Mission ESL banner

ESL 970G Advanced Grammar Review and Editing

Fall 2003 Syllabus

Section 22991 MW 9:20-10:45 and Section 22943 Online

Online Resources | Correction Symbols | Academic Regulations and Standards | Online Quiz FAQs | Students | Marsha Chan's home page | Email marsha_chan@wvmccd.cc.ca.us | Success Secrets

Week | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |

Week 1 beginning September 2
Sep 4th: 5:30-8:30 pm Orientation Session 1 (required for online section), Tech Center TC-2. Course description, expectations and communication procedures. Take the online Diagnostic Test of English Sentence Skills. Purchase textbook.
After class, send an email message to marsha_chan@wvmccd.cc.ca.us to make sure you've set up my name in your email address book correctly. Subject line: ESL 970G Attendance.
Week 2 beginning September 8
Study (= read and complete the exercises) Applied English Grammar (AEG) Chapter 1 pp 24-53 Analyzing Words and Sentences. Check the answer key (AK) in the blackboard Course Documents area.
Parts of Speech. Sentence Parts (The basic English sentence; subject, verb, object complement, and modifier; phrases, clauses). Sentence types by purposes and grammatical structure. Spoken English compared to written English. Using simple sentences to make other sentences. Simple sentences. Compound sentences. Complex sentences. Compound-complex sentences.
Reference Some Useful Definitions and Punctuation Patterns. Definitions of Independent Clause, Dependent Clause, Independent Marker, Dependent Marker, Coordinating Conjunction;
Proper Punctuation Methods, Some Common Errors to Avoid (comma splice error, fused sentence error, run-on sentence error, sentence fragment error) -Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Wed Sep 10th: 4:00-7:00 pm Orientation Session 2 (required for online section), Room TC-1.

Introduction to the blackboard web learning environment. Login. Personal info. Password. Email. Announcements. Course info. Assignments. Communication. Digital Drop Box. Discussion Boards. Tools.
Basic English sentence patterns. Part A. This lesson identifies and gives examples of four sentence patterns in a coherent piece of writing about one topic. It provides practice in analyzing the sentences for subjects, verbs, objects and other complements, and prepositional phrases. (I: S + active VI, II: S + active VT = O, III: S + passive V, Sentences with compound elements). After completing the exercise, click on the link to the answer keys.
Using the Virtual Classroom (Please read the description in Resources.)
Using the Discussion Board (Please read the description in Resources.)
Do the AEG Chapter 1 Online Exercises
1-A Practice Parts of Speech and Vocabulary
1-B Practice with Sentence Types

Top

Week 3 beginning September 15

Registered students must update your email address in your Personal Information. (Click the Student Tools button to get there.) I will use the address you enter there to communicate with you. You are ready to participate in all activities.
Late Add students must wait until your data is entered into the system before you can participate actively. In the meanwhile, you can read this page and do the exercises here.
Be sure to copmplete the Diagnostic Test and study the links above if you have not already done so. I will start posting online quizzes on Chapter 1 topics next week.
Study AEG Ch. 2 Past Time Frame; do the exercises in the book. Check the answer key (AK) in the blackboard Course Documents area.
Online exercises
2-A Practice with Simple Past Tense and Irregular Verbs
2-B Practice with Past Perfect
2-C Practice with Past Progressive
2-D Practice with Past Time Expressions 
2-E Practice with the Present Perfect
Analyze the simple sentences in the paragraph "Online English Homework" by marking the sentences parts as indicated in the examples. When you have finished the lesson, check the Answer Key.

Top

Week 4 beginning September 22

Go to the Discussion Board (DB)> Chapter 1 and post any questions that you have about the topics in Chapter 1.
Go to the DB > Chapter 2 and post any questions that you have about the topics in Chapter 2.
Read each others' messages and post replies to them as you can.
Quizzes: Due date: midnight Wed Sep 24. Available in the Assignments area. Look for the password in the Announcements area.
Simple Sentence Recognition (10 pts)
Compound Sentence Recognition (10 pts) f
Complex Sentence Recognition (10 pts)
Continue discussion of AEG Ch. 2 Past Time Frame
Post a message to the the DB > My Favorite... Due date: Fri Sep 26 (5 pts)

