Syllabus

ENG 109 — English Composition for Second Language Writers

Summer 2013

Instructor: Ryan Ireland

Section: XX

Day/Time: Online class

Contact: Feel free to email anytime; I will have my Google chat open on Fridays from 7:30-11 am and 1-5 pm. If you see I am on Google+ at any other times, you can still contact me!

Email: irelanrp@muohio.edu 

Description

ENG 109, English Composition for Second Language Writers, is a writing course focused on principles and practices of rhetoric and composition useful for producing writing that is effective for its purpose, audience, and context. ENG 109 focuses especially on helping international students learn and apply rhetorical knowledge, methods, and strategies; analyze and construct arguments using techniques for rhetorical analysis and inquiry; understand, refine, and improve their composing practices; and develop the intellectual and analytical skills necessary to produce effective writing at the college level. The course will prepare the student for ENG 112. It teaches principles of effective organization and style and strategies for revision, editing, and proofreading. A key purpose of the course is to teach students to deliver writing in a variety of contexts, including digitally networked environments.

As a Miami Plan Foundation course, ENG 109 meets the broad goals of a liberal education: to nurture your intellectual capabilities to think critically, to understand diverse contexts, to engage with other learners, and to apply knowledge and skills learned through effective reflection and action. The intellectual skills developed in this course will help you in your academic writing at the university, but also in your future civic, social, and professional endeavors.

Course Goals and Outcomes

• Rhetorical Knowledge. Students demonstrate an ability to write effectively for different contexts, audiences, purposes, and genres (particularly academic contexts, audiences, purposes, and genres) and demonstrate their awareness of audiences’ multiple perspectives.

• Writing process. Students engage the writing process using effective strategies for developing ideas; researching topics; producing drafts; revising, peer responding, editing, and proofreading their writing; and delivering their writing via print and electronic media.

• Inquiry, invention, and research. Students ask good questions, conduct research-based inquiries, and use invention techniques effectively to explore their own ideas, to engage different perspectives, and to develop findings into sustained arguments or narratives. Students can locate, evaluate, integrate, and cite secondary sources of information effectively and ethically, using appropriate academic citation methods.

• Organization, style, editing. Students produce effectively organized writing that is stylistically appropriate and that meets conventional expectations for particular audiences in specific contexts. Student writing shows evidence of careful proofreading and attention to mechanics, appropriate to audience and context.

• Digital and multimodal rhetoric. Students effectively produce, share, and publish their writing using appropriate technologies for production, editing, commenting, delivery, and sharing of files. Students demonstrate critical awareness of the unique affordances and limitations of diverse writing technologies and modalities of communication, both digital and non-digital.

• Reflection, meta-cognitive awareness. Students apply concepts and terms from the field of rhetoric/composition to reflect critically on their own composing practices and rhetorical decisions, including decisions about the technologies used in the production and reception of their writing.

Required Texts and Materials

College Composition at Miami (Volume 66). 2013. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil. ISBN 978-073804440-8 —> will be available online through Coursesmart

Companion website for College Composition at Miami (Volume 65) —> http://ccm.miamiu.haydenmcneil.com/

A Chalk & Wire e-portfolio account (to be provided; paid for already out of your technology fee)

To see Technology requirements, click here

Major Projects and Course Requirements

ENG 109 will be centered on five major writing inquiries — as listed in the table below. Each inquiry is comprised of a number of components, including online class activities, shorter blog assignments, drafts, peer responses in Google Hangout, proposals, research notes, a reflective writer’s letter, and a major final paper/blog post (or the equivalent) for each inquiry. The major final paper for each inquiry will vary in length. Inquiry #1 will result in a shorter paper (~1000 words). The other inquiries will result in longer papers (~1400-1800 words or the equivalent). At least two of the papers will require that you integrate secondary sources of research. Each of these major projects will require an accompanying a reflective writer’s letter that asks you to explain your purpose and audience for each assignment; to explain your rhetorical choices and strategies; to reflect on your writing process; to describe what you did in revision, etc. Most importantly the letter gives you, as a writer, a starting point for the next assignment. The major assignment for Inquiry #5, the e-portfolio project, is actually an extended projective writer’s letter asking you to collect, analyze, and reflect on your writing and rhetoric through the entire semester and give the reader some critical context for where your rhetorical knowledge will help in the future. 

