Course Rationale ENG 101

Kalen Krantz

As a part of the University’s required Gen Ed courses, all students must have sufficient

knowledge and understanding in writing. Introduction to Academic Writing, ENG 101, serves to

enhance students’ abilities to write and comprehend difficult texts. Comprehension is an

important part of college, and deciphering what the author is saying in order to develop our own

standpoint on the argument. In a time period where more false information is spread more than

ever before, it is crucial that we endow our students with a spirit of writing comprehension. By

developing our expectations around comprehension, students will naturally develop writing skills

while being able to articulate and discuss difficult reading materials. In my revisions of this

course, which I have previously taught, I focused on feedback and implementing strategies that

allow me to adjust feedback based on what students are struggling with. The week before Dead

Week is structured to be based off of the feedback I have received through grading their previous

essays. For example, if several students struggled with citations, this week would have a day

dedicated to citations. Other examples of this can be found in the writing reflections and

discussion board prompts, which both include moments of reflection where this feedback can be

attained. In an article by Megan Biandi, The Transfer of Primary and Secondary School

Bilingual Teaching Practices to the Multilingual College Classroom, a main focus is feedback

and how it is received. Although the article pertains to multilingual students, all students can

benefit from these feedback practices, and use of visual materials to benefit student

understanding.

Another element that I focused on, through my experience and taking ENG 805, is the

education of multilingual students. Through providing visual examples for each material used,

multilingual students are given another opportunity to intake information. The language barrier
often brought on by having multilingual students can become an issue; through comprehensive

discussion and gauging student understanding, any student can learn to become a better writer.

This philosophy comes back to my feedback throughout the semester, as I can key in on

multilingual students and develop strategies throughout the semester to better elaborate on the

materials for the class. For example, several multilingual students were having trouble with in-

text citations, and through an activity, at the end of the class period, I was able to sit down with

these students and run play-by-play through in-text citations in order to develop understanding.

Much of the course rationale is based on the multilingual studies and approaches outlined by

Lawrence Baines and Anastasia Wickham in their study, Teaching in Multilingual Schools. This

approach, articulated as holistic, allows students to develop their writing skills while being

allowed to make mistakes that otherwise would harm their grade. Students can make a mistake,

and expect feedback on how to eliminate that mistake in the future. By encouraging risk taking

in writing, our students can iron out mistakes and become more confident in their writing

approach.

Articles Mentioned:

Baines, Lawrence, and Anastasia Wickham. “Teaching in Multilingual Schools.” The English

Journal, vol. 107, no. 6, 2018, pp. 14–19. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26610187.

Accessed 22 Oct. 2022.

Biondi, Megan. “The Transfer of Primary and Secondary School Bilingual Teaching Practices to

the Multilingual College Classroom.” Hispania, vol. 102, no. 4, 2019, pp. 455–60.

JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26867190. Accessed 22 Oct. 2022.