Top

Week 5 beginning September 29

Clauses: the Essential Building Blocks
Practice quizzes Identifying Independent Clauses I Identifying Independent Clauses II
Practice quiz Dependent Clauses and Types of Sentences
Identifying Basic Sentence Parts
Parts of Speech
A very simple practice quiz Parts of Speech
Practice quizzes Sentence Body Parts I Sentence Body Parts II
Common Irregular Verbs
Practice quizzes Irregular verbs 1 Irregular Verbs 2 Irregular Verbs 3
Quiz: Basic Terminology and Sentence Structure Identification - Languages (30 pts) Available in the Assignments area. Look for the password in the Announcements area. Due date: 7 p.m. extended to 11 pm Oct. 8
Study AEG Chapter 7 Questions and Commands. Do the exercises in the book. Check the AK in the Course Documents area.
Online exercises
Importance of Questions
Purposes of Questions
Review of the Basic Grammar of Yes-No Questions
Review of the Basic Grammar of Informattion Questions
Tag Questions
Questions Inside of STatements
Commands
Post a message to the the DB > Ch 1 Four Sentence Types: My Favorite... Due date: Wed Oct 1 (10 pts)
Use the paragraph topic you posted on the Favorites Discussion Board. This time, write about that topic using four error-free sentences, one of each of the following:
· One simple sentence.
· One compound sentence.
· One complex sentence.
· One compound-complex sentence.

You may put the sentences in any order.
Their Favorites: Post responses to 5 of your classmates' messages on the My Favorite... DB. Due date: Fri Oct 3 (5 pts)

Top

Week 6 beginning October 6

Use any online source of your choice. Find an article that you are interested in. Copy its URL into a Word document. Write ten questions of different types about the article: yes-no questions, information questions, tag questions and embedded questions). Edit your questions for grammatical accuracy.
Post your ten questions on the DB > Questions about a News Article.Due date: Fri Oct 10 (20 pts) In your Word document, in a list below your questions, write ten answers. Do not post the answers. Keep them for reference when your classmates try to answer your questions.
Study AEG Chapter 13 Nouns, Adjectives, and Personal Pronouns. Do the exercises in the book and on online
Noun phrases
Adectives
Review of personal pronouns
x13-1 Healthy Eating (scrambled noun phrases 1-10)
x13-7 The Colors of Global Warming (fill-in-the-blank)
Read the subjects on the DB > Questions about a News Article. Choose one message that does not yet have a reply. Read the article and the writer's ten questions. Post a reply: answer the writer's questions. If another student has already posted answers, please choose another student's topic. In other words, one set of questions - one set of answers. First come, first served! Due date: Mon Oct 13 (5 pts). Extra credit: If you see and correct errors in the writer's questions, you may earn 2 more points.

Top

Week 7 beginning October 13

Error correction: Verbs in Past TIme Frame. Read the various discussion boards. In five sentences written by five different writers, find errors in verbs in the past time frame. For each sentence, identify the writer, copy the writer's sentence, explain why it's an error, and provide a revision. Include yourself as one of the writers. Refer to AEG Ch 2. Post your five error corrections on the DB > Error correction: Verbs in Past TIme Frame. Put your name in the subject line. Due date: Mon Oct 13. (10 points) Example:
Marsha's Past Verb Error Correction
  1. Writer: Jane Doe
    Original: My daughter dances every Sunday, but two Sundays ago, since she feeling sick, I haven't taken her to her dance class.

    Revision: My daughter dances every Sunday, but two Sundays ago, since she
    was feeling sick, I didn't take her to her dance class.

    Explanation: 1. The clause "she was feeling sick" should use the past continuous because the sick feeling started before the decision not to take her to class and it was continuing (it was in progress); the past continuous requires two parts: WAS or WERE + VERB-ing. 2. The clause "I didn't take her..." needs to use the simple past because it is a completed past action; it is not related to the present.
Study AEG Chapter 3 General Truth Time Frame. Do the exercises in the book and on online
"General Truth" defined
Verb choices for general truth meaning
Simple present tense verbs
Present perfect: indefinite past time in general truth contexts
Time expressions with the present perfect
Subject-verb agreement
Online exercises
3-A Practice with Simple Present Tense and Present Perfect 
3-B Practice with Subject-Verb Agreement 
3-C Review of the Grammar & Vocabulary in Chapter 3
 
Top

Week 8 beginning October 20

Study AEG Section Four: Editing Written English
Learning how to edit
The most serious problems, intermediate problems, punctuation and mechanics problems
Practice the Editing Process: Do the exercises for past Time and Subject-Verb Agreement

Study AEG Chapter 4 Present Time Frame. Do the exercises in the book and on online
Verb choices for present time meaning
The grammar of the present progressive
The meaning of the present progressive
The grammar of stative verbs
Stative verb groups
Time expressions for present time meanings
Present perfect: indefinite past time in present time contexts
Online exercises

