Course

Essay Composition and Research Papers for Students of English as a Second Language (combined course)

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
English as a Second Language
Course Code
EASL 0474
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
20
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
This course with its corequisite EASL 0464 is the final in a series of combined reading and writing courses for students who wish to upgrade their reading and writing in order to continue their education.
EASL 0474 is for students who have extensive experience writing paragraphs and short essays, and good control of grammar and sentence structure. This course emphasizes writing from sources at a first-year university level. In addition to improving overall expository writing and editing skills, students will develop persuasive essays, research papers and critical analyses of short stories. Exercises will include finding and using sources to generate topics, develop thesis statements and provide evidence as well as help students improve their skill at integrating material from several sources, documenting, summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting sources. Writing assignments will be based primarily on readings in the corequisite EASL 0464.
Course Content
  1. features of academic writing assignments, including expository and persuasive essays, research papers and short story analyses
  2. techniques for finding and using source material (e.g. using library systems, analyzing and evaluating readings, determining the reliability of sources, taking notes, using note cards).
  3. techniques for developing essay and research paper frameworks.
  4. a)            thesis development

b)                   support and evidence

c)                   incorporation of source material (paraphrasing, summarizing, integrating, documenting).

d)                   style: format, diction, tone

e)                   footnote and bibliography format.

  1. language use

a)                   revising skills

b)                   editing skills: grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, diction, tone, conciseness, variety

c)                   proofreading techniques.

Learning Activities

The instructor will facilitate, observe and evaluate students’ participation in writing activities.  Whole and small group instruction will be combined with individual assistance and student directed learning.  Students will participate in the setting of goals by identifying their communicative and language development needs, and will participate in the selection of learning activities.

Means of Assessment

This course is a college preparatory course and students will be marked on a MASTERY basis.  Mastery will be granted to students who achieve over 70% on a series of in-class and out-of-class assessments.

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

  1. generate content appropriate for a range of academic persuasive writing from the EASL 0464 corequisite.
  2. find and use material from a variety of academic sources:

a)                   use library resources efficiently

b)                   determine the appropriateness and reliability of source material

c)                   identify support relevant to a particular topic or thesis

 

  1. develop essay and research paper framework.

 

  1. compose essays and research papers for various academic purposes following accepted conventions:

a)                   develop a significant, non-trivial thesis or hypothesis

b)                   provide relevant, specific and sufficient evidence

c)                   incorporate source material by paraphrasing, summarizing, integrating and documenting it properly

d)                   use appropriate format, diction and tone

e)                   write footnotes and bibliographies correctly.

 

  1. write comprehensibly and concisely, using increasingly sophisticated and native-like language expected of first-year level university students.
Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students

Students may be required to purchase a textbook.

Requisites

Prerequisites

EASL 0374 or 0375 or instructor’s permission

Corequisites

EASL 0464

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for EASL 0474
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.

Course Offerings

Winter 2025