Course Descriptions

Listening/Speaking:

In this beginner course, students practice using functional language in everyday conversations.  Students learn to listen for main ideas and details of short conversations and listening activities. Students develop and practice pronunciation and intonation.

Reading/Composition:

In this beginner course students develop basic reading and writing skills.  Students develop reading strategies and build vocabulary. The focus in writing is on sentence development, basic paragraph structure, and appropriate use of punctuation.

Grammar:

In this beginner course students practice using verb tenses, question formation, and sentence construction within context. This course supports the reading / composition and listening / speaking classes in oral and written grammar production.

Listening/Speaking:

In this low-intermediate course students develop oral fluency and communicative language in social conversations.  Students learn to recognize main ideas and details through listening activities as well as participate in discussions. Students further develop their functional language to be applied in social situations. Students develop and practice pronunciation and intonation.

Reading/Composition:

In this low-intermediate course students develop basic reading and writing skills.  Students increase reading skills and expand vocabulary. The focus in writing is on creating more developed paragraphs, emphasizing main ideas and supporting details, and using the rhetorical modes of process and narrative.

Grammar:

In this low-intermediate course students further develop accuracy in the use of verb tenses, sentence structures, use of clauses, and editing.  This course supports the reading / composition and listening / speaking classes in oral and written grammar production.

Listening/Speaking:

In this intermediate course students recognize main ideas and detail through more authentic academic listening activities. Students participate in group discussions, accomplish group tasks, and write and conduct interviews with native speakers of English.   Students demonstrate appropriate presentation skills in more formal settings. Students develop and practice proper pronunciation and intonation.

Reading/Composition:

In this intermediate course, students develop more academic reading and writing skills.  Students practice reading skills and strategies through extensive readings.  The focus on writing is on developing multiple paragraphs and beginning the essay format in the modes of summary, division / classification and compare / contrast.

Grammar:

In this intermediate course students continue to practice perfect tenses, past modals, gerunds and infinitives, parallel structures, and more complex sentence structures to enhance writing.   This course supports the reading / composition and listening / speaking classes in oral and written grammar production.

Listening/Speaking

In this high-intermediate content-based, English for Academic Preparation course students develop listening comprehension and speaking fluency through a variety of authentic academic listening exercises, small group discussions, interviews with native speakers, and speaking presentations.

Reading/Composition

In this high-intermediate content-based, English for Academic Preparation course students apply reading strategies through authentic academic reading materials. Students write and revise well-developed essays with support from cited references in the rhetorical modes of summary, division and classification, and comparison/contrast.

Academic Skills

In this high-intermediate content-based, English for Academic Preparation course students develop the necessary skills to function in an American university classroom.  Students become familiarized with educational technology, time management and note-taking strategies.

Listening/Speaking

In this advanced content-based, English for Academic Preparation course students develop discrete listening skills and speaking fluency through listening to authentic academic lectures in the course content.  Students learn to recognize verbal cues, participate in and lead group discussions, ask questions during a lecture and give research-based presentations in the course content.

Reading/Composition

In this advanced content-based, English for Academic Preparation course students apply reading strategies to authentic academic reading material.  Students use critical thinking to synthesize facts and ideas from the content theme to produce well-developed essays in the rhetorical modes of summary/response, cultural/visual analysis, and cause/effect.  Overall, critical reading and thinking become the focus of the class in order to produce college-level writing.

Academic Skills

In this advanced content-based, English for Academic Purposes course students develop the necessary research skills to produce a fully cited and documented piece of research writing related to the content.

Listening/Speaking

In this advanced and graduate-level, content-based, English for Academic Preparation  course students build listening and speaking fluency to succeed in a graduate level course.  The content of this course is connected to students’ prospective field of study. Students focus on critical questioning of content, leading a seminar, and analyzing the logical elements of argumentation.

Reading/Composition

In this advanced and graduate-level, content-based, English for Academic Purposes course students focus on critical thinking skills by reading authentic academic reading material. Students make connections to their prospective fields of study and to the course content theme.  Students write summary/reflections, synthesis and an argumentative paper supported by research. 

Academic Skills

In this advanced, graduate-level, content-based, English for Academic Preparation course students expand their research skills to include analyzing and synthesizing data from peer-reviewed journals.  Students produce a research paper in the documentation style of their field of study.

Phrasal Verbs

Students build their writing skills using idioms and common phrasal verbs from American culture.

Intermediate Listening

The class uses popular film for students to improve listening to main ideas and specific detail; practicing pronunciation and intonation; understanding popular slang and idioms.

Writing Workshop

Students improve their writing by using creative sentence structures, improving their use of vocabulary and focusing on grammar in group work and interactive writing activities.

Reading Speed

Students increase their reading speed and reading comprehension through helpful exercises.  This class helps students become quicker readers and helps them improve studying academic textbooks

Advanced Listening

The class uses popular film to identify main ideas and specific detail, to practice pronunciation and intonation and understand popular slang and idioms.

Phrasal Verbs in Writing

Students build their writing and speaking skills using academic phrases, idioms and phrasal verbs.  They explore metaphors, allegories and symbolism.

Advanced Grammar

Students learn how to identify and use more complex grammar structures and concepts to support their writing.

TOEFL Preparation

Students study for the TOEFL exam and practice test taking strategies in order to improve specific techniques for test taking and better understand the concepts tested in exams such as the TOEFL or IELTS.