Writing
Writing to Be Read
Thu. 2nd. Period Stephen Hofstee
Keywords:
Grammar, Speaking, Vocabulary, Writing, Citing, Formatting, Process Writing, Referencing, Writing Genre

Delivery – Fully Online (授業の実施形態: 完全オンライン)

  • Students will be asked to have their cameras on during live sessions.

Course Description

This course is a combination writing course suitable for students with a TOEFL Paper-Based score of up to 459, or for students who have successfully completed the Gateway English course.

Writing to Be Read introduces students to the process of creative writing. It will give ample practice and reinforcement of writing skills by utilizing peer brainstorming, analyzing model paragraphs, identifying and practicing topic sentences, supporting sentences to correctly structure writing. The course is designed to use the students' experience as a base for writing, and classroom tasks will be guided to develop proficiency.

Writing tasks will focus on writing as yourself for the teacher or a classmate (though writing for a reader outside the classroom may also occur), and the process will involve gathering ideas, organizing ideas and turning these ideas into written text. Corrective feedback will be given and texts will be edited and rewritten in the process writing model. The style of writing for this course is aimed at being similar to journal writing or narratives, and the purpose of the writing in this course is to inform or entertain.

All homework and assignments will be done through Moodle. All writing work in class will be done on a keyboard, so students will be required to bring a computer to class every week. 

Student Selection

This course is best suited for students who:

  • are comfortable taking instruction and participating in English
  • are happy to perform pair and small group group-work
  • are looking to develop their writing skills
  • are self-motivated and looking for some autonomy in their language learning

Instructions:

  • In addition to regular participation both in class and on-line, students must complete all assignments (and complete them in a timely manner) to pass the course.
  • Students must pay attention to this university’s attendance regulations in this class.
  • Some or all of the homework for this course will be online, and or uploaded in digital format. Students enrolling in this course will require access to a computer or at least a smart phone, and the internet.
  • As 40% of the grade for this course comes from participation, students enrolling in this course will be required to actively participate in pair work and small-group discussion and be prepared to talk in class.

Feedback:

Feedback for this course will be provided by the instructor verbally during class, online through Moodle, or by e-mail. Homework will be checked and graded automatically through Moodle, and/or feedback given by the teacher through Moodle or by e-mail Periodic updates on each student's grade condition will be provided by the instructor.


Course Objectives

The major aims of this course are to introduce students to creative writing, build confidence in writing, and to help students feel comfortable with writing and hopefully gain an affiliation with writing in English.

Other aims of this course are to:

  • expose students to model written texts
  • provide ample opportunity to write both in class and at home
  • increase workable vocabulary over a wide variety of topics
  • improve use of English grammar in writing
  • introduce to students to formatting written texts
  • familiarize students with the notion of proof-reading and editing
  • introduce citing and referencing where required


Attendance and Participation: 40%
Homework: 60%


1

Session 1 (Thu. 1 Oct. ‘20)

Course Introduction, Class Rules, and Moodle Enrollment

2

Session 2 (Thu. 8 Oct. ‘20)

Paragraphs

  • Homework 1 – A Self-Introduction

3

Session 3 (Thu. 15 Oct. ‘20)

Topic Sentences

4

Session 4 (Sat. 17 Oct. ‘20)

Supporting and Concluding Sentences

  • Homework 2 – Edit and Re-write Homework 1

5

Session 5 (Thu. 22 Oct. ‘20)

Paragraph Review

6

Session 6 (Thu. 29 Oct. ‘20)

Definitions

  • Homework 3 – A description paragraph

7

Session 7 (Thu. 5 Nov. ‘20)

Descriptions

8

Session 8 (Thu. 12 Nov. ‘20)

Opinions

  • Homework 4 – An opinion paragraph

9

Session 9 (Thu. 19 Nov. ‘20)

Narratives

10

Session 10 (Thu. 26 Nov. ‘20)

Paragraphs in an Essay

  • Homework 5 – A narrative

11

Session 11 (Sat. 28 Nov. ‘20)

Good Elements of Writing

12

Session 12 (Thu. 3 Dec. ‘20)

Types of Paragraphs

  • Homework 6 – A paragraph about the future

13

Session 13 (Thu. 10 Dec. ‘20)

Course Content Review (A Writer's Handbook)

14

Session 14 (Thu. 17 Dec. ‘20)

Final Writing Task and Student Feedback

  • Assignment Due

15

Online Session - Assignment (Due by 12:40 on Thursday, 17 December 2020)

IELTS Writing Test – Task 1 and Task 2


For any student that does not have confidence in their writing in English, I highly recommend this course. It will start with the basics such as sentence and paragraph structure and develop in intensity up to basic paragraph and essay writing. There is amble opportunity to write, and I am sure you will feel more comfortable with writing in English after this course. Maybe you will even start to enjoy writing, like I do.