Curriculum Design (EAP: Academic Writing)

7/28/2019 Curriculum Design (EAP: Academic Writing)

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Vicky FanguMATESOL Component 6: Revised Project i

CurriculumDesignEnglishforAcademicPurpose:AcademicWriting

VickyFang


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Vicky FanguMATESOL Component 6: Revised Project ii

Table of Contents

BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................1

NEEDS ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................2METHODANDFOCI .................................................................................................................2FINDINGS ...................................................................................................................................3NEEDSANALYSISSOLUTIONS .............................................................................................4

PHILOSOPHY ...............................................................................................................................5

AGENREAPPROACH ..............................................................................................................5READING-TO-WRITEANDWRITING-TO-READ ................................................................6PORTFOLIOASSESSMENT .....................................................................................................7

COURSE SYLLABUS ...................................................................................................................9

SYLLABUS OUTLINE ...............................................................................................................11

UNIT 1 PLAN ...............................................................................................................................15

LESSON 2 PLAN .........................................................................................................................17

UNIT 12 PLAN .............................................................................................................................20

LESSON 15 PLAN .......................................................................................................................22

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................25

REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................26

APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................28

APPENDIX A: CURRENT STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE ..................................................28APPENDIX B: PAST STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................31

APPENDIX C: COURSE DESIGN PROCEDURE OUTLINE ..............................................35

APPENDIX D: ACADEMIC WRITING PORTFOLIO GUIDELINES ...............................37

APPENDIX E: READING HANDOUT FOR LESSON 2 .......................................................40

APPENDIX F: TOPIC SENTENCE WORKSHEET ..............................................................41

APPENDIX G: MOODLE DISCUSSION FORUM PROMPT ..............................................43

APPENDIX H: A PICTURE OF DEATH PENALTY .............................................................44

APPENDIX I: HANDOUTS FOR LESSON 15 ........................................................................45


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Vicky FanguMATESOL Component 6: Revised Project 1

This paper is a revised and expanded edition of an original curriculum design project.

This curriculum was anAcademic Writingcourse of theEnglish for Academic Purposes (EAP)

program at Dordt College in Iowa. The project was initially developed for a curriculum design

course in the Fall of 2012 in collaboration with colleague Hala Sun from Monterey Institute of

International Studies (MIIS). Hala is also an alumnus of Dordt College. Thanks to her connection

with the school, we were able to obtain full support from the faculty members of the English

Department at Dordt College.

In this edited version, I have revised the design, expanded the conceptual background,

incorporated teacher feedback from the original project and enriched the curriculum with another

unit plan and lesson plan. With these revisions, I believe that this project not only presents a

more efficient and organized curriculum with compelling theoretical supports, but also it reflects

my own language beliefs and teaching philosophies.

Background

In Fall 2012, I worked with one of my MIIS colleagues, Hala, in the Curriculum Design

course to create a curriculum for the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program at Dordt

College. There are two EAP courses that last for one semester. One isAcademic Interaction

(EAP 101), which focuses on developing speaking and listening skills, and the other isAcademic

Writing(EAP 102), which focuses on practicing reading and writing skills. All students admitted

to Dordt College for whom English is not their native language are required to take a placement

test, which determines whether the students need to takeAcademic Interaction and/orAcademic

Writing. Students who score lower than 70% on each of these three subtestslistening

comprehension, oral presentation and grammar need to takeAcademic Interaction. Students


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who score lower than 80% on each of these two subtestsreading comprehension and mini-

essay writing respectively need to takeAcademic Writing.

Every semester, there are about 12 incoming international students at Dordt College.

These international students will either attend college for all four years (long term students) or

for one semester or one year (exchange students). Currently, there is only one course level and

Professor Sanneke Kok teaches both of these courses.

We found in our interview with Professor Kok that most international students are

exchange students from South Korea with limited exposure to academic English. In addition,

there are a few students every year from the Netherlands, Latin American countries, and African

countries. The age group ranges from 18 to 25 years old.

Needs Analysis

Method and Foci

According to Brown (2007), a needs assessment is an important precursor to designing

the goals of a course in that it can identify the overall purposes of the course (p. 152). Prior to

designing a curriculum, we decided to conduct a needs analysis to understand the needs of the

international students and the ESL/English Department.

To ensure the reliability of our needs assessment, we utilized the overlapping method,

also known as methodological triangulation: interviews, questionnaires, relevant literature and

materials provided by Professor Kok (Allwright & Bailey, 1991).

We first interviewed Professor Kok and three of the English professors at Dordtone

professor teaches the core English literature class, and the other two professors teach both the

core English literature class and the core English writing class. After the interviews, we designed

two types of questionnaires to administer to current and past students respectively (see


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Appendices A and B). By surveying two groups, we not only could get the feedback on the

current EAP courses, but also could obtain the reflective insights from the past students on how

these courses have helped them transition to English classes. We piloted the questionnaires with

MIIS international students and revised the unclear or unnecessary questions. Finally, with the

hope of a higher return rate than digital copies, we mailed the paper copies of the surveys to

Professor Kok and had her mail them back to us. We received all 10 surveys from the current

students and 7 out of 12 surveys from the past students.

Findings

The following table summarizes the findings of the needs analysis.

Table 2Needs Analysis Summary (Quantitative Data)

Participant Current Students Previous Students

Most important language skills

(reading, writing, speaking and

listening)

Writing and listening Writing

Reading subskill that needs the

most practice

Increasing vocabulary

Using correct andadvanced vocabulary

Understandingcolloquial sayings andidioms

Increasing vocabulary

Using correct andadvanced vocabulary

Understandingcolloquial sayings andidioms

Writing subskill that needs themost practice

Listening subskill that needs the

most practice

Speaking subskill that needs the

most practice

Using colloquial sayingsand idioms

Delivering a speech in aformal setting

Most difficult component in

English writing

Grammar Grammar

Combining both the results of current and past students, it seemed that they all regarded

writing as the most important component among the four essential language skills. Although

students indicated a strong desire to increase vocabulary knowledge, they agreed that the most


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difficult component in English writing was grammar. According to our interviews with the

English professors who taught English classes at Dordt College, there also seemed to be a great

need to improve ESL students academic writing skills, specifically their accuracy in grammar

usage. Students perceived difficulty in English writing matched with the English professors

perceived challenges for the ESL students in their classes. In other words, grammar and writing

were both important aspects influencing the academic success of the students as well as shaping

the teaching and the evaluation standards of professors at Dordt College.

Needs Analysis Solutions

According to the findings, there seemed to be a great need to improve ESL students

academic writing skills, specifically their accuracy in grammar usage. Furthermore, the

professors emphasis on the grammar component of language translated into a belief that

Professor Kok mentioned in the interviewit is important that students want to present good

writing, accurate writing (personal communication, September 24, 2012). Thus, we decided to

design an academic writing curriculum that incorporates grammar instruction. Bitcheners (2008)

research suggests that ESL learners achieve the greatest improvements on forms when the

teacher conducts mini-lessons on a small range of recurrent error categories and follow these up

with small group meta-linguistic sessions on particular error categories (p. 116). Thus, we

decided to have eight grammar workshops, which aim to give students explicit instruction on the

selected grammar topics (see Course Syllabus, p.9). The grammar topics were selected based on

the curriculum designers own experiences of being ESL students and the problems described in

the Teachers Grammar of English, which suggests the difficulties ESL students may share in

grammar (Cowan, 2008).


