English 1010, English 2010, and English 2020 Outcomes
All English 1010, 2010, and 2020 courses at USU have four main outcomes: Rhetorical Awareness, Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Composing Processes. Courses focus on writing, supplemented by oral and visual communication. Teachers and students have the agency and flexibility to meet these outcomes throughout each course in a variety of ways. These outcomes should be understood as interconnected and recursive to reinforce key concepts, rather than as four distinct areas of proficiency. The USU English 1010, 2010, and 2020 Outcomes are based on the Outcomes for First-Year Composition from the Council of Writing Program Administrators and the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
Rhetorical Awareness
Writers develop rhetorical awareness by negotiating purpose, audience, context, and textual conventions as they compose a variety of texts for different rhetorical situations. Student writers engage in rhetorical awareness through both written and oral communication.
Rhetorical awareness is illustrated by the student writer’s ability to:
| English 1010 | English 2010 | English 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Focus on a purpose appropriate to the writer’s rhetorical situation | Engage with a research-based question, focus, or purpose | Engage with a research-based concept, focus, or purpose relevant to multiple professional audiences and stakeholders |
| Identify and compose for a variety of audiences and contexts | Rhetorically consider and integrate a variety of perspectives into an argument | Analyze communication contexts rhetorically by understanding, acknowledging, and addressing multiple audiences, purposes, and situations |
| Analyze and respond appropriately to different rhetorical situations, including as outlined in assignment prompts | Apply rhetorical appeals, including ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos | Apply rhetorical appeals, including ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos, for various professional contexts |
| Identify and analyze rhetorical appeals, including ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos | Participate in conversations within discourse communities, while skillfully addressing assignment requirements | Participate in nuanced conversations relevant to professional communities, contexts, and related stakeholders, while skillfully addressing assignment requirements |
| Understand and rhetorically negotiate the conventions that govern genres, formats, grammar, mechanics, and the use and citation of sources | Rhetorically apply or challenge language conventions that govern genres, formats, grammar, mechanics, and the use and citation of sources based on purpose and audience | Rhetorically apply or challenge language conventions that govern genres, formats, grammar, mechanics, and the use and citation of sources in professional communication contexts |
Critical Thinking
Writers practice critical thinking when they analyze, synthesize, interpret, and evaluate ideas, information, situations, and texts. Student writers display critical thinking through both written and oral communication.
Critical thinking is illustrated by the student writer’s ability to:
| English 1010 | English 2010 | English 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Recognize the relationships among language, knowledge, and power in texts and research | Analyze the relationships among language, knowledge, and power in research and argument | Research, analyze, and negotiate the relationships among language, knowledge, and power in written and oral communication |
| Use writing, reading, and dialogue for inquiry, learning, and communicating | Investigate and evaluate underlying assumptions in source material | Investigate and evaluate ethics in professional communication and make rhetorical and ethical choices in written and oral communication |
| Identify and respond to problems or questions in texts | Negotiate the influence of positionality, background, and personal bias on research and argument | Negotiate the influence of positionality, background, and personal bias on research and communication |
| Analyze rhetorical patterns and conversations across multiple texts | Synthesize multiple perspectives through the use of primary and secondary research, including lived experience and counternarrative | Synthesize multiple perspectives through the use of primary and secondary research, including lived experience and counternarrative related to professional communication contexts |
| Integrate personal authority within a larger conversation | Compose nuanced arguments that contain appropriate and sufficient evidence | Compose nuanced written and oral communication that contains appropriate and sufficient evidence |
Information Literacy
Writers practice information literacy when they understand research as a process of critical inquiry, consider the influence of power on texts, and become creators of information through both written and oral communication. In English 2010, writers also employ research to develop multiple-step scholarly projects.
Information literacy is illustrated by the student writer’s ability to:
| English 1010 | English 2010 | English 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Identify relevant information and questions in relation to audience and purpose | Develop and investigate a nuanced research question for a specific audience and purpose | Develop and investigate nuanced research questions for specific audiences and purposes connected to professional communication contexts |
| Understand the strengths and limitations of a variety of primary and secondary sources | Evaluate the relevance and credibility of a variety of primary and secondary sources and apply the evaluation to the student researcher’s rhetorical purpose | Seek, analyze, and evaluate credible and relevant primary and secondary sources to research problems or issues, explore challenges, and recommend potential solutions |
| Examine the value of multiple perspectives and personal authority while accounting for individual bias in reading and composing texts | Negotiate the implications of the research on multiple groups and seek perspectives that complicate notions of credibility and authority in research | Negotiate the implications of research and communication on multiple stakeholders and seek perspectives that complicate notions of credibility and authority in professional communication contexts |
| Begin to synthesize conversations and texts to engage in critical inquiry | Join a conversation by seeking multiple perspectives, recognizing gaps in the research, reflecting on personal bias, and synthesizing texts and perspectives | Join conversations connected to professional contexts by seeking multiple perspectives, recognizing gaps in research, reflecting on personal bias, and synthesizing texts and perspectives |
| Develop academic integrity by accurately summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, and citing a variety of texts and perspectives | Demonstrate academic integrity by accurately and effectively summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, and citing a variety of texts and perspectives | Demonstrate academic integrity by accurately and effectively summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, and citing a variety of texts and perspectives |
Composing Processes
Writers employ multiple composing processes to conceptualize, draft, write, revise, and finalize both written and oral projects. Writers’ composing processes are flexible and seldom linear.
Composing processes are illustrated by the student writer’s ability to:
| English 1010 | English 2010 | English 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Organize ideas, claims, and support according to audience and purpose | Skillfully organize ideas, claims, and support according to audience and purpose | Skillfully organize ideas, claims, and support according to audience and purpose |
| Collaborate with other writers on drafts and revision | Collaborate with other writers on drafts and successive revisions | Work collaboratively to solve problems and communicate and revise effectively, both in writing and orally |
| Apply collaborator feedback to revise for a purpose | Respond to collaborator feedback, identify additional opportunities to revise, and incorporate feedback and self-assessment into revision | Respond to collaborator and stakeholder feedback, identify additional opportunities to revise, and incorporate feedback and self-assessment into drafts and successive revisions |
| Revise to learn more about a topic or problem | Research and synthesize additional texts or perspectives to revise or complicate arguments, claims, and analysis | Research and synthesize additional texts or perspectives to revise or complicate analysis, recommendations, and potential solutions |
| Identify opportunities for continued revision and inquiry | Critically reflect on the challenges and strategies of the composing, research, and revision processes |
Critically reflect on the challenges and strategies of multiple composing, research, and revision processes |
General Education Communication Literacy 1 and 2 Outcomes (CL1 and CL2)
Completion of English 1010 fulfills the university’s CL1 general education requirement; completion of either English 2010 or English 2020 fulfills the university’s CL2 general education requirement.