University of San Diego

English Language Academy

Writing 5
Spring 2015

Instructor:
Nga Kei Tang
Class Hours:
M, W, F 10:45am 12:15pm, AV106
Email:
tangn@sandiego.edu
Office Hours:
By appointment only
Required Materials: Great Writing 4: From Great Essays by Keith S. Folse
ISBN: 978-1-285-19494-3, Dictionary, Notebook for Journal
Expected Student Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, students are expected to be able to:
Answer the prompt adequately using the rhetorical structure appropriate to the prompt
Write a unified multi-paragraph essay with a controlling idea, supporting details and appropriate transitions for persuasive, cause/effect, and various academic essays
Demonstrate control of English sentences (simple, compound and complex)
Distinguish academic vocabulary from informal vocabulary, and use advanced academic vocabulary including 15 words from AWL 1-6 when writing academic essays
Adequately incorporate relevant outside information/background knowledge for logical progression
Develop basic critical thinking skills
Develop main ideas with adequate and convincing details, examples, and illustrations
Develop proofreading skills by applying prior knowledge of grammatical structures as well as various essay structures

Edit essays using instructor and peer feedback to their own writing and that of others

Grading
Participation/Attendance
Homework/Essays
Journals
Midterm
Final Exam

10%
30%
20%
20%
20%

Class Requirements
Be punctual. One tardy is 1-11 minutes late. One absence is more than 11 minutes late.
Three tardies equal one absence. The door will be locked 15 minutes after class starts. Students should contact the instructors as soon as possible if they are not able to come to class.
Be responsible. Always finish the assignments on time. Late assignments will NOT be accepted. Students are required do their own work and do not let other students copy the work.
Any form of cheating will result in course failure. Remember to cite properly when including any resources in your writings.

 Be active. Please speak English in class. Language learning will have much better outcome
if the students practice more. Speaking the native languages in class will not help with
achieving the learning goals. The use of Speaking in your native languages will only be allowed in meaning clarifications.
Be engaged. Show your willingness to improve by participating. Volunteer in in-class activities. Do not be hesitant to ask questions or express any concerns relating to the course content.
Be respectful. All cell phones should be turned off /put on vibrate during class. NO LAPTOPS in class.
Be aware. Being in a multi-cultural classroom, students should show respect to their classmates cultures, religious beliefs etc.
Assignments:

Journals. Students should prepare a notebook and use it to write two pieces of journal per
week. Starting the second week of the semester, the instructor will collect the notebooks on
every Monday. Feedback will be given and the notebooks will be returned on every
Wednesday. Journal is used as an informal writing. There will be no assigned topics the
students are encouraged to write about topics that they are interested in or current issues.
Students should try to minimize the numbers of grammar errors and incorrect spellings. Also, students are encouraged to use new sentence structures/vocabulary/idioms to enrich the
content. Each piece of writing should be ONE page. It can be either typed or written. The
purpose of this assignment is to provide an opportunity for the teacher to communicate with
the students, therefore; expressing their true feelings is an important requirement that students should bear in mind.

Academic Essays. In this semester, the students will learn to write 5 types of writings: Narrative, Comparison & Contrast, Cause & Effect, Problem Solving, and Persuasive. Students
are required to submit one essay per each category, altogether 5 academic essays throughout
the semester. Students need to think of their own topics to write in each category and talk to
the instructor about the topics and ideas for approval. Students should minimize the numbers
of grammar errors and incorrect spellings. Students should use appropriate tones and academic expressions in these essays. The structures should also be appropriate to different
writing categories. All the essays should be no less than 2 pages. Students should follow the
format of MLA or APA, and they should also pay attention to correct citations. Students are
required to have the first drafts ready one lesson before the due day. After receiving the
feedback the students are expected to revise and make necessary changes according to the
feedback or suggestions from the instructor during conferencing. Students will be given one
chance to re-write each essay.

Media Report. Students need to find an article of their interests and write a review of the
article. Topics will vary according of the choices of articles. Students are required to talk to
the instructor about the articles and the focus of the review for approval.
Participation: In order to get full participation points, you must:

participate actively in pair work /

group work

ask questions

share your ideas in class

be punctual

volunteer to do exercises or read aloud

Statement on Plagiarism:
Students are responsible for knowing what plagiarism is and avoiding it. Students who commit plagiarism are subject to penalties that may include suspension or expulsion from the university.
Plagiarism occurs when individuals present the words and/or ideas of others as if they are their own.
To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit to your source whenever you use:

another persons idea, opinion, or theory;

any facts, statistics, graphs, drawingsany pieces of informationthat are not common
knowledge;
quotations of another persons actual spoken or written words; or
a paraphrase of another persons spoken or written words.

If you wish more information on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it please see
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml . (The bulleted material above is from
this website.) The complete plagiarism policy is available for your review at:
http://www.sandiego.edu/associatedstudents/branches/vice_president/academics/honor_council/inte
grity_policy.php
(*Adapted from USD syllabi)