University of Pittsburgh students who speak English as a Second Language take an English Proficiency Test when they arrive on campus. This test typically places students into a required three-course sequence to complete their first-year Composition requirement: they take LING 007, then ENGCMP 0152 Workshop in Composition: ESL, and finally ENGCMP 0200 Seminar in Composition. This sequence of courses allows students to practice both English and composition skills in order to prepare them for their other college classes.
ENGCMP 0152 Workshop in Composition: ESL is taught by a small group of dedicated teachers who understand what ESL students will need in order to succeed in Seminar in Composition and in other college-level writing classes. While the reading, writing, and critical inquiry in this course are challenging, students will find a lot of support from their instructor, the Writing Center, and the International Café (a series of workshops for international student writers).
Here is a generic description of the course. The teacher of your section will give you a much more detailed description of the course when it starts.
ENGCMP 0152 ESL: Workshop in Composition. This course is designed to give students learning English as a foreign language an opportunity to develop their ability to write in English and their confidence in performing the kind of academic inquiry, analysis, and argument needed to succeed in university courses. Students write in response to weekly assignments, and instruction focuses on helping students to extend, revise, and edit their work. At the end of the term, students submit a portfolio of essays (including one in-class essay) for review by a faculty committee. Students must receive a grade of C- or higher in this class in order to take ENGCMP 0200 Seminar in Composition.
Teachers may recommend that you also register for EMGCMP 0151 Workshop Tutorial, which gives you two additional credits to go to the Writing Center for weekly tutorials. You can read about Workshop Tutorial on the Writing Center site.
All writing for these Composition courses must be composed by the student independently with assistance only from the instructor and Writing Center tutors. There are serious consequences for plagiarism in the University.
Useful Links for ESL Writers