GRADUATE COURSES

Graduate ESL |ESL TOP Requirement | Writing Pedagogy/Professional Development

Graduate ESL Required Courses

International graduate students may place into this class via the English as a Second Language Placement Exam (ESLPE). This course is designed to develop the academic reading, writing, language and oral skills of international graduate students. It emphasizes reading comprehension, vocabulary development, and analysis of discipline-specific research articles, with additional work on fundamental composition techniques, grammar and editing. The course also focuses on oral skills such as participating in discussions and making presentations. After taking this course, students must take ESL 201 in order to satisfy the University’s ESL requirement. (4 units)

International graduate students may place into this course via the English as a Second Language Placement Exam (ESLPE) or enroll after successful completion of ESL 200. The course is designed to improve the academic skills of advanced ESL students, using actual graduate-level materials. The course emphasizes the development of academic writing skills with a focus on reading comprehension, vocabulary development, and composition techniques, with additional work on grammar and editing; graduate-level writing skills such as summarizing and critiquing and other discipline-specific assignments are also emphasized. In addition, students learn and practice effective presentation strategies. (4 units)

This course is designed for international graduate students whose first language is not English to seek writing assistance beyond the courses required to satisfy the University’s ESL requirement. It allows multilingual graduate students to work on writing geared toward their own academic needs, such as qualifying papers, theses, and dissertations. (4 units)


ESL Oral Proficiency Requirement

This course focuses on the accurate articulation of sounds, word stress, linking and other features of fluent spoken English, especially with respect to classroom language and key terms from a participant’s own field. It additionally emphasizes comprehending the fast, casual, and idiomatic speech of undergraduate students. (4 units)

This course focuses on stress, rhythm, and intonation in the context of classroom conversation. Course materials are based on video recordings of actual TAs, selected and edited into a series of short video clips of specific teaching events. The videos and transcripts are used as models of the discourse patterns commonly used to introduce a syllabus, explain a visual, field questions, and interact in office hours. (4 units)

This course extends the essential skills of ESL 211—stress, rhythm and intonation in the context of classroom conversation. Though the courses are titled I and II, ESL 211 is not a prerequisite for ESL 212. For students who need a longer time and multiple courses to acquire the linguistic competence to serve as a TA, ESL 212 provides models of actual TAs, linguistic support, and structured practice. The classroom contexts in ESL 212 include building rapport with students, giving instructions, encouraging participation, and organizing a lesson effectively. (4 units)

This course focuses on communicating effectively as a TA with an emphasis on making technical subject matter accessible to undergraduates. The curriculum is almost entirely performance-based (and class sessions are video-recorded) after Week 2. Students meet in small groups with the instructor to discuss each performance in depth after viewing their video performances outside of class. (4 units)


Writing Pedagogy/Professional Development

English Composition 401 is a Core course option for the Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy. It explores current literature and theories of post-secondary writing pedagogy that includes focus on the changing institutional role of writing instruction, multi-modal composition, and linguistic/educational diversity. (4 units, letter grading)

English Composition 402 is a Core course option for the Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy. It surveys the literature on academic writing-across-the-curriculum and examines writing conventions, genres, and styles in students’ own academic disciplines, with a focus on evolving academic discourse in emerging and hybrid areas of inquiry. It explores best practices for adapting writing pedagogy to changes in disciplinary academic discourse, with discussion of challenges for multilingual learners. (4 units, letter grading)

English Composition 403 is a Core course option for the Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy. It surveys the theories and applications of language structures and conventions, with insights from discourse analysis and functional grammar. The course is designed to develop instructors’ ability to explain structures and to articulate language-based issues of meaning by integrating research and successful application of knowledge for effective language-related instruction and feedback. (4 units, letter grading)

Second Language Composition

This training course is required of all English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching assistants and open to students seeking a Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy. The course is focused on pedagogical issues specifically related to academic reading and composition skills for second language learners, including course design, assessment of student writing, conferencing, and specialized problems that may occur in teaching English as a Second Language courses. (4 units, S/U grading)

This mentoring course is required of all ESL teaching assistants each quarter in which they are assigned to teach ESL courses. The course is focused on composition pedagogy, writing course design, assessment of student writing, and specialized problems that may occur in teaching ESL students. (4 units, S/U grading)

First-Year Composition

This training course is required of all teaching assistants prior to teaching English Composition 3 courses and open to students seeking a Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy. The course is focused on composition pedagogy, writing course design, assessment of student writing, and specialized problems that may occur in teaching English Composition 3. (4 units, S/U grading)

This mentoring course is required in the first quarter of a teaching assistant’s appointment to English Composition 3. It offers continued attention to composition pedagogy, writing course design, assessment of student writing, and specialized problems that may occur in teaching English Composition 3. It may be repeated for credit. (2 units, S/U grading)

Writing-in-the-Disciplines

This training course is required of all teaching assistants for Writing II courses not exempt by appropriate departmental/program training and open to students seeking a Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy. The course is focused on composition pedagogy, assessment of student writing, guidance of revision process, and specialized writing problems that may occur in disciplinary contexts. Addition attention is given to practical concerns of creating assignments, marking and grading essays, and conducting peer reviews and conferences. (2 units, S/U grading)

This mentoring course is required of all teaching assistants for Writing II courses not exempt by appropriate departmental or program training. The course entails mentoring conferences and teaching observations, with focus on student-centered pedagogy, assessment of student writing, guidance of revision process, and specialized writing problems that may occur in disciplinary contexts. The course offers continued attention to practical concerns of creating assignments, marking and grading essays, and conducting peer reviews and conferences. It may be repeated for credit. (2 units, S/U grading)

This training course is required of all teaching assistants for Engineering writing courses not exempt by appropriate departmental or program training. Its focus is on composition pedagogy, assessment of student writing, guidance of revision process, and specialized writing problems that may occur in engineering writing contexts. The course also attends to practical concerns of preparing students to write course assignments, marking and grading essays, and conducting peer reviews and conferences. (2 units, S/U grading)

This mentoring course is required of all teaching assistants in their initial term of teaching Engineering writing courses. The course entails mentoring in group and individual meetings and continued focus on composition pedagogy, assessment of student writing, guidance of revision process, and specialized writing problems that may occur in engineering writing contexts. The course continues to attend to practical concerns of preparing students to write course assignments, marking and grading essays, and conducting peer reviews and conferences. (2 units, S/U grading)

Professional Development

This course surveys the literature on heterogeneous classrooms, with a focus on diversity of race, socio-economic status, geographic background, linguistic skills, and academic preparedness. It explores the development of best practices for accommodating diverse student populations and building active, inclusive curriculum and classroom environments at the university level. (4 units, S/U or letter grading)

This colloquia series and workshop meets for three hours every other week. Rotating speakers present on topics including designing a digital teaching portfolio, drafting the academic/teaching CV, writing application letters for academic jobs, and pursuing alternative academic careers. Each speaker session and panel is followed by a workshop. The course culminates with the revision of an application letter, CV, teaching portfolio, or other relevant document to be determined in consultation with the colloquium organizer. (2 units, S/U grading)