General English

Course requirement

CaMLA EPT

CaMLA Speaking

CaMLA Writing

Total Range for Placement

Placement Test

0-26

0-3

0-5

0-34

Course Description/Goal

ESL Literacy G and Intensive Speak-out 1 courses are designed to build foundational skills for nonnative speakers in American English, focusing on aural/ oral development. These courses help students develop their ability to understand and produce the basic sounds, vocabulary and sentence patterns of American English.

Course Hours

ESL Literacy G: 210 hours (14 hrs/week), Intensive Speak-out 1: 60 hours (4 hrs/week)

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

At the end of the course:

Students will be able to identify the main idea in short statements related to self or school.

Students will be able to respond to simple questions regarding personal information and present activities.

Students will be able to identify simple texts on familiar topics.

Students will be able to complete basic forms, identifying personal information.

Students will be able to respond to simple questions related to self, places, or present and past everyday activities.

Students will be able to utilize basic forms, identifying personal information or regular activities.

Course requirement

CaMLA EPT

CaMLA Speaking

CaMLA Writing

Total Range for Placement

Placement Test

27-40

3-8

5-12

35-60

Course Description/Goal

Beginning ESL G and Intensive Speak-out 2 courses build upon basic American English literacy through the development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Additional grammatical forms and communicative modes are studied. These courses further develop students’ ability to understand and produce the basic sounds, vocabulary and sentence patterns of American English.

Course Hours

Beginning ESL G: 210 hours (14 hrs/week), Intensive Speak-out 2: 60 hours (4 hrs/week)

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

At the end of the course:

Students will be able to identify main ideas in conversations on everyday topics.

Students will be able to express everyday activities with appropriate vocabulary and structure.

Students will be able to describe present and past events on familiar everyday topics.

Students will be able to express opinions on everyday topics with correct structures.

Students will be able to apply pronunciation rules regarding sentence stress and intonation.

Students will be able to identify main ideas and supporting ideas in short readings on familiar topics.

Students will be able to compose simple and compound sentences on familiar topics with appropriate vocabulary and correct punctuation.

Students will be able to describe present and past events, and future plans on familiar everyday topics.

Students will be able to express foods, jobs, predictions about situations, and life experiences, utilizing simple and compound sentences.

Course requirement

CaMLA EPT

CaMLA Speaking

CaMLA Writing

Total Range for Placement

Placement Test

41-50

8-12

12-18

61-80

Course Description/Goal

Intermediate ESL G and Intensive Speak-out 3 offer nonnative speakers’ intensive practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as the study of grammatical structures and functions needed for increased fluency in writing and speaking. These courses develop students’ ability to comprehend American English to develop students’ use of spoken American English in a variety of settings, begin to apply knowledge of grammatical structures in both written and spoken American English, and actively engage in authentic texts on a variety of topics.

Course Hours

Intermediate ESL G: 210 hours (14 hrs/week), Intensive Speak-out 3: 60 hours (4 hrs/week)

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

At the end of the course:

Students will be able to identify main ideas, supporting details in extended conversations and short lectures.

Students will be able to respond to a variety of questions, utilizing appropriate vocabulary and structures.

Students will be able to describe present, future and past events.

Students will be able to execute making requests, suggestions, and express opinions and evaluations on everyday topics with correct structures. 

Students will be able to apply pronunciation rules regarding syllable stress, sentence stress and intonation.

Students will be able to identify main ideas and supporting ideas in readings.

Students will be able to utilize context clues to determine vocabulary and implied main ideas.

Students will be able to compose simple, compound and complex sentences with noun and adverb clauses on a variety of topics with appropriate vocabulary and grammatical structures. 

Students will be able to compose a letter applying knowledge of structure and vocabulary.

Students will be able to describe past, present, future events on familiar everyday topics, utilizing simple present, present progressive, simple past, past progressive, and will and going to.

Students will be able to give advice and make suggestions in a variety of familiar situations.

Students will be able to express important people in life, work and life, preference in lifestyle, new experiences, and issues in society, utilizing simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Course requirement

CaMLA EPT

CaMLA Speaking

CaMLA Writing

Total Range for Placement

Placement Test

51-61

12-16

18-25

81-102

Course Description/Goal

High Intermediate ESL G and Intensive Speak-out 4 offer continued intensive practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing and increased emphasis on grammatical correctness in writing and speaking for success in daily life. These courses develop students’ ability to comprehend American English, further develop students’ use of spoken American English in a variety of settings, effectively apply knowledge of grammatical structures in both written and spoken American English, and expand students’ ability to actively engage in authentic texts on a variety of topics.

