Click here for the Final Project in Microsoft Word: The ESL Newspaper Digest or as an Acrobat pdf file: The ESL Newspaper Digest
ESOL 830 Syllabus for Spring 2005
Teacher: Daniel O'Connell Course: ESOL830 English For Speakers of Other Languages III Section: AC Room: 8114 Time: 11:10-12:50 MWF 11:10-12:25 TTH Units: 6.0 ( non-transferable and not applicable to AA degree) Office: 8112 Office Hours: 10:30-11:00 M,W,F, or by appt. E-Mail: oconnelld@smccd.net Telephone: 358-6899 ext. 9179 or 647-4202 (LALR Office) Website : www.smccd.net/accounts/oconnelld/
Texts:
Mosaic I: A Reading Skills Book . (4th ed.) by Wegmann, B., and Knezevic, M.P.
Mosaic I: A Communicative Grammar (4th ed) by Wegmann and Sparenta
Materials:
The Pearl. Steinbeck, J.
One subscription to News For You, a newspaper for ESL students
One yellow TLC hour-by-arrangement folder
2 folders to collect handouts, finished essays and homework
2 Steno notebooks
1 computer floppy disk, formatted for your computer
Recommended:
American Heritage ESL Dictionary
Mosaic I: Listening/Speaking . (4 th ed.) by Hanreddy, J., and Whalley, E.
Cassette tapes for copying Mosaic I: Listening Speaking (can be copied in the Learning Center behind counter)
Placement : Appropriate scores on SLEP placement test (score 98-114) are required for students testing into 830. This course is designed for students who have completed ESOL 820 or 821/822 with a C or better. Proof of eligibility must be shown before beginning course.
Attendance: Attendance is critical to doing well in this course. Coming to class everyday and on time is necessary for this class. If you miss more than 10 classes, it will affect your grade and you can be withdrawn from the roster. If you choose to withdraw from the course, it is your responsibility to drop from the class, either using WebSMART, SMART, or by going to the Student Services Office. Two late arrivals will be counted as an absence. Coming late or leaving early regularly will have a negative effect on your grade. Our time together every morning is valuable, so let's make the most of it.
In-Class Writing Final Exam : The final exam will be given early, during the last week of regular classes. This semester the exam will be given on Thursday, May 19th . The exam will be an in-class essay on a topic given on that day. Instruction on how to prepare for the exam and a practice exam will be given in the last week of classes. See "Grades" section below for further details.
Course Description: This class is the third in Skyline's ESOL sequence of classes. This course will incorporate all the English skills: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and grammar. Students will encounter similar grammar and vocabulary in different skill areas. It is designed for students who have studied the grammatical structures in ESOL 820 or 821 and 822 and have conversational fluency and basic reading and writing skills. Emphasis is on critical reading, sentence combining, oral exchange, and paragraph writing.
Course work: Be prepared to spend time during the week and over weekends completing course work. ESOL is a six-unit course, which is twice the amount of units of a regular Reading/Writing or Listening/Speaking course. So the amount of work for this course is also twice as much as a three-unit course. We will finish the entire reading textbook and the grammar textbook, as well as selected assignments from each chapter of the listening textbook.
In addition to work from the textbooks, book reports will also be assigned. The first book assignment will be John Steinbeck's The Pearl . Students can choose later book assignments. These should be about 60-80 pages long, from the library's special reserve section, and are coded yellow or red for this course. You will need a library card and will need to follow the library's guidelines.
Newspaper reading will also be an area of focus in this course. All students will begin this study with a biweekly newspaper, specially edited for the ESL learner. In the last six weeks of the semester, articles from newspapers for native speakers will be assigned. Students will keep a newspaper journal, an ongoing collection of articles, summaries, and commentary. As many as three articles a week will be assigned.
Based upon current issues of today, we will create an ESL newsletter. This will be an editorial summary of events you're interested in which we have read about in the text and articles.
Also, Be prepared to set aside an hour each week in the learning center. There is a required hour by arrangement in The Learning Center (TLC), which is a resource for students to improve their skills by using resources located in the learning center (Building 5, first floor). These resources include tutors, books and special software programs such as The Bedford Handbook and Alania.
Grades: Grading will be: A (89.5-100%), B (79.5-89.5%), C (69.5-79.49), or D (below 69.5%), which is not passing, based on attendance, in-class work, quizzes, writing assignments, and other graded assignments such as homework. 20% of the final grade will be based on the in-class final. In order to pass this final exam, students will write an essay that shows some basic organization. It may have distracting grammar but not so severe as to interfere with content.
A special grade sheet (a blue sheet), will be provided on which the instructor will write all coursework grades, and will usually be in each student's possession. Please use it to keep track of your progress, but don't write on it or lose it.
Students are expected to take all tests and hand in all the homework for the class. Contacting the teacher about missing class work is each student's responsibility. Please contact me in class, through e-mail, or call a classmate if you miss something so that a makeup date can be arranged. Missing class work without notifying the teacher will result in a zero grade for the assignment.
Extra credit : Students can make-up points for missed class work and poor scores by attending workshops, lectures, and special writing and field assignments, arranged through the instructor.
Students with Special Needs are welcomed to this class and may want to contact the Disabled Student Services office (738-4280), which will suggest accommodations that can be arranged through the instructor. There are extra resources available in the Learning Center, on the main floor of building 5, including tutoring, listening tapes--Mosaic I, interactive CDs-- Grammar in Focus, and extra classes-- ENGL 650 (for TRIO participants only). They can provide an accommodation letter that will help insure you success in this class. Please contact the DSPS office.
A complete course schedule and grade sheet, the "Blue Sheet," will be provided in the first week of class.