2. English 104: Reading and Writing
for College (4 credits)
• Current Placement: Mandatory below 49 ACCUPLACER
reading score
1. Reading:
A. students will read a variety of text
genres commonly read in college, including
textbook, nonfiction, fiction, online,
(auto)biography, argumentative, visual, and
articles (popular and academic)
B. students will practice a variety of reading
strategies and construct a “toolbox” for college
reading processes that they can flexibly adapt
and apply to a variety of college reading
situations (including reading for information,
reading critically, and reading rhetorically)
3. 2. Writing:
A. students will compose a variety of genres
common in college, including summarizing,
responding, narrating, reflecting, persuading, and
analyzing (with a focus on rhetorical sensitivity).
Writing will be both semi-structured, in the form of
writing exercises, and structured, following the
conventions common to essay writing in college
(including introductory academic writing and writing
online)
B. students will practice a variety of writing
strategies and construct a “toolbox” for college
writing processes that they can flexibly adapt and
apply to a variety of college writing situations
(including writing from reading, focusing and
developing ideas, structuring writing, and
introductory integration of outside sources). Drafting
and revising are essential
4. Our Eng. 104 Students: Entry
Assumptions
• Very limited school-related reading experience and very weak
recognition of written thought patterns
• Almost no experience with school-related writing
• No assumption that students know basic patterns of
paragraphs and essays
• Students have no experience drafting and revising
• Students lack experience researching
• No assumption that students have confidence as learners,
readers, or writers in school context
• Students likely lack keyboarding and other computer skills (or
may have them, but have difficulty transitioning to school
applications)
• Students will need nurturing and guidance for any school
reading/writing assignment
5. What Can We Expect of Students
Who Take Eng. 104?
• Fall, 2009 (Eng. 104)-Winter, 2010 (Eng. 110): 49 Students
C or better in Eng. 104, C or better in Eng. 110 = 71.5%
C or better in Eng. 104, below C in Eng. 110 = 20.5%
C or better in Eng. 104, W in Eng. 110 = 8%
• Fall, 2010 (Eng. 104)-Winter, 2011 (Eng. 110): 46 Students
C or better in Eng. 104, C or better in Eng. 110 = 61%
C or better in Eng. 104, below C in Eng. 110 = 19.5%
C or better in Eng. 104, W in Eng. 110 = 19.5%
• Fall, 2011 (Eng. 104)-Winter, 2012 (Eng. 110): Students
Yellow Flag: higher number of C grade in Eng. 104 = below C in 110
Future Research: look at the bigger picture, not just 104 to 110, focus
on specific learning outcomes and track into 110/other course(s)
6. What Can We Expect of Students
Who Take Eng. 104?
What Students Say They Learned (taken from final reflection papers):
About Reading
• Annotating: for understanding, when reading isn’t interesting
• Vocabulary: using a dictionary instead of skipping, keeping a vocab journal
• Reading out loud for understanding and stopping to ask questions to clarify
meaning/re-reading
• Previewing for content, genre, difficulty
• Questioning the text during reading
• How to read a range of texts, including those other than print (visual and online)
• How to transfer reading approaches to other college classes
• Awareness and application of a variety of techniques for reading in college, depending
on text type/genre
• How to break down reading for information/outlining
• Discovered new ways of reading/greater awareness of individual reading processes
• Reading for pleasure
• Reading stamina/duration/focus
• Asking for help
• Metacognition: knowing how to manage boring/confusing/difficult reading (taking
notes and annotating)
7. What Students Say They Learned (taken from final reflection papers):
About Writing
• Prewriting: free-writing, looping, idea generating
• Planning: assignment expectations, develop a plan before writing
• Outlining
• Surface level/editing for audience expectations: complete sentences,
punctuation, spelling
• Awareness and application of a variety of techniques for writing in college
• Analysis of rhetorical strategies
• Learned new ways of writing
• How to structure a college essay--intro, body, conclusion—and how to adapt
content of structure depending on assignment/audience
• Importance of continued writing practice
• Going to the WRC
• Revising/rewriting
• Awareness of audience/reader and adjusting type of writing depending on
appropriateness for audience
• Change from high school writing practices to college
• How to transfer writing approaches to other college courses that require
writing
• How to use writing approaches on the job and in life
8. Eng. 104 is not a Traditional
Remedial Course
Remediation focuses on correcting deficits in student
learning (i.e. identifying and correcting what was not
learned the first time around)
9. Why Isn’t Eng. 104 a Remedial
Course?
• Eng. 104 students often have never been taught to read strategically and
metacognitively or to write strategically and with rhetorical sensitivity in the
first place
• And/or they have never been taught how to transfer, adapt, and apply their
reading/writing to varied contexts
• And/or they have never been given the chance to forge productive identities
as readers and writers
• Transitional: “focuses on the changes—both in terms of identity and ability to navigate
new kinds of texts—that take place when the learner moves from one academic context
(like high school) to another (like college). The emphasis is on what the student needs to
know about the new academic environment and how to navigate that new
environment…Transitions can involve changes in literacy conceptualizations, awareness of
the relationship of different types of literacies to the student's academic and other
contexts, and increased proficiency in navigating and negotiating literacies for different
purposes” (Paulson & Armstrong, 2010, p. 7).
• Gee (1990): Discourses and literacies
