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English & ESL Course Sequence

Learn More About the Courses that Best Support Your College Success

English and ESL Course Sequence

How to Complete ENGL 100 Successfully

The English course you need to complete to transfer is called ENGL 100. As a California community college student, you have the right to take English 100 during your first semester.

An ENGL 100 class meets for 4 hours each week and will feature interactive discussions, workshops, and a variety of reading and writing-based assignments. Expect to spend 3-4 hours of weekly reading and 4-8 hours of weekly writing. Essay prompts will demand complex, multipage responses that may invite you to break free from the “five paragraph” essay.

We offer many versions of ENGL 100. Read the information below, and choose the class that fits your goals this semester, so you can fulfill your English requirement and build skills for success in college and the workplace.

English 100 Options

An English 100 That Fits Your Needs and Interests

What is a college English course? What will I be learning? What forms of writing will I engage in and be engaging to me?

The professors who teach ENGL 100 design their course around a variety of themes and resources to aid you on your journey through English 100. Enjoy food? There is an English 100 for you! Interested in digital media? There is an English 100 for you! Are you a veteran interested in forming community with other veterans? There is an English 100 for you!

To start exploring your options, consider what might hook your interest or support your needs in an English class.

Books: The text books a professor chooses can demonstrate what the course’s “theme” may be, allowing you to make decisions based both on your schedule needs and your individual interests: what may intrigue you? Challenge you? Inspire you? While you are searching for classes on SURF, consider looking at the lists of required books.

Classmates: MiraCosta offers a variety of supportive learning communities linked to specific English 100 courses to help you find community within your transition to college, including Puente and Mana.

Flexible Schedules: More interested in scheduling or how college will fit into your life (whether on campus or online)? We offer a number of different class formats to aid you on your journey through English 100. Keep exploring the options below to see the many different ways you can take English 100.

Highly Supported English - English 100 with English 52

What is Highly Supported English (HSE)?

Our Highly Supported English combines two classes together: ENGL 100 and ENGL 52. These classes are taught by the same instructor and meet on the same day, one right after the other. ENGL 52 is half the size of ENGL 100. The small class size in ENGL 52 allows your instructor to tailor teaching based on your individual needs. In ENGL 52, you can expect activities and assignments concentrating on active reading, critical thinking, as well as argumentative and reflective writing. You can also expect to receive individualized feedback on your writing, and workshops that will help you build skills essential to successfully meeting the learning outcomes and objectives of ENGL 100. ENGL 52 provides a supportive environment so you are equipped to read, think, and write at the pace and with the rigor expected in ENGL 100.

To enroll in ENGL 52, you must place both ENGL 52 and its linked ENGL 100 class in your cart in SURF.

English 100 Online Options

Explore what it takes to be a successful online student

We offer two kinds of online ENGL 100 classes. Fully online classes meet entirely online with no obligation to come to campus. We also offer “hybrid” online classes that meet once a week in a traditional classroom and then complete the rest of the week’s work online. Both of these online classes offer flexibility while building community with your classmates and instructor.

Both online and hybrid classes will require you to complete coursework on the computer, which means you will be reading and writing more than you would in a traditional ENGL 100 held in a classroom. Everything we normally say out loud in a classroom has to be written and read when working online. For example, during a typical week, a hybrid ENGL 100 class will meet for 2-hours on campus and assign an additional 9 - 10 hours of work watching lectures, reading the textbook, posting to discussion boards, reading articles, and writing/revising essay drafts.

If you are brand new to online coursework, we recommend exploring these Online Leaning Readiness modules, which will help you (and your device) prepare to succeed.

English 100 with Multilingual Support

Explore what it takes to be a successful online student

We offer two kinds of online ENGL 100 classes. Fully online classes meet entirely online with no obligation to come to campus. We also offer “hybrid” online classes that meet once a week in a traditional classroom and then complete the rest of the week’s work online. Both of these online classes offer flexibility while building community with your classmates and instructor.

Both online and hybrid classes will require you to complete coursework on the computer, which means you will be reading and writing more than you would in a traditional ENGL 100 held in a classroom. Everything we normally say out loud in a classroom has to be written and read when working online. For example, during a typical week, a hybrid ENGL 100 class will meet for 2-hours on campus and assign an additional 9 - 10 hours of work watching lectures, reading the textbook, posting to discussion boards, reading articles, and writing/revising essay drafts.

If you are brand new to online coursework, we recommend exploring these Online Leaning Readiness modules, which will help you (and your device) prepare to succeed.

English 100 with Multilingual Support

We offer a number of sections of English 100 that are specially designed to meet the needs of students from multilingual/ESL backgrounds. The instructors assigned to these courses have additional training to teach composition to students from diverse language backgrounds. Instructors work with students to build understanding of unfamiliar concepts as well as to address vocabulary and grammar issues unique to students who come from multilingual backgrounds. You can also expect to receive individualized feedback from experienced, supportive instructors who will help you build skills essential to meeting the learning outcomes and objectives of ENGL 100.

These sections are open to all students but are particularly suited to support the needs of non-native English writers. Please look for ENGL 100 sections with the class section note "This section is specially designed to meet the needs of students from multilingual/ESL backgrounds.

For more information, please visit miracosta.edu/esl

Support Classes You Don’t Have to Pay For

Noncredit English classes are available to support ALL credit English students!

If you feel you might benefit from more support, we offer FREE 8-week long Noncredit English classes available to any MiraCosta student.* These classes focus on skill building within a variety of topics that can help you feel confident in ENGL 100:

  • noncredit English courses cover topics like essay writing and development, academic research, MLA formatting, reading and study strategies, and grammar.
  • all books and materials are provided free to students.
  • noncredit classes do not count towards or against students’ GPA or financial aid.
  • noncredit classes are open-entry/open-exit, which means that students can attend as little or as much as they need in order to build the specific skills they require to succeed in ENGL 100.
  • students can even take these classes while taking ENGL 100!

Although most classes meet at the Community Learning Center (CLC), there are several meeting times available including day, evening, online, and hybrid options. To see current offerings, visit SURF, click on “additional ways to search” and choose “noncredit English.”

*Students must complete a noncredit application prior to enrolling into a noncredit course.

Would You Like Additional Guidance?

Make an appointment to chat with a counselor

Veterans
If you want to choose a course that is different from ENGL 100, contact the Veteran Affairs Office to ask about how to access your VA benefits for ENGL 50 and ENGL 52.

Ready to Register for an English Course?

Complete the Self-placement process

If you want to choose to take ENGL 100 alone and you receive an error message in SURF, come to campus to visit one of our three Testing Centers to complete the Self-placement process. Completing this process will allow you to access any ENGL course. If you have questions about this, please contact the testing office.