Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Department of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences

HSS011 Intermediate English Reading and Writing
Winter 2022

Instructor: Holly Wang Office: Building N4, 1116 Phone: 042-350-4691 Email:hollyw@kaist.ac.kr
Office Hours: TBA

Class Times & Location: Building N4 Room 1117 MTWThF 9:30-12:00

Course Period: December 19th to January 13th

Textbook: Longman Academic Writing Series 3: Paragraphs to Essays (4th Edition) by Alice Oshima and Ann
Hogue

Course Description
This intermediate course for undergraduates is designed to help students develop their reading and writing skills.
Students will learn to write paragraphs with a variety of rhetorical patterns with clarity, coherence, and substance,
and they will be introduced to basic essay writing. The course is also designed to help students develop reading
strategies and advance to longer, more complex reading materials.

Course Goals
By the end of this course, students will be expected to be able to
1. Plan and write paragraphs that are mechanically, grammatically, and organizationally sound.
2. Plan and write essays that are mechanically, grammatically, and organizationally sound.
3. Assess and respond to English-language reading material at an academic level on a variety of topics.

Course Objectives
To achieve the goals listed above, students will develop competencies in the categories listed below.
 
Writing objectives
1. Process Writing: Apply brainstorming, outlining, drafting, self-editing, peer-editing, and revision.
2. Rhetorical Forms: Apply various rhetorical forms of expository and argumentative writing. These forms
may include comparison/contrast, cause-and-effect, persuasive, and opinion writing.
3. Mechanics: Develop a command of the basic mechanics of written English, including punctuation,
spelling, and capitalization.
4. Grammar: Form simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.
5. Coherence: Clarify the relationships between ideas through the appropriate use of transition signals and
organizing principles.
6. Academic Integrity: Avoid plagiarism through appropriate application of quotation, paraphrasing,
summary, and citation.

Reading objectives
1. Combine previewing/surveying materials and background knowledge to predict content.
2. Use reading techniques such as skimming, scanning, and intensive reading.
3. Use context clues to understand vocabulary.
4. Identify the central point, main ideas, supporting ideas, and details of academic materials.
5. Distinguish between fact and opinion.
6. Summarize material from a single source and from multiple sources.

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Course Content

Midterm & Final exams

Students will take a midterm and final exams. Both will include a timed writing section in which all students will
write a paragraph and an essay respectively.

Writing Assignments/Homework
Unless otherwise stated, all written assessments are due at the start of class on the due date specified. You must
submit a printed copy of completed assessments in class.

All written assessments must be formatted using the following specifications:

 12pt Times New Roman;
 Double spaced;
 1” margins;
 Your name, student ID number, the class code and section (HSS011 X).

Class Participation
Students are expected to participate in discussions and all other classroom activities. Discussions will be part of
the daily class work and the effort shown in actively contributing to small group discussions will go toward your
participation grade. I expect you to attend class daily, come on time, and stay for the full class period.

In addition, class participation does not simply mean that you are physically present in class. You must have all
class materials, participate in discussions, actively listen to your peers, and take notes as necessary. Turn off cell
phones or put them on silent mode during the class period. You will lose participation points for the day if I see
your phone.

Attendance, class participation, homework and quizzes are worth 20% of your grade.

Grading Breakdown:
Midterm exam 15%

Final exam 15%

Writing Assignments 40%

Students will submit 3 paragraphs and 1 essay for grading in addition to the midterm
and final exams.

Journal 10%
Students will respond to questions about a topic throughout the course

Attendance, participation, homework & quizzes 20%

Total 100%

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Grade Scale:

Grade 100-points 4.3-points

A+ 97-100 4.3
A0 94-96 4.0
A- 90-93 3.7
B+ 86-89 3.3
B0 83-85 3.0
B- 78-82 2.7
C+ 75-77 2.3
C0 72-74 2.0
C- 67-71 1.7
D+ 64-66 1.3
D0 61-63 1.0
D- 53-60 0.7
F 0-52  

Late Policy
In all cases, extensions must be applied for via email before the due date and should be supported with appropri-
ate documentation (medical certificate etc). No extensions will be granted because you have not adequately orga-
nized your time.

Academic Honesty:
All work submitted in this class is expected to be the original work of the student whose name appears on it and
the work was prepared originally for this course. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism,
unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in
the learning process. If there has been any academic dishonesty in preparing for the assignment, you will receive
a zero for that particular assignment.

Attendance:
You are expected to attend every class of the semester. Your attendance and class participation grade will de-
crease every time you are late. Students arriving more than 10 minutes late to class will be marked ‘Late.’ If you
arrive late three times, it will be counted as an unexcused absence. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for
class, you are considered absent. Each unexcused absence will result in a 2% deduction from your final grade. 6
or more absences (excused and unexcused) will result in an automatic F in the course. In all cases, excused ab-
sences must be requested via email at least one day before the class and should be supported with appropriate
documentation. Students sleeping, texting, or playing games etc. in class may also be regarded as absent.

Note: Zoom attendance to class is only acceptable with medical documentation for a prolonged
illness. Without documentation, you will be considered absent.