Papers by Roberta Golliher
At present, however, 101C assignments are rarely of sufficient length or complexity to push the s... more At present, however, 101C assignments are rarely of sufficient length or complexity to push the students into this developmental dip. An obvious reason exists for the relative simplicity of 101C assignments: The course designers have assumed that students prepare to write longer, more complex assignments by honing their ability to write shorter, less complex ones. 11 This is clearly the approach taken in the most commonly used text for English 101C, Academic Writing (Leki, 1989), which presents model student essays of one to five paragraphs in length. Undoubtedly a "build-up" approach has its place. I question, however, whether such an approach is appropriate in the final semester prior to students' mainstreaming into freshman composition. 12 I don't believe short, simple assignments can adequately prepare students to meet the expectations of ISU freshman composition instructors; I am also concerned that short, simple assignments might mislead students into underestimating their future instructors' expectations. Indeed, the problem of short assignments only scratches the surface of the problems with 101C as it is actually taught. In practice, says a former ESL program coordinator, "I always felt as though the [101C textbook] was dictating the course 11 These reasons are not stated in the ESL Instructor's Manual-they are only implicit.
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Papers by Roberta Golliher