English Language Learning and Acquisition

Orientation and English Skills for English Language Learners

This is an orientation course designed for cohorts or groups of sponsored English language learners who are new to Douglas College. Through active and authentic integrated language skills practice, participants will learn how to function effectively as community members and college students. Complexity of language and tasks will vary depending on the needs and language level of the learners.

Lower Intermediate Speaking and Pronunciation for English Language Learners

This course is designed to help English language learners upgrade their speaking skills for personal, educational, and/or employment purposes. Students will communicate in a variety of settings in order to improve their confidence and develop their oral fluency and pronunciation. The course will also provide opportunities for language development including language functions, grammar, and vocabulary.

Lower Intermediate Listening Skills for English Language Learners

This course is designed to help English language learners upgrade their listening skills for personal, educational, and/or employment purposes. The course focuses on extending listening skills in routine situations to improve confidence and develop proficiency in listening. It will also provide strategies for monitoring individual improvement and opportunities for language development including grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary elements.

Lower Intermediate Reading and Vocabulary for English Language Learners

This course is designed to help English language learners upgrade their reading skills and extend their vocabulary for personal, educational and/or employment purposes. It aims to improve confidence and develop overall proficiency in reading through focused work on reading sub-skills and lexical structures. The reading practice will also provide opportunities for language development including grammar, speaking and writing skills.

Lower Intermediate Writing and Grammar for English Language Learners

This course is designed to help English language learners upgrade their writing skills and the accuracy of their written language expression for personal, educational and/or employment purposes. It aims to improve confidence and develop accuracy and overall proficiency in writing through focused work on grammar and syntax. The writing practice will also provide opportunities for language development including vocabulary, speaking and reading.

Lower Introductory English Language Immersion

This is the first level in a six-level English Language Immersion Program. This full-time program is designed to provide English language learners with a total immersion environment in which to develop communicative competence in English. Students will use only the target language. Program activities include formal classroom instruction, informal workshops, sports, field trips, and socio-cultural activities where students can apply their language skills in a natural communicative setting.

Upper Introductory English Language Immersion

This is the second level in a six-level English Language Immersion Program. This full-time program is designed to provide English language learners with a total immersion environment in which to develop communicative competence in English. Students will use only the target language. Program activities include formal classroom instruction, informal workshops, sports, field trips, and socio-cultural activities where students can apply their language skills in a natural communicative setting.

Lower Intermediate English Language Immersion

This is the third level in a six-level English Language Immersion Program. This full-time program is designed to provide English language learners with a total immersion environment in which to develop communicative competence in English. Students will use only the target language. Program activities include formal classroom instruction, informal workshops, sports, field trips, and socio-cultural activities where students can apply their language skills in a natural communicative setting.

Upper Intermediate English Language Immersion

This is the fourth level in a six-level English Language Immersion Program. This full-time program is designed to provide English language learners with a total immersion environment in which to develop communicative competence in English. Students will use only the target language. Program activities include formal classroom instruction, informal workshops, sports, field trips, and socio-cultural activities where students can apply their language skills in a natural communicative setting.

Lower Advanced English Language Immersion

This is the fifth level in a six-level English Language Immersion Program. This full-time program is designed to provide English language learners with a total immersion environment in which to develop communicative competence in English. Students will use only the target language. Program activities include formal classroom instruction, informal workshops, sports, field trips, and socio-cultural activities where students can apply their language skills in a natural communicative setting.

Upper Advanced English Language Immersion

This is the sixth level in a six-level English Language Immersion Program. This full-time program is designed to provide English language learners with a total immersion environment in which to develop communicative competence in English. Students will use only the target language. Program activities include formal classroom instruction, informal workshops, sports, field trips, and socio-cultural activities where students can apply their language skills in a natural communicative setting.

4-Week English and Culture Immersion Program

This full-time integrated skills program is designed to provide cohorts or groups of sponsored English language learners with a total immersion environment in which to develop communicative competence in English. Learners will use only the target language. Program activities include formal classroom instruction, informal workshops, sports, field trips, and socio-cultural activities where learners can apply language skills in a natural communicative setting. Complexity of language and tasks will vary depending on the needs and language level of the learners.

Discussing Culture and Community for English Language Learners

This course is the first level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade their speaking, listening, and presentation skills. It is most appropriate for students intending to take college or university courses. Activities will help students understand and communicate effectively in a variety of settings. The emphasis will be on participating in conversations and discussions, and communicating in routine situations. Students will also prepare and participate in a presentation on a topic related to culture and community. Through these activities, students will continue to develop their overall language skills.

