Curriculum and Course Descriptions

The Office of English Language and Global Training's ESL program offers six levels of instruction from basic to advanced. At each level students take four core courses: reading, writing, grammar, and listening and speaking, as well as supporting courses tailored to support the needs of the students at a particular level. For example, students at Beginning 1 level take a supporting course focused on spelling and handwriting, while students at the advanced level take an academic skill development course. Students heading toward a particular degree, such as Mechanical Engineering or Computer Science, can take a supporting course that focuses on the English language in the context of their field.

Upon arrival, students in the ESL program take a placement test which determine in which of the six levels of the program they will be placed.  After registration, students will receive a schedule of classes which comprise of  four core classes and one supporting class. Students in the advanced 1 and advanced 2 levels, have the option to take an academic class. 

Core Classes:

• Reading
• Writing
• Grammar
• Listening and Speaking

Beginning 1

ESL 020 Grammar 

This course is designed to develop students' grammar skills necessary to read, write, speak, and understand English. The focus of this class is to give opportunities for the students to develop understanding for grammatical structures.

ESL 021 Writing 

This course is designed to develop the students' ability to compose clear sentences in academic English.  Sentence structure, grammar, academic vocabulary, and usage will be emphasized. 

ESL 023 Listening and Speaking 

This course is designed to develop vocabulary in academic English.  In addition, pronunciation, usage, and self-directed learning strategies will be emphasized. 

ESL 024 Reading 

This course is a basic reading course for ESL which will focus on students identifying the topic and main idea, reading for details, and summarizing what they have read. Students will also focus on learning, recognizing, and using new vocabulary in different exercises.

Beginning 2

ESL 030  Grammar

This course is designed to develop the students' grammar skills necessary to read, write, speak and understand English. The focus of this class is to give opportunities for the students to develop an understanding of grammatical structures. 

ESL 031 Writing

This course is designed to develop the students' ability to compose clear sentences in academic English.  Sentence structure, grammar, academic vocabulary, and usage will be emphasized. 

ESL 033 Listening Speaking

This course is designed to develop listening and formal speaking skills in English.  Students will develop their listening skills through practice with academic lectures and discussions.  The students will develop their skills in listening for key ideas.  Pronunciation in English will be developed as well as an awareness of levels of formality.  Appropriate intonation will be practiced while stressing the development of comprehensible speech.

ESL 034 Reading

This course is designed to develop vocabulary, fluency, and improved comprehension of written academic English.  The students will learn to read, analyze, and discuss academic texts from a variety of sources.

Intermediate 1

ESL 040 Grammar 

This course is designed to provide opportunities for students to develop writing skills in English.  This will be realized through; instructor explanations of new points of grammar in both form and meaning; practice of points of grammar in class and as homework; practice of grammar points including speaking, listening, reading, and writing; oral and listening comprehension practice; and testing of practices of grammar points in the four skills areas.

ESL 041 Writing 

This course is designed to develop the student's skills in writing. This goal will be realized through writing and revising of compositions; writing exercises to practice correct sentence and paragraph structure; a writing journal; working in pairs and small groups; peer review; and review of grammar points.

ESL 043 Listening Speaking 

This course is designed to provide maximum opportunities for students to acquire and develop speaking and listening skills in English. The students will develop their speaking skills through in-class pronunciation practice; discussions on topics assigned by the instructor; and impromptu and prepared speeches. Students will increase their listening skills through practice with prepared listening texts, dialogs, and discussions.

ESL 044 Reading 

This course is focused on reading at the intermediate level. Students will have maximum exposure to authentic target-language readings, focusing on main ideas and details. Vocabulary development skills will also be stressed.

Intermediate 2

ESL 050 Grammar

This course is designed to provide opportunities for students to acquire grammar skills necessary to read, write, speak, and understand English as a Second Language at the Intermediate to Advanced levels. New points of grammar will be explained in both form and meaning.

