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First-Year Writing Program

Director: Dr. Clancy Ratliff

The First-Year Writing Program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is composed of approximately sixty instructors, and it serves about 5000 students per year. Throughout all the various courses, use of the university's Collegiate Readership Program, which supplies students with newspapers, is encouraged, as well as engagement in co-curricular activities such as museum exhibits, local theater and film series, lectures, and poetry and fiction readings.

The purpose of the First-Year Writing Program is to introduce students to the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills required of them in the academy by focusing on rhetorical awareness and argument. All assignments are designed with the following outcomes and goals, to prompt students to:

Engage in writing as a recursive process
Recognize the structures of argument
Use writing and reading for learning, thinking, and communicating
Respond to the needs of various audiences
Discuss appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality
Integrate their ideas with those of others

By the end of the writing sequence, students should be able to write thesis-driven argument papers. “Argument” in this context is broadly defined to mean making a claim with which reasonable people could disagree and supporting that claim with appropriate evidence. To meet this goal, instructors are expected to structure assignments so that students have ample practice constructing this type of essay. English 101 focuses on expository writing, which can take the form of narrative and essays based on observation and interview, and English 102 focuses on research writing using primary and secondary sources.

Course Descriptions

English 90: Developmental English. This is a course in Basic Writing for freshmen whose (enhanced) ACT score in English is 17 or below (SAT Verbal 440 or below). It is a four-credit course that meets four days a week. Some instructors will begin by teaching the paragraph and others will begin with the essay depending on their teaching strategies. However, all students must write a minimum of five full-length essays, amounting to at least 10-12 typed pages of polished prose.

English 101: Introduction to Academic Writing. Prerequisites: score of 18 ACT English (450 SAT Verbal) or grade of C or higher in English 90. This course is designed to introduce students to the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills required in the university and beyond. All students enrolled in English 101 must complete a semester total of 15-20 pages of polished prose, writing that has been reviewed and revised. Teachers often assign in-class writing that students are not given an opportunity to revise and expand, but this writing does not count towards the polished prose requirement.

English 102: Writing and Culture. Prerequisite: score of 28 ACT English (630 SAT Verbal) or C or higher in English 101. Through exploration of cultural themes, students will build on and advance the thinking, reading, and writing skills learned in English 101 while focusing on rhetoric and research. The purpose of English 102 is to build on the writing skills students learned in English 101 by focusing on academic research. Each section of 102 is based around a cultural theme. Themes include gender, place, work, counterculture, music, and language. All students enrolled in English 102 must complete a semester total of 20-25 pages of polished prose.

English 115: Freshman Honors. Prerequisite: score of 28 ACT English (630 SAT Verbal). This is a course in writing for advanced students. Topics vary but typically feature literary analysis. Because students who qualify for English 115 must have a 28 ACT English or 630 SAT Verbal and therefore get automatic credit for English 101, completion of English 115 with a C or higher will satisfy the first-year writing requirement.

Placement and Exemption

Placement in First-Year Writing courses is determined primarily based on ACT and SAT verbal scores. On the first day of class in English 90 and 101, instructors require a diagnostic essay, which the department uses to confirm placement. Students may be moved to a different class if their writing samples are exceptional. For nontraditional students over age 25, the university offers an English Placement Test through the Counseling and Testing Center.

Students who make a score of 3 or higher on the College Board's Advanced Placement Exam are exempt from English 101 and 102, and students who score a 28 or higher on the ACT verbal are exempt from English 101.

Students whose ACT English score is 32 or higher (SAT Verbal 720 or higher) qualify to take the Advance Credit Exam for English 102 credit, which consists of two parts:

1. Part One is a writing sample. Students must submit a 7-10 page research paper using MLA citation style. The paper can be on any topic but must have a clear position (argument) on the topic, supported by adequate evidence from scholarly sources (minimum of 4 sources). Students are also required to submit a letter from a teacher for whose class the paper was written, on official school letterhead, certifying that the paper is the student’s original work. Students must submit the research paper and letter from the teacher at least 48 hours prior to the exam date. After the committee reviews the paper and letter and verifies that they satisfy the requirements, the student will be notified that s/he may take the second part of the exam.

2. Part Two of the test is an essay exam. The student must write an argumentative essay on a topic that will be specified on the exam. The exam will include articles on the topic that the student will be expected to integrate into his or her essay.

For students enrolled in English 90 who are doing outstanding work, a portfolio review process is in place. At the end of each semester, English 90 instructors may submit portfolios from students. These portfolios are read by a committee of First-Year Writing instructors. If the portfolio passes the review, the student is given automatic credit for English 101 and may proceed directly from English 90 to English 102.

International students whose first language is not English and who have not graduated from a U.S. high school are required to take First-Year Writing in the Department of Modern Languages (ESOL 101 and 102).

Assessment

The First-Year Writing Program features regular course-embedded assessment in accordance with the university's participation in the Voluntary System of Accountability. Also, in compliance with the SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) requirement of outcomes assessment, instructors in the First-Year Writing Program are required to administer a Proficiency Exam at the end of each course. Students must pass this exam in order to advance to the next course.

Standards for Student Writing

	1 (poor)	2 (satisfactory)	3 (outstanding)

Content	Topic is too broad and general for a paper of its length No clear main idea or sustained position in the paper (or argument is incredible to an academic audience) Argument, if present, is unsupported, or evidence is insufficient Paper is overly reliant on cliches or culturally conditioned/ ethnocentric assumptions and bias Sources, if used, are used inappropriately (data dump, awkward integration, unintentional plagiarism, etc.)	Topic is manageable for a paper of its length Position/argument is comprehensible even if not clearly stated Amount of evidence is sufficient Demonstrates critical thinking (ability to recognize complexity, biases, and stereotypical representations; distinguishing fact from opinion) Use of sources is appropriate; no serious problems with integration of other materials	Topic is narrow enough to allow for a rigorous, nuanced treatment of the subject Thesis is stated clearly Evidence is ample to support position taken Contains some acknowledgment of opposing/divergent views Sources are used purposefully and strategically, integrated seamlessly

Organization	Introduction does not orient the reader to the concerns of the paper or contextualize the subject of the paper Arrangement of the paper is haphazard and random Paragraphs do not have transitions that guide the reader from one idea to the next Conclusion is absent or abrupt	Introduction is recognizable even if it is not always reader-based Paragraphs generally treat one idea at a time Attempts at transitions between paragraphs are made, even if they are awkward Conclusion provides some closure to the argument, even if only a summary of the main points	Paper contains a clear, reader-based introduction, development, conclusion Logical, smooth transitions between sections Plan of development stated (forecasting statement, selfannouncing structure to argument) Conclusion does more than just summarize the paper; restates the thesis in a fresh way or includes a gesture (call for action, unresolved questions, etc.)

Language Issues	Frequency of error (of any type) seriously detracts from the content of the paper	Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are mostly correct Student shows command of language (word choice/ vocabulary) Varied sentence structure	Paper is virtually free of error Writer shows an unusual felicity with regard to word choice, turns of phrase (ex. uses obscure words, bon mots) Sentence structure is complex but not cumbersome

Ann Dobie Outstanding Freshman Essay Awards

Each year the First-Year Writing Program gives two $100 awards, one for Outstanding Narrative/Personal Essay and one for Outstanding Research Paper. They are given during the English Department's annual spring awards ceremony.

Document last revised Wednesday, November 11, 2009 9:45 AM