This course may use a textbook, which will be announced in the first week of class. The instructors will provide handouts for class use from time to time.

English Department (day division) English Grammar Review

Instructor: Daniel J. Bauer Ph.D.

SF 126 / telephone 2905-3522 (h) / 2905-2565 (o) e-mail address: 015130@mail.fju.edu.tw

Hours: Tuesday 10:10 – 12:00 / When not in meetings Wednesday 1:30 – 3:30 / Friday 2:40 – 3:40

This course may use a textbook, which will be announced in the first week of class. The instructors will provide handouts for class use from time to time.

This course meets on Tuesdays from 1:40 – 3:30. Please check department bulletin board for assigned classroom.

I regret that I am unable to accept homework by e-mail attachment. I am always happy however to receive students’ Qs or discussions on any matter of interest to them. Welcome, welcome!

Many English Department seniors enter their final year at Fu Jen feeling a lack of confidence in their ability to write English well. These students fear they have not yet grasped the basics of English grammar sufficiently well to save themselves embarrassment and frustration.

This course should be of use to students in this difficult situation.

The purpose of English Grammar Review is to help students become clear on what their patterns of error may be in their writing of English, and to help them to attack their weaknesses step by step, week by week by practicing specific grammar skills and writing frequent (free) journals (any topic) and short essays on assigned topics.

Journals will only be read by the instructor, but all essays are to be

prepared in triplicate. One copy, with the student’s name on it, is for the

instructor. Two copies, with only the final four digits of the ‘hsueh hao’,

will be given to the instructor at the beginning of class, and then passed to

classmates for peer correction.

Classes will often include about 35 minutes of individual coaching for several students while the class in general quietly reads and corrects student essays. No peer evaluation corrected manuscripts are ever to leave the classroom. Students turn them back to the instructor at the end of class, and the instructor will eventually return the essays to the original writers. Peer evaluators write their names in small letters in a corner of a page, which will then be cut off.

This course requires the writing of 4 journals and 4 assigned writing samples / journals are 3 pages (A-4 sized) in length / assigned writing samples are 4 pages long / journals usually are not to be revised / assigned writing samples are always to be revised.

The 1

assigned writing sample is “An autobiographical sketch.”

Students may choose the remaining 3 topics for the assigned writing samples from the list below, or suggest topics for approval by the instructor.

All writing in this course, including the journal writing, must be fresh and new. Please do not use fried rice from last weekend’s leftovers.

Plagiarism is not acceptable and may result in failure of this course.

The instructor will compute grades according to this formula: each journal and assigned writing sample = 10% = 80% / class participation 20%

Due dates: Assigned writing: September 29 / October 27 / November 24 / December 22

Journals: October 13 / November 10 / December 8 / January 5

September 15 – Introduction, autobiographical sketch, and examination of newspaper English

22 – examination of newspaper English / verbs and the problem of

agreement

29 – verb forms and accuracy October 6 – tense and mood for verbs 13 – pronouns and the problem of case

20 – pronouns and the problem of agreement 27 – clear pronouns

November 3 – using modifiers properly 10 – mid-term exam week / coaching

17 – making sentences complete and unified 24 – being clear about modifiers

December 1 – organizing sentences in a logical way 8 - prepositions

15 - conjunctions

22 – clauses of different kinds 29 - adverbs

January 5 - adjectives

12 – final exam week / coaching

Writing assignment topics - - Among possible writing assignment topics students may choose

1) An experience I had which I wish I had never had 2) A memorable vacation or trip I once took

3) The kind of person I was as a freshman compared to who I am today 4) A career or job I find interesting

5) A favorite uncle or a favorite aunt

6) What kind of mother / father would I like to be?

7) A painful experience I once had which taught me a valuable lesson 8) An experience of losing and finding

9) Why people seem afraid to get married

10) Foreign college instructors are different than Chinese instructors 11) Foreign college instructors are not different than Chinese instructors 12) A person I greatly admire

13) My feelings about graduating from Fu Jen in the near future 14) What I consider most important in life

15) Sharing a tour with a foreigner: FIRST TIME IN TAIWAN