DB > Verbs in the General Truth Present TIme Frame
Write a paragraph of 8-10 error-free sentences on one of the following topics. After you have read the paragraph to make sure that everything is explained clearly, identify the verbs and edit them for meaning, form and spelling. Then post your paragraph to the appropriate discussion board by 8 AM Oct. 27.
1. Write a paragraph in which you explain a basic scientific principle, for example, the expansion of water when it freezes.
2. Write a paragraph in which you explain a basic principle in your field of study of work.
3. Write a paragraph in which you describe an object or place, such as a calculator, a credit card, a library.
Top Week 9 beginning October 27
Study AEG Chapter 8 Prepositions. Do the exercises in the book and on online.
Nine most common prepositions
In, On, At for time and space
Relationship meanings for prepositions
use of prepositions
Meanings of the possessives
Making choices between of and the apostrophe for possessives
Appendix E Prepositions
I. Alphabetized list of common prepositions
II. Verb + preposition combinations
III. Verb + Adjective or Noun + Preposition
Online exercises

Study AEG Chapter 9 Nouns, Articles, and Determiners. Do the exercises in the book and on online.

Articles and other determiners
Proper and common nouns
Count nouns
Noncount nouns
Meanings of nouns
Summary of the use of articles
Determiners and quantifiers with count and noncount nouns


Guide to Grammar and Writing: Nouns
Plural forms of nouns
Possessive forms of nouns
An exercise in recognizing nouns
Count versus non-count nouns
An exercise in categorizing count- and non-count nouns
Compound nouns (and adjectives)
Top

Week 10 beginning November 3

GRAMMAR IN THE NEWS - Current Events
Study the use of verbs, especially ones in the present time frame in the article Cultural conflicts arise on women's golf tour
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/22003/11/1/news/world/7157441.htm Identify each core subject and all of its complete verbs. Identify the tense used and analyze its purpose.
Study the use of verbs, especially ones in the past time frame in the article Peterson's alibi challenged
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7157439.htm
Study the use of prepositional phrases in the article Sunny and cool weekend ahead http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7157486.htm

Study AEG Chapter 12 Punctuation Do the exercises in the book and online.
Overview of Punctuation Choices
The Period and Other End marks
The Comma
The Apostrophe
The Semicolon
The Colon
Quotation marks
Underlining
Capitalization
Online Exercises
12-6. Rules for Using Commas.
12-8. Practice with Capitalization.

Guide to Grammar and Writing: Punctuation Marks

Explanations, examples and self-quizzes on the period, comma, question mark, exclamation mark, colon, semicolon, hyphen, dash, parentheses, brackets, ellipsis, apostrophe, quotation marks, and slash

Punctuation from Purdue University Online Writing Lab

DB: Error Correction: Verbs in the Present Time Frame and SVA

Study AEG Chapter 5 Modals, Do the exercises in the book and on online.
Modal Auxiliary Verb” Defined
The Basic Grammar of the Modal Auxiliaries
Words with Similar Meanings
the Modal Auxiliary System
Using Modals to Give Advice
Using Modals to Communicate about Guesses
Modals for Future Time Meanings
Modals for Past Time Meanings
Negative Meanings of Have To and Must
Will
and Can fo General Truth Meanings
Using Modals to Give Indirect Comands
Shall in American English
Modals in Passive Sentences


Appendix D Traditional Definitions of the Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Online Exercises
5-A. Using Modals to Give Advice:Giving Advice to a Friend, Having a Healthy Body.
5-D. Other Uses of Modal Auxiliaries: Two Different Meanings for Will,.Cultural Differences in the ESL Classroom, Seafood.
Guide to Grammar and Writing: Helping and Modal Auxiliary Verbs
shall, will, should; do, does, did; have, has, had; can, could; can, may; may, might; will, would; used to.

Top

Week 11 beginning November 10

Study Chapter 6 Future Time Frame. Do the exercises in the book. Do the Online Exercises
Future Time Choice
Basic Future Time Verb Choices
Verb Forms Used to Indicate Future Time
Future Time Adverbs and Adverbial Modifiers
Speaking about the Future
Writing about the Future

Study Chapter 14 Adverbs. Do the exercises in the book. Do the Online Exercises
“Adverb” Defined
Formation of Adversb from Adjectives
Adverbs of Frequency
No and Not
Word Order with Adverbs and Adverbials

Interactive Practice Exercises from Purdue University Online Writing Lab
Adjective or Adverb, Prepositions of Direction: To, On (to), In (to), Prepositions of Location: At, In, On

Guide to Grammar and Writing: Adverbs
Definition of Adverb
Using Adverbs in a Numbered List
Adverbs We Can Do Without
Kinds of Adverbs
Positions of Adverbs
Order of Adverbs
Order of Adverbs
Adjuncts, Disjuncts, and Conjuncts
Some Special Cases
Relative Adverbs
Viewpoint, Focus, and Negative Adverbs

