Engl 1107 - course outline PDF

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English 1107 Instructor: Tanya Lewis Office: n/a Office Hours: TBA

Phone: n/a Email: [email protected]

Course Format: Monday-Thursday 8:30-9:30 Credits: 3

Transfer Credit: For information, visit bctransferguide.ca

Prerequisites: IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent); or Duolingo 110. Previously completed LET with a minimum score of 2 can also be used as a prerequisite. Course Description: Writing fluently in English is hard work—even for native English speakers! English 1107 is designed to improve students’ academic writing and reading skills. Once students have achieved those skills, they will be ready to attempt university-transfer English or equivalent Communications courses. Learning Outcomes: By the end of the semester, successful students will be able to do the following: • write grammatically correct sentences that are clear, concise, and varied • write sentences that correctly use verbs, articles and other determiners • use a variety of appropriate (academic) vocabulary • develop ideas adequately • demonstrate proper basic essay structure • summarize accurately • participate meaningfully in the online learning environment Textbooks: Oxford English Grammar Course: Advanced by Michael Swan and Catherine Walter (2019 edition) All students must have class text by the beginning of Week 3.

Assessments and Weighting: Satisfactory in-class writing contains the following: • fewer than six grammatical errors per page (about 150 words), none of which seriously impede understanding • academic diction • a variety of sentence structures • clear topic sentences • appropriate transitions • adequate and logical development All assignments must be submitted on time. No late assignments will be accepted.

Assignment Details: Be sure to submit your assignments in the appropriate area of Brightspace – Surveys, Quizzes, or Assignments. Please do not e-mail me your assignment unless Brightspace is not working. Summaries By 11pm each Sunday (beginning Week 3), students must submit a summary assignment of fewer than 100 words of the reading assigned the previous Thursday. By 11pm Tuesday, each student must complete a quick peer review assignment based on the student summary I sent them Monday by noon. Finally, I will send the peer review to the writer of the summary so that they can revise it based on their peer’s feedback. The final version of the summary assignment is due at 11pm Thursday, and will receive an S/SR/U grade. Students who do not submit a summary on Sunday or do a peer review by Tuesday will not be permitted to submit a summary on Thursday. Surveys By midnight each Monday (beginning Week 2), students must complete a Brightspace survey based on the reading assigned the previous Thursday. Vocabulary Quizzes Each Thursday, there will be a vocabulary quiz (released at 9:00am, due at 11pm) based on the most recently assigned reading. Students need to earn an average of 8/10 on vocabulary quizzes over the course of the semester to demonstrate that they understand academic vocabulary well-enough to succeed in university-level English courses. Page 2 of 7

Reading Response Paragraphs Each Wednesday (beginning Week 6), I will release a writing topic in relation to the week’s assigned reading. Students will submit a paragraph response by Thursday at 11pm. Mid-term Exam and Final Exam There will be one mid-term exam in Week 10. It will be formatted like an LET (Langara English Test) and will therefore be a two-hour exam consisting of a summary passage and an essay. This is the same format as the final exam, scheduled sometime Dec. 4-16, Langara’s official exam period.

Final Assessment: To receive a final grade of S (Satisfactory) in this course, you must both complete a minimum of 80% of the assignments in each category (surveys, exercises, quizzes, summaries, etc.) and earn a score of S on the final exam. If the final exam is close to S, a score of S on 6 writing assignments may be sufficient for a final grade of S. Remember: Your final grade will reflect not only your marks on the assignments listed above, but also my considered judgment of your overall performance.

Course Policies Attendance and Participation Attendance is a strong indicator of performance, which is why I expect you to attend a Zoom meeting on both Tuesday and Thursday. If you are unable to attend, you may view the recorded session as soon as you are available. You are also expected to arrive to Zoom on time to minimize disruption to the class. Be aware: English 1107 is not the kind of course that allows you to work entirely at your own pace; you are required to complete assignments every week -- because improving reading and writing skills takes time and regular, consistent practice. The course is organized into weekly modules that list the activities and assignments required each week. You should expect to log into Brightspace and check your email at least every weekday for an online course.

