Course Descriptions—Interpretation of the Academic Achievement Scale

ELI 041 Academic Reading:

By the end of this course, students will be able to understand readings of at least 800 words of academic text with authentic grammar and vocabulary. They will be able to predict content; scan for specific information; identify thesis and paragraph main ideas; understand sequence, comparisons, problems and solutions, and cause and effect; recognize the fact, theory, and opinion; and infer meaning. They will apply literature analysis skills to analyze the plot, characters, and themes. They will be able to write critical responses. They will be able to guess academic vocabulary meaning from context, and know and apply new vocabulary.

ELI 042 Speaking & Listening Skills:

By the end of this course, students will be able to speak with consistently good fluency to express themselves on academic topics. They will be able to have conversations and discussions in groups, using turn-taking strategies. They will be able to give presentations of at least 7 minutes with partners and individually, using good body language, transition signals, and visual aids including PowerPoint slides. They will be able to describe, explain, give examples, make comparisons, and debate, and use consistently good pronunciation of word sounds and sentence stress and intonation. Students will apply listening skills to understand classroom language and recordings of academic conversations, discussions, and lectures. They will understand natural speech, including interruptions and digressions. They will be able to answer questions on the conversations and take notes in guided outlines on the lectures by listening for main ideas and specific details, definitions, signposting, and by inferring meaning. Students will know the vocabulary in the context of the recordings and apply them in speaking activities.

ELI 043 Grammar: Using English Accurately:

By the end of this course, students will know the form, meaning, and pronunciation of the grammar of modals, gerunds and infinitives, passive, advanced article use, and conditional clauses. Students will be able to apply this knowledge in speaking in groups and individually, and in writing letters and paragraphs of at least 100 words.

ELI 044 Academic Writing:

By the end of this course, students will be able to write academic essays of at least 450 words organized in a standard format, with an introduction (with background and thesis), body paragraphs (with topic sentence), and conclusion, including an outline. They will be able to brainstorm and develop content for cause/effect, classification, and argument essays. They will be able to use a variety of verb tenses, including passive; simple, compound, and complex sentence structure; and language for the essay content. They will be able to revise their work based on feedback and self-editing.