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In addition, we also found through our interviews that most of the professors at Dordt

College strived for making the ESL students participate more often in class. Ortega (2009)

suggests that the participation of ESL students could be improved when these students expertise

is viewed as an asset in class discussions. Therefore, we decided to collect materials that can

trigger students discussion from their own cultural perspectives (see the themes in Syllabus

Outline, p. 11-14).

Philosophy

According to Graves (2000), your beliefs about which view of language should be

emphasized will translate into beliefs about how the language should be learned (p. 28). Thus,

as the curriculum designers, we could not help but infuse our education philosophies into the

creation of the curriculum.

A Genre Approach

Ferris and Hedgecock (1998) argue that academic ESL instruction should enable

learners to acquire skills, develop strategies, and master the spoken and written conventions of

the academic community in general and of the individual disciplines they will pursue (p. 36).

Keeping this notion in mind, we decided to use a genre approach to teaching writing because it

can introduce explicitly to students the conventions that are implicit in the academic genre

(Ferris & Hedgcock, 1998; Hyland, 2004). Following Hylands (2004) instructions of how to

organize a genre-based writing course, we chose to make the writing course have a theme focus,

which means that genres are selected and sequenced by learner needs and demands of the

theme (Hyland, 2004, p. 90). The selection of the themes was not only based on whether the

theme could contextualize the instruction of certain writing skills, but also based on whether the

theme could trigger the students interest and allow the students to draw upon their personal


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experiences and prior knowledge (Hyland, 2004, p. 90). In addition to establishing the themes,

we outlined the procedures of developing the genre-based writing course based on Burns and

Joyces (1997, cited in Hyland 2004) framework (see Appendix C).

Reading-to-Write and Writing-to-Read

After developing the outline of the course, we were also concerned about the role that

reading would play in a writing curriculum. As Ferris and Hedgcock (1998) have pointed out,

much research has indicated that there is a positive correlation between ones reading

competence and writing competence. Reading has long been considered as a receptive

counterpart to writing. Smith (1994) argues that we must learn from exposure to writing, in

other words from reading, and from acquaintanceship with writers (p. 178). A lot of academic

writing classes also focus on the practice of reading. However, reading is very important to ESL

writers not only because of the reasons mentioned above, but because reading helps to reduce the

impact ofintercultural rhetoric on ESL writers (Ferries & Hedgcock, forthcoming). As the

curriculum developers of an English writing course, we were aware of the various rhetorical

styles that the ESL students might bring into the classrooms (Connor & Kaplan, 1987). Thus, we

regarded reading extensively as the fundamental foundation for someone to develop his/her

writing skill and it must be reading done in a particular way (Smith, 1994, p.178). That

particular way refers to the active perceptual process of reading, in which learners acquaint

themselves with writing as well as with their own thoughts (Ferries & Hedgcock, 2009).

Therefore, we incorporated different subgenres of academic writing into the curriculum (see the

themes in Syllabus Outline, p. 11-14).

On the other hand, writing also helps to promote learners reading skills. Moreover, it can

be used to help ESL students to develop theirschema, which was defined as an organized chunk


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of knowledge or experience, often accompanied by feelings (Weaver, 2002, p. 18). In a word,

writing-to-read gives the reader a lens that entails using his/her life experience and previous

knowledge to examine a text. Citing Gage (1986), Hirvela (2004) argues that writing makes

thinking visible and we are able to catch the thoughts that are otherwise hard to obtain. Thus,

free writing, without the constraints and rules of academic writing, can emancipate students from

being trapped in some rumpled thoughts and prepares them for academic writing. Free writing

can also be used to help students build up content schemata before they read a text. At this stage,

writing makes visible not only the readers thinking process, but also the attached values and

stereotypes of the reader (Hirvela, 2004). Thus, writing becomes the process of helping readers

to understand a text as well as the process of creating a new text based on the reading (Smith,

1994). Therefore, my lesson plans started with free writing tasks that aimed to help the students

prepare for the following readings (see Pre-Task 1 of Lesson Plan 2, p. 18).

Portfolio Assessment

Ferris and Hedgcock (1998) define portfolio assessment as an overall model of

organizing writing processes and written products for ongoing reflection, dialogue, and

evaluation (p. 245). Thus, when pondering upon how we could help students have a smooth

transition from the EAP course to the regular academic English classes, we thought that ESL

students may benefit from having a portfolio that contains all their grammar worksheets,

feedback forms, and writing assignments.

Not only might this portfolio help them feel proud of their achievement as English

language learners, but the materials in the portfolio could also serve as their reference whenever

they are writing essays for other classes. Furthermore, Bailey (1998) mentions that portfolio

assessment not only measures what it is intended to measure (which is learners writing skills),


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but also it has positive effect on teaching and learning. For instance, Weigle (2002) points out

that portfolio assessment helps students develop a sense of ownership of the writing because

students not only need to select and arrange the portfolio contents, but also they are required to

take the responsibility for their own development in writing.

Through the portfolio assignment, we hope to make ESL students aware that writing is a

continuous process and help students build up a study file that they can refer back to later.

Finally, this portfolio could also be used as a tool for the English professors to understand the

cultural and linguistic background of the ESL students.

Thus far I have described the needs assessment process and the philosophies that support

the design of theAcademic Writingcurriculum. The following section demonstrates the

curriculum in a more concrete way. It is composed of a course syllabus, syllabus outline, two

unit plans and two lesson plans. The semester-long course takes 17 academic weeks and contains

12 units. There are eight grammar workshops that are incorporated into the course units. In each

grammar workshop, students will be given a grammar worksheet which explains a certain

grammar concept and also includes exercises for students to practice. For this whole course,

students are required to accomplish two writing assignments, one research paper and a course

portfolio.


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English for Academic Purpose: Academic Writing

Course Syllabus FALL 2013

Instructor: Vicky Fang

Email: [email protected]

Class Meetings: T-Th 1:503:05 PMLocation: CL1316

Course Description

Course name:Academic Writing Class duration and frequency: 75 minutes a day, twice a week Course length: A twelve-week long EAP course for college ESL students

Overall Course Goals

Students will be able to Enhance their academic writing skills Gain deeper understanding of grammar concepts. Facilitate cultural understanding through discussions and reading/writing exercises. Gain knowledge of standard academic writing styles and formats, and apply this

knowledge through writing tasks and projects.

Prepare themselves to take ENG 101 courses. Improve their overall English proficiency.

Requirements and Student Responsibilities

1. Attendance is mandatory. Students need to attend every class session on time.2. Late workwill be accepted without penalty only under extraordinary circumstances. Inany other case, late work will be marked one grade lower.3. Participation in class discussions, workshops and class Moodle site is expected of all

students and will be considered in the course grade.4. External proofreaders for written assignments are not necessary for the course.