Understanding Culture and Community for English Language Learners

This course is the first level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade their reading and listening skills. It is most appropriate for students who are intending to take college or university courses. Students will read a variety of texts at a reasonable rate, listen to materials from a variety of sources, and practice note-taking in both instances. Students will read and listen in order to create and present a basic visual representation of their learning about culture and community.

Canadian Culture and Identity for English Language Learners

This is an integrated skills course for English language learners who wish to improve their English skills while learning about Canadian society and culture. Emphasis will be on participating in extended communicative situations. Complexity of language and tasks will vary depending on the needs and language level of the learners.

Writing about Culture and Community for English Language Learners

This course is the first level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade their writing skills. It is most appropriate for students who have experience writing about familiar, concrete topics, and who have fluent basic writing ability and control of grammar. Students will work on improving their reading, composing and organizational skills for writing a descriptive and comparison/contrast paragraph about a topic related to culture and community, as well as for writing personal reflective texts and social messages. Students will also work on revising and editing skills.

Lower Intermediate General English Language

This course is designed for students wishing to upgrade their language skills for purposes of: 1) participating in day-to-day personal and social situations; 2) improving their employment opportunities; 3) preparing for further education or training. Students will practice strategies for listening, speaking, reading and writing to meet their personal, social, employment and/or educational needs. Course activities will include listening and speaking in a variety of communicative situations. Students will also complete both functional and skill-based reading and writing exercises. This course is offered at 4 levels. See attached appendix.

Developing Academic Accuracy for English Language Learners

This course is the first level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade the accuracy of their written language expression through focused work on grammar and academic vocabulary as related to the course content. It is most appropriate for students who are intending to take college or university courses. Students will receive instruction and practice in reading, proofreading and editing skills, as well as moderately complex grammar and syntax structures to be able to write on concrete topics.

Discussing Academic Issues for English Language Learners

This course is the second level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade their speaking, listening, and presentation skills. It is most appropriate for students intending to take college or university courses. Activities will help students understand and communicate effectively in a variety of settings. The emphasis will be on participating in conversations and discussions, and communicating in non-routine situations. Students will also prepare and participate in a presentation on a topic related to education and academic life. Through these activities, students will continue to develop their overall language skills.

Understanding Academic Issues for English Language Learners

This course is the second level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade their reading and listening skills. It is most appropriate for students who are intending to take college or university courses. Students will read a variety of texts at a reasonable rate, listen to materials from a variety of sources, and practice note-taking in both instances. Students will read and listen in order to create and present a visual representation of their learning about an issue in education and academic life.

Canadian Culture and Communication for English Language Learners

This is an integrated skills course for English language learners who wish to explore topics related to Canadian society and culture while improving their English skills and learning language appropriate for interaction in social, educational, and workplace settings. Emphasis will be on participating in extended communicative situations. Complexity of language and tasks will vary depending on the needs and language level of the learners.

Writing about Academic Issues

This course is the second level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade their writing skills. It is most appropriate for students who have experience writing expository paragraphs, informal reflective texts and social messages and who have reasonable control of grammar and sentence structure. Students will work on improving their reading, composing and organizational skills for writing a short cause/effect essay, a formal summary, and a response about a topic related to education and academic life. Students will also work on revising and editing skills.

Upper Intermediate General English Language

This course is designed for students wishing to upgrade their language skills for purposes of: 1) participating in day-to-day personal and social situations; 2) improving their employment opportunities; 3) preparing for further education or training. Students will practice strategies for listening, speaking, reading and writing to meet their personal, social, employment and/or educational needs. Course activities will include listening and speaking in a variety of communicative situations. Students will also complete both functional and skill-based reading and writing exercises. This course is offered at 4 levels. See attached appendix.

Improving Academic Accuracy for English Language Learners

This course is the second level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade the accuracy of their written language expression through focused work on grammar and academic vocabulary as related to the course content. It is most appropriate for students who are intending to take college or university courses. Students will receive instruction and practice in reading, proofreading and editing skills, as well as moderately complex grammar and syntax structures to be able to write on concrete and some abstract topics.

Editing, Writing, Reading and Vocabulary for English Language Learners

This course supplements the four-level writing series for students who wish to upgrade their reading and writing for personal, educational and/or employment purposes. The course is designed for students who have experience writing paragraphs but consistently make errors in grammar and sentence structure. Students develop strategies for editing and proofreading. Working with short writing samples and their own and classmates’ compositions, students practice identifying problems and errors in language use, diction and mechanics. Students review writing academic paragraphs and summaries. Students also practice academic reading skills such as predicting, scanning and skimming, and identifying key ideas. In addition, students read extensively in order to increase reading fluency. Finally, vocabulary development work includes such skills as guessing meaning by using context clues as well as prefixes and suffixes.