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Courtesy, Civility and Respect You are expected to behave in a way that is civil and courteous to others. When you speak, you must do so politely, waiting your turn, and refraining from insulting or dismissive comments, even when you disagree with your peers or the instructor. Also, please be aware that your body language must be respectful, too. Do not roll your eyes or ignore people when they are speaking. This is especially important in Zoom where small gestures may be magnified onscreen. Doing homework for other classes, conducting side conversations, and eating noisily or messily are also activities that damage the Zoom learning environment, so pretend you are in the presence of the queen (or other elderly person you desire to impress) and behave accordingly. Also, do not email when angry or frustrated. Instead, wait until you are calm, re-read (and perhaps, revise) your email, and only then hit “send.” Instructor Accessibility I love getting to know my students and work very hard to give each of them the individual attention they need while balancing the needs of others. This may mean that I am not always immediately available, but that I will try to get to you as soon as I can. I generally return written assignments within a week, and answer emails once a day on weekdays. Electronic Devices This course will be conducted online using Brightspace and other resources (you can find help with Brightspace at https://iweb.langara.bc.ca/lts/brightspace/how-to-use-brightspace/); you must have regular and reliable internet access, a computer, and MS Word in order to fulfill course requirements. You should expect to spend a minimum of 5 hours per week going through the materials I have provided; homework and exercises will require additional time. You should be logging on to BrightSpace and checking your Langara email every day for course updates and communication from your instructor.

As a student at Langara, you are responsible for familiarizing yourself and complying with the following policies:

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College Policies: E1003 - Student Code of Conduct F1004 - Code of Academic Conduct E2008 - Academic Standing - Academic Probation and Academic Suspension E2006 - Appeal of Final Grade F1002 - Concerns about Instruction E2011 - Withdrawal from Courses

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Plagiarism (Adapted from Thor Polukoshko) Plagiarism occurs when a student submits the work of another person and presents it as his/her own. The work of another person can refer to words or ideas. If you are caught plagiarizing, you will get an automatic zero on the assignment. If it is your second offence, you will receive a zero for the course. If it is your third offence, you will face further consequences, such as possible permanent expulsion from the college. Not only will you suffer academically if you plagiarize (ex. failing an assignment or a class), but because plagiarism is a form of cheating it also means that you are not learning anything, and this can be harmful to your performance in future courses or even in life after school. Think about it: would you want to get an operation from a doctor who cheated on all her exams to pass medical school? Plagiarism is using someone else’s words without giving credit: ▪ when you use someone’s exact words, you need to put them in quotation marks. (Without quotation marks, this is plagiarism.) ▪ even if the source is cited on your works cited page, it is still plagiarism if you do not provide quotation marks. ▪ when you use a direct quotation, you must provide the proper in-text citation. (If you do not mention where the quotation is from, this is plagiarism, even if you do use quotation marks.) using someone else’s ideas without giving credit: ▪ if you are paraphrasing or summarizing someone else’s writing (putting someone else’s ideas into your own words), you must provide a proper in-text citation and citation on a works cited page. ▪ even if the sentence is completely your own writing, if the idea does not belong to you, you must give credit for it. ▪ if you are paraphrasing someone else’s writing, you must make sure that it has been changed enough from the original. (If the words and sentence structure are too similar to the original, this can be seen as plagiarism.) Intentional Plagiarism: ▪ purchasing an essay (in part or whole) from a website, another student, etc. ▪ paying someone to write an essay for you ▪ piecing together an essay by copying and pasting sentences or paragraphs stolen from the internet (or other sources) ▪ on group assignments, letting your partner do all the work and still claiming that you did your fair share (even if your partner is okay with it) ▪ submitting an assignment—either the same or very similar—more than once (Even if it is for a different class, the second time you submit it you are plagiarizing yourself.) Page 6 of 7

▪ selling or permitting others to copy your work Unintentional/Accidental Plagiarism: ▪ forgetting to use quotation marks for direct quotations (even if you give a citation) ▪ forgetting to give citations for sources that you have used ▪ paraphrasing insufficiently by not changing the words or sentence structure enough (even if you give a citation) ▪ using someone else’s ideas or concepts (from a text, from a fellow student, etc.) without giving him/her credit (even if you properly paraphrase the ideas) ▪ allowing a tutor to help you too much How to avoid plagiarism: ▪ Get your work done early. -Many students plagiarize because they “ran out of time.” -You will have time to ask for help if you don’t understand the assignment. -You will have time to ask your instructor/tutor about sections of your assignment that you think could possibly be plagiarism (and fix them before you hand it in). ▪ Be familiar with proper citation format (in English, we use MLA), and keep referencing your handbook (or another citation style guide) as you write the essay. ▪ Give credit and citations for everything; it is better to give too much credit than not enough. ▪ Make sure you have access to the sources you are using (save a PDF to your computer, or make a photocopy), so you can easily check page numbers, etc.. ▪ Make sure you double-check all your paraphrasing. ▪ Choose to write about topics that interest you; many students plagiarize because they view the assignments as boring and “a waste of time.” ▪ Do not give other students copies of your work. ▪ Understand what the definitions of plagiarism are. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Consequences of Plagiarism: If I encounter plagiarism in this course, I will assign a grade of U to the assignment and report the student to the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. Other penalties may then apply. For more information, see the Statement on Plagiarism below; if you have questions, please see me.

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