Houston Community College

Intensive English Program

ESOL 0347: Intermediate Composition

Instructor:  Kalpna Patel

E-mail:  kalpna.patel@hccs.edu

Office hours: by appointment and after class

Class times:  Tuesday and Thursday 11.40 – 1.20, Room 116

Lab:  Tuesdays 10.20 -11.10

 

 

Course Description:

From the HCCS Catalog:

ESOL 0347, Intermediate Composition, is “A continuation of ESOL 0343.  This course develops vocabulary skills, both written and oral.  Students learn to write short, simple paragraphs.”

 

Statement of Purpose: 

ESOL 0347 seeks to prepare students for continuation into ESOL 0351 and ultimately for college level academic or workforce study by accomplishing the following objectives:

  • Strengthening student awareness of the basic principles of organization of the single-paragraph composition, focusing especially on the role of the topic sentence, examples, details, and the conclusion. 
  • Strengthening student awareness of the nature of the writing process, focusing especially on the areas of effective prewriting, composing, revising, and editing. 
  • Strengthening students’ skills in the basic principles of sentence combination, focusing especially on the role of subordinating and coordinating conjunctions. 

 

Course Outcomes:

At the end of this course, you should be able to do the following:

  1. Be able to write a well-organized paragraph between 15-20 sentences and 100-150 words;
  2. Be able to choose a topic and then write an appropriate title;
  3. Be able to write a basic outline of his/her paragraph;
  4. Be able to write a topic sentence, a conclusion, and examples with details for his/her paragraph;
  5. Exhibit familiarity with the use of coordination and subordination.  The paragraph should have a variety of sentence types, and not consist of all simple sentences. 
  6. Exhibit familiarity with the main stages of the composing process:  pre-writing, composing, proofreading, and revising. 
  7. Exhibit familiarity with basic rules of capitalization, punctuation, and proper academic essay format. 

 

 

 

Grade Breakdown:
Your grade will be calculated as follows:                           

In-class Paragraphs (5)                    40%                The 5 in-class paragraphs  are      

Daily Work & Homework                  10%                weighted as follows: 

Journals & Lab Paragraphs 10%                In-class Paragraph #1 = 10%

Mid-term Exam                                  20%                In-class Paragraph   #2 = 15%

Final Exam                                         20%                In-class Paragraph   #3 = 20%

                                                                                     In-class Paragraph   #4 = 25%

                                                                                     In-class Paragraph   #5 = 30%      

Course Requirements:

  • 5 in-class paragraphs (15-20 sentences, 100-150 words)
  • 1 mid-term paragraph (based on in-class paragraphs 1-3)
  • revisions and rewrites of in-class paragraphs
  • a final paragraph (based on in-class paragraphs 1-5)
  • a weekly journal

 

Textbooks:

First Steps in Academic Writing, Ann Hogue, (Addison-Wesley) second edition

 

Class Policies:

Attendance:  You must attend class regularly. If you miss eight hours or more of class, you may be dropped.  If you must miss a class, please speak to your instructor.

 

Tardiness:  You must be on time for class.  If you are more than 15 minutes late or leave the room for more than 15 minutes, you will be marked “late”.  Three “lates” will count as an absence. 

 

Withdrawals:  The last day students can withdraw or be dropped from a class with a grade of “W” is 3 April, 2008.  Students who have excessive absences after that date will receive the grade that they earn. 

 

Cell Phones:  Please turn off all cell phones and pagers. 

 

Makeup Tests/Homework:  If you are absent during a quiz, test or presentation see your instructor as soon as you return.  Arrangements will be made for makeups on the following class day.  If you are absent, please call a classmate to get the assigned homework. Come to class prepared. 

 

Academic Honesty:  Any form of copying, cheating, or plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment. 

 

Students with Disabilities:  Students with a learning or physical disability which might affect their performance in class should contact the HCCS disabilities counselor, Dr Becky Hauri at 713-718-7909, FAX 713-718-7781

 

Repeating Classes:  Students who repeat a course three or more times are required to pay an additional $75 tuition fee. 


ESOL 0347:  Intermediate Composition

Weekly Course Outline

 

This syllabus is subject to change to reflect the needs of the class. 

 

Week 1:          Unit 1:  Introducing People

Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.   2 - 8

Part 2:  Grammar and Capitalization, pp.  10 – 19

                        Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.   9

 

Week 2:          Unit 1:  Introducing People

Part 3:  Sentence Structure, pp.  20 – 27

                        Part 4:  Writing , 27 - 32

 

Week 3:          Unit 2:  Listing-Order Paragraphs

                        Part 2:  Sentence Structure, pp.  53 – 62

                        In-class paragraph #1

 

Week 4:          Unit 2:  Listing-Order Paragraphs

Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.  34 – 52

Part 2:  Sentence Structure, p.  62

                        Part 3:  Writing, pp.  63 – 64

 

Week 5:          Unit 3:  Giving Instructions

Part 2:  Sentence Structure, pp.  76 – 84

In-class paragraph #2

 

Week 6:          Unit 3:  Giving Instructions

Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.  66 – 76

Part 2:  Sentence Structure, pp.  86

                        Part 4:  Writing, pp.  92 -93

 

Week 7:          Unit 3:  Giving Instructions

Part 4:  Writing, pp.  92 -93

Part 3:  Capitalization and Punctuation, pp.  86 – 92

In-class paragraph #3

 

Week 8:          Mid-Term Exam

Unit 4:  Describing a Place

Part 2:  Grammar, pp.  104 – 110

Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.  95 – 104

 

Week 9:          Unit 4:  Describing a Place

Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.  95 – 104

Part 2:  Grammar, pp.  111

Part 4:  Writing, pp.  119 – 120

 

 

 

Week 10:       Unit 4:  Describing a Place

Part 4:  Writing, pp.  119 – 120

Part 3:  Sentence Structure, p.  112 – 118

In-class paragraph #4

 

Week 11:       Unit 5:  Stating Reasons and Using Examples

                        Part 2:  Sentence Structure, pp.  133 – 137

Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.  122 – 133

 

Week 12:       Unit 5:  Stating Reasons and Using Examples

                        Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.  122 – 133

Part 2:  Sentence Structure, pp.  133

Part 3:  Capitalization and Punctuation, pp.  139 – 143

 

Week 13:       Unit 5:  Stating Reasons and Using Examples

Part 4:  Writing, pp.  143 - 144

In-class paragraph #5

 

Week 14:       Unit 6:  Expressing Your Opinion

                        Part 2:  Sentence Structure & Punctuation, pp.  156 – 171

                        Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.  146 - 156

 

Week 15:       Unit 6:  Expressing Your Opinion

                        Prewriting/Part 1:  Organization, pp.  146 – 156

                        Part 4:  Writing

 

Week 16        Final Exams