Requirements and Grading

Attendance and Participation 10% Moodle Log (four) 25% Writing Assignment (two) 20% Research Paper 15% EAP: Academic WritingPortfolio 30%

Moodle logs will be required for this course. The instructor will give you one or two promptsfor each log. You need to respond to the prompt(s) in 200-300 words. The topics range fromcourse readings, class discussions, grammar concepts and your own writing processes. Inaddition to posting your individual Moodle reflections, you are also expected to respond to atleast one postof your classmates.


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Writing assignments will count for graded credit when the final version is submitted to theinstructor. You will be asked to revise the two writing assignments and include them in yourEAP: Academic Writing Portfolio (due in Week 17); the writing assignment portion of yourcourse grade will be based on the quality of the papers you turn in with the portfolio.

Research Paper will be introduced in Week 11. You are allowed to choose the topicscovered in the course, such as cultural relevance, technology and education. The researchpaper will also be required to include in your portfolio, so the final grade of the researchpaper will be based on the quality ofthe final version submitted with your portfolio.

EAP: Academic WritingPortfolio will be submitted in Week 17. The Portfolio needs to besubmitted within binders no larger than two inches. A complete Portfolio includes thefollowing components:

A. Title Page (refer to MLA guidelines)B.

Portfolio Submission Checklist (refer to EAP: Academic Writing Portfolio guidelines)C. Table of Contents

D. Feature Writing (D-1: Two revised writing assignments; and D-2: Two pieces of self-selected writing and rationale)

E. Encountering American Academic Culture Final Reflection EssayF. Research Paper (include all drafts, peer responses, and teachers feedback)G. Grammar File (Eight grammar worksheets)Refer to EAP: Academic Writing Portfolio guidelines for specific instructions (Appendix D).


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Syllabus Outline

Week Day Themes Workshops Goals & Skills Assignment Due Un

1 8/27 Introduction toCourse

1

8/29 Reasons for Writing Listening, speaking andwriting Summary writing

Moodle Log 1

2 9/3 Cultural Relevance 1(Narrative ParagraphDevelopment)

Identifying main ideas Summary writing Paraphrasing Informal Presentations

2

9/5 Cultural Relevance 2(Narrative Paragraph

Development)

Grammar

workshop (GW)

1Active/passive

voice

(Worksheet)

Reading strategically Defining vocabulary

through context

Summarizing readingmaterials

3 9/10 Memorable Places 1(DescriptiveParagraphDevelopment)

Critical reading Reflective writing Writing present and

past descriptions

Moodle Log 2 3

9/12 Memorable Places 2

(DescriptiveParagraphDevelopment)

GW2Subject-

VerbAgreement(Worksheet)

Writing with specificdetails

Reading and reflectingon others writing

Begin the 1st

draft of WritingAssignment 1

4 9/17 Peer Review Peer Responseand TrainingWorkshop

Editing Revision techniques Complete the firstdraft of Writing

Assignment 1

9/19 Note-takingStrategies

Taking notes efficiently5 9/24 Technology 1

(Constructing a

Cohesive andCoherent Essay)

Reading and evaluatingthe effects of

technology Identifying and

improving thesisstatements

Understandingstructure of academicessays

Final submissionof Writing

Assignment 1

4


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9/26 Technology 2(Constructing aCohesive andCoherent Essay)

GW3Adverb

Clauses of

Result, reduced

adverb

(Worksheet)

Expanding a paragraphinto an essay

Improving cohesion byusing connecting words

Writing a goodconcluding paragraph6 10/1 Expository Essay Reading to write

Freewriting Expository paragraph

development

Moodle Log 3 5

10/3 No class

7 10/8 Expository Essay(contd.)

EditingWorkshopcomparativeforms,

correlativeconjunctions,run-on sentence,comma splice

Constructingexpository essays

Introduction todocumentation styleand plagiarism

10/10 In-class Writing(Writing Assignment2)

Timed writing

8(mid-term)

10/15 The Power of Cultureand Language 1(Compare-and-Contrast ParagraphDevelopment)

Learning about theimpacts of culture andlanguage in our lives

Identifying points ofcomparison

Composing comparison& contrast paragraphs

6

10/17 The Power of Cultureand Language 2(Compare-and-Contrast ParagraphDevelopment)

WritingAssignment 2ReviewWorkshop

Using comparison &contrast transitions toincrease coherence

Editing & Revising

*Receive WritingAssignment 2with feedback;Begin WritingAssignment 2revision

9 10/22 Human Behavior 1(Analyzing Reasons)

Writing paragraphsanalyzing reasons 710/24 Human Behavior 2

(Analyzing Reasons)GW4

Pronoun

consistency(Worksheet)

Building cohesion andcoherence in writing

Moodle Log 4


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10 10/29 Marketing &Advertising 1(DevelopingClassificationParagraphs)

Learning about thefield of marketing

Identifying differentcategories

Final submissionof Essay 2

8

10/31 Marketing &Advertising 2

GW5Articleswith

Quantifiers,

Articles with

count and non-

count nouns

(Worksheet)

Summarizing,paraphrasing

Identifying differentcategories

Building cohesion Organizing and writing

a classification essay

11 11/5 AcademicAchievement 1;Brainstorming Topicsfor Research Paper

Identifying causesand/or effects in theessay

Determining thewriters purposes

Begin the 1st draftof research paper

9

11/7 AcademicAchievement 2

GW6Adverb

clauses of cause

and result,

unreal

conditions(Worksheet)

Using transitions forcause and effect

Writing a cause-and-effect essay

12 11/12 SustainableEnvironment 1(Analyzing Process

in Writing)

Learning about ways toimprove environmentalsustainability

Distinguishing betweendirectional andinformational process

Practicing writingabout a process

10

11/14 SustainableEnvironment 2(Analyzing Processin Writing)

GW7 Noun

clauses, gerunds

and infinitives

(Worksheet)

Using participialphrases to increasecoherence

Moodle Log 5

13 11/19 Peer Review Peer ResponseTraining &

Workshop

Using correctdocumentation style

Identifying grammarerrors

1st draft ofResearch paper

11/21 No class


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14 11/26 Education Excellence1 (Introduction toArgumentativeEssays)

Reading about issues ineducation

Building argumentativethesis: Taking a stand

11

11/28 Education Excellence2

GW8 Adverbial

clauses

(Worksheet)

Building upbackground knowledgeof the death penalty

Using sufficientexamples to support athesis

Using participialphrases, adverbialclauses of purpose andconditionals correctly

2nd draft ofresearch paper

15 12/3 Social Justice Evaluating the supportin an argumentativetext

Outlining anargumentative text

Support, explain andrefute arguments

12

12/5 Grammar Review Paper ReviewWorkshop

Reviewing all thegrammar skills coveredin the course

Error treatment on thegrammar problems thatappear in the drafts ofthe research papers

*Receivefeedback on 2nddraft

16 12/10 Final Conference

12/12 Final Conference

17 12/16 Submit finalportfolio


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UNIT 1: Introduction to Academic Writing

Objectives:

Students will be able to

Meet and connect with the teacher and the other students in the class. Familiarize themselves with the main aspects of the syllabus. Know all the requirements and assignments. Write the ideas of a text after listening to the teacher dictate the text. Know the concept of topic sentences. Produce topic sentences for given paragraphs.


