MCCCD Program Description

Basic Writing Skills for English Language Learners

Course: ESL087

First Term: 2010 Fall

Lecture 3 Credit(s) 3 Period(s) 3 Load
Subject Type: Academic
Load Formula: S

Description: Emphasis on basic writing skills using Standard English in sentences and short paragraphs incorporating correct, clear, and idiomatic English in preparation for college-level composition. Establish effective writing strategies through six or more writing projects.

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. Describe the contextual nature of writing, including the importance of circumstance, purpose, topic, audience and writer. (I) 2. Organize writing to support a central idea through unity, coherence, and logical development. (I, II, III, IV) 3. Use conventions in writing complete sentences, using appropriate grammar, and mechanics with special attention to verbs, word order, prepositions, and articles. (II, IV) 4. Use conventions in writing, including consistent voice, tone, and diction. (II, IV) 5. Recognize effective and appropriate ideas. (II, III) 6. Use combining methods of coordination and subordination in idiomatic English to craft a variety of sentence types. (II, IV) 7. Recognize and implement steps in the writing process for sentence and paragraph projects, including prewriting, drafting, and editing for unity, coherence, grammar, and idiomatic expressions. (I, II, IV) 8. Use feedback obtained from peer review, instructor comments and/or other resources to revise writing. (II) 9. Assess one`s own writing strengths and identify strategies for improvement through instructor conference, portfolio review, written evaluation, and/or other methods. (II) 10. Generate, format, edit, and deliver writing using appropriate technology. (II, IV)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. Describing Rhetorical Context A. Circumstance B. Purpose C. Topic D. Audience E. Writer II. Establishing Effective Processes A. Invention B. Drafting C. Feedback D. Revision E. Presentation III. Thinking, Reading and Writing Effectively A. Reading for understanding B. Reading for exemplification C. Writing to communicate IV. Recognizing Conventions A. Format B. Structure C. Mechanics D. Grammar 1. Complete sentences a. Using parts of speech b. Using connective words and structures c. Avoiding fragments and fused sentences 2. Agreement and accurate expression a. Subjects, verbs, pronouns b. Verb tense, mode, voice (1). Past, present, future (2). Modals of probability, possibility, ability, advice, request (3). Passive and active voice c. Avoiding shifts in time, person, and voice d. Correct use of prepositions and phrasal verbs 3. Sentence variety and combining a. Simple b. Compound c. Complex d. Coordinates e. Subordinates f. Correlatives E. Punctuation and capitalization 1. End marks 2. Commas, colons, apostrophes, dashes, ellipses, parentheses, semi-colons 3. Capital letters F. Spelling 1. Common American English spelling patterns 2. Commonly confused words 3. Words with silent letters 4. Frequently misspelled words G. Problem areas in sentence structure 1. Misplaced and dangling modifiers 2. Parallelism

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: 4/27/2010

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.