Level Coordinator:

Prof. Deborah Pires          Office E-417 Phone:   908 659-5185    E-mail: pires@ucc.edu

  

Prerequisites
ESL Placement Test or ESL 045

Co-requisites
ESL 081 and ESL 091

 

Course Description

Level 5:  ESL 054/055 is a full-semester advanced academic sequence designed for students whose native language is not English.  Admission to the class is by placement testing, successful completion of ESL Level 4, or by teacher recommendation.  ESL –054/055 meets twice a week (6 hours) and ESL 081 and ESL 091 meet once a week (3 hours each) for fifteen weeks, including exam week.  The general objective of this level is to raise the English language and cultural competence of non-native speakers so that they can succeed in credit courses and/or work effectively in jobs requiring native-like skills.

 

Students who are successful in passing this level move on to Level 6.  Students who need more time at this level must repeat the entire course.

 

Course Objectives/ Student Learning Outcomes

·  To demonstrate cultural awareness and knowledge of current events, politics, controversial topics, and issues related to biographies, novels, and other texts used in class.

·  To understand media clips and short academic lectures and to answer referential and inferential questions about the topic and express opinions

·  To take organized notes for oral and written response

·  To participate in simple academic discussions  and give reports with sufficient control of  grammatical accuracy, fluency and pronunciation in expressing the message

·  To comprehend and produce the items in the grammar/theme chart with accuracy and functional fluency in controlled personal and academic situations.

·    To summarize and paraphrase simple academic passages and videos through writing activities

·    To correct errors using a variety of editing strategies

·    To access Level Five software and Internet sites and apply CALL strategies and use email and

     attachments with assistance

 

Information Literacy

By the conclusion of the semester, all students who pass this course will demonstrate an understanding of the fundamentals of research in at least one project, either oral or written.  This will include locating research sources and incorporating them into the project.
 

Requirements

·  Midterm Exam – Students will take midterm exams.

• Final Exam – All students in ESL 054/055 take the same final exam which includes grammar from the entire semester, a listening section and a written paragraph.
• Homework and Quizzes – Students will have daily homework and unit quizzes throughout the semester. 
   

Suggested

Conferences – Students will have midterm conferences with instructors to discuss their progress. 

 

Student Resources

Required:           

Grammar in Context, Book III, Sandra Elbaum

           

Supplemental 

Star Ledger Newspaper

Internet

 

CALL

Programs Available

·       English Mastery

·       Focus on Grammar

·       Longman Interactive English

·       Perfect Copy

·       Skills Bank

·       Internet sites

Suggested Final Grade Calculation

To pass the course and go to Level 6, a student must receive a passing overall final average for the semester. Student work for the complete semester will determine the final grade.  Possible final grades are: A, B+, B, C+, C, D+,D, and F, or Stopped Attending (UF). Students who receive an F or UF must repeat the entire course. 

Final Exam                  25%

Midterm                      20%    

Quizzes                        25%

Homework, Project     20%

Class participation      10%

 

Final Exam     

Grammar                     80%

Composition                10%

Listening                      10%

 

Suggested Methodologies and Activities

 Grammar:

ESL 054/055 is the speaking/listening/grammar/academic study skills component of Level Five.

Instruction is contextualized, with structures integrated and drawn from authentic materials.  Newspapers, magazines, books, films, T.V. programs and the internet are utilized to illustrate contexts in which structures are used by native speakers. Pair work and group work are used extensively in speaking, writing and project activities.  Emphasis is always on students’ accurate PRODUCTION of structures in speaking, reading, and writing, rather than fill-in types of exercises. The goal is holistic rather than sequential instruction.

 

A concerted effort is made to connect grammar instruction with topics and assignments in students’ concurrent reading and writing classes.  Error correction can also be done from papers done in 091.  

 

Academic Listening/Note-taking/Study Skills

Students will give an oral presentation, individual or group. Possible formats include: reports, debates, skits, reports of activities in other classes, developing TV news broadcasts, creating commercials, etc.

 

Suggested listening activities

• Outside speakers
• Outside lecture, movie, theater, or interview reports
• Videos, movies, segments of “60 Minutes”,” 20/20”, “Biography”,              
• News reports
• Tapes
• Internet activities (based on topics in text)

 

CALL/ALC

Students will use networked and Web software in the computer lab with their classes.  Students are encouraged to spend additional time using the programs in the Academic Learning Center (ALC) labs.

Suggested Strategies

·       Students learn the mechanics and help features of the CALL programs.

·       Students use strategies to incorporate individualized CALL assignments into the course.

·       Students keep journals of their CALL work and the strategies they use.

·       Students use independent CALL study in the ALC

 

Level ESL 054, 055                  Grammar/Themes Chart

 

Functions (statements & questions)	Possible Contexts/Themes (related vocabulary and expressions)	Grammar Points (statement, question, negative forms
Describing, comparing and contrasting   Agreeing and disagreeing   Expressing opinions   Expressing regrets and possibilities   Drawing conclusions and making predictions   Summarizing and paraphrasing	Relationships   Politics   Current events   Controversial issues   Biographies   Immigration/citizenship   Education   Future Plans	Primary   Past perfect and continuous forms   Contrast of tenses   Passive with all tenses, modals and infinitives              Past modals   Gerunds and infinitives   Adverbial clauses   Introduced: Coordinators   *Review of grammar points from previous levels

To comprehend and produce the items in the chart with accuracy and functional fluency in controlled personal and academic situations.