ESL - English as a Second Language
Students are placed in individual ESL courses through appropriate placement test scores and/or evaluation of previous coursework.
This is a high beginning multi-skills course to practice and learn grammar in listening, speaking, reading and writing for everyday life and in college. Students must take this course with other ESL skills courses in writing (ESL 024), reading (ESL 025) and listening/speaking (ESL 026).
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Use the simple present, past and future tenses of regular and irregular verbs.
Use with some accuracy the present and past continuous, and the present perfect tenses.
Understand and use yes/no and questions.
Produce and use sentences with if, when, after, before, because and while with correct verb tenses.
Use models of ability, request and necessity.
Use with some accuracy prepositions of time, place, pronouns and count/non-count nouns.
Use with some accuracy comparisons and superlatives.
Learn and use language confidently and appropriately.
Corequisites: ESL 024.
3 Credits
This course is for advanced beginners who can write basic sentences and have some knowledge of English sentence structure. The course covers basic grammatical structures and introduces students to simple paragraph writing as well as other types of writing needed in everyday life.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Write simple, clear sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation.
Write simpler forms of compound and complex sentences with appropriate linking words.
Write unified paragraphs of 8 to 10 sentences about people, places and events.
Collect and organize information for use in sentence writing.
Recognize and identify the basic parts of speech in writing using the correct dictionary abbreviations.
Use the basic verb tenses to indicate present, past and future time.
Use the common models and prepositions of time and location correctly.
Develop some skill in recognizing and correcting common writing errors.
Show improved ability to use correct word endings and articles.
Corequisites: ESL 023.
4 Credits
This advanced-beginner course is designed to develop students' ability to use reading strategies and to expand vocabulary in order to understand simplified texts. Students will normally take this course with Elementary Writing (ESL 024) and Elementary Speaking/Listening (ESL 026). Two hours per week of tutoring are required.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Read text appropriate for this level.
Respond to questions and organize information from readings into simple outlines and grids.
Find main ideas, topic sentences and details.
Predict content by asking questions before reading.
Use strategies to infer the meaning of vocabulary, decode difficult sentences, and interpret punctuation and connectors.
Skim and scan for information.
Expand vocabulary.
Use an English-English dictionary for ESL learners
4 Credits
This is a course for advanced beginners who have some basic knowledge of English and some functional communicative ability (e.g.simple questions and answers on topics of everyday interest). Class time is devoted to speaking for everyday needs, grammar practice, pronunciation, intensive listening to short, simplified narratives and listening for specific information in extended narratives and conversations. Students normally take this course along with Elementary Writing (ESL 024) and Elementary Reading (ESL 025). The course also has two hours of lab time, which will provide students with additional listening practice.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Ask and answer questions about their own life situations.
Use courtesy in various everyday situations.
Describe or narrate an event using two or more sentences.
Learn the sound system of English, and practice pronunciation and intonation.
Develop listening strategies to understand information necessary for everyday life (eg, weather forecasts).
Understand simplified, extended narratives (eg, lectures and dialogues).
4 Credits
This course is a continuation of Elementary Grammar (ESL 023). Students practice grammatical structures through reading, writing, speaking and listening tasks in a classroom setting. This course is helpful for students who are fluent in English, but who need to develop the accuracy that is necessary for success in college. The course is also recommended for new international students who may have memorized grammar rules, but cannot apply them in conversational or academic situations.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Use with accuracy the past perfect and future perfect verb tenses.
Use with accuracy the present, past and future tenses in reported speech and conditional time (real and unreal).
Apply accurately the passive, gerund and infinitive forms of verbs.
Use models expressing possibility, ability and permissibility accurately.
Produce adverb, noun and adjective clauses accurately.
Use strategies to detect and correct grammatical errors.
Prerequisites: ESL 023. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
Corequisites: ESL 034.
3 Credits
This course is a continuation of Elementary Writing (ESL 024). Students write longer paragraphs and short essays using more advanced writing strategies such as narration, illustration and analysis. Frequent in-class writing and out of class assignments help prepare students for future academic writing in non-ESL classes.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Write compound and complex sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation.
Use perfect tenses, real conditionals, models, passive constructions, gerunds and infinitives.
Use consistent verb tenses, pronouns and transitional connectors to link ideas.
Use subordination to combine short sentences and to emphasize important ideas.
Write short essays of 300 words using several well-supported paragraphs.
Use description, narration, explanation and comparison.
