Academic Courses
Course Descriptions
| Course | Course Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ESL 101 | English Writing and Reading Skills 1 | (3-0) 3 Cr. Hrs. |
Course Description
This course is part of a series of courses designed to introduce non-native speakers of English to the skills they will need to succeed in an academic environment where English is spoken. Students will develop and practice writing and critical thinking skills in preparation for English 50, 55 or 101. A grade of 2.0 or better and the previous ESL instructor's recommendation is necessary to enter the general English classes.
Prerequisites
(A requirement that must be completed before taking this course.)
- Appropriate placement test score or successful completion of ESL 052.
Course Competencies
Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- Use critical reading techniques to discern the main idea in a reading passage.
- Express thoughts accurately and clearly in writing with minimum grammatical errors that impede understanding.
- Express thoughts accurately and clearly in writing with minimum grammatical errors that impede understanding.
- Specify sentence parts: subjects and verbs, phrases and clauses.
- Apply conventional punctuation.
- Differentiate between fragments and run-on sentences.
- Generate ideas for pre-writing activities.
- Identify the parts of a paragraph including the topic sentence, supporting details and a concluding sentence.
- Construct a paragraph including topic sentence, supporting details and a concluding sentence.
- Compose types of paragraphs: descriptive, compare-contrast, cause-effect, and classification.
- Edit paragraphs for sentence skills: grammar, spelling, punctuation and word choice.
- Utilize the special features of a dictionary: entry, spelling, pronunciation, grammar labels, homonyms and synonyms.
Note: This course may not be offered every semester.
Please check the ESL section of the current course schedule for availability.