New First Year Composition Program

Effective Fall 2009, CSUSB students who enter as freshmen will satisfy their first-year writing requirement (G.E. A.1) by completing one of three course sequence options:

1. Stretch Composition: ENG 102A-103A-104A; OR ENG 102B-103B-104B, a parallel sequence for multilingual students

2. Accelerated Stretch Composition: ENG 105-106

3. Advanced First-Year Composition: ENG 107

The three sequences are grounded in the same philosophy and attend to the kinds of knowledge that students need as writers negotiating intellectual terrains. The difference between the three sequences is the amount of time that students have to fulfill their G.E. writing requirement and the amount of time and attention to writing and thinking that extended time allows.

EPT scores determine which course sequence students must take, which means that most students (those with EPT scores up to 141) will take ENG 102-103-104; students who score slightly higher (between 142-150) will take ENG 105-106; and those who score in the top one third (151 or above) will take ENG 107—see below:

Up to 141→ English 102A-103A-104A / English 102B-103B-104B
142-150 → English 105-106
151 and above → English 107

All of these course sequences provide credit towards graduation and culminate in a course that fulfills the G.E. A.1 requirement. See catalogue descriptions below.

Requirements for General Education Program:

A. Basic Skills Category (12 units)

1. Written Communication

Note: Beginning Fall Quarter, 2009, the following courses will satisfy requirements A.1.

Four units chosen from:

ENG 104A. Stretch Composition III (4)

ENG 104B. Stretch Composition III for Multilingual Students (4)

ENG 106. Accelerated Stretch Composition II (4)

ENG 107. Advanced First-Year Composition (4)

COURSE OFFERINGS IN ENGLISH (ENG)

Lower Division

102. Stretch Composition I

A. Stretch Composition I

Analysis and use of strategies for critically reading and writing expository texts. Builds students’ understandings of the relationships among language, meaning, and context, as well as their abilities to conduct research and evaluate sources, to use writing as a means of critical thinking, and to write essays that reflect a variety of rhetorical approaches. Students will remain with the same cohort of classmates in the same time slot across ENG 102A-103A-104A. Placement in ENG 102A is based on an English Placement Test score of 141 or below. Graded Credit/No Credit. No more than eight units of the ENG 102A-103A-104A stretch sequence may count toward graduation. (4 units)

B. Stretch Composition I for Multilingual Students

Analysis and use of strategies for critically reading and writing expository texts. Builds students’ understandings of the relationships among language, meaning, and context, as well as their abilities to conduct research and evaluate sources, to use writing as a means of critical thinking, and to write essays that reflect a variety of rhetorical approaches. Students will remain with the same cohort of classmates in the same time slot across ENG 102B-103B-104B. Placement in ENG 102B is based on an English Placement Test score of 141 or below AND on self-identification as a speaker of a native or home language other than English. Students who meet these two criteria may also opt to take ENG 102A instead of ENG 102B. Graded Credit/No Credit. No more than eight units of the ENG 102B-103B-104B stretch sequence may count toward graduation. (4 units)

103. Stretch Composition II

A. Stretch Composition II

Continued emphasis on the relationships among language, meaning, and context, on conducting research, and on strategies for reading and writing expository texts with varied purposes and audiences. Students will remain with the same cohort of classmates in the same time slot across ENG 102A-103A-104A. Graded Credit/No Credit. No more than eight units of the ENG 102A-103A-104A stretch sequence may count toward graduation. Prerequisite: ENG 102A. (4 units)

B. Stretch Composition II for Multilingual Students

Continued emphasis on the relationships among language, meaning, and context, on conducting research, and on strategies for reading and writing expository texts with varied purposes and audiences. Students will remain with the same cohort of classmates in the same time slot across ENG 102B-103B-104B. Graded Credit/No Credit. No more than eight units of the ENG 102B-103B-104B stretch sequence may count toward graduation. Prerequisite: ENG 102B. (4 units)

104. Stretch Composition III

A. Stretch Composition III

Further attention to relationships among written language, meaning, and context. Develops students’ understandings of writing as a recursive process requiring rethinking and rewriting, as well as their abilities to conduct research, to integrate it into their own arguments, and to use writing as a means of critical thinking. Students will remain with the same cohort of classmates in the same time slot across ENG 102A-103A-104A. Graded A,B,C/No Credit. A grade of C or better fulfills GE A.1. No more than eight units of the ENG 102A-103A-104A stretch sequence may count toward graduation. Prerequisite: ENG 103A. (GE=A.1) (4 units)

B. Stretch Composition III for Multilingual Students

Further attention to relationships among written language, meaning, and context. Develops students’ understandings of writing as a recursive process requiring rethinking and rewriting, as well as their abilities to conduct research, to integrate it into their own arguments, and to use writing as a means of critical thinking. Students will remain with the same cohort of classmates in the same time slot across ENG 102B-103B-104B. Graded A,B,C/No Credit. A grade of C or better fulfills GE A.1. No more than eight units of the ENG 102B-103B-104B stretch sequence may count toward graduation. Prerequisite: ENG 103B. (GE=A.1) (4 units)

105. Accelerated Stretch Composition I

Analysis and use of strategies for conducting research and critically reading and writing expository texts. Explores relationships among language, meaning, and context, and emphasizes writing as a recursive process and a means of critical thinking. Placement in ENG 105 is based on an English Placement Test score between 142-150 or an NC in 103A or 103B. Students will remain with the same cohort of classmates in the same time slot across ENG 105-106. Graded Credit/No Credit. (4 units)

106. Accelerated Stretch Composition II

Further examination of how written language functions in context. Builds students' abilities to conduct research and to integrate it into their own arguments. Students will remain with the same cohort of classmates in the same time slot across ENG 105-106. Graded A,B,C/No Credit. A grade of C or better fulfills GE A.1. Prerequisite: ENG 105. (GE=A.1) (4 units)

107. Advanced First-Year Composition

Concentrated composition course for advanced first-year writers. Examines the ways written language functions in various contexts. Requires students to conduct research, to draw upon their critical readings of texts to develop their own arguments, and to examine and use rhetorical strategies that respond to different situations. Formerly ENG 101. Placement in ENG 107 is based on an English Placement Test score of 151 or above, an English Placement Test score between 147-150 and successful completion of the Reading Improvement Program, or an NC in ENG 104 or ENG 106. Graded A,B,C/No Credit. A grade of C or better fulfills GE A.1. (GE=A.1) (4 units)