Generate and organize ideas using a number of pre-writing strategies.
Take effective notes showing main ideas and important details.
Demonstrate skill in revision and process writing in a portfolio of written work.
Prerequisites: ESL 024. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
Corequisites: ESL 033.
4 Credits
In this course, students expand their reading skills and vocabulary. Students should take this course along with Intermediate Writing I (ESL 034) and Intermediate Speaking/Listening I (ESL 036). In addition, two hours of tutoring work are required weekly. NOTE: Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted as pre-requisite.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Read text appropriate for this level.
Predict content, respond to questions, defend answers and restate the content of readings.
Make inferences based on the readings.
Infer the meaning of vocabulary, decode difficult sentences and interpret meaning.
Recognize the organization and structure of readings.
Scan for information in maps, charts, graphs, etc.
Expand vocabulary and knowledge of word forms.
Use an English-English dictionary for ESL students.
Prerequisites: ESL 025. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
4 Credits
This course is a speaking and listening course for low-intermediate ESL students. Students entering the course should be able to answer questions about their own lives, to expand a spontaneous narrative to three or four sentences. Class time is devoted to speaking in various social situations, the practice of grammar, pronunciation and listening for information in conversations and extended narratives. Students normally take this course with Intermediate Writing I (ESL 034) and Intermediate Reading I (ESL 035). Two hours of lab time weekly give students additional listening comprehension practice.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Use language functions appropriate for this level (eg requesting information,agreeing,complimenting).
Use language at different levels of politeness and formality.
Give short talks on topics of interest.
Learn and practice the pronunciation and intonation patterns of English.
Comprehend simplified lectures on academic topics.
Identify information in conversations and narratives.
Learn and produce common reductions in English.
Prerequisites: ESL 026. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
4 Credits
This course is a continuation of Intermediate Grammar I (ESL 033). It is a multi-skills course in which students practice grammar in social and academic situations.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Use with accuracy the past perfect continuous and future perfect continuous tenses.
Use with accuracy adverb, noun and adjective clauses.
Use tools such as connectors, tense shifting and reference words in extended writing.
Produce and use models with accuracy.
Select appropriate grammatical constructions for different levels of formality.
Use language confidently and appropriately.
Prerequisites: ESL 033. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
Corequisites: ESL 044.
3 Credits
This course is designed for students who can write unified, well-supported paragraphs and short essays with few errors that affect readers' comprehension.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Gather and organize information and ideas required for essay writing.
Write essays for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Identify and produce writing assignments appropriate for specific audiences.
Use a variety of complex sentences.
Use pronouns and transitional devices to link ideas.
Use unreal conditionals, noun clauses and other advanced structures for sentence variety and effect.
Proofread and revise papers in response to instructors'/ peers' comments.
Demonstrate in a portfolio the academic writing skills required in non-ESL credit courses.
Prerequisites: ESL 034. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
Corequisites: ESL 043.
4 Credits
This course is designed for intermediate-level ESL students who need to build their vocabulary and reading skills so that they can, with the assistance of a dictionary, understand text that is written for native speakers. Students will normally take Intermediate Writing II (ESL 044) and Intermediate Speaking/Listening II (ESL 046) along with this course. In addition, two hours weekly of tutoring are required.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Use a variety of reading strategies to interpret meaning.
Summarize and paraphrase, verbally and in writing, information contained in the readings.
Discuss the content of readings and defend answers.
Expand vocabulary, knowledge of word forms and use of idiomatic expressions.
Demonstrate knowledge of roots, prefixes and suffixes.
Use an English-English dictionary for advanced ESL learners.
Prerequisites: ESL 035. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
4 Credits
This course emphasizes the comprehension and production of longer segments of speech. Students entering the course should be able to extend a narrative to several sentences. The class covers speaking in everyday situations, conventions of speaking in academic settings (e.g., participating in class discussions) and pronunciation. Students normally take this course with Intermediate Reading II (ESL 045) and Intermediate Writing II (ESL 044). An additional two hours each week of lab time will provide extra listening practice.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Use different levels of politeness in a variety of situations.
Speak spontaneously at an extended level of discourse.
Organize and deliver a five to seven minute presentation.
Contribute to group problem-solving discussions.
Use listening strategies to understand the main points in longer narratives and conversation, some unsimplified.
Take notes on extended narratives.
Improve pronunciation and intonation.
Demonstrate grammatical accuracy in most everyday conversational situations.
Prerequisites: ESL 036. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
4 Credits