ENGLISH AS A SECONDARY LANGUAGE (ESL) DIPLOMA PROGRAM

Course Duration: 24 weeks
Total Fee: $3,600.00

The English language is one of the most commonly-spoken languages and is often considered the most influential language in the world. Whether you want to learn English to further your studies, your career, or your personal horizons, there are many benefits you can gain from enrolling in Michael University’s ESL Diploma Program.

What is an ESL Program?

Our ESL diploma program is coursework designed to help adult students who are looking to learn English as their second, third, or in some cases, fourth language. Our diploma program focuses on students becoming proficient in their: speaking, writing, reading, and listening skills.

Course Description

The ESL Diploma Program will consist of a series of four 6-week modules designed for adult students who have some English language skills. Students will practice communication skills in everyday situations and build a larger vocabulary through listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar activities. The use of technology will also be integrated.

Major Goals and Purposes of the Course

This course is designed around the competency-based model of instruction. The content covered in this course will focus on understanding through the areas of listening, speaking, reading, writing, language function, language form, grammatical structures and cultural literacy. The basic life skills’ categories which will provide the topics of instruction are: Basic Communication, Consumer Economics, Community Resources, Health, Employment, Government/Citizenship, Computation, Learning and Thinking Skills, and Independent Living. The goal of the course is to promote English language competency for personal, social, educational and professional purposes, applying English to real-life situations with embedded contextualized learning. The emphasis is on literacy and communication skills that enable learners to participate more fully within society as citizens, workers and family members.

Course Competencies/Objectives

At the end of the course, students will be able to meet the following Language Arts Skills:

Language skills incorporated into unit topics (ESL Model Standards for Adult Education)

Listening

On exit, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of the majority of face-to-face speech in standard dialect and at a normal rate; some repetition will be required.
• Demonstrate understanding of abstract topics in familiar contexts.
• Demonstrate understanding of most of the language used in movies or broadcasts of a nontechnical or very general nature.
• Demonstrate understanding of new vocabulary in context through guessing strategies.

Speaking

On exit, students will be able to:

• Ask and answer questions fluently with minimal errors in the present, past, and future tenses.
• Participate with increasing fluency in most face-to-face social conversations and telephone conversations, including those about work and current events which contain complex structures perfect tenses; conditional, adjectival, and adverbial clauses; and the passive voice-even though errors are common and may inhibit communication.
• Clarify meaning through strategies such as paraphrasing when misunderstanding occurs.
• Adjust the language used in accordance with the level of formality required by the social situation in face-to-face conversations.

Reading

On exit, students will be able to:

• Interpret both authentic and edited materials, such as prose fiction, on familiar topics.
• Identify main ideas and supporting details or examples from familiar material.
• Guess meaning from context by analyzing words' prefixes and suffixes.
• Make inferences.
• Summarize reading passages.

Writing

On exit, students will be able to:

• Expand and combine simple sentences by adding modifying words, clauses, and phrases.
• Write and punctuate complex sentences.
• Write descriptive and narrative paragraphs, using correct punctuation.
• Complete forms, such as accident reports or applications for drivers' licenses.
• Use transition words within and between paragraphs.
• Take simple notes from public announcements, short lectures, and real interviews.

Language Functions

On exit, students will be able to use English for:

• Factual information: illustrate, conclude, infer.
• Social and interpersonal relations: approve / disapprove, express indifference, express intentions.
• Suasion: predict consequences, persuade.

Instructional Strategies

The use of whole language in teaching survival English through auditory, visual, and kinesthetic modalities is utilized at all levels. The following is a list of instructional strategies that are encouraged:

• Role Play
• Team Projects
• Individual Projects
• Pair Groups
• Small Groups
• Total Physical Response (TPR)
• Dictation
• Cooperative Learning Activities
• Lecture
• Teacher Modeling
• Technology and Multimedia
• Peer Tutoring
• Song and Chant
• Guest Speakers
• Field Trips
• Multicultural Activities
• Daily Oral Language
• Scaffolding
• Differentiated Instruction

Core Textbooks and Supplemental Materials

Instructors will teach from the adopted textbooks, workbooks and printed materials. Teacher prepared, student centered materials such as downloadable worksheets, visuals, videos, articles and supplementary texts may also be used to reinforce lessons related to course content.

Evaluation

Evaluation is based on multiple assessments: curriculum-based unit tests, the standardized curriculum-based exit exam, class work, oral participation and projects. Demonstrate proficiency of language skills in the ESL Model Standards.

This ESL Diploma Program consists of four 6-week modules of study requiring eight credits (2 credits per module).

A student is eligible to receive a diploma from Michael University if he/she has satisfactorily completed the following general requirements:

1. Satisfied all admissions requirements;
2. Completed all diploma requirements;
3. Achieved the minimum cumulative grade point average of (2.0) - for all course work completed online using a variety of technology platforms (for example, Skype, Zoom, videos, etc.) as well as written materials;
4. Fulfilled all financial obligations to Michael University; and
5. Submitted the diploma application and paid the appropriate fees.

Credit Requirements for Diploma

Michael University's Diploma Program requires a completion of all approved modular credits.

Diploma Program

Upon completion of the course students will receive an instructor-signed diploma with the institution's logo to verify your achievement and increase your job prospects. Add the diploma to your CV or resume, or post it directly on LinkedIn. Give yourself an additional incentive to complete the course modules.

Tuition and Fees

The tuition and fees are for the 2021-2022 academic year. Tuition and fees are subject to annual revision.

ESL Diploma Fee: $3,600.00 — Not refundable

Books

• ESL Beginner (English as a Second Language Series) Paperback – October 18, 2012 by Sherry Boguchwal (Author), Johanna Pugni (Author), Dianne Ramdeholl (Author), Linda Robbian (Author). ISBN-10: 073861100X ISBN-13: 978-0738611006
• English for Everyone: Level 1: Beginner, Course Book: A Complete Self-Study Program Hardcover – Illustrated, June 28, 2016 by DK (Author). ISBN-10: 9781465449405 ISBN-13: 978-1465449405
• English Made Easy Volume One: A New ESL Approach: Learning English Through Pictures (Free Online Audio) Paperback – Illustrated, November 10, 2015 by Jonathan Crichton (Author), Pieter Koster (Author) ISBN-10: 0804845247 ISBN-13: 978-0804845243