect your learning and your grade.
You will also do in-class writing assignments, or Practice Final Paragraphs (PFPs). After they are graded, you will need to correct the grammar errors and revise them for a second grade. Your first grade will not be changed, but you will learn how to correct grammar and they are graded; however, if you do not make the corrections, you will not get the points available for the revision.
All paragraph and essay writing assignments done at home MUST be typed and double spaced. No at home writing assignments written by hand will be accepted. (This does not apply to grammar exercises in the book.)
Tutoring
I highly recommendthat you seek help at the Writing Center or see a tutor in the Learning Centerat least twice during the first month of the semester. Have the tutor sign the tutoring sheet to prove that you have seen him or her, and return it to me by the end of September.By going twice in the first month, you will know how helpful the tutoring serviceis and will know which tutor you want to work with the rest of the semester. If you wait until the last few weeks, when you realize you are failing, it will be too late.
Please also use the Student Success Lab, where you can practice grammar points on the computer program Plato, and attend Critical Academic Skills (CAS) workshops. All of these services are free and available in the Student Services building.
Conclusion
Please realize that even though you may be verbally fluent, talk like a native speaker, perhaps even wonder why you’re in this class, you will need to study your grammar carefully, learn and apply the rules, and put in a lot of time and effort thinking and paying close attention to your writing. The main reason manypeople (30-40% of the class) oftenfail ENSL B70is because they think they know more than they do, and they are very careless in their writing. Pay attention in class and carefully proofread everything you write before you turn it in.
Finally, KEEP THIS SYLLABUS! It is your contractif you decide to stay in the class.
Important Dates:
- Aug. 22Instruction Begins
- Sep. 2Last day for refunds for semester length classes
- Sep. 5Labor Day Holiday
- Sep. 19Last day to drop from semester length classes without receiving "W" grades
- Oct. 31Last day to withdraw from semester length classes and receive "W" grades
- Nov. 1Last day to file for graduation
- Nov. 11Veterans Day Holiday
- Nov. 24 - Nov. 25Thanksgiving Holidays
- Nov. 28 & 30Final Paragraph Mon and Wed
- Dec. 710am-12pm Class meets (Find out your grade)
- Dec. 9Fall Session Ends