Essay Composition and Research Papers for Students of English as a Second Language (combined course)
Curriculum guideline
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.
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.
- features of academic writing assignments, including expository and persuasive essays, research papers and short story analyses
- 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).
- techniques for developing essay and research paper frameworks.
- 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.
- language use
a) revising skills
b) editing skills: grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, diction, tone, conciseness, variety
c) proofreading techniques.
Students will:
- generate content appropriate for a range of academic persuasive writing from the EASL 0464 corequisite.
- 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
- develop essay and research paper framework.
- 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.
- write comprehensibly and concisely, using increasingly sophisticated and native-like language expected of first-year level university students.
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.
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students
Students may be required to purchase a textbook.
EASL 0374 or 0375 or instructor’s permission