2005-07 Catalog - Tacoma Community College

2005-2007 CatalogCredit Course Descriptions 105ESL 90Conversation and Pronunciation II (2)A course in conversation and pronunciationfor students of English as a SecondLanguage at the advanced-beginning to lowintermediatelevel. While developingconversational fluency, students improvetheir pronunciation of both the specificsounds and the intonation patterns ofEnglish. Some practice in note-taking is alsoincluded. Supplementary work in thelanguage laboratory provides additionallistening and speaking practice.Prerequisite: ESL 89 or placement exam.ESL 91Grammar I (5)The first in a series of five grammar andspeaking courses for nonnative speakers ofEnglish. The course is designed to introducestudents to basic English grammar andpronunciation.Prerequisite: ESL placement exam.ESL 92Grammar II (5)The second in a series of five grammar andspeaking courses for nonnative speakers ofEnglish at the advanced-beginner level. Thiscourse is designed to give students a stronggrammatical basis in English and to improvetheir speaking and listening skills. At leastone oral report is required.Prerequisite: ESL 91 or ESL placement exam.ESL 93Grammar III (5)The third in a series of five grammar andspeaking classes for nonnative speakers ofEnglish at the low-intermediate level. Thefocus is on grammar usage with work on thecomprehension of spoken English.Prerequisite: ESL 92 or ESL placement exam.ESL 94Grammar IV (5)The fourth in a series of five grammar andspeaking classes for nonnative speakers ofEnglish at the intermediate level. The classfocuses on grammar plus classroomdiscussion and reports.Prerequisite: ESL 93 or ESL placement exam.ESL 95Reading and Writing I (10)The first in a series of five reading andwriting courses for nonnative speakers ofEnglish. Students learn the basics of writingEnglish sentences and are also introduced tothe basics of the writing process (planning,writing, editing, rewriting) as they progressfrom sentences to single paragraphs, writtenin narrative style. Writing mechanics andspelling are also stressed. Readingassignments provide support for the writingprojects while enabling students to developtheir reading comprehension and expandtheir vocabulary.Prerequisite: ESL placement exam.ESL 96Reading and Writing II (10)The second in a series of five reading andwriting courses for nonnative speakers ofEnglish at the high-beginning level.Students are introduced to the process ofwriting (planning, writing, editing,rewriting), as they progress from sentencesto one-paragraph essays. Writing mechanicsand spelling are also stressed. Readingassignments provide support for the writingprojects while enabling students to improvetheir reading comprehension, speed, andvocabulary.Prerequisite: ESL 95 or ESL placement exam.ESL 97Reading and Writing III (10)The third in a series of reading and writingcourses for nonnative speakers of English atthe low-intermediate level. Students practicethe process of writing (planning, writing,editing, rewriting) in the context of shortcompositions. Types of compositionsinclude narrative, descriptive, and summary.Grammatical structures and mechanics willbe practiced in the context of the writingassignments. Reading lessons support writingactivities and additionally build readingcomprehension, retention, and vocabulary.Outside-of-class readings with oral andwritten reports required.Prerequisite: ESL 96 or ESL placement exam.English as a Second LanguageESL 98Reading and Writing IV (8)The fourth in a series of five courses inreading and writing for nonnative speakersof English at the high-intermediate level.Students progress from one-paragraph tomultiple-paragraph compositions whilecontinuing work on the process of writing(generating ideas, organizing, writing, andrevising) with a focus on these types ofparagraphs: persuasive, descriptive, narrative,and expository. Readings provide thenecessary background for compositionswhile enabling students to build vocabularyand develop reading comprehension andretention.Prerequisite: ESL 97 or ESL placement exam.ESL 155Grammar V (3)The last in a series of five grammar andspeaking courses for nonnative speakers ofEnglish at the advanced level. The coursefocuses on areas of English grammar thatpresent difficulties to advanced students ofthe language; aural comprehension,speaking skills, and vocabulary developmentare also included.Prerequisite: ESL 94 or ESL placement exam.ESL 159Reading and Writing V (7)Last in a series of five courses in reading andwriting for nonnative speakers of English,designed to prepare advanced students forcomposition classes with native speakers.Focuses on a variety of five-paragraph essayswith introductions, transitions, andconclusions. The writing process is stressed,with particular emphasis on editing andpolishing skills. Readings providebackground for the writing component ofthe course, with emphasis placed oncomprehension, speed, retention, andvocabulary building.Prerequisite: ESL 98 or ESL placement exam.ESL 160Advanced Writing (5)An advanced course in writing for nonnativespeakers of English. The course focuses onassessment and improvement of sentenceand paragraph structure, allowing students tocritique their own work in order to increasethe accurateness, variety, and sophisticationof sentences and paragraphs.Prerequisite: Successful completion of ESL 155and 159 or instructor permission.