Primary Inquiry	Focus	Percentage of Final Grade
Reflection on Community	Analyzing and reflecting on your rhetorical practices in order to gain access to a particular community.	10%
Rhetorical Inquiry	Rhetorical Analysis / Using rhetorical analysis as a method to analyze topics and discourse in communities.	20%
Issue Inquiry/ Arguments in Communities	Researching and making a rhetorical argument about issues within a community.	20%
Media Inquiry/  Remediation	Understanding how the medium of discourse affects the message. Looking at how rhetorical velocity and notions of community work together in new media.	20%
E-Portfolio Inquiry/ Final Projective statement	Reflecting on your writing and rhetoric through analysis of your coursework collected in an e-portfolio. Applying rhetorical skills to future classes/work.	10%
**Participation	Participation includes online activities and workshops, short blog posts, discussion groups through Google Hangout, etc.	20%

Grading Scale and Policies

A          100-94%

A-          93-90%

B+          89-87%

B          86-84%

B-          83-80%

C+          79-77%

C          76-74%

C-          73-70%

D+          69-67%

D          66-64%

D-          63-60%

F          59% and below

• Specific criteria for each major assignment will be explained and developed in class. However, all writing you produce in ENG 111 should meet the following general criteria: (a) The writing meets the requirements and parameters for the assignment; (b) the writing is intelligent, well-informed, respectful of others, grammatically competent and stylistically fluent, well organized, and, most importantly, rhetorically effective for its purpose, audience, and context.

Late Assignments: Completing your work, meeting deadlines, turning your written assignments in on time, and keeping up with assigned activities are crucial in this class, both to your own individual learning and development as a writer but also to the smooth functioning of the class overall. It is in your best interest to keep up with assignment due dates and to not fall behind on submitting required work. The policy regarding late assignments is this: All assignments must be completed and submitted by the designated deadline (due dates and times are listed in the course schedule). Any assignment that is late will be downgraded by ½ letter grade for each day late (counting weekends). An assignment that is more than three days late will not be accepted and will receive a grade of 0 (or F). If you have a conflict with a due date or time, remember that you can always submit an assignment early in order to meet a deadline.

• Participation is a vitally important component of online ENG 109, constituting a significant portion of your grade for the course. There are a number of ways that you will be expected to participate and/or collaborate in ENG 112: You will be asked to blog and respond to others’ blogs in a thoughtful manner. Likewise, you will be asked to participate in small group discussions via Google Hangout. The most crucial aspect to participation though is consistent engagement with the class. Put simply, you need to log on and communicate every day listed on the syllabus. Additionally, weekends should also be used to complete readings and post about them. A lack of engagement in a 6-week online course usually makes itself evident rather quickly since it is easy to fall behind schedule. So plan on being “in-class” Monday-Thursday. As with everything in English, there is an exception: If you are observing a religious holiday as defined by the university, you are excused.

Other Course Policies

Attendance

The Miami Bulletin Student Handbook, Chapter 9, “Class Attendance,” Section 1.9.A, states: “Every student is expected to attend every class session for which the student is duly registered.” For further details about the University’s attendance policies, see http://www.units.muohio.edu/reg/bulletins/GeneralBulletin2012-2013/class-attendance.htm.

           

Because acquiring and developing writing abilities requires a different kind of instruction and learning than in other types of courses at the university, attendance policies for composition courses are often very stringent. Much of the learning in composition classes happens through “engaged learning” in class: via in-class inquiry activities, in-class writing assignments, and group interaction that cannot be easily made up or replicated outside of class. Thus, regular attendance and participation are extremely important to your success and learning in any composition class.

An online composition course is no different — even though “online attendance” is defined differently than attendance in a traditional face-to-face class. For an online class, you “attend” by being actively involved — by writing essentially: e.g., by posting questions, by responding to classmates’ work, by submitting your work on time, by reading and responding to email in a timely manner, by interacting with the instructor and with the other students in the class through the various tools and applications we will be using. You will be attending and participating in class via Google Hangout, discussion board postings, virtual conversations, peer review, reading responses, email, and other class venues. The online attendance policy is this: You must be present and active online for every defined class period of the summer term — and that means 4 days per week for the 6-week summer term. In addition, you will be required to attend 5 synchronous class meetings (for purposes of class discussion and peer review) to be scheduled in the Google Hangout space. Once you commit to a time for these meetings, it will count as an absence if you are not present. You are permitted a maximum of two (2) unexcused absences for this class. If you miss more than two your final grade will be lowered by 1/3 for each day over two that you have missed. If you miss five (5) or more classes during the summer term, you will receive a grade of F.