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Week 1 Unit Plan: August 2729, 2013

Day Topic Task Materials Homework

Tuesday,A

ugust27th

Introductionto Academic

Writingcourse

1. Introduction.2. Ice-breaker Activity:

getting to know eachother (Pair up

students and askthem to introducethemselves. Next,each student needsto introduce his/herpair to the wholeclass.)

3. Distribute the coursesyllabus to students.Highlight the mainaspects of the

syllabus.4. Distribute theportfolio plan tostudents. Discuss therequirements.

Handouts ofcourse syllabus

Handouts ofportfolio plan

No homework

Thursday,

August2

9th

Reasons forWriting

1. Give students 5 min.to free write on thetopic, reasons forwriting.

2. Read the text tostudents several

times and askstudents to write theideas as theyremember them.

3. In pairs, studentsdiscuss the questionsrelated to the text.

4. Students underlinethe topic sentencesin given paragraphs.

5. In pairs, studentswork on the topicsentence worksheet.Next, discuss theanswers as a wholeclass.

6. Remind students tocheck out Moodlediscussion forum.

Studentsfreewritingnotebook

Paper Reading handout:

an excerpt from

Reading Acrossthe Gap: How I

Write

Topic sentenceworksheet

1. Check out PurdueOWL website (thelink is posted onMoodle).

2. Respond to thediscussion forum on

Moodle.


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LESSON PLAN 2: Reasons for Writing

Date: August 29, 2013Class Size: 12 studentsStudents: ESL/International students; 1st semester college-level

Duration: 75 minutes

Objectives: Students will be able to...

O1. Build up content schemata before reading a textO2. Listen to a text and paraphrase it as closely as possibleO3. Comprehend a text through discussionO4. Relate the authors experience with the students own

experiencesO5. Identify topic sentencesO6. Write topic sentences


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Reasons for Writing

Procedure Stage &

Time

Activity Objecti

ves

Materials

1 Pre-task 1:

Freewriting

(10 min)

Ask students to think about whythey need to write.

Tell students to take out their freewriting notebook and give them 5min. to free write on the topic,reasons for writing.

Ask students to share the reasonsthey have come up with.

Write students responses on theboard.

O1 Students freewriting

notebook

2 Task 1a:

Dictocomp

Activity

(15 min)

Give specific instructions on thedictocomp exercise and askstudents to take out a piece of

paper. Read the text,Reading Across the

Gap: How I Write at a normalspeed.

After students finish the dictocomp,read the text again for students torevise their writings.

Ask some students to read theirdictocomps to the class.

O2 Paper

Reading

handout: anexcerpt fromReading

Across theGap: How I

Write(Appendix E)

3 Task 1b:

Comprehension

Activity

(15 min)

Ask students to discuss in pairs onthe reasons that motivated theauthor to write.

Tell students to reconvene as aclass and call out the results of theirdiscussions.

Write down students findings onthe board.

Ask students if the story triggerstheir memories and tell them toshare their own experience whenthey are motivated to write.

O3, O4 None


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4 Task 2:

TopicSentenceExercise

(10 min)

Give students the script of theexcerpt.

Introduce the idea of topicsentence.

Ask students to underline the topicsentence in each paragraph of thearticle.

Pair students up to discuss theiranswers.

Ask students to report their answersas a class.

O5 Readinghandout(Appendix E)

6 Task 3:

TopicSentence

Exercise(20 min)

Distribute the worksheet tostudents. Give students 10 min. towork in pairs.

Discuss the answers of theworksheet with students.

O5, O6 Topicsentenceworksheet(Appendix F)

7 Closing:

(5 min)

Invite students to check out PurdueUniversity Online Writing Lab fortopic sentences (The link isposted on Moodle).

Ask students to respond to thediscussion forum on Moodle bynext class (see the prompt inAppendix G).

None


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UNIT 12: Social Justice

Objectives:

Students will be able to

Learn about and discuss issues about the death penalty. Evaluate the support in an argumentative text. Explain, support and refute arguments. Identify and correct the common grammar errors that occur in their writings.


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Week 12 Unit Plan: December 35, 2013

Day Topic Task Materials Homework

Tuesday,

December3rd

SocialJustice

1. Give students 5 min.to write about their

opinions toward thedeath penalty. Askstudents to sharetheir opinions andreasons.

2. Ask students to readan argumentativearticle about thedeath penalty. 2.Students work ingroups to identify

the main argumentsand evaluate thesupport in the text.

3. Students presenttheir findings.

4. Students write aparagraph thatrefutes thearguments.

Computer Projector Screen

White board Sharpies

A picture of thedeath penalty(Appendix H)

A readinghandout &worksheet(seeAppendix I)

Bring all the grammarworksheets for the next

class.

Thursday,

December5th

GrammarReview

1. Ask students if theyhave any questions

on their grammarworksheets.

2. Distribute theCommon GrammarError Worksheettostudents.

3. Divide the class intothree groups and askstudents to work as agroup and find outthe grammar errors.

4. Discuss thesentences one by onewith students anddistribute the answersheets to the studentsat the end of theclass.

CommonGrammar Error

Worksheet: Theworksheetcollects thegrammaticallyincorrectsentences thatfrequentlyoccurred instudentswritings.

Answers to theworksheet

None


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LESSON PLAN 15: Social Justicethe Death Penalty

Date: December 3, 2013Class Size: 12 studentsStudents: ESL/International students; 1st semester college-level

Duration: 75 minutes

Objectives: Students will be able to...

O1. Develop ideas on a given topicO2. List reasons that support their argumentsO3. Work independently and cooperativelyO4. Identify the main arguments of a given articleO5. Describe how to support and explain an argumentO6. Make an outline of an argumentative textO7. Refute arguments in writing


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Social Justice 3the Death Penalty

Procedure Stage &

Time

Activity Objec

tives

Materials

1 Task 1:

Free writing

(5 min)

Show students the image of thedeath penalty on the classroomscreen.

Tell students to take out their freewriting notebook and give them 5min. to write down their opinionson the death penalty.

O1 Computer

Projector

Screen

Students freewritingnotebooks

A picture of thedeath penalty

(Appendix H)

Post-Task

1:

Sharingtime

(10 min)

Ask students to raise their handsif they support the death penalty.Ask them to share their reasonsand write down the reasons on theboard.

Do the same thing to the studentswho are against the death penaltyand those who do not care.

O2 White board

Sharpies

2 Pre-Task 2:

Preparation

&

Reading thetext

(15 min)

Randomly divide the class into 4groups.

Establish a role for each memberof the group. They have 3choices: recorder,presenterandencourager. Ask each student towrite the role on a role cards andplace it in front of him/her.

Distribute Handout #1 to eachstudent.

