English as a Second Language

ESL Pathway 1 is designed for students whose placement scores indicate limited ability to comprehend and produce written and spoken English. Students learn how to create short-written compositions and understand basic descriptive and informational texts. They learn to comprehend spoken English in the form of instructions and basic conversations, and they learn to produce simple oral descriptions of people and activities. Students are strongly encouraged to take ESL Pathway 1 in conjunction with ESL Skills for Success 1.

ESL Pathway 2 is designed for students whose placement scores indicate a developing ability to comprehend and produce written and spoken English. Students learn how to create short essays and understand descriptive, informational, and narrative texts. They improve their ability to understand conversations and short lectures, and they learn to deliver short oral presentations about topics of personal interest. Students are strongly encouraged to take ESL Pathway 2 in conjunction with ESL Skills for Success 2.

Introduction to ESL Writing in conjunction with ESL 030 Introduction to Grammar for ESL Writing is designed for students whose placement scores indicate limited or no ability to write in English. Students begin by writing simple sentences about their own lives and experience. As they study vocabulary and the organization of writing in English, including concepts of main ideas and supporting details, they gradually move to writing multi-paragraph compositions using the structures and concepts they have studied.

Introduces the beginning ESL student to writing in English using the process approach and self- and peer-editing strategies. Fluency and correctness are developed through the application of basic grammatical structures taught in ESL 031.

ESL Writing II builds upon the writing skills acquired in Level I. Using the process approach to writing, this course focuses on developing topic sentences and expanding compositions through the use of supporting ideas and details. Editing skills are developed through the application of grammatical structures taught in Grammar for ESL Writing II.

ESL Writing III provides intensive writing practice for low-intermediate ESL students. Both the writing process and the development of a clearly-written product are addressed. The course introduces multi-paragraph essays and focuses on paragraph and essay development in a variety of rhetorical modes. Use of coherence markers, cohesive devices and sentence variety is emphasized. Intermediate grammatical structures taught in ESL 033 are applied to writing using self- and peer-editing strategies.

ESL Writing IV builds upon the writing skills acquired in Level III. Using the process/product approach to writing, this course focuses on writing multi-paragraph essays. The thesis statement with appropriate topic sentences and supporting ideas and details are developed in a variety of rhetorical modes. Editing skills are developed through the application of grammatical structures taught in Grammar for ESL IV.

ESL Skills for Success 1 is a four-credit course that prepares low-beginning ESL students to live, study, and work in the United States. Students acquire skills that are necessary to succeed in college, make informed financial decisions, and clarify personal and career goals. They complete assigned readings and tasks, do short writing assignments, participate in classroom discussions, and incorporate the skills learned in the classroom into their daily lives.

ESL Skills for Success 2 is a four-credit course that prepares beginning ESL students to live, study, and work in the United States. It offers more advanced instruction in the practical skills introduced in ESL Skills for Success 1, providing students with the tools they need to succeed academically, to make informed financial decisions, and to clarify personal and career goals. Students complete assigned readings and tasks, do short writing assignments, participate in classroom discussions, and incorporate the skills learned in the classroom into their daily lives. Students are encouraged to take ESL Skills for Success 2 in conjunction with ESL Pathway 2.

Introduction to Grammar for ESL Writing combined with Introduction to ESL Writing supports and develops the ability of beginning writers to express themselves in English. It is designed for those students whose placement scores indicate limited or no knowledge of English. Basic grammatical structures are introduced and practiced in class through speaking and writing. Proficiency in grammar is defined as the ability to use the structures studied in the writing the students do.

Introduces basic grammatical structures in the context of writing. Structures such as the present and simple past tense verb forms, subject-verb agreement, basic modifiers as well as word order are studied and applied in writing activities using peer- and self-editing strategies.

Grammar for ESL Writing II develops usage of previously learned basic grammatical structures by focusing on word and tense choice in narrative and descriptive writing. Additional basic structures such as adverbs, prepositions, and future forms are addressed in the context of writing. Students apply grammar concepts in writing activities using self- and peer-editing strategies.

