ESL 53B

Intermediate Writing/Grammar

Instructor: Dr. Jenny SimonOffice: Humanities 321E

E-mail:ffice Hours: MW 12:15-12:45pm, 1:30-2:30pm

Phone Number: (310) 532-3670 x5187 (or you may make an appointment)

Website:

Prerequisite/Preparation: ESL 53A with a minimum grade of C or qualification by assessment.

Schedule and Location: MW7:45-10:15amAdministration 207

Required Books and Materials: (Mostly available in the El Camino College bookstore.)

  1. Oshima, Alice and Ann Hogue. Writing Academic English (4th Edition). New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006.
  2. Folse, Keith S. Clear Grammar 3: Activities for Spoken and Written Communication. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999.
  3. OPTIONAL: Folse, Keith S. et al. Clear Grammar 3 Student Workbook: More Activities for Spoken and Written Communication. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2001.
  4. A notebook, or a binder with loose-leaf paper.
  5. 2 scantron forms and 5standard-sized (large)blue books (testing materials for the midterm, final, and in-class essays).
  6. An English-English dictionary (highly recommended).
  7. A flash drive (highly recommended).

Course Website: General information about ESL 53B may be found at However, the most up-to-date information can be found by signing on to the ETUDES website. Get in the habit of signing onto this website ( ) at least once a week. On this website, I will post important information and announcements that you will need to succeed in this course. Also, you may turn in assignments electronically from here. You will need to find out your El Camino email address and password in order to log in to this website. This will be discussed the first week of class.

Course Description: This intermediate-level academic writing class will cover the basics of writing academic paragraphs and essays, with an emphasis on writing critical reactions to readings. High-intermediate to advanced level grammar and sentence structure topics will also be covered.

Notes on Linked Courses: This course is linked to ESL 52B (Kline, #6632). That means that you must be enrolled in both courses, not just one or the other. This link provides students the opportunity to expand their thinking about what they read and come to a deep understanding of the connection between reading and writing. In addition, you get the advantage of having two instructors to help guide you through the material in both courses. We hope you enjoy your classes!

Course Theme: The theme for this course is “Power and Corruption: Interpreting Our World.” From the texts you will read about powerful and/or corrupt groups, we will be writing about and discussing how to recognize corruption, how to guard against it in our daily lives, and how to improve our world even in the face of such factors.

Course Objectives:

By the end of the semester, "[t]he student will be able to:

  1. demonstrate comprehension of lengthy readings by summarizing, interpreting, and reacting—in writing—to the content of the material read,
  2. compose a unified, coherent essay that develops a clear thesis supported by multiple paragraphs related to a text and personal experience,
  3. identify and describe development problems in self-revision and peer revision of initial drafts,
  4. select from a choice of prompts and compose an informal timed essay, and
  5. identify and describe grammar problems in self-editing and peer-editing of initial drafts,
  6. construct a warning checklist of personal grammar trouble spots drawn from the individual’s compositions” (Course outline for ESL 53B).

Course Requirements:

Homework: Homework will be assigned for every class, and students are expected to do all homework. Homework provides students with practice that is necessary to succeed and learn in this class. Not all homework assignments will be given credit, but the instructor will frequently check off homework. The instructor will not review all the homework exercises, but students will be given an opportunity in each class to discuss and ask questions about the homework. Very often, students will be expected to check their answers on their own outside of class.

Quizzes: There will be frequent quizzes, mostly based on the grammar and sentence structure lessons. Quizzes provide students with the opportunity to test their knowledge about lessons learned in class and provide invaluable practice for the two big tests during the semester.

Tests: There will be a midterm and a final exam. Both exams will have a grammar/sentence structure section and a writing section.

Writing Assignments: Writing assignments are the most important part of the course and will be worth 60% of your grade. Most of your grade for the writing assignments will be based on the final product, but there will often be several supporting assignments (e.g. brainstorm notes, outlines, etc.) that will also be included in this grade.

Class Participation: While you will not get a grade in “class participation,” participating productively in class will determine your success in the class. If you are often absent, or are not an active or productive participant in class, your grade will suffer because you will miss either important information or necessary practice needed to succeed. Therefore, it is very important to come to class and be active.