Give students 10 min. to read thearticle by themselves.

O3 Handout #1:Reading ofTheConservativeCase Against

the DeathPenalty

(Appendix I)

Task 2a:

Groupdiscussion

(15 min)

Give one Handout #2 to eachgroup. Give students 15 min. todiscuss the questions listed onHandout #2. (The students whoseroles are recorders need to writedown the answers to thequestions).

O3,O4,O5,O6

Handout #2:Worksheet(Appendix I)


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Task 2b:

Presentation

(10 min)

Tell students to reconvene as aclass. Show the word documentof Handout #2 on the screen.

Each group take turns presentingtheir answers. (The students

whose roles are presenters shouldpresent the results after thediscussion).

Confirm and record studentsanswers on the document.

O4,O5,O6

Computer

Projector

Screen

Handout #2(Appendix I)

3 Task 3:

WritingActivity

(15 min)

Give students 10 min. to write aparagraph in which they disagreewith the opinion of the author.

Select several students to sharetheir writings.

O7 Paper

4 Closing:

(5 min)

Give students 5 min. to write theirreflections on what they havelearned today.

Ask students to post their writingson Moodle.

Tell students to bring all of theirgrammar worksheets for the nextclass.

Free writingnotebooks


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Conclusion

This curriculum was my first attempt to design a language course. It required a lot of

work, but overall, I feel confident and happy with the results of the needs assessment and the

design of our curriculum, including syllabus, course outline, unit plans and lesson plans. This

process has made me realize that curriculum design needs to take a lot of aspects into account,

such as students needs, teachers requirements and the education philosophies of the institution.

All of these aspects helped us make appropriate decisions in designing a course suitable for the

target students in the target setting. For instance, since Dordt College emphasized students using

correct grammar in writing, we incorporated grammar workshops into the writing curriculum.

Through revising the project, I got a chance to reflect upon the original project, add more

personal voice in it, improve the weaknesses of the project as well as reinforce the strengths of

the project.


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References

Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010,

May 5). Topic sentences. Retrieved from

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=2&sub_categor

y_id=1&article_id=29

Allwright, D., & Bailey, K.M. (1991).Focus on the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Bailey, K. M. (1998).Learning about language assessment: Dilemmas, decisions, and

directions. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

Bitchener, J. (2008). Evidence in support of written corrective feedback.Journal of Second

Language Writing, 17, 102-118.

Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language

pedagogy (3rd ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman.

Cary, M. K. (2011, March 30). The conservative case against the death penalty. The U.S. News.

Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/03/30/the-conservative-

case-against-the-death-penalty

Connor, U., & Kaplan, R. B. (1987). Writing across languages: Analysis of L2 text. Boston, MA:

Addison-Wesley.

Ferris, D. R., & Hedgcock, J. S. (1998). Teaching ESL composition: Purpose, process, and

practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ferris, D., & Hedgcock, J. (Forthcoming). Teaching L2 composition: Purpose, process, and

practice (3rd ed.).New York, NY: Routledge.


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Graves, K. (2000).Designing language courses: a guide for teachers.London: Heinle &

Heinle.

Hedgcock, J. S., & Ferris, D. R. (2009). Teaching readers of English: Students,

texts, and contexts. New York, NY: Routledge.

Hirvela, A. (2004). Connecting reading and writing in second language writing instruction. Ann

Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Hyland, K. (2004).Disciplinary discourses: Social interactions in academic writing. Ann Arbor,

MI: University of Michigan Press.

Ortega, L. (2009). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Hodder Education.

Ruetten, M. K. (2012).Developing composition skills: Academic writing and grammar(3rd ed.).

Boston, MA: Heinle.

Smith. (1994). Writing and the writer(2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Weaver, C. (2002).Reading process and practice: From socio-psycholinguistics

to Whole Language (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Weigle, S. C. (2002).Assessing writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


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Appendix ACurrent Students Questionnaire

We (Hala Sun & Vicky Fang) are TESOL graduate students at the Monterey Institute ofInternational Studies. We are currently designing a curriculum to meet incoming Dordt ESL

students needs. Please provide candid responses, as only this will guarantee the success ofcreating a meaningful course. Thank you very much for your time!

Section I:

1.) Gender: _________________________2.) Native Language:___________________3.) Nationality:________________________4.) Are you an international student or an exchange student?______________________5.) How long have you lived in the U.S.?_____________________________________6.) How long have you studied English?______________________________________7.) How do you rate your overall English proficiency? (Please circle)

8.) How important is to improve the following skills? (Please circle the number for each skill)

1: Not important 2: Somewhat important 3: Important 4: Very important

Section II:

1.) How many years of English academic writing experience do you have? (Please circle)

2.) What do you think is most difficult for you in English writing? (Check only ONE)

___1. Grammar ___3. Developing content___2. Vocabulary/Use of words ___4. Organization/structure

3.) How often do you read English materials (e.g., textbooks, newspapers, etc.)? (Please circle)

Listening skills 1 2 3 4

Reading skills 1 2 3 4

Writing skills 1 2 3 4

Speaking skills 1 2 3 4

1: Excellent 2: Good 3: Fair 4: Poor


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4.) Please number the following list in the order of how much you read it (15)(1: I read this a lot in English 5: I read this the least in English)

___Literary work

___Newspapers and magazines

___Instructional materials (e.g., textbooks)

___Email___Websites

5.) How confident are you in paraphrasing the main points of an English article after reading it?(Please circle)

6.) Please rate the subskills of writing using 1 to 5 (Please circle the number)

(1: I need little practice on the skill 5: I need a lot of practice on the skill)

7.) Please rate the subskills of reading using 1 to 5 (Please circle the number)


8.) How confident are you in speaking in front of the class? (Please circle).

1: very confident 2: confident 3: somewhat

confident

4: not so

confident

5: not confident

at all

Least Most

Using correct grammar 1 2 3 4 5

Using correct and advanced vocabulary 1 2 3 4 5

Developing content 1 2 3 4 5

Increasing flow of essay 1 2 3 4 5

Using correct documentation styles (MLA, APA) 1 2 3 4 5

Composing an organized essay 1 2 3 4 5

Least Most

Understanding grammatical relationships at the

sentence level

1 2 3 4 5

Increasing vocabulary 1 2 3 4 5

Paraphrasing 1 2 3 4 5

Understanding conceptual meaning in text (e.g.,comparison, cause & effect, etc.)

1 2 3 4 5

Understanding not explicitly stated ideas and

information in text

1 2 3 4 5

Note-making from text 1 2 3 4 5


confident

4: not so

confident

5: not confident

at all


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9.) How confident are you in listening and understanding class lectures and discussions? (Pleasecircle).

10.) Which of the following topics would you like to see covered in your speaking and listeningcourse? (CheckALL that apply).

