Semester 1 Syllabus ~ Go to Semester 2

The purpose of this program is to assist students to learn to write with confidence by clearing up troublesome and common mistakes. The program was designed specifically for students whose native language is Chinese by analyzing typical English writing errors. Students will receive instruction on target grammatical forms and be given opportunities for writing practice and feedback. Students are required to write weekly essays and to create portfolios with formatted good copies of 10 essays and 2 rough drafts for each. A companion website with all exercises, multimedia presentations, student progress charts, online English dictionary and Chinese translator as well as links is available. Answers to exercises appear online for immediate feedback. The instructor corrects drafts and peers review corrections. An English Writing message board created for the program is available for online discussions and teacher feedback.

• 20% midterm exam
• 25% participation in class live feedback
• 35% portfolios
• 20% final exam

Week 1: Introduction to the program and to portfolio assignments

Week 2: Prepositions as spatial function words

Week 3: Countable and uncountable nouns

Week 4: Definite and indefinite articles

Week 5: Using articles with countable and uncountable nouns

Week 6: Capitalization

Week 7: Punctuation

Week 8: Verb forms

Week 9: Midterm exam in class

Week 10: Review of exam

Week 11: More on Prepositions

Week 12: Concordances with in, at and on

Week 13: Verb Forms

Week 14: Parallel Structure + Focus on format

Week 15: Concisenenss - *Deadline for submitting writing for correction*

Week 16: Review and Exam Preparation

Week 17: Portfolios due *Final Exam*

Week 18: Review of Exam

*** Download Portfolio Checklist***