Chapter I: Department Overview

JCCC’s English Department attempts to combine vision with pragmatism. We are committed to helping students gain critical reasoning skills and an appreciation not just for writing, but for knowledge itself. At the same time, we take seriously our mission of ensuring that students who take the required writing courses are fully prepared for the writing, research, and reading skills demanded in other college courses as well as in the workplace. Here is our current standard writing course sequence, descriptions of which will follow in subsequent chapters:

● English 102: Writing Strategies

● English 106: Introduction to Writing

● English 121: Composition I

● English 122: Composition II (or for many certificate programs, English 123: Technical Writing)

The department’s focus on writing as a process, its attempt to give students exposure to both narrative and expository writing, and its insistence that students learn to write error-free prose, points to its sense of purpose within the wider academic and professional communities that it serves.

To help the department fulfill its mission, our Writing Center likewise serves a vital function. It supports all JCCC students regardless of their courses or degree programs. Overseen by a full-time director as well as tutoring staff, the Writing Center offers students free, individualized instruction and assistance with any course which requires writing and reading. Students may use editing software, take an assessment quiz for evaluating their strengths and weaknesses with grammar, and work one-on-one with tutors. English instructors are encouraged to arrange a Writing Center orientation for their students in the first weeks of the semester, and they are encouraged to keep their assignments on file with Writing Center so that the staff can better assist students seeking help.

Student Placement in English Courses

Testing Center Services

Students applying at Johnson County Community College begin with assessment and counseling. Those planning to enroll must take the Accuplacer Test (which serves as a placement tool for both English and math courses), or they must submit current ACT scores or present transcripts for college-level English course work they have completed elsewhere. Based on one or more of these measures, students are placed in the appropriate-level writing course, based on their degree or certificate plan.

If students have taken the ACT, they may be placed in Composition I if they have scored at least a 19 on the English portion. Native speakers of English who do not have appropriate ACT take the Accuplacer Test and place in Composition I if they achieve a score of at least 115. Lower scores place them either in English 106 or English 102.

Non-native English speakers likewise are required to submit appropriate scores from previous college-level courses, the ACT, TOEFL, and/or IELTS, which determines placement either in one of the four levels of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), or, for TOEFL iBT scores of 65+ or an IELTS score of 6+, in Composition I.

Other Writing Course Placement Procedures

Each year, the college’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Research, and Planning validates the English placement standards; consequently, writing instructors should feel confident that their students can be successful in their courses. Nonetheless, English instructors should assess their students’ writing skills in the first week of class to ensure that they are indeed appropriately placed. A diagnostic essay or paragraph is the most popular approach that instructors use to assess students. If possible, assigning two diagnostics will give a more accurate assessment.

If the student’s diagnostic writings indicate that a higher level course is advisable, the instructor may want to ask colleagues in the department for a second opinion. At that point, if a higher level course seems appropriate, the instructor should consult with the Department Chair before advising the student.

If the student’s diagnostic writing indicates that a lower level course is advisable, the instructor and Department Chair can only advise a reassignment. In legal terms, if a student’s entrance assessment score indicates placement in a specific course, then that student may take that course. Nonetheless, many students will want to succeed, and given appropriate counseling on how to withdraw and add a different course, they will likely take the instructor’s advice seriously. The department office will facilitate the add/drop process for such a student.

Overview of Writing Course Sequence

Many JCCC students begin with English 106, a three-credit-hour developmental writing course which does not count towards a college degree. As with the other developmental writing courses, English 106 familiarizes students with the formal vocabulary of academic language instruction, including grammatical terms and concepts such as “topic sentence”, “thesis”, and “independent clause.” The course includes an introduction to the basic structure of English grammar, intensive work with sentence building, writing paragraphs and short essays, and developing critical reading skills. As with all of the department’s writing courses, English 106 stresses both the connection between critical reading and writing, and writing as a process.

A smaller number of JCCC students begin the required writing sequence with either a course or courses from the EAP curriculum, or--if they are a native English speaker--with ENGL 102, Writing Strategies. ENGL 102 helps students learn basic sentence patterns, grammar, and paragraph development. The course primarily adopts a workshop format to meet a wide range of student needs.

Unlike English 102 or 106, English 121 counts towards degree fulfillment at JCCC. The course focuses on writing nonfiction prose, and students ideally become proficient in all phases of the writing process, from invention through proofreading. English 121 helps students make sense of the knowledge they gain from their other courses and from their own experiences, via writing and reading. Equally important is helping students understand and apply the principles of the rhetorical triangle: audience, context, and purpose.

After passing English 121, many degree-seeking students are required to take a second writing course: English 122 (Composition II), or English 123 (Technical Writing). English 122 is required for students seeking an Associate of Arts degree. Students pursuing an Associate of Science degree or an Associate of Applied Science degree have the option of taking English 122 or English 123 as well as other communications courses such as English 140, Writing for Interactive Media.

English 122 continues to help students hone their skills with critical reading as well as with expository and narrative writing, but it focuses primarily on teaching students how to synthesize information from various sources and how to analyze and evaluate information. The course teaches students to become competent researchers, using print and electronic sources to write persuasive and argumentative prose.

English 123 also incorporates skills that students learn in English 122, but it focuses primarily on business, technical, and professional writing, including how to write memos, put up websites, write reports and business plans, as well as how to produce instructional manuals and computer-generated graphics.

State and College Guidelines and Design of Each Writing Course

While instructors are encouraged to teach to their strengths and to tailor their curriculum to fit student needs from semester to semester, each course offered at JCCC also must conform to standards and objectives that have been approved by the JCCC Education Affairs Committee and by the Kansas Board of Regents. All syllabi must contain certain information, and the Course Objectives and Course Descriptions portions of the syllabus cannot be altered, as these components have been state approved. In each chapter of the Department Guide, instructors will find the link to each Course Outline—the document that has been officially approved by the state and which guarantees that the course is transferable and accredited. Much of the material which appears on any given Course Outline must also be included on the instructor’s syllabus (see the template in Chapter VII, Nuts and Bolts: Teaching at JCCC). For all instructors new to the program and assigned to teach any one or more courses in our writing sequence, we ask that they read the writing sequence chapters in the English Department Guide as well as each official Course Outline.