HomeMy WebLinkAboutALP-053Revised Spring 2016
Bergen Community College
Division of Humanities
Department of ESL and World Languages
Departmental Syllabus
ALP 053: American Language II: Writing
Semester and year:
Course and Section Number: (e.g. ALP 053 - xxx)
Meeting Times and Locations:
Instructor:
Office Location:
Phone:
Departmental Secretary: (optional)
Office Hours:
E-mail Address:
Course Description
ALP-053 American Language II: Writing is a course in writing for academic purposes for
intermediate English language learners. This course prepares students for writing in college level
courses by reinforcing and building on the fundamentals of essay structure and organization.
3 lec., 3 non-degree credits . Prerequisite: ALP-043; Pre or Co-requisite: ALP-051/052
Course Texts and/or Other Study Materials:
Longman Academic Writing Series 3: Paragraphs to Essays, (4th ed) Oshima and Hogue.
Pearson.
Student Learning Outcomes
As a result of meeting the requirements in this course students will be able to:
Use the writing process with emphasis on critically reviewing and revising for content,
organization, and grammatical correctness.
Use cause/effect, compare/contrast, and argumentation in essays.
Demonstrate essay organization and development with an introduction and a thesis
statement, topic sentences, supporting ideas, using examples, reasons, facts and cohesive
devices such as transitions and subordinators.
Write a combination of simple, compound, and complex sentences in essays.
Demonstrate competency in using grammatical structures: present perfect, comparative
structures, gerunds and infinitives, and modals.
Use mechanics (punctuation, spelling, format) correctly.
Use vocabulary from the Academic Word List.
Means of Assessment
To determine whether students have achieved course goals, teachers will evaluate:
Portfolios of student writing for each unit showing pre-writing, drafting, revising and
editing
Six to eight essays in-class and homework assignments; at least two (2) 350-word essays
At the end of the course, all students take a course-wide Writing Exit Test. Students will
write one essay in 70 minutes. Students must pass the final exam in order to pass the
class.
Course Content: In order to achieve course outcomes students will:
Employ strategies of pre-writing: brainstorming, bubble diagrams, Venn diagrams or
outlines;
Write well organized and well developed essays with thesis, body and conclusion;
Write basic academic essays using cause/ effect, comparison/contrast, and argumentation
Incorporate ideas from readings in their writing;
Write an effective blend of simple sentences with compound elements, compound and
complex sentences;
Use writing process to write multiple drafts
Use vocabulary that is varied and appropriate for level two.
Special Features of the Course (if any) [to be designated by the instructor]:
E.g. the use of learning technologies in the course (Internet, PowerPoint, Moodle, etc.)
Grading Policy (to be designated by the instructor)
A student’s final grade for the course is based primarily on his/her performance on the required
work for the course (homework, writing assignments, tests), class participation, group work and
on his/her overall mastery of the material covered in the course. Sample grading policy
Homework and Class participation: 20%
In-class essays 50%
Essay assignments 30%
Grade Breakdown: A 90-100
B+ 86-89
B 80-85
C+ 76-79
C 70-75
D 65-69
F 64-below
Attendance Policy: (to be designated by the instructor) Sample:
Students are expected to attend class regularly and punctually. Attendance will be taken at each
class session. If students occasionally arrive late, they should enter quietly, and not disturb the
class. If students miss class, they should find out what they missed. It is probably a good idea
for students to exchange telephone numbers with other students as a way to find out about
missed classes.
Poor attendance will affect a student’s grade. If a student’s absence exceeds one and a half times
the number of weekly meetings, the student’s grade will be lowered by one full letter grade. If a
student is absent excessively, the student can expect to fail the course. Lateness counts, too. Two
late arrivals will equal one absence.
Statement on Accommodations for Disabilities
Bergen Community College aims to create inclusive learning environments where all students
have maximum opportunities for success. Any student who feels he or she may need an
accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Specialized
Services at 201-612-5269 or via email at ossinfo@bergen.edu for assistance.
Student and Faculty Support Services
ELRC (English Language Resource Center) Room E-156 201- 612-5292
http://www.bergen.edu/elrc
Sidney Silverman Library – Reference Desk Room L-226 201-447-7436
http://www.bergen.edu/library
Sample Course Outline & Calendar (to be designated by the instructor)
Note to Students: The following Course Outline and Calendar is tentative and subject to
change, depending upon the progress of the class.
Week(s) Topics
1 Writing Diagnostic; Review Sentence Types: Simple, Compound, Complex
2 Paragraph Structure: Topic Sentence, Support, Conclusion
Writing Process: Pre-writing; Draft; Revising, Editing
3 Paragraph Organization & Development: details, examples, transitions
In-class Writing #1
4 From Paragraph to Essay
5 Essay Structure: Introduction, Thesis, Body, Conclusion
6 & 7 Review – Midterm
In-Class Writing #2
8 & 9 Essay Writing Using Cause/Effect
10 & 11 Essay Writing Using Comparison/Contrast
12 Essay Writing Using Argumentation
In-Class Writing #3
13 Exit Exam
14 Final In-class Writing
15 Conferences