EAP 116: English & Disciplinary Skills for Multilingual Students

EAP 116-K02: English & DiscSkillsMultiLing
(Spring 2023)

04:30 PM to 06:20 PM T

Mason Korea (119 Songdomunhwa-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, Korea) G202

View in the schedule of classes

Section Information for Spring 2023

Course Description

Whereas EAP 110 is a composition course that integrates language instruction with composition instruction, EAP 116 is a language and academic skills class that focuses on developing strong English language, critical thinking and studentship skills employed by successful students and professionals, in short the habits of mind used when writing about academic and critical topics in academic setting.

In addition to continued development of the language skills focused on in EAP 116, we will work on developing scientific and reasoning habits of mind as well as time and project management skills that are required by each academic discipline.

The class is based on investigating a problem from an academic stance. Potential solutions
to the problems will be developed in teams and presented by those teams in project reports and posters.

In the process of creating these presentation materials, you will apply the analytical reading and academic writing skills you developed last semester and continue to develop this term. Additionally, you will further develop your research and notetaking skills and continue to develop vocabulary and studentship skills. The collaborative nature of the project will require you to use interpersonal communication and problem-solving skills as well as collaborative use of technology and resources.

Course Goals

If you actively participate in this class, you will learn about:

• Rhetorical Knowledge (Developing a project):
• Effectively identify object of study, purpose, problem, key concept, main findings and relevance in other’s work as well as your own
• Build relationships among key concepts
• Summarize and analyze texts
• Language Knowledge (Developing a key concept):
• Identify complex noun phrases
• Build a coherent paragraph
• Identify and build key concepts
• Process Knowledge (Sustaining a project):
• Produce drafts that effectively responds to a writing task
• Respond to feedback on course work  
• Engage in peer-review
• Produce and follow a project plan/timeline
• Product a group project report (inclusive of individual student resumes) and poster
  
  

 In addition, by the end of the course, you will be able to…

• Demonstrate effective note-taking strategies
• Demonstrate effective reading/annotation strategies 
• Identify and differentiate main ideas and supporting information
• Interpret context clues and employ strategies to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words/concepts
• Integrate course-related vocabulary in writing and in class discussions
• Demonstrate improved ability to read, analyze, and integrate concepts in written, visual, and oral formats
• Revise work based on self-assessment as well as feedback from others

TEXTBOOKS AND MATERIALS

Hacker, D. & Sommers, N. (2015) A Writer's Reference: With Resources for Multilingual Writers and ESL, 8th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Requirements and Evaluation

All assignments must be uploaded to Blackboard by their deadline.  Classwork is due at the end of class, and all other assignments are due one hour before the next class meeting.  The instructor does not accept any late work.  If you miss a deadline, please do not ask the instructor if you can upload the assignment after the fact—you can't, even if you only missed the deadline by one minute or if you had a major emergency.  Any conflicts you have with deadlines should be resolved by turning your work in early.  In other words, don't wait until the last minute to complete your assignments.  If you miss a deadline, you will receive a zero for that assignment; however, no single assignment can cause you to fail this course.  Put another way, getting a zero on one or two assignments will not cause you to fail the course; instead, a pattern of missed assignments will cause you to fail the course.

Grading Percentages

Letter grades for EAP 100 are calculated as follows:

Attendance Policy

You are expected to attend class. Attendance is checked and logged daily. Attendance data is often requested by advisors, sponsors, and the Office of International Programs and Services. Repeated absences and each absence will negatively affect your classwork grade (weighted at 10% of your final course grade).

In addition, early departures (leaving before the class period ends) and late arrivals count as half-day absences:  A late arrival is being one minute late to class.  Not paying attention and/or not participating in class work even if you are present counts as a half absence.

Academic Integrity

Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another source without giving that source credit. Writers give credit through the use of accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or endnotes.  Cheating means to get help on an assignment without permission. Cheating includes asking another classmate to see his or her paper before writing yours or hiring someone to edit your paper. Allowing another student to see your work without permission from the instructor is also considered cheating.  If you don’t understand an assignment, you need to ask the professor for clarification rather than your classmates.

Getting help on your writing at the Academic Resource Center is acceptable and encouraged.  However, in this course we are focusing on the errors specific to your own writing as you work to build tools and strategies to address those errors.  Because of this goal, all of your work must be done on your own except for the assigned collaborate work (for example, group work required to complete the final project and poster).  

You may not—at any time—ask another student, a family member, a native speaker, or anyone else to do your assignments for this class.  You should NOT ‘copy-and-paste’ material without due citation. Your work must be your own with all of your own mistakes.  The first violation of this will result in you having to repeat the assignment. A second violation of this will result in you being reported to the Office of Academic Integrity as a potential Honor Code Violation. Since your writing must be your own with all of your mistakes, it is unacceptable to use Google Translate or other digital translation tools to translate writing from your first language to English and use this translation as your own writing. It is also unacceptable to use any online paraphrasing tools.  Any observable use of translation devices or paraphrasing tools for your own writing may result in a reported violation of the honor code and be considered "cheating" because of "use of unauthorized assistance and/or providing/benefitting from unauthorized academic materials."