ESL 051 Writing

This course is designed to further develop the students writing skills in English. Students will continue to build on grammar, vocabulary, and sentence/paragraph structures while producing their own expository tests. The students will also begin to develop research skills needed to produce academic writings. Editing and organizing will be examined as the students produce samples of academic writing.

ESL 053 Listening and Speaking

This course is designed to enhance speaking and listening skills through lectures, discussions on topics assigned by the instructor, impromptu and prepared speeches, video and audio-taping of speeches. Students will begin to focus on speech patterns, register, and effective strategies for communication and comprehension. Note taking skills, using their own notes to summarize and communicate the information gleaned from lectures will be expanded.

ESL 054 Reading

This course is designed to develop reading skills in English.   Students will be exposed to authentic readings and an intensive study of vocabulary.  The reading skills of skimming, scanning, understanding inference, and context clues to aid in comprehension are stressed.  Students will continue to build on strategies for expand their academic vocabulary.  Critical reading skills will be stressed.

Advanced 1

ESL 060 Grammar

This course is designed to further develop the students understanding of English grammar. The students will have the opportunity to make presentation where they will summarize resources material, state opinions, respond to opposing viewpoints with consideration for tone, vocabulary, register and grammar.

ESL 061 Writing

The goal of this course is to improve your overall writing skills. This includes not only general composition skills but also improving your understanding and usage of grammar and English sentence structure. This will be done through the use of textbooks, written assignments, in-class exercises, and other texts and work related to the topics presented in class.

While some topics may not seem immediately relevant to your chosen major, this class is about improving your general composition skills, which will be of aid to you in future university assignments.

The basics of writing are the same across multiple disciplines, and mastering the skills involved in writing a coherent and cohesive paragraph or essay is an important part of the writing process.

ESL 063 Listening and Speaking

The goal of this course is to improve your listening and speaking ability in English, with a particular aim on classroom applications. This includes not only general listening and communication skills but also improving your understanding of what you hear in the average university lecture, and being able to conduct a discussion on various lecture topics.

Skills will include, but are not limited to, learning to recognize main topics, identifying supporting details, and being able to summarize lectures. This will be done through the use of audio and visual media, textbooks, written assignments, in-class exercises, and other texts and work related to the topics presented in class.

ESL 064 Reading

This course is designed to develop the students' reading skills in English. Texts will be scanned for main ideas as well as reviewing in order to critically analyze and evaluate. Students will continue to build on strategies for managing large reading texts, increasing speed along with comprehension and expanding their academic vocabulary. Rephrasing and applying information from readings will be developed. Critical reading skills and practice skills, such as recognizing inference and restatement will be stressed. 

Advanced 2

ESL 074 Reading 

This course is designed to develop the students' reading skills in English. Texts will be scanned for main ideas as well as reviewing them in order to critically analyze and evaluate. Students will continue to build on strategies for managing large reading texts, increasing speed and comprehension, while expanding their academic vocabulary. Rephrasing and applying information from readings will be developed.

ESL 071 Writing 

This course is designed to improve writing skills at the research level. Students will study APA format, including in-text and reference citations. Students will practice and review quotation, paraphrase, and summary. Students will write a research paper, which is the focus of the class. Students will also be expected to write essays in and out of class.

ESL 070 Grammar 

This course is focused on grammar at the advanced level. It will employ all four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) to practice and develop grammatical accuracy. This course reviews and expands the use of more complex sentence structures by addressing different modes and tone. Coursework will focus on using advanced forms in both written and spoken format.

ESL 073 Listening and Speaking 

This course is will focus on academic lectures, interviews, and presentations.  The students will gather information from natural speed discourse.  There will be opportunities to practice note-taking strategies, including outlining main ideas and supporting details.  Organization and synthesizing of information will be developed. This course brings students as close as possible to the academic environment in a university setting. The focus is on academic lectures, debates, and presentations, as well as note-taking strategies, and organizing and synthesizing information.

ESL 080 Academic Skills Development 

This course aims to help students transition from the ESL program into their academic course of study and identify what makes effective academic reading, writing, and thinking. Through critical reading, peer review, and feedback, writing and reasoning skills will be developed and sharpened.