_____Youth culture (clothes, topics on social media, trends, cultural difference)_____Pop music and icons_____American films and dramas_____Social issues (environment, science & technology, community, etc.)_____Current political issues

11.) Please rate the subskills of listening using 1 to 5 (Please circle)


12.) Please rate the subskills of speaking using 1 to 5 (Please circle)


13.) Which of the following activities would you like to see covered in your speaking andlistening course: (Please check up to 3)____role-playing ____conducting interviews ____presentations ____debate____talk show ____watching a video clip ____discussion about a topic


confident

4: not so

confident

5: not confident

at all

Least Most

Understanding lectures in English 1 2 3 4 5

Understanding media (movies, TV, radio) 1 2 3 4 5

Understanding colloquial sayings and idioms 1 2 3 4 5

Understanding real conversations in English 1 2 3 4 5

Least Most

Improving fluency in English (deliver intended

message effectively)

1 2 3 4 5

Improving accuracy in English (e.g., using correctgrammar)

1 2 3 4 5

Using colloquial sayings and idioms 1 2 3 4 5

Improving pronunciation 1 2 3 4 5

Delivering a speech in a formal setting 1 2 3 4 5

Having a conversation with native speakers 1 2 3 4 5


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Appendix BPast Students Questionnaire

We (Hala Sun & Vicky Fang) are TESOL graduate students at the Monterey Institute ofInternational Studies. We are currently designing a curriculum to meet incoming Dordt ESL

students needs. Please provide candid responses, as only this will guarantee the success ofcreating a meaningful course. Thank you very much for your time!

Section I:

1.) Gender: _________________________2.) Native Language:___________________3.) Nationality:________________________4.) Are you an international student or an exchange student?______________________5.) How long have you lived in the U.S.?_____________________________________6.) How long have you studied English?______________________________________7.) How do you rate your overall English proficiency? (Please circle)

8.) How important is to improve the following skills? (Please circle the number for each skill)

1: Not important 2: Somewhat important 3: Important 4: Very important

9.) How have the ESL courses helped you improve your English proficiency?

10.) How have the ESL courses helped you to transition to English 101 course?

Listening skills 1 2 3 4

Reading skills 1 2 3 4

Writing skills 1 2 3 4

Speaking skills 1 2 3 4

1: Excellent 2: Good 3: Fair 4: Poor


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Section II:

1.) How many years of English academic writing experience do you have? (Please circle)

2.) What do you think is most difficult for you in English writing? (Check only ONE)

___1. Grammar ___3. Developing content___2. Vocabulary/Use of words ___4. Organization/structure

3.) How often do you read English materials (e.g., textbooks, newspapers, etc.)? (Please circle)

4.) Please number the following list in the order of how much you read it (15)

(1: I read this a lot in English 5: I read this the least in English)

___Literary work

___Newspapers and magazines

___Instructional materials (e.g., textbooks)___Email___Websites

5.) How confident are you in paraphrasing the main points of an English article after reading it?

(Please circle)

6.) Please rate the subskills of writing using 1 to 5 (Please circle the number)



confident

4: not so

confident

5: not confident

at all

Least Most

Using correct grammar 1 2 3 4 5

Using correct and advanced vocabulary 1 2 3 4 5

Developing content 1 2 3 4 5

Increasing flow of essay 1 2 3 4 5

Using correct documentation styles (MLA, APA) 1 2 3 4 5

Composing an organized essay 1 2 3 4 5


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7.) Please rate the subskills of reading using 1 to 5 (Please circle the number)


8.) How confident are you in speaking in front of the class? (Please circle).

9.) How confident are you in listening and understanding class lectures and discussions? (Pleasecircle).

10.) Which of the following topics would you like to see covered in your speaking and listeningcourse? (CheckALL that apply).

_____Youth culture (clothes, topics on social media, trends, cultural difference)_____Pop music and icons_____American films and dramas_____Social issues (environment, science & technology, community, etc.)_____Current political issues

11.) Please rate the subskills of listening using 1 to 5 (Please circle)


Least Most

Understanding grammatical relationships at the

sentence level

1 2 3 4 5

Increasing vocabulary 1 2 3 4 5

Paraphrasing 1 2 3 4 5

Understanding conceptual meaning in text (e.g.,comparison, cause & effect, etc.)

1 2 3 4 5

Understanding not explicitly stated ideas and

information in text

1 2 3 4 5

Note-making from text 1 2 3 4 5


confident

4: not so

confident

5: not confident

at all

1: very confident 2: confident 3: somewhatconfident

4: not soconfident

5: not confidentat all

Least Most

Understanding lectures in English 1 2 3 4 5

Understanding media (movies, TV, radio) 1 2 3 4 5

Understanding colloquial sayings and idioms 1 2 3 4 5

Understanding real conversations in English 1 2 3 4 5


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12.) Please rate the subskills of speaking using 1 to 5 (Please circle)


13.) Which of the following activities would you like to see covered in your speaking andlistening course: (Please check up to 3)

____role-playing ____conducting interviews ____presentations ____debate____talk show ____watching a video clip ____discussion about a topic

14.) Please share what you would like to see more in the class (What improvements would youlike to see in both classes?)

ESL Speaking & Listening Class:

ESL Reading & Writing Class:

Least Most

Improving fluency in English (deliver intended

message effectively)

1 2 3 4 5

Improving accuracy in English (e.g., using correctgrammar)

1 2 3 4 5

Using colloquial sayings and idioms 1 2 3 4 5

Improving pronunciation 1 2 3 4 5

Delivering a speech in a formal setting 1 2 3 4 5

Having conversation with native speakers 1 2 3 4 5


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Appendix CCourse Design Procedure Outline

1. Identify the context ESL Academic writing course at a college: preparinginternational students for taking college level English

composition classes, such as ENGL 101.2. Develop an aim Aim To develop L2 student writers English academic

writing skills, especially writing from sources

Objectives

Students will be able to:

Use a range of writing-to-read strategies to develop anunderstanding of reading materials, includingsummarizing main ideas, synthesizing multiple sourcetexts and responding to readings (Hirvela, 2004);

Generate appropriate content and adopt proper tone foracademic purposes and audience;

Locate and evaluate sources, select information fromthe sources and organize and compose two writings of1000 words based on given topics (Hirvela, 2004);

Correct major grammatical errors in writing, such asuse of articles, dependent clauses and prepositions.

3. Note event sequences -Taking a placement test which assess whether a studentneeds to take this writing course or not-Attending classes-Reading reference materials and taking notes

-Participating in group activities and discussions in the class-Participating in course logs on Moodle (course logs includingwriting responses to prompts and giving feedback to peersresponses)-Participating in a weekly grammar workshop-Writing a weekly journal-Writing essays-Revising essays according to teachers feedback-Taking an exam

4. List the texts required -Placement test-Lectures

-Reading texts: grammar book, books about critical readingand academic journals and essays-Writing texts: free writings, critiques, marginal annotations,journal entries, course logs and academic essays.