If there is any confusion on a point of academic integrity, please ask me.  Respect for the intellectual property and the need to uphold academic honesty should be of great concern to all of us. You can also consult the George Mason Honor Code for more information: https://oai.gmu.edu/mason-honor-code/  and https://masonkorea.gmu.edu/mkaa/cai/honorcode/.

Inclement Weather/Cancellations

• When there is a change in the university schedule due to inclement weather or other circumstances, the announcement will be made.
  
  
• Please check your email and Blackboard before coming to class.
  
  
• If class is cancelled for any reason, you are responsible for checking your email and Blackboard and completing any work assigned.

Email Policy

If I need to email you, I will use your Mason email account.  You are responsible for checking Blackboard and your e-mail regularly to get updates about the course.

Email makes it easy to contact your professors, but it also requires that you think about the expectations of your audience. Here are some tips for emailing me and your other professors:

• Treat an email to a professor as a formal correspondence.  Use a respectful greeting such as "Dear Professor Smith." 

• Include your full name in the email.  Professors teach many classes with lots of students; make sure your name appears in the email so that the professor knows who you are and what class you belong to. 

• Have reasonable expectations for response time.  You should not expect a quick reply to emails sent late at night or over the weekend, nor should you expect an immediate response in general.  Your professors are always busy.

• However, help your professors remember.  If two full business days have passed since you sent your email, send a second email and clearly state the type of response you would like.  It's possible your message was overlooked, or that your professor didn't realize you expected a reply.

• Use a respectful closing.  Close the email with something respectful such as "thank you," "regards," "see you on Wednesday," etc.

Support Services

Disability Services
Students with documented disabilities are legally entitled to certain accommodations in the classroom. If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see one of the instructors and contact Disability Services at the Department of Academic Affairs. We will be happy to work with students to arrange fair access and support.

Counseling and Psychological Services
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) provides a wide range of services to students, faculty, and staff. Services are provided by a staff of professional counseling and clinical psychologists, social workers, and counselors. The Center provides individual and group counseling, workshops and outreach programs—experiences to enhance a student's personal experience and academic performance. You can reach them at 703.993.2380 or https://caps.gmu.edu/ . At the GMUK you may reach the counselor and wellness officer Jan Lee,  jlee227@gmu.edu.

Academic Resource Center Tutoring Services

https://masonkorea.gmu.edu/resources-and-services/academic-resource-center/tutoring

The Academic Resource Center provides individual face-to-face tutoring on campus.

To Schedule an Individual Consultation

• Make an Appointment: To make an appointment for face-to-face tutoring, please check the tutor’s schedule on the door and sign up.
• Walk-in: Come and see if a tutor is available now
• Opt-In Service Contract: Do you need to meet a tutor regularly to improve your English writing skills or academic skills?

Guidelines

• Arrive 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment
• Bring in the instructions for your assignment
• Bring a physical copy of your paper
• Your appointment may be given to another person if you arrive 10 minutes late
• Arrive with specific questions about your paper or assignment

Mason’s Diversity Statement

George Mason University promotes a living and learning environment for outstanding growth and productivity among its students, faculty and staff. Through its curriculum, programs, policies, procedures, services and resources, Mason strives to maintain a quality environment for work, study and personal growth.

An emphasis upon diversity and inclusion throughout the campus community is essential to achieve these goals. Diversity is broadly defined to include such characteristics as, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, and sexual orientation. Diversity also entails different viewpoints, philosophies, and perspectives. Attention to these aspects of diversity will help promote a culture of inclusion and belonging, and an environment where diverse opinions, backgrounds and practices have the opportunity to be voiced, heard and respected.

The reflection of Mason’s commitment to diversity and inclusion goes beyond policies and procedures to focus on behavior at the individual, group and organizational level. The implementation of this commitment to diversity and inclusion is found in all settings, including individual work units and groups, student organizations and groups, and classroom settings; it is also found with the delivery of services and activities, including, but not limited to, curriculum, teaching, events, advising, research, service, and community outreach.

Acknowledging that the attainment of diversity and inclusion are dynamic and continuous processes, and that the larger societal setting has an evolving socio-cultural understanding of diversity and inclusion, Mason seeks to continuously improve its environment. To this end, the University promotes continuous monitoring and self-assessment regarding diversity. The aim is to incorporate diversity and inclusion within the philosophies and actions of the individual, group and organization, and to make improvements as needed.

Course Information from the University Catalog