Top

Week 12 beginning November 17

Study Chapter 10 Adverbial, Noun, and Relative Clauses. Do the exercises in the book. Do the Online Exercises
Traditional Definitions
Recognizing Different Types of Clauses: Adverbial Clauses, Relative (Adjective) Clauses, and Noun Clauses
Recognizing and Correcting Common Sentence Problems
Sentence Combining Practice: Adverbial Clauses and Relative (Adjective) Clauses
Sentence Combining; Making Decisions about Combining Sentences

Practice Quizzes at Purdue University Online Writing Lab Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling
Accept and Except, Affect and Effect, Apostrophes, Commas vs. Semicolons, Commas with Nonessential Elements [1] [2] [3] , I/E Spelling Rules, Sentence Fragments, Using Commas, Words that Sound Alike: Exercise

Practice Quizzes at Dave’s ESL Café
Simple Past and Past Progressive Simple Past and Present Perfect

Quizzes due by 11:30 P.M. Tue Nov 18 (Details in the Assignment Area of Blackboard)
Verbs in the Past Time Frame
Edit Verbs in the Past Time Frame
Verbs in the Present Time Frame

Quizzes due by 11:30 P.M. Thu Nov 20
Article Usage
Noun Forms
Top

Week 13 beginning November 24

Study Chapter 16 Gerunds and Infinitives. Do the exercises in the book. Do the Online Exercises
“Gerund” and “Infinitive” Defined
Uses of Gerunds and Infinitives: Gerunds as Direct Objects, Prepositions Followed by Gerunds, Used To and Be Used To
Infinitives as Direct Objects: Infinitives and Adjectives; Infinitives and Too; Infinitives and For; Infinitives and In Order To; How, When, Where + Infinitives
Verbs That Can Have Either a Gerund or an Infinitive as Direct Object with no Meaning Difference
Verbs That Can Have Either a Gerund or an Infinitive as Direct Object with Different Meanings
Causative Verbs

DB: Noun Clauses and Relative (Adjective and Adverb) Clauses in the News due 11:30 P.M. Tue Nov 25: Read the directions and the models at Blackboard.

Quizzes due by 11:30 P.M. Wed Nov 26
Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
Capitalization

Practice Quizzes at UVic English Language Centre: Gerunds and Infinitives

Gerunds and Infinitives at Purdue University Online Writing Lab
Guide to Writing and Grammar: Gerunds and Infinitives Verb List
Gerunds and Infinitives by Lucy Silver

Week 14 beginning December 1

Study Chapter 11 Passive Sentences. Do the exercises in the book and on online.
“Passive” Defined
Comparing Active and Passive Sentences
When to Use Passive Sentences
Making Passive Verbs
Using the By-Phrase
Passive Look-Alikes
Online Exercises

Passive sentences in the news: Five-alarm fire

Error Analysis and Editing: 29 sentences. Doing this exercise will help prepare you for the final exam. Look in the course documents section at Blackboard.

Top

Week 15 beginning December 8

Study Chapter 15 Conditional and Hypothetical. Do the exercises in the book and on online.
“Conditional” and “Hypothetical” Defined
Meaning and Grammar of Conditional Sentences
Modal Auxiliaries in Conditional Sentences
Meaning and Grammar of Hypothetical Sentences
Were in Hypothetical If-Clauses
Wishes as Hypothetical Sentences
Verbs in Conditional Sentences and Hypothetical Sentences
Online Exercises

Quizzes (Look for all quizzes in the Assignment Area of Blackboard)
Sentence, Fragment, Comma Splice, or Run-on?
< 8:30 A.M. Wed. Dec. 10
Indefinite Articles < 8:30 A.M. Wed. Dec. 10

Sentence Combination
Use what you know about compound, complex, and compound-complex sentence types to combine groups of simple sentences into compound, complex and compound-complex sentences.

Quizzes
Adjective Clauses and Phrases < 11:30 P.M. Thu. Dec. 11
Edit for Verb Forms
< 11:30 P.M. Thu. Dec. 11
Active and Passive Voice
< 11:30 P.M. Fri.. Dec. 12

Top

Week 26 Final Exam Week

Optional Quizzes
All of the quizzes in this folder are optional. If you take any of them, they will be averaged into your final grade. if you don't take them, they won't. It's your choice!

Final Exam. You may attend either one of the final exam sessions in the computer lab.
1) Wednesday, Dec 17, 9:20 -11:20 AM in Room E2-401.
2) Thursday, Dec. 18 5:30-7:30 PM in the Technology Center Room TC-1 (above the bookstore)

The final exam will be conducted on the computer and will consist of grammar and editing tasks like the ones that you have practiced throughout the semester.

ESL Department Home Page

Mission College Home Page

Mission College
3000 Mission College Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95054-1897
(408) 988-2200