How to Write an Essay
An introduction to academic writing for English Language Learners, focusing on essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing.
About this course
College Writing 2.1x is an introduction to academic writing for English Language Learners, focusing on essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing. The five-week course includes a review of basic grammar terminology and understanding; writing effective sentences and paragraphs; introductions and conclusions; strategies for writing longer texts; and thesis statements. The course materials will be offered via readings and videos. An optional course workbook, in ebook form, may be used for additional writing work. Students will participate in online discussions as well as peer review. Students will complete an essay for this part of the course.
In partnership with the U.S. Department of State
UC Berkeley is partnering with the U.S. Department of State to extend the reach of College Writing 2X. Participating U.S. Embassies will host in-person, facilitated discussions sessions around the course content in order to maximize the learning experience. The State Department-supported Education USA network will also offer facilitated discussions in some locations for students interested in pursuing higher education in the United States. This partnership is part of the English Education Alliance (E2A), a global effort of the U.S. Department of State to address the global demand for 21st century English language skills.
| Length: | 5 Weeks |
| Effort: | 5–6 hours per week |
| Price: | FREE Add a Verified Certificate for $49 USD |
| Institution: | BerkeleyX |
| Subject: | Humanities |
| Level: | Introductory |
| Language: | English |
| Video Transcript: | English |
| Course Type: | Self-paced on your time |
What you’ll learn
- Basic grammar terminology and understanding
- How to write effective sentences and paragraphs
- How to tackle writing introductions and conclusions
- Strategies for writing longer texts and thesis statements
Institution:
Free online courses from University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley was chartered in 1868, and its flagship campus — envisioned as a “City of Learning” — was established at Berkeley, on San Francisco Bay. Berkeley faculty consists of 1,582 full-time and 500 part-time faculty members dispersed among more than 130 academic departments and more than 80 interdisciplinary research units. Berkeley alumni have received 28 Nobel prizes, and there are eight Nobel Laureates, 32 MacArthur Fellows, and four Pulitzer Prize winners among the current faculty.
In September 2012, to mark Berkeley’s commitment to innovation in teaching and learning, The Berkeley Resource Center for Online Education (BRCOE) was formed. The Center is a resource hub and an operational catalyst for all internal campus-wide and external resources to advise, coordinate, and facilitate the University’s online education initiatives, ranging from credit and non-credit courses, to online degree programs and MOOC projects, including the MOOCLab initiative.
BRCOE’s new MOOCLab is a three-year research initiative to fund and develop Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as vehicles for pedagogical research in online education.
Berkeley is also working with edX to develop and foster adoption of Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs) on campuses around the world. SPOCs are designed to supplement and enhance the learning experience of on-campus students, while providing local faculty an opportunity for more interactive activities and more time for “high-touch” pedagogy.
Instructor
Maggie Sokolik
Dr. Sokolik received her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles. After her Ph.D., she did post-doctoral work in Paris, France, and has been a faculty member at Harvard University, MIT, Texas A&M, and Northern Arizona University. She has taught writing and technical communication at UC Berkeley since 1992, and is Director of College Writing Programs. She is the author of over twenty ESL and composition textbooks. She is an English Language Specialist for the U.S. Department of State, and travels frequently to speak about grammar, educational technology, writing, and instructor education, most recently to Turkey, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and New Zealand.
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