Course description
This course is designed to support advanced level non-native English-speaking students to meet the language demands of first-year Canadian college courses. Students will focus on how language is used to communicate meaning and develop critical thinking skills for effective academic reading and writing. Instruction will emphasize understanding multiple perspectives in academic texts, addressing prompts accurately, developing a sense of audience, and producing clear and concise language in writing assignments, such as paragraphs, essays, and/or reports. The focus of the course is on refining the skills needed by writers who learned English as an additional language.
Course content
Accuracy Skills
- elements of formal and non-formal language: being specific and concise, understanding person-based writing when presenting opinions, claims, and points of view.
- hedging and emphatic expressions to present opinions, claims, and points of view.
- reporting structures to insert source evidence.
- appropriate use of active and passive voice.
- sentence patterns and structure: using a variety of sentence types, avoiding run-on sentences and fragments.
- transition words, repetition of key words and phrases, pronoun reference, and parallel structure to achieve text continuity and coherence.
- using appropriate context-specific collocations.
- identifying and self-correcting individual grammatical and lexical errors.
Writing Skills
- stages in the writing process: researching, outlining, drafting, revising, and editing.
- elements of effective academic argument: expressing and supporting a personal point of view, acknowledging opposing arguments, and responding to counterarguments.
- focused thesis statement and relevant support in paragraphs, essays and/or reports.
- supporting an argument with credible, relevant, and effective source evidence.
- paraphrasing strategies.
- integrating source evidence, including statistics, graphic data, paraphrases, and quotations, employing the APA or MLA citation style.
Reading Skills
- rhetorical patterns of organization in academic texts: narration, process, definition, classification, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, and persuasion.
- writer’s purpose, message, audience, bias, tone, and style.
- writer’s position, supporting and opposing arguments, and evidence (facts vs. opinions, main ideas vs. support).
- elements of grammar and lexis used to communicate a persuasive message.
Learning activities
Some or all of the following methods will be used:
- whole-class instruction
- large- and small-group discussion
- peer review
- computer-assisted learning
- in-class writing
- instructor feedback on written work
- revision of submitted writing
- independent research
Means of assessment
Assessment will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. Students are expected to demonstrate effective study skills, including active participation, regular attendance, punctuality, engaged collaboration, and ability to meet deadlines. Assessment will be based on learning outcomes and course content, and it will include, but need not be limited to, the following tasks:
- in-class reading and summarizing
- in-class writing assignments
- research essays or reports completed over the term
- grammar quizzes/editing exercises
Sample grade breakdown:
- In-class writing assignments worth up to 25% (total)
- Grammar quizzes/Editing exercises worth up to 25% (total)
- Argumentative essay worth up to 15%
- Research paper/report worth up to 25%
- Participation worth up to 10%
- Total: 100%
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- evaluate academic texts for content and logical development, analyzing arguments for validity, reliability, and objectivity.
- identify and apply elements of language expression that contribute to density, specificity, and conciseness of academic texts.
- collect, analyze, and organize relevant information from a variety of credible sources for use in writing assignments.
- plan, draft, revise, and edit writing assignments suited to an academic setting, citing sources (APA or MLA style), summarizing, paraphrasing, and integrating source information.
- edit their own written assignments to achieve the level of accuracy in grammar, sentence structure, and word choice required in first-year college courses.
- demonstrate an understanding of Canadian academic culture and conventions.
Textbook materials
A list of required and optional textbooks and materials will be provided for students at the beginning of the semester. Students may be required to purchase one or more of the following materials:
- coursepacks
- textbooks such as Cambridge Academic English, Advanced by Hewings and Thaine, Routledge’s Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students by Bailey, or Pearson’s University Success Transition Level Writing by Norloff and Renehan.