Grading:

Writing Assignments60%

Paragraph Assignment2%

Group Essay Assignment3%

Essay #17%

Essay #1 Rewrite3%

Essay #2 (in-class)10%

Essay #310%

Essay #4 (Research paper)15%

Essay #5 (in-class)10%

Tests25%

Midterm10%

Final15%

Quizzes10%

Homework5%

Course Policies:

Absences: Please keep your absences to a minimum. According to school policy, you are allowed to miss 10% of classes without penalty. For this class, that means you may miss four classes; after four absences, you will need to come speak to the instructor about staying enrolled in the class. After fourconsecutive absences, you may come back and find out that you have been dropped—don’t let that happen to you!

Tardiness: Please come on time to class. It is extremely disrespectful, both to the instructor and to the other students, to walk in late to class. If it is a problem for you to come to class on time, you may need to reconsider staying enrolled in the class. The instructor may speak to you privately at some point if you are frequently late to class.

Late Work: Late work will not be accepted—no exceptions! If you hand in a late assignment, expect your grade to be lowered. If you are absent, and there is a writing assignment due on that day, you will need to make arrangements so that your assignment gets to me on that day (yes, I accept emailed assignments).

Making Up Tests and Quizzes: You will not be allowed to make up quizzes. That is, if you are absent on the day of a quiz, you will not be allowed to take the quiz for credit after you come back. However, I will drop one quiz grade at the end of the semester, so do not worry if you miss one quiz during the semester. You may make up tests—but only if you have a valid excuse for missing the test. Having to work or going on vacation are not valid excuses. Being sick or getting in a car accident are valid excuses—please notify me immediately and bring written proof that your absence was caused by circumstances beyond your control, and I will allow you to make up the test.

Academic Honesty/Plagiarism: Please do not copy the work of others and present it as your own. If you are found cheating, you will automatically receive a “0” on the assignment and you will not be able to do it over for credit.

Grading Scale:

An “A” paper has (many of) the following characteristics:

  • It demonstrates original thought and effort.
  • It has a clear purpose or thesis statement.
  • It is well-organized (i.e. the paragraphs are logically organized, and there are good transitions between ideas.)
  • It has good development.
  • It responds to the topic.
  • It demonstrates good control of introductory and concluding elements.
  • It has very few word choice and grammar errors.
  • It was turned in on time.
  • It follows all the requirements of the assignment.

A “B” paper has (many of) the following characteristics:

  • It might not demonstrate as much thought/effort as the A paper. However, it must demonstrate more than adequate attention to the requirements of the assignment.
  • It has a clear purpose/thesis statement – but perhaps it isn’t as clear as it could be.
  • It demonstrates a fair amount of effort in the organization of paragraphs in relation to one another, and a fair amount of effort in using transitions.
  • It has good development.
  • It responds to the topic.
  • It demonstrates adequate control of introductory and concluding elements.
  • It has some word choice and grammar errors.
  • It was turned in on time.
  • It follows all the requirements of the assignment (but may be up to 1/3 of a page short).

A “C” paper has (many of) the following characteristics:

  • It demonstrates a fair amout of effort. – otherwise, it wouldn’t pass.
  • It has a muddled purpose/thesis statement.
  • It demonstrates fair effort in the organization of paragraphs in relation to one another, and a fair amount of effort in using transitions.
  • It has adequate development, but could definitely use more.
  • It responds to the topic.
  • It demonstrates fair control of introductory and concluding elements.
  • It has many word choice and grammar errors.
  • It was turned in no more than one day late (but only if it has all the characteristics of an “A” paper).
  • In other words, a “C” paper is a passing paper, but clearly needs more work.
  • It follows all the requirements of the assignment (but may be up to 2/3 of a page short).

A “D” paper has many of the following characteristics:

  • It demonstrates little to no effort.
  • It has a muddled purpose/thesis statement.
  • It demonstrates little to no effort in the organization of paragraphs in relation to one another, and little to no effort in using transitions.
  • It has poor development.
  • It doesn’t adequately respond to the topic.
  • It demonstrates poor control of introductory and concluding elements.
  • It has so many word choice and grammar errors that it is almost unreadable.
  • It was turned in no more than one day late (but only if it has all the characteristics of an “B” paper).
  • It may not follow all the requirements of the assignment.

An “F” paper has many of the following characteristics:

  • It was not turned in at all.
  • It does not respond at all to the topic at hand.
  • It is an inadequate length (e.g. only one page when the assignment requires three).
  • It was plagiarized.

