ESL Dept Course Descriptions

Core Courses

ESL 080 "Fundamental Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing" is a credit/no credit course with four hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is designed for low-intermediate students of English and provides practice in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The primary emphasis is on listening comprehension and oral communication to improve control of the basic sounds and structures of English, and the secondary emphasis is on introductory reading and writing skills.

ESL 081 "Low Intermediate English" is a credit/no credit course with four hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is a low-intermediate integrated skills course designed to improve the reading, grammar, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking skills of non-native speakers with a basic command of English.

ESL 082 "Intermediate Reading and Writing" is a credit/no credit course with four hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is designed for intermediate students of English and provides practice in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing--with a special emphasis on reading and paragraph writing to develop critical thinking, reading comprehension, and writing skills.

ESL 083 "High Intermediate Reading and Writing" is a letter grade course with four hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is designed for high-intermediate students of English and provides practice in listening comprehension, speaking, grammar, reading, and writing with primary emphasis on critical thinking and expository composition skills at the multi-paragraph level.

ESL 184 "Low-Advanced English" is a letter grade, non-degree transferable course with five hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is an advanced ESL skills course designed to improve the reading, composition, grammar, listening comprehension, and speaking skills of non-native speakers with an advanced command of English.

ESL 185 "Advanced Reading and Writing" is a letter grade, non-degree transferable course with five hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. This course is designed for advanced students of English with primary emphasis on critical thinking and short essay writing; the course promotes continued practice in listening comprehension and oral communication.

ESL 186 "Composition" is a letter grade, non-degree transferable course with five hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to prepare advanced students for college-level writing and provides a review of English fundamentals and practice in reading, critical thinking, and essay development with emphasis on exposition. The course also offers continued practice in special problems common to second language learners.

Support Courses

Grammar ESL 025 "Basic English Grammar" is a credit/no credit course with three hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to increase students' knowledge and usage of verb tenses, sentence structure, and other basic grammatical topics. It will develop grammatical accuracy in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Grammar ESL 035 "Intermediate English Grammar" is a credit/no credit course with three hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to increase students' knowledge and usage of complex verb tenses and sentence structures. It will also develop grammatical competency in reading and writing.

Grammar ESL 045 "Advanced English Grammar" is a credit/no credit course with three hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to increase students' knowledge and usage of advanced English grammar, to improve grammatical accuracy in writing, and to develop strong editing skills. (To take ESL 45 as an Internet course, enroll in ESL 45 online.)

People Conversing ESL 036 "Basic Listening and Speaking" is a credit/no credit course with four hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to improve beginning students' ability to speak and understand English in simple everyday and academic situations. It will provide practice in basic oral communication functions as well as beginning academic listening and speaking skills.

People Conversing ESL 046 "Intermediate Conversation" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to improve students' ability to comprehend and communicate in English on a variety of everyday topics. Students will develop and practice techniques for greater composure and confidence in oral expression.

People Conversing ESL 056 "Advanced Conversation: Academic Topics" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to improve advanced students' comprehension and oral communication in English on a broad range of academic subjects.

Lips Speaking ESL 038 "Fundamentals in American English Pronunciation" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to develop basic pronunciation, to establish better oral control of language, and to build confidence in simple oral expression.

Lips Speaking ESL 048 "Intermediate American English Pronunciation" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to develop intermediate pronunciation skills, to structure more style in oral language, and to build confidence in basic oral expression.

Lips Speaking ESL 058 "Advanced American English Pronunciation: Foreign Accent Reduction" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to refine pronunciation, to reduce foreign accent, and to build confidence in complex oral expression.

Books ESL 029 "Idiomatic Expressions for Students of ESL" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course provides instruction in idiomatic expressions and slang for high beginning to intermediate ESL students.

Books ESL 039 "Vocabulary Expansion Techniques for Students of ESL" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course will present principles and techniques of vocabulary expansion for high beginning to intermediate ESL students.

Books ESL 049 "Academic Vocabulary for Advanced Students of ESL" is a credit/no credit course with three hours of lecture per week. The course is designed for advanced ESL students who wish to expand their academic vocabulary in preparation for transfer to a university.

Pensive Man ESL 050 "Occupational English" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture and one hour of lab per week. The course is designed to improve job-related skills. The course emphasizes the development of basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills presented in a vocational context. The class focuses on aspects of employability and workplace culture.

