contract proposal rough draft

Stephen SwisherComp.410/28/07Project proposal My Project Proposal for ESL in Chicago’s City Colleges specificallyFocusing on Truman College. 1. This topic struck me because my father is a professor at Truman Collegeand he alerted me to the fact that in the last few years there has been adecrease in ESL enrollment, but not a decrease in overall enrollment of“foreigners” So I was interested in way this would be happening. To thebest of my knowledge the decrease in enrollment has to do with a new lawthat was passed that cut funding, loans or scholarships to students in ESLclasses. But like I said I don’t know the details, I will have toinvestigate. So my motivation for this class would be to understand whysomeone would cut funding for ESL classes and how they are being utilizedin classes, especially the writing aspect. Are students taught to fill outapplications, loans or other vital documents?2. My thoughts on this topic are: How can we live in a country where wecomplain about the migrants not speaking English and then cut funding forESL? I think we should have more programs in more places, maybe even free,I think we do but I would like to find more out about them. I don’t knowtoo much about this subject but I am interested and have some goodsources.3. I want to understand who should be responsible for migrants learningEnglish, the state and its schools or the individual? Also how and whatis being taught in regards to composition? What is the exact definition ofESL? How does the citizen test and ESL relate and are the compatible?4. Sources…so far. My main source is the head of the language departmentat Truman College and anyone who he can get to talk with me. I would loveto talk to some teachers and students.5. Secondary sources are: essays written by6. Paul Kei Matsuda, like, “Composition Studies and ESL Writings: ADisciplinary Division of Labor”7. “Composition and the Courses in English for Foreign Students” byWilliam Marqaurdt8. Teaching English as a Second Language and many more…I still have a lotof research to do.



Responce to Blog questions for Monday








When the general public considers the subject I’m working with, what are the issues, questions or concerns that they think are important to discuss? Do these questions and concerns differ from those of the scholarly discourse community?
The general public would like to know how accessible these ESL classes were before the passing of the law and how it changed. Also in regards to writing what are the requirements for the class, what are they taught? I would personally like to know what the curriculum looks like. I just thought of something in order to write a comprehensive report I would probably have to specify what level of ESL I would focus on. Would it be people who could barely speak? People who can speak but not compose? I don’t know either I will have to see where this project takes me. To get back on track, the questions the public might have would be concerning: Accessibility of ESL courses, importance on writing, how many levels there are between beginner and graduated, also the colleges responsibility of making sure students get the proper ESL courses, making sure they are affordable and provided and convenient times. For the most part I think the scholarly discourse community would ask the same or similar questions, but they might focus more on the actual ESL classes and on composition theories for second language students.In discussions of my subject, what are some of the status quo assumptions that appear to go unsaid but nonetheless seem almost universally believed? For example, if I am exploring how writing should be taught in high school, what do most people tend to believe about the kinds and amount of writing that high school students should do? What do people believe writing teachers should do to prepare students for the world beyond high school? How do people believe that teachers should respond to students’ writing?
The status quo for ESL students would be the need to learn enough English as to get by in America. This would include the ability to fill out government forms, applications and be able to understand bills. I assume that there is not much essay writing going on in theses classes, the focus is on work related courses. The teachers goals would be for their students to integrate into American society smoothly with the necessary tools.