Grammar for ESL Writing III continues study and application of grammatical structures in the context of writing. The course refines usage of previously-learned structures and introduces use of perfect tenses, comparatives and superlatives, and adjective clauses. Students apply grammar concepts to writing activities using self- and peer-editing strategies.

Grammar for ESL Writing IV continues emphasis on structures acquired in previous levels and on self-editing strategies. More complex structures, such as the passive, noun clauses, unreal conditionals, and reported speech are introduced and incorporated in writing activities.

Introduction to ESL Reading together with ESL 060 Introduction to ESL Academic Discussion is designed for those students whose placement scores indicate limited ability to comprehend written English. Phonics and pronunciation, vocabulary, reading strategies, and skills such as comprehension, drawing inferences, identifying main ideas and supporting details are taught and practiced in the context of thematically related readings.

ESL Reading I is taught in conjunction with ESL Academic Discussion I and builds upon the skills acquired in ESL Level 0 courses. Through texts, supplementary readings and audio and visual media related to an academic theme, students learn to read for overall meaning and to identify main ideas, distinguishing them from supporting ideas. They develop critical thinking skills, increase their vocabularies and improve their reading comprehension.

ESL Reading II is taught in conjunction with ESL Academic Discussion II and builds upon the skills acquired in ESL Level I courses. Through texts, supplementary readings and audio and visual media related to an academic theme, students sharpen their critical thinking skills, increase their vocabularies and improve their reading comprehension.

ESL Reading III is taught in conjunction with ESL Academic Discussion III. Through texts, supplementary readings, and audio-video media related to an academic theme, students increase reading comprehension by developing their understanding of the relationship between textual content and structure. They learn to identify different rhetorical modes, word connotations and denotations, and the writer?s purpose.

ESL Reading IV is taught in conjunction with ESL Academic Discussion IV. Through texts, supplementary readings, and audio-visual media related to an academic theme, students refine their critical thinking skills, improve their reading comprehension, and develop an ability of thinking beyond the text.

College Course Workshop is a co-requisite of any content course offered to ESL students through paired-course-learning communities. It helps students meet linguistic challenges that they may encounter in the content course. At the same time that it helps students meet these challenges, it promotes students? development of the reading and writing skills that they need to cope with the content course demands. The instructors of both courses share materials and coordinate lessons throughout the semester.

Introduction to ESL Academic Discussion is taught in conjunction with Introduction to ESL Reading. It is the listening and speaking component of a four-course program designed for those students whose placement scores indicate limited or no ability to understand spoken English. Phonics and pronunciation, vocabulary, reading strategies, and skills such as comprehension, drawing inferences , identifying main ideas and supporting details are taught and practiced in the context of thematically related readings.

ESL Academic Discussion I is taught in conjunction with ESL Reading I and builds upon the academic and communicative skills acquired in ESL Level 0 courses. Audio and visual media are used to support and enhance the content of the linked reading course. Students also learn to recognize and produce the sounds of American English in the context of the reading course material.

ESL Academic Discussion II is taught in conjunction with ESL Reading II and builds upon the skills acquired in ESL Level I courses. Audio and visual media are used to support and enhance the content of the linked reading course. Students also learn and practice discussion strategies and the principles of English pronunciation in the context of the reading course material.

ESL Academic Discussion III is taught in conjunction with ESL Reading III. Audio and video media are used to support and enhance the content of the linked reading course. Students refine their pronunciation and communication skills through active listening, academic discussion, and presentation.

ESL Academic Discussion IV is taught in conjunction with ESL Reading IV. Audio and video media are used to support and enhance the content of the linked reading course. Students learn and practice discussion strategies, debating techniques, presentation skills, and effective academic communication skills required in mainstream college level courses.

ESL Reading and Discussion III is a four-credit course which combines ESL Reading III, ESL Academic Discussion III and the content presented in the linked college-level course, as a paired-course learning community. The course teaches content vocabulary and general reading and academic discussion skills to help students meet the linguistic demands of a content course.

ESL Reading and Discussion IV is a four-credit course taught in conjunction with a college course, as a paired-course-learning community. Through texts, supplementary readings and audio-visual media related to the college course, students refine their critical thinking skills, improve their reading comprehension skills, and develop effective oral communication skills required for the linked college course.