Important Dates:

Washington’s Day HolidayMon., Feb. 16

Last day to add the class; last day to drop and be eligible for a Fri., Feb. 27

refund of enrollment fee

Last day to drop without notation ("W") on permanent record Fri., March 6

Daylight Savings Time begins—don’t forget to change your clocks! Sun., March 8

(One hour forward)

Spring BreakMon., April 13-Fri., April 17

Last day to drop with a "W" Fri., May 8

Memorial Day HolidayMon., May 25

Last day of semesterFri., June 12

ESL 53B1Syllabus

SimonSpring ‘09

Class Schedule (Weeks 1-8):

Note: This schedule may change

CG3=Clear Grammar 3

WAE=Writing Academic English

Week / Day / Date / In-Class Activities / Current Projects / Homework
Week 1: / M / Feb. 16 / PRESIDENT’S DAY—NO CLASS
W / Feb. 18 / Introduction to the class; diagnostic grammar test / Buy books and materials;doCG3, unit 1, ex. 1-8 (pgs. 1-7), correct your answers
Notes: ______
______
Week 2: / M / Feb. 23 / Counselor visit; discuss paragraph structure (WAE, Ch. 1), discuss unity and coherence (WAE, Ch. 2) / Finish paragraph exercises; do CG3, unit 1, ex. 10-15 (pgs. 8-13), correct your answers
Notes: ______
______
W / Feb. 25 / In-class paragraph; discuss simple and compound sentences (WAE, Ch. 10); start discussing phrasal verbs (CG3, unit 2) / In WAE, finish ex. 3, 4, 5, pgs. 167-168
Notes: ______
______
Week 3: / M / Mar. 2 / Finish simple and compound sentences, start discussing essay structure (WAE, Ch. 4); continue discussing phrasal verbs (CG3, Unit 2) / Study for quiz #1 (phrasal verbs)
Notes: ______
______
W / Mar. 4 / Discuss complex and compound-complex sentences (WAE, Ch. 10); work on group essay / Group essay; study for quiz #1 (phrasal verbs)
Notes: ______
______
Week 4: / M / Mar. 9 / Quiz #1 (phrasal verbs); continue complex and compound-complex sentences; finish up group essay / Group essay
Notes: ______
______
W / Mar. 11 / Group Essay due; start discussing process essays (WAE, Ch. 5); essay #1 assignment; discuss past progressive tense (CG3, unit 3) / Study for quiz #2 (sentence types); work on essay #1
Notes: ______
______
Week 5: / M / Mar. 16 / Quiz #2 (sentence types); Continue working on process essay, essay #1; finish past progressive, start present perfect verbs (CG3, units 3, 4) / Work on essay #1, rough draft due Wed., March 18; study for quiz #3 (past progressive)
Notes: ______
______
W / Mar. 18 / Quiz #3 (past progressive); continue present perfect; work on essay #1 (bring in a draft for peer review) / Work on essay #1
Notes: ______
______
Week 6: / M / Mar. 23 / Essay #1 due; discuss cause/effect essays (WAE, Ch. 6); discuss present perfect, start adverbs (CG3, units 4, 5) / Notes: ______
______
W / Mar. 25 / Quiz #4 (present perfect); discuss cause/effect essays; adverbs; rewriting an essay / Notes: ______
______
Week 7: / M / Mar. 30 / Quiz #5 (adverbs); prepare for essay #2; finish adverbs / Work on essay #1 rewrite; prepare to write essay #2
Notes: ______
______
W / Apr. 1 / Essay #1 rewrite due; Write essay #2 in class / Work on essay #1 rewrite
Notes: ______
______
Week 8: / M / Apr. 6 / Review for midterm exam; take grammar section of midterm / Prepare for writing section of midterm
Notes: ______
______
W / Apr. 8 / MIDTERM EXAM—writing section / Have a wonderful Spring Break!!! 
SPRING BREAK APRIL 13-17

Coupon

This coupon entitles the bearer to turn in one assignment late without penalty (please see bottom of coupon for rules). On the day the assignment is due, clip this coupon, fill in the following information, and turn it in instead of the completed assignment. Then at the next class meeting, turn in the late assignment.

Student Name: ______

Date: ______

Name/Description of Assignment: ______

______

1. This coupon may only be used one time!

2. In order to receive credit for the assignment, the assignment must be turned by the next class period. After the next class period, the normal rules for late assignments apply (i.e. no credit for homework assignment after the next class period, or 10% penalty for each day an essay is turned in late after the next class period).

3. This coupon can only be used for homework assignments or out-of-class essays; it may not be used for quizzes, tests, or in-class essays.

ESL 53B1Syllabus

SimonSpring ‘09