Who should take Advanced Composition (Comp101)?

Advanced Composition (Comp101) is designed for non-native speakers of English who have never taken a formal English Composition Course and who have TOEFL scores of 500 or more (or possibly, for those aspiring to TOEFL scores of 500 or more).  Non-native speakers of English with TOEFLs of 550-600 have benefited enormously by taking Advanced Composition (Comp 101) because almost always their English composition skills permit them to matriculate directly into most English speaking universities without having to take additional classes in remedial writing.

What is the objective of Advanced Composition (Comp101)?

The goal of Advanced Composition (Comp101) is successful academic writing.  Participants in Comp101 will write a series of organized academic essays similar to the essays in this student's site:  Sports.  For those about to write the Test of Written English (TWE) or begin university studies requiring academic essays in English, Comp101 is a good choice for preparation to enter an English speaking university setting and participation in English speaking university classes after that.  The goal of Advanced Composition (Comp101)  is to provide both course materials and feedback through which participants will develop a solid foundation in academic writing.

How much time does it take weekly, and how many months does it take to complete the TWE-Prep course?

For the maximum benefit of all participants, Advanced Composition (Comp101) has structured deadlines and due dates, and participants should be prepared to devote at least five hours weekly (minimum) to accomplish all course activities in eight  weeks.  Grades are earned for all quizzes and writing assignments, and due dates are set as they are set in a face-to-face university classroom.  If quiz or writing assignment due dates pass, it will  not be possible to "make up" assignments, and scores earned will be posted (privately).  Regarding the number of hours required hours per week, please look at the math:  This Sports site was written in a 16 week University Composition course that met in a computer lab five days a week or 80 hours.  To devote the same number of hours of study in eight weeks would require ten hours of study a week.

What is the cost to take Advanced Composition (Comp 101)?

The cost is $120 USD, subject to change.  The duration of this course is eight weeks.  Payment is through PayPal (below).

What is the structure of the course?

Advanced Composition (Comp101) is divided into eight weeks containing resources materials, quizzes, essays, and forum discussions.  Resource materials contain "how to" information and are followed by frequent quizzes focusing on local aspects of writing such as sentences (identification and combining), adjective clauses, appositives, parallel structure, etc.  Local aspects of writing are presented by degree of relevance and difficulty.

Required essays are also written in order by degree of difficulty:  Giving Instructions, Cause or Effect, Comparison or Contrast, and Persuasion.  The main focus of the essays is on organization and content which I call global in nature.  It is important to write the essays in order because they are arranged by degree of difficulty and are cumulative.  Finished essays are always posted online for other class participants to read and respond to.  Responding to other participants' essays is always engaging, so the forum discussions are generally the most favored assignments throughout the course period.

All resource materials are followed by online exercises and quizzes.  Resource materials also contain "how to" information for writing various essays, and the essays themselves are always followed by peer review, revision, and grades through which class participants can monitor individual progress. 

How are the essays graded?

All essays are reviewed at least twice, first by another course participant and then by the course instructor, Erlyn Baack.  The first draft is reviewed and revised from the "global" perspective (organizational perspective) until it is at least very good to excellent.  This occurs in teams with another course participant.  After that, course participants write their final draft and upload it for detailed revision and grading.  At this stage, "local" errors are highlighted or corrected, the paper is graded using the ESL Composition Profile (PDF file will open in new window), and the paper is returned for final revision and posting within the course room forums.  (Note:  I revise and grade each paper only once.)

How do I enroll?

First, please subscribe to the ESLBEE.COM writer's list at http://eslbee.com/cgi-bin/subscribe.cgi.  New classes are always announced through this list first.  Before a new class starts, participants are required to send self-introductions of 150-200 words to http://eslbee.com/email.htm.  You will be sending your self-introductions to Erlyn Baack, so to know who you are writing to, I have included my self-introduction HERE.  The audience for your self-introduction will be other class participants, so please include information about your country, first language, experience learning English, composition classes, writing goals, or any other information you would like to share.  Please write at least 150-200 words for a good introduction.

Who is teaching this course and what are the qualifications of the teacher?

The course and all the materials at ESLBEE.COM are by Erlyn Baack, resume here.  In short, I am a graduate of the University of Colorado Graduate School of Education with a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, emphasis ESL, and I have been teaching university level composition classes at ITESM, Campus Querétaro, Mexico, since 1995.  Before that, I taught composition and other ESL classes at two community colleges in Denver, Colorado, USA.

What if I have other questions?

For questions not answered on this page, please send them to Erlyn Baack at http://eslbee.com/email.htm.

Thank you.

Erlyn Baack

Refund Policy:  No payment is required for the first two weeks of Advanced Composition (Comp 101).  After participating in course activities for two weeks, prospective participants may either drop or continue.  To continue, payment is made on Monday of the third week of class, and after that, there are no refunds.  Contact Erlyn Baack to get started.