Core Courses
	ESL 080 "Fundamental Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing" is a credit/no credit course with four hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is designed for low-intermediate students of English and provides practice in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The primary emphasis is on listening comprehension and oral communication to improve control of the basic sounds and structures of English, and the secondary emphasis is on introductory reading and writing skills.
	ESL 081 "Low Intermediate English" is a credit/no credit course with four hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is a low-intermediate integrated skills course designed to improve the reading, grammar, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking skills of non-native speakers with a basic command of English.
	ESL 082 "Intermediate Reading and Writing" is a credit/no credit course with four hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is designed for intermediate students of English and provides practice in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing--with a special emphasis on reading and paragraph writing to develop critical thinking, reading comprehension, and writing skills.
	ESL 083 "High Intermediate Reading and Writing" is a letter grade course with four hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is designed for high-intermediate students of English and provides practice in listening comprehension, speaking, grammar, reading, and writing with primary emphasis on critical thinking and expository composition skills at the multi-paragraph level.
	ESL 184 "Low-Advanced English" is a letter grade, non-degree transferable course with five hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. The course is an advanced ESL skills course designed to improve the reading, composition, grammar, listening comprehension, and speaking skills of non-native speakers with an advanced command of English.
	ESL 185 "Advanced Reading and Writing" is a letter grade, non-degree transferable course with five hours of lecture and one hour of arranged lab per week. This course is designed for advanced students of English with primary emphasis on critical thinking and short essay writing; the course promotes continued practice in listening comprehension and oral communication.
	ESL 186 "Composition" is a letter grade, non-degree transferable course with five hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to prepare advanced students for college-level writing and provides a review of English fundamentals and practice in reading, critical thinking, and essay development with emphasis on exposition. The course also offers continued practice in special problems common to second language learners.

Support Courses
	ESL 025 "Basic English Grammar" is a credit/no credit course with three hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to increase students' knowledge and usage of verb tenses, sentence structure, and other basic grammatical topics. It will develop grammatical accuracy in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
	ESL 035 "Intermediate English Grammar" is a credit/no credit course with three hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to increase students' knowledge and usage of complex verb tenses and sentence structures. It will also develop grammatical competency in reading and writing.
	ESL 045 "Advanced English Grammar" is a credit/no credit course with three hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to increase students' knowledge and usage of advanced English grammar, to improve grammatical accuracy in writing, and to develop strong editing skills. (To take ESL 45 as an Internet course, enroll in ESL 45 online.)
	ESL 036 "Basic Listening and Speaking" is a credit/no credit course with four hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to improve beginning students' ability to speak and understand English in simple everyday and academic situations. It will provide practice in basic oral communication functions as well as beginning academic listening and speaking skills.
	ESL 046 "Intermediate Conversation" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to improve students' ability to comprehend and communicate in English on a variety of everyday topics. Students will develop and practice techniques for greater composure and confidence in oral expression.
	ESL 056 "Advanced Conversation: Academic Topics" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to improve advanced students' comprehension and oral communication in English on a broad range of academic subjects.
	ESL 038 "Fundamentals in American English Pronunciation" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to develop basic pronunciation, to establish better oral control of language, and to build confidence in simple oral expression.
	ESL 048 "Intermediate American English Pronunciation" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to develop intermediate pronunciation skills, to structure more style in oral language, and to build confidence in basic oral expression.
	ESL 058 "Advanced American English Pronunciation: Foreign Accent Reduction" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course is designed to refine pronunciation, to reduce foreign accent, and to build confidence in complex oral expression.
	ESL 029 "Idiomatic Expressions for Students of ESL" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course provides instruction in idiomatic expressions and slang for high beginning to intermediate ESL students.
	ESL 039 "Vocabulary Expansion Techniques for Students of ESL" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture per week. The course will present principles and techniques of vocabulary expansion for high beginning to intermediate ESL students.
	ESL 049 "Academic Vocabulary for Advanced Students of ESL" is a credit/no credit course with three hours of lecture per week. The course is designed for advanced ESL students who wish to expand their academic vocabulary in preparation for transfer to a university.
	ESL 050 "Occupational English" is a credit/no credit course with two hours of lecture and one hour of lab per week. The course is designed to improve job-related skills. The course emphasizes the development of basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills presented in a vocational context. The class focuses on aspects of employability and workplace culture.