Pronunciation Skills for English Language Learners

This is a basic pronunciation course for English language learners. Students will be introduced to the sound system of English and to phonetic symbols. Activities will focus on listening for sound distinctions and identifying the major stress and intonation patterns. Students will identify and work on their own pronunciation problems and develop some strategies for monitoring improvement. It is recommended that students take a conversation course at the same time.

Discussing Global Issues for English Language Learners

This course is the third level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade their speaking, listening, and presentation skills. It is most appropriate for students intending to take college or university courses. Students will improve their ability to understand and communicate in a variety of increasingly complex settings. They will also develop group discussion and leadership skills, and prepare and participate in a presentation on a global issue. Through these activities, students will continue to develop their overall language skills.

Understanding Global Issues for English Language Learners

This course is the third level of a series designed to help students upgrade their reading and listening skills. It is most appropriate for students who are intending to take college or university courses. Students will read a variety of longer texts at a reasonable rate, listen to materials from a variety of sources, and practice note-taking in both instances. Students will read and listen in order to lead a seminar discussion or multi-media presentation.

Writing about Global Issues for English Language Learners

This course is the third level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade their writing skills. It is most appropriate for students who have experience writing expository paragraphs, short essays and formal summaries and who have reasonable control of grammar and sentence structure. Students will work on improving their reading, drafting, and organizational skills for writing reports analyzing a global issue and for writing short timed essay exams using various rhetorical patterns, as well as on revising and editing skills. Students will also be introduced to basic research skills.

Lower Advanced General English Language

This course is designed for students wishing to upgrade their language skills for purposes of: 1) participating in day-to-day personal and social situations; 2) improving their employment opportunities; 3) preparing for further education or training. Students will practice strategies for listening, speaking, reading and writing to meet their personal, social, employment and/or educational needs. Course activities will include listening and speaking in a variety of communicative situations. Students will also complete both functional and skill-based reading and writing exercises. This course is offered at 4 levels. See attached appendix.

Advancing Academic Accuracy for English Language Learners

This course is the third level of an academic series designed to help students upgrade the accuracy of their written language expression through focused work on grammar and academic vocabulary as related to the course content. It is most appropriate for students who are intending to take college or university courses. Students will receive instruction and practice in reading, proofreading and editing skills, as well as in advanced forms of written expression to be able to write about concrete and some abstract topics.

Advanced Practical Writing for English Language Learners

This is a general purpose writing course for students with some experience in writing English. It is designed for students who wish to upgrade their overall writing skills for personal, work-related or academic purposes. Students will write personal letters, notices, reports for school and work, resumes, and routine business correspondence. Students will also receive practice in proofreading for major errors of sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary.

Advanced Editing and Proofreading for English Language Learners

This course supplements the four-level series for students who wish to upgrade their writing for further education or improved employment opportunities. It is designed for students who have experience writing paragraphs and short essays and some control of grammar and sentence structure, but who still make consistent errors in language use. Students will develop strategies for editing and proofreading their own work. Working with short academic writing composition samples, students will practice identifying problems and errors in language use, editing for style, conciseness and accuracy, and proof-reading for basic errors in grammar, structure, diction and mechanics.

Advanced Pronunciation Skills for English Language Learners

This is an advanced pronunciation course for students with good listening and speaking skills. Students taking this course should have no major pronunciation problems. The course will provide a review of the sound system and major stress and intonation patterns introduced in ELLA 0285, as well as exercises in understanding English spoken in a variety of ways. Students will improve fluency by practicing some of the finer features of native speech, such as stress and intonation variation for emphasis or special meaning, phrasing, syllable reduction and linking. It is recommended that students take a conversation course at the same time.

Upper Advanced General English Language

This course is designed for students wishing to upgrade their language skills for purposes of: 1) participating in day-to-day personal and social situations; 2) improving their employment opportunities; 3) preparing for further education or training. Students will practice strategies for listening, speaking, reading and writing to meet their personal, social, employment and/or educational needs. Course activities will include listening and speaking in a variety of communicative situations. Students will also complete both functional and skill-based reading and writing exercises. This course is offered at 4 levels. See attached appendix.

Professional Development for English-Language Educators

This course is designed for Foreign-trained English-language educators (referred to as "trainees") to complement the knowledge and experience they have already acquired. The course will focus on interactive techniques, strategies, and methods, and will provide the trainees with a portfolio of ready-to-use activities for the classroom, as well as the pedigogical theory to support practical applications. Best practices in the teaching of the four skill areas will be covered along with an overview of the linguistic challenges faced by English language learners. Special attention will be paid to the use of educational technology including social media, video, and the Internet.