Writing – Fundamental Level

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
Yes
Course Code
ENGU 0250
Descriptive
Writing – Fundamental Level
Department
English Upgrading
Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
202210
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
18
Contact Hours
4 hours per week
Method(s) Of Instruction
Tutorial
Learning Activities

A combination of different instructional methods will be used in order to balance instructional efficiency with individual student needs. Small group instruction, individual assistance (in lab tutorial or scheduled appointments) and student directed learning will be selected where appropriate and possible. Collaborative learning will be encouraged.

Course Description
This course is designed for students with little writing experience who wish to develop their self-expression on paper. The course focuses on writing as a systematic process. Assignments encourage students to move from personal to public forms of writing. Students receive assistance with developing the complexity of their sentence structure and learning how to edit their writing. Assignments and exercises focus on current events and issues that are relevant to the students’ lives.
Course Content

Where appropriate, students will receive instruction concerning:

The Process of Composing:

  • generating ideas
  • accessing information
  • setting purpose
  • recognizing audience's expectations
  • organizing ideas
  • planning design
  • initial drafting
  • obtaining feedback
  • evaluating drafts and feedback
  • redrafting and revising
  • editing for errors
  • producing final copy

Grammatical Structures:

  • fragments and run-ons
  • simple, compound and complex sentences
  • standard and irregular verb forms
  • subject-verb agreement and consistent verb tense
  • standard pronoun reference and agreement
  • modifiers

Punctuation:

  • capitals
  • end punctuation
  • commas
  • quotation marks
  • semi-colon, colon, hyphen, dash

Spelling:

  • effective spelling strategies such as phonics, structural analysis, generalizations, sight study
  • common irregularly spelled words
  • a dictionary and other spelling aids
  • homonyms, antonyms and synonyms
  • rules for adding affixes
  • contractions and abbreviations
Learning Outcomes

The aims of the course are for students to:

  1. develop confidence and enjoyment from personal writing activities;
  2. gain initial knowledge of and experience using the processes of writing;
  3. gain initial knowledge of and experience in constructing paragraphs;
  4. improve competency in constructing sentences;
  5. improve awareness and control of the conventions of standard written English;
  6. improve awareness and control of the degree of formality suitable for different writing tasks;
  7. demonstrate growth in ability to produce written communication that expresses personal feeling and ideas;
  8. demonstrate growth in ability to write for different purposes and for various audiences;
  9. demonstrate initial competency with constructing multi-sentence paragraphs.
Means of Assessment

A mastery model of on-going evaluation will be used.  A student will have completed the course when he/she has demonstrated through satisfactory completion of exercises and assignments that the course objectives have been achieved.

Progress will be monitored on a regular basis by the instructor in consultation with each student.

The student will be expected to maintain regular attendance and progress and to undertake independent learning as directed.  Regular feedback and informal progress reports will be available from the instructor.

Textbook Materials

Students may be required to purchase textbooks.

Prerequisites

ENGU 0156 or permission of instructor

Which Prerequisite