Tuition Refunds

In this compressed online course, the window for a full tuition refund is significantly smaller than that of a traditional semester-long class. Consult http://www.units.muohio.edu/bur/refund/#SummerRefund for more details

Academic Integrity/Plagiarism

Two key features of academic integrity are honesty and truthful representation of self. The assumption in ENG 109 is that the writing you submit is your own original writing — that is, produced originally for this class. The expectation is that you will appropriately identify that portion of your work which is collaborative with others, or which is borrowed from others, or which is your own work from other contexts. In other words, you should credit others’ contributions to your work. You should not claim, as your own, writing that is not your own. To do so is considered plagiarism, a serious violation of the principle of academic integrity.

To copy someone else’s writing without acknowledging that use is an act of academic as well as professional dishonesty, whether you borrow an entire report or a single sentence. The most serious forms of academic dishonesty are to “buy” an entire paper; or to have someone else write an assignment for you; or to turn in someone else’s entire paper (or significant portions of an existing piece of writing) and call it your own. These forms of dishonesty constitute serious breaches of academic integrity. If you have doubts about whether or not you are using your own or others’ writing ethically, ask the instructor.

For further details about Academic Integrity at Miami University — including a detailed list of examples of academic dishonesty and procedures and penalties for dealing with instances of academic dishonesty — see http://www.muohio.edu/integrity/undergrads.cfm.

Backing Up Your Work/File Formats

You are responsible for keeping copies of your written course work — at least two copies in two different locations — so that if you should have an MSF (massive system failure), you can recover your work. I recommend storing your work on Dropbox or Google docs so they can be accessed from a computer at your public library, local Kinko’s or a friend’s house. Platform compatibility, file transfer, and e-mail attachments are sometimes irritating, though rarely unsolvable, problems. In short, “My computer broke” is not a valid excuse. It is your responsibility as sender/writer to submit files to your instructor and to your classmates in an accessible, readable format. Most of your papers will be submitted to me through Google Docs.  

Help Resources

• Your classmates. Rely on one another for the questions you have regarding the readings, the work we’re doing in class, software we may be using, etc. You all, both individually and as a collective, embody a vast bank of knowledge and experiences. Feel free to use Google Hangout amongst yourselves to organize study sessions if needed.

• Your Instructor. I will do all I can to assist you in succeeding in this course. Feel free to meet with me during my online office hours or another scheduled time. Email is a reliable way to contact me and I will try my best to respond in a timely manner. Keep this in mind: office hours are not to make up for missed classes. I will instruct during class time; your job is to be present and engaged. Office hours are reserved for additional help and clarification.

• IT Support Desk (http://www.units.muohio.edu/mcs/suppctr/suppdesk/). The support desk is the main point of contact for technology questions at Miami.

• Howe (King Library) and Windate (18 Peabody) Writing Centers. The Howe Writing Center is located on the main floor of King Library. The Center is staffed with writing consultants from many different academic areas. In a one-on-one workshop, a staff member will consult with you concerning work-in-progress, final drafts, research style, and many other aspects of writing. It is best to schedule an appointment ahead of time, but you may also walk in on days when they have consultants available. For further information, visit the student resources site at http://www.units.muohio.edu/cwe/studentresources/.

• If you have a learning disability, please contact me early in the semester so we can discuss your learning style. I am willing to work with you to establish a plan for academic success and life learning. You can also obtain additional information and support from the Office of Learning Disabilities Services 513-529-8741 or The Office of Disability Resources 513-529-1541.

• The Learning Assistance Center. Provides tutoring and other academic services, and a Learning Disabilities Program. For more information, contact the Office of Learning Assistance at 513-529-8741 or Disability Resources at 513-529-1541.

• The Student Counseling Service. Adjusting to college life is hard and it helps to talk to a professional. Do not be offended if you come to me with a personal problem and I refer you to this service. While I know quite a bit about English composition and writing, I am not a counselor. Personal problems should be treated by the people who can help you the most just as your English class is taught by an English professional. Located in the Health Services Center, this office provides a wide range of counseling services. For more information, call 513-529-4634.

• Your Own Web Site/Server. Every Miami student has a web space (called Universal Disk Space, UDS) for storing files and for designing and publishing a website. To publish web pages on the Internet, follow the instructions at http://www.muohio.edu/wwwsetup. Your web page address will be http://www.users.muohio.edu/UniqueID/ (UniqueID should be replaced with your own unique ID).

• Miami University Technology Guide (http://www.units.muohio.edu/mcs/information/policies/shtml). This is a list of MU’s policies on such matters as computer security, responsible use of computing resources, and MU Net account policies.