Designed for students who need to improve their language skills, 
this course offers a review of grammar rules, language usage, 
sentence structure, punctuation, and composition of effective 
paragraphs and short essays.               
              
              
              

Students will demonstrate knowledge of standard grammar and various 
sentence structures. Students will demonstrate the ability to 
organize and develop effective paragraphs and short essays.
              
              
              
              

Students will demonstrate on quizzes/tests and in written work, a 
knowledge of standard grammar, spelling, usage, and mechanics. 


   1.	Students must be able to

•	sustain focus on a specific topic or argument.
•	demonstrate the command of the conventions of standard 
         written English, including grammar, usage, and mechanics.
•	support and illustrate arguments and explanations with 
         relevant details and examples.
•	create a logical progression of ideas or events and convey 
         the relationships among them.
•	establish a thesis that addresses the specific task and 
         audience.
•	develop and maintain a style and tone appropriate to the 
         task, purpose, and audience.
•	choose words and phrases to express ideas precisely and 
         concisely.
•	assess the quality of one’s own writing and, when 
         necessary, strengthen it through revision.
•	use varied sentence structures to achieve cohesion between 
         sentences.
•	accurately incorporate source material into one’s own work  
         while avoiding plagiarism.
•	gather the information needed to build an argument, provide 
         an explanation, or address a research question.
•	recognize effective transitional devices within the context 
         of a passage.
•	place modifiers correctly.
•	use coordination and subordination effectively.
•	ecognize parallel structure.
•	maintain agreement between pronoun and antecedent.
•	avoid inappropriate pronoun shifts.
•	maintain clear pronoun references.
•	use proper case forms.
•	use adjectives and adverbs correctly.
•	use appropriate degree forms.
•	avoid fragments, commas, and fused sentences.
•	use standard verb forms.
•	maintain agreement between subject and verb.
•	avoid inappropriate shifts in verb tense.
•	recognize commonly confused or misused words or phrases.
•	use standard spelling.
•	use standard punctuation.
•	use standard capitalization.
•	use technology as a tool to produce, edit, and distribute 
         writing.

2.	When writing to inform or explain, students must convey 
         information clearly and coherently.
3.	When writing to inform or explain, students must 
         demonstrate understanding of content by reporting facts 
         accurately.
4.	When writing arguments, students must establish a 
         substantive claim.
5.	When writing arguments, students must link claims and 
         evidence with clear reasons and ensure that the evidence is 
         relevant and sufficient to support the claims.
6.	When writing arguments, students must acknowledge competing 
         arguments or information, defending or qualifying the 
         initial claim as appropriate.
7.       Students must write at least 6-8 graded paragraphs or short 
essays with a minimum of 350 words; at least half of these papers 
should be written in class in a timed setting.
           
              
              
              
              

Evaluation of student progress towards achieving the stated learning 
outcomes and performance objectives is the responsibility of the 
instructor, within the policies of the college and the department.  
Detailed explanations are included in the expanded Syllabus 
developed by the instructor for each section being taught.