Course Hours

High Intermediate ESL G: 210 hours (14 hrs/week), Intensive Speak-out 4: 60 hours (4 hrs/week)

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

At the end of the course:

Students will be able to identify main ideas and details in conversations and short, authentic listenings in American English.

Students will be able to verbally employ clarification strategies, tell needs, and describe activities and events using past, present and future time frames; utilizing correct stress and intonation patterns.

Students will be able to employ predictions, identify main ideas and details in diverse readings of varying length and genre.

Students will be able to apply rules relating to adjective order, adjective clauses, present, past, and future verb forms in written and spoken American English.

Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of subordination and coordination in both written and spoken American English.

Students will be able to compose ideas in a short paragraph form with detailed information.

Students will be able to construct paragraphs that demonstrate organization and coherence.

Students will express opinions on news events in past, present, and future time frames in diverse articles, identifying main ideas and key details.

Students will be able to describe predictions on familiar or unfamiliar topics.

Students will be able to utilize noun, adjective, and adverb clauses in spoken American English on familiar or unfamiliar topics.

Students will be able to describe past, present, and future events in history, utilizing hypothetical conditional, simple past, active and passive verb forms.

Course requirement

CaMLA EPT

CaMLA Speaking

CaMLA Writing

Total Range for Placement

Placement Test

62-68

16-20

25-30

103-118

Course Description/Goal

Advanced ESL G and Intensive Speak-out 5 further develop students’ ability to listen, speak, read and write fluently and coherently using standard American English and advanced grammatical forms and structures.

These courses are to expand student’s ability to analyze and synthesize text; to increase students’ ability to apply knowledge of advanced grammatical forms and structures to understand texts of different genres and to produce coherent written text. These courses are also to expand students’ ability to comprehend authentic conversations and short lectures and further develop learners’ confidence and fluency; increase students’ ability to apply knowledge of advanced grammatical forms and structures when speaking with improved pronunciation.

Course Hours

Advanced ESL G: 210 hours (14 hrs/week), Intensive Speak-out 5: 60 hours (4 hrs/week)

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

At the end of the course:

Students will be able to identify main ideas, details, inference, counterarguments, bias and opinions in news articles.

Students will be able to compare and contrast texts.

Students will be able to recognize patterns and use rules related to advanced level grammar forms and structures, in formal and informal texts that include noun, adjective and adverbial clauses, modal and phrasal verb forms, direct and indirect speech, definite and indefinite articles, and transitions.

Students will be able to demonstrate use of coordination and subordination in written text.

Students will be able to construct coherent multi-paragraph compositions that include knowledge of essay structure, specialized vocabulary in response to a variety of texts.

Students will be able to identify and analyze main ideas, details and infer relationships between sentences in conversations and authentic listenings in American English.

Students will be able to take notes and create outlines from oral texts that include definitions, and signal words that indicate introduction, main points, cause and effect, compare and contrast, pros and cons, and transitions.

Students will be able to utilize conversation and conversation repair strategies in formal and informal communication to maintain friendly verbal interactions by identifying cultural cues and expectations.

Students will be able to verbally employ strategies to negotiate, persuade and express sympathy, disbelief, annoyance, apology, and uncertainty that include idioms and phrasal verbs.

Students will be able to apply techniques to improve intonation, focused on sentence and word stress used for emphasis, contrast and new information.

Students will be able to employ skills with linking sounds, thoughts groups and word blending.

Students will be able to respond to opinions and/or support viewpoints on different issues in past, present, and future time frames, identifying main ideas key details, and implied information.

Students will be able to summarize a plot and key ideas on familiar or unfamiliar topics in authentic conversations.

Students will be able to express real, hypothetical and mixed conditions in diverse settings, utilizing noun, adjective, and adverb clauses and deduction of clauses.

Students will be able to apply techniques to improve intonation, focused on sentence and word stress used for agreeing, persuading, and strong reactions.

Students will be able to employ skills with linking sounds, pausing, and word blending.