In this course, students will learn and practice the academic listening and speaking skills necessary for success in any academic discipline. This course emphasizes critical understanding of ideas and verbal fluency in expressing viewpoints. ESL 1301 focuses on academic skills for note taking, comprehension of academic lectures, oral development, use and expansion of vocabulary, and the preparation and delivery of academic presentations. Students also prepare and present an academic group seminar. Reading and writing assignments act as a springboard for further listening and speaking activities.

This course focuses primarily on understanding the logic and organization of academic texts and on teaching students various techniques and skills to develop their ability to read and synthesize texts of various sizes, while also being able to read critically and evaluate a text for its value to academic research. ESL 1302 also teaches students how to effectively locate academic sources of information through both the library and electronic resources, and to apply this research in academic writing assignments. By the end of this course, students will be able to read lengthy academic texts on a variety of topics, and comprehend the content at various levels (literal, referential, etc.). In addition, they will be able to find scholarly sources related to a specific topic, and evaluate these sources for their reliability, accuracy, and value.

This course is designed for students who need to develop more proficient skills in English academic writing. ESL1303 teaches students to write clearly and effectively in English, a skill that is transferable and necessary to success in any academic discipline. This course requires students to complete a number of short writing assignments every week, as well as a large research essay at the end of the term. Students are taught how to brainstorm clear ideas, how to organize these ideas into useful outlines, and how to make these outlines into effective and coherent essays. Instruction in how to appropriately use academic style in writing (APA style), how to document sources properly, as well as how to integrate scholarly research into academic essays using paraphrasing, summarizing, and quotations is also included.