The Program in Global Languages & Cultures (GLC) offers a number of courses and services to lower-division students. We offer writing courses (Academic English 20A-B-C) as well as a course in reading and vocabulary development (Academic English 22A). We also provide students with assessments, guidance, and web-based resources.
Academic English 20A-B-C and 22A courses are for students who have been admitted to UCI and placed into writing and/or reading courses via the UCI Writing Placement Process. These courses provide English language services and resources designed to help lower-division students develop the academic English skills they require to succeed at UCI. Below is a brief description of the learning objectives for each course:
- Academic English 20A covers foundational academic writing skills including summarizing and critiquing. Students enrolled in this course also receive intensive instruction on English academic language use. This is a 5-unit course, which includes a 1-unit lab component.
- Academic English 20B builds on the 20A curriculum and helps students develop writing skills necessary for working with multiple academic sources. Students enrolled in this course practice organizing and synthesizing multiple perspectives from sources to develop an informed position on an academic topic. Students also receive intensive instruction on advanced English academic language use. This is a 5-unit course, which includes a 1-unit lab component.
- Academic English 20C is designed for students who have some experience with English academic writing but would like to receive additional help learning about the expectations for college-level writing. This course may be especially helpful for students who feel like they did not receive enough practice writing in their junior and senior years of high school. This course provides students with hands-on opportunities to practice identifying, evaluating, analyzing, and presenting source information for credibility and relevance to an academic topic. This is a 5-unit course, which includes a 1-unit lab component.
- Academic English 22A is designed to strengthen students’ college-level
reading and vocabulary skills. Many college-level courses require intensive reading of texts with advanced vocabulary, and the skills learned in this class will help prepare students for such texts. This is a 2-unit course.
***For Academic Year 2023-2024: All new first-year students are being placed into their writing courses by UC Irvine faculty. For more information, please visit the Academic Testing Center’s website (https://testingcenter.uci.edu/programs/placement-testing/writing-placement/).
Lower-Division Writing Requirement
Academic English students must complete the lower-division writing requirement before the beginning of the seventh quarter following the completion of their AE courses or they will be subject to probation.
Students who successfully complete AC ENG 20C and 22A will be authorized to enroll in Writing 40, 40A, & 45 during week 7 of a given quarter.
Note: To be eligible to enroll in Writing 45, you MUST complete AC ENG 20C. Getting approval to skip AC ENG 20C, only allows a student authorization to enroll in Writing 40 & 40A, not Writing 45.