Writing Assignments in Disciplines Other Than English

Question: What types of writing assignments do other disciplines require of students?

Answer: The authors of this article administered the following questionnaire to community college faculty:

.What types of writing assignments do you typically give your students?

.How often to you give these assignments during a semester?

.What is the length of a typical writing assignment?

.What are your minimum expectations for the writing tasks that you assign?

.What skills do your assignments require?

.Do you prepare students specifically for writing assignments? If yes, please describe.

.What types of tests do you give your students?

.Do you provide any additional assistance to non-native English speakers? If yes, please describe.

Comment: The more we can learn about writing assignments used by faculty from other disciplines, the better we can help Comp. 1 students prepare for them—I think. I might modify the tone of some of these questions. RayS.

Title: “Preparing ESL Students for ‘Real’ College Writing: A Glimpse of Common Writing Tasks ESL Students Encounter at One Community College.” J Carroll and H Dunkelblau. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (March 2011), 271-281.