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Course Design Procedure Outline (Cont)

5. Outline socioculturalknowledge

Students need knowledge of:-Academic institution: the forms and regulations of academicinstitution in America;

-The role of the student: what teacher expect from student atan American college (e.g., actively participate in classactivities, ask questions and frequently interact with teacher);-Academic procedures and expectations: the process ofcomposing an academic essay (brainstorm, plan, write, revise,edit, proofread, etc.), awareness of plagiarism (such as, citingsources and using correct documentation styles) and theevaluation method of the teacher;-Classroom practices and subgenre knowledge that typifyacademic and research papers (e.g. descriptive, narrative,argumentative, expository texts) (Bax, 2011)

6. Gather text samples Written texts: essays, journals, books, electronic readings,short responses

7. Develop units of workand unit objectives

Coherent units with classes sequenced to provide learnerswith:-Relevant ordering of tasks-Explicit input: Grammar-Guided practice: reading and writing


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Appendix D

EAP: Academic Writing Portfolio Guidelines

Background and Rationale

The EAP: Academic Writing Portfolio is designed to help you meet the following objectives:

raising your awareness of the conventions of academic writing in North American academic

institutions, practicing English writing skills through extensive reading and writing assignments,

building up your research techniques, strengthening your knowledge of English grammar,

creating a personal learning document that you can reference to later. When completed, your

EAP: Academic WritingPortfolio will demonstrate your strength as an English writer, your

understanding of American academic culture and your control of academic writing techniques.

This Semesters Portfolio Requirement

As your syllabus indicates,EAP: Academic WritingPortfolio will require eight grammar

worksheets, two writing assignments, one research paper and two pieces of writing. Assignments

receiving a mark of U (Unsatisfactory) must be revised and resubmitted; only those

assignments that received a mark of S (Satisfactory) are eligible for inclusion in your Portfolio.

You also need to submit your Portfolios in a rigid-cover, maximum 2-inch, three-ring binder.

Please be aware 30% of your course grade is based on the quality of your Final Portfolio in this

class.

The Final Conference

Final Conference will be scheduled with your instructor in Week 16. You will submit a draft of

your final reflection. You may also need to bring any writing samples requested by your

instructor. In your conference, you and your instructor will discuss your progress and the writing

samples you will include in your Portfolio.


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Components of the Portfolio

A. Title Page (refer to MLA guidelines)B. Portfolio Submission Checklist (see next page)C. Table of Contents

Component D:

Feature Writing

Component E:

Encountering American

Academic Culture

Component F:

Research Paper

Component G:

Grammar File

D-1: Two revised writing

assignments (including allintermediate drafts, peerresponses and teachers

feedback);

D-2: Two pieces of

writing that you are mostproud of (e.g., Moodlelogs, in-class free-writingand writing for othercourses or purposes);(including 1 paragraph ofrationale explaining thereasons you chose each

piece of writing).

Final Reflection: write a1-2 page reflection paperbased on your midtermreflection paper:

1. What difficulties haveyou experienced in theclass?

2. What have you learned?

3. Whats your goaltowards your academicstudies in the US?

4. Self-assessment: Do youunderstand therequirements and styles ofNorth American academicwriting? How do youevaluate your ownperformance in this class?(There will be a set ofSelf-Assessment Guidelines)

Optional: photos; a list ofuseful tools or websitesthat you feel helpful; a listof things you want toimprove in the future

One revised

research paper(including allintermediate

drafts, peerresponses andteachersfeedback).

8 grammar

exercise sheets

(all the wronganswers are

marked andcorrected).


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Portfolio Submission Checklist

Directions: In submitting your Portfolio, please use this checklist to ensure that you arecompleting the assignment properly.Please use a + to indicate clear understanding and

confidence, a to indicate good or fair work and confidence, and a - to indicate

uncertainty or a lack of confidence.Include this signed checklist within your Portfolio asComponent B.+ 1. I have all seven components (AG) in my Portfolio.

+ 2. I have included a clear title page giving the title of my Portfolio, my name, the course,the professors name, and the due date.

+ 3. I have included in the appendices all intermediate drafts, peer responses, and teachersfeedback for Component D (Feature Writing) and Component F (Research Paper).

+ 4. I have included a 1-paragraph rationale forEACH of my self-selected writing piece(total of 2) in Component D (D-2). In my rationale, I have clearly explained the reasonswhy I chose my writing pieces.

+ 5. All my papers are double-spaced in twelve-point font, and all the pages are correctlyand sequentially numbered.

+ 6. The Portfolio is well organized and attractive in terms of its presentation.

+ 7. I have personally checked every Reference list included in my Portfolio for accuracy,completeness, and adherence to MLA convention.

+ 8. I have carefully spell-checked my work.

+ 9. I have carefully proofread my work and/or had someone else proofread it for me.

+ 10. I realize that this Portfolio is worth 30% of my final course grade and that thissubmission is final: the Portfolio may not be resubmitted for a grade adjustment.

+ 11. I have learned something from doing this Portfolio and I am proud of this academicaccomplishment.

Date: ____________ Signature:___________________________________


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Appendix EReading Handout

Excerpt from Reaching Across the Gap: How I Write1

By Michael C. Flanigan

My sister Mary and my brother Leo were the first two audiences I wrote for. Maryand the boys (four of us) were separated when my father joined the navy at the beginningof World War II. Mary stayed with my mother while we went to St. Franciss Home forBoys to get discipline, uniforms, and cleanly ways. I was five, the youngest in the five-hundred-boy school. I remember how much I wanted to write my sister, so after our dailylessons for reading and penmanship (the rest of school is forgotten) I would return to thedorm in the evening and practice. I wrote and wrote and wrote. All the initial writing waspracticeto get my penmanship right, to string words together for sense, to punctuate, tofill a page, then another and another until a pad was gone.

Finally I wrote a letter to my sister. I filled a page with How are you? Hope you

are fine. Miss you. Love you. Leo, Pat, and Pete are fine. Leo is growing trees fromsticks. Please write. I was not confident of my first attempt at written communication, soI stuffed the letter with jokes from magazines, some buttons I had collected, and a holymedal. All things I knew my sister liked.

Within a week my letter was answered. Besides a thank you for the gifts weredescriptions of Marys new school, how she was learning to ride a bike, and hosts ofother information about herself and out motherthree full pages. She asked onequestion: How does Leo grow trees from sticks? I didnt know. He just told me thebasic information. I knew I had to find out the details.

When I asked, Leo explained in minute detail how he picked the right branchesfrom trees, cut them, soaked them, and on through a whole fascinating process that Irepeated as best I could in my next letter. I also followed my sisters example and toldabout bits and pieces from our lives at the military school. Our correspondencecontinued for over four years until we boys were sent to see my father in Spokane in1946. The letters stopped on both ends. A few months later, the family was back together.

In 1950, Leo went to Korea. Again the urge to write, to create a reality of homefor him, overtook me. I wrote every day for two years until he came home. The lettersfocused on things I knew he would want to hear about: the state of the house he wasbuilding when he left, the orchard he helped plant on Uncle Vics farm, the mountains heloved, friends we both knew, relatives, and a host of the details that made up his life andours together . . .

What this early letter writing taught me was to focus on audience.Communication is not possible without common understandings, backgrounds,experience . . .

1ThepassagewasprintedinRuetten, M. K. (2012).Developing composition skills: Academic writing and

grammar(3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Heinle.

1

3

4

5

2

6


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Appendix FTopic Sentence Worksheet (adapted from Ruetten, 2012)2

The topic sentence is the main idea sentence. It is the most general and most importantsentence of the paragraph.

Because a paragraph is a short piece of writing, the topic sentence for a paragraph mustbe specific. A topic sentence that is too broad and vague will be difficult to adequately developin one paragraph.

Exercise 1: Study the following pairs of topic sentences. Circle the letter of the better topicsentence in each pair.

1 a. Divorce creates problems for parents and children.b. When their parents divorce, children often feel insecure.

2 a. New Orleans is an interesting place to visit.

b. The French Quarter in New Orleans has a quaint European charm.

3 a. Computers are more important now than ever before.b. Computers make revising an essay easy.

4 a. My parents have taught me to be persistent.b. My parents have had a great influence on me.

Exercise 2: Write a topic sentence for the following paragraph.

I write when Im happy and I write when Im sad. I also write when I am trying to make an

important decision. It may sound strange, but I often am not sure how I really feel about

something until I write about it. I learned this lesson well a few years ago when I was engaged to

be married. I started writing in my journal about the wedding and when I read my words, I

realized that I didnt want to get married at all. From then on, I have always made sure that I

check my feelings by writing about them first.

2Ruetten, M. K. (2012).Developing composition skills: Academic writing and grammar(3rd ed.). Boston, MA:

Heinle.


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Answer Keys to the Worksheet

Exercise 1:

1. b;2. b;3. b;4. a.

Exercise 2:

Writing reveals my true feelings.


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Appendix GMoodle Discussion Forum Prompt

Check out the following link of Purdue University OWL for topic sentences:http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=2&sub_category_id=1&articl

e_id=29

Explain or give an example of at least one new piece of information that you learned.


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Appendix HA Picture of Death Penalty

Don Monet


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Appendix IHandouts

Handout #1

The Conservative Case Against the Death PenaltyExonerations and cost outweigh the benefits of capital punishment3

By MARY KATE CARY

March 30, 2011

Back in the day, I worked as a spokesperson for Attorney General William Barr, and one of myduties was to oversee the speech-writing operation. I can't tell you how many get-tough, pro-

death-penalty speeches I worked on with our conservative team of writers, defending the death

penalty as preventative, deterrent, retributive, and proportionateall the usual reasons. Even

though I considered myself pro-

life, I had no problem with the death penalty at all. It was part ofbeing tough on crime.

Then, a few years after we left office, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin died. His obituary highlightedhis writings on "the seamless garment of life," in which he argued that one can't besimultaneously anti-abortion and pro-euthanasia, a big issue at the time of his death. It was an

epiphany of sorts for me, as I suddenly saw the moral inconsistency of my pro-death-penalty

stance: Pro-life means pro-life in all things, not just abortion. To me, that meant I couldn't be

pro-life and pro-death penalty anymore. I can respect those who might come to a different

conclusion; reasonable people can disagree when it comes to a question like this. But I decidedto stop supporting the death penalty.

Part of what made the decision difficult was that death penalty advocates consider themselves thevoice of the innocent victims and their families. It's hard to turn your back on innocent peoplewhose lives have been destroyed. At the time, it seemed that most of the people on death rowwere vicious killers, proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Not so much anymore.

There are still plenty of vicious killers on death row, but it turns out there may also be some asinnocent as the victims. Over the last 35 years, more than 130 people have been released fromdeath row because of evidence of their innocence. From 1973 to 1999, there was an average ofthree exonerations per year. Between 2000 and 2007, that average rose to five per year.

Since 1977, Illinois alone has exonerated 20 death row inmates, seven of them since 2000.Earlier this month, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinnwho until now supported the death penaltysignedlegislation outlawing capital punishment, making Illinois the fourth state to abolish the deathpenalty in the last decade, joining New Jersey, New York, and New Mexico. Overall, 16 states

3Cary, M.K. (2011, March 30). The conservative case against the death penalty. The U.S. News. Retrieved from

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/03/30/the-conservative-case-against-the-death-penalty


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now ban capital punishment, and such bills have been introduced over the last few years in ninemore, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Here's the interesting part: Quinn did not make his decision so much on moral grounds as on theunacceptably high number of wrongful convictions and discriminatory decisions. "I have

concluded that our system of imposing the death penalty is inherently flawed," he said. "As astate, we cannot tolerate the executions of innocent people, because such actions strike at thevery legitimacy of government."

Over the last decade, the number of death sentences imposed has dropped dramatically. In 1999,277 people were sentenced to die; in 2009, only 112 were, according to the Bureau of JusticeStatistics. The reluctance to impose the death penalty may be a reflection of the rise in post-

conviction exonerations. According to the Innocence Project, DNA evidence has resulted in over250 exonerations in 34 states since the late 1980s, the majority of which took place in the lastdecade. Seventeen of those freed had been on death row.

Because DNA results are irrefutable, they expose what's wrong with the rest of the case.According to the Innocence Project, there are several causes of wrongful convictions: mostinvolve mistaken identification by eyewitnesses, whom studies show are less able to recognizefaces of a different race than their own; unvalidated forensic science in other tests, such as bitemark identification or shoe print comparisons, that, unlike DNA testing, may be unreliable; falseconfessions, often by defendants who are younger than 18 years old or who are developmentallydisabled; and the questionable testimony of jailhouse snitches. The problem appears widespread.Every day, it seems the newspapers have another story about a wrongfully convicted personbeing released, often after serving decades in jail. Just last week, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnellreleased a man from prison who had served 27 years for rapes he did not commit. DNA testingcleared him.

As I said, it's hard to turn your back on innocent people whose lives have been destroyed.

It's becoming harder to justify the death penalty in the face of evidence that our system is flawed.It's also becoming difficult to defend financially. According to various published studies,California's death penalty system costs taxpayers anywhere from $63 to $114 million a yearmore than the costs of locking up prisoners for life. The cost to California taxpayers perexecution: $250 million. In Florida, it's $24 million per execution. In Texas, it's only $2.3 millionper execution, but that's about three times the cost of solitary confinement in maximum securityfor 40 years. Given the millions spent each year on litigation, appeals, and extra security fordeath penalty cases, it's far cheaper to lock the guilty up for life without parole. Think of thebetter ways we could use that money, including helping the victims and using DNA to find thecriminals who remain at large when the wrong guy is convicted.

For years, people like me thought that being tough on crime meant supporting the death penalty.Times have changed, and it's time for conservatives to get on the right side of the death penaltyargument. One can oppose the death penalty and still be in favor of a tough, affordable, accurate,and fair criminal justice system. Knowing what we know now, it just feels like the right thing todo.


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Handout #2: Worksheet

1. What are the writers main arguments?

2. Does the writer consider the audience, anticipate counter arguments, and treat those withopposing opinions as though they are intelligent? (Please find out examples from the text tosupport your answer).

3. Is the argument convincing? Why or why not?

4. Can you identify any method(s) of development the writer uses to make the argument?

5. Make an outline of the article.

Documents

Curriculum Design (EAP: Academic Writing)