Program Overview and Course Descriptions
ESL Program Overview:
Webber International University hosts students from over 45 countries who desire studying business in the United States. Since many of these international students have varying levels of English proficiency, the University provides a program of study the goal of which is to prepare students for successful academic work at American universities. Primarily for students with some prior English study, the program accommodates students at all levels of proficiency. After taking the institutional TOEFL ESL students can be considered for regular programs if the test results meet admission standards and are approved by ALI.
ESL Course Descriptions:
ESL 050 ESL-Introduction to English
This course is designed to help very limited English proficient students develop oral fluency and accuracy by improving speaking, listening, and pronunciation skills so students can understand and practice basic oral language functions. The course also helps students use basic English grammar correctly in both written and spoken communications.
ESL 070 ESL-Conversation I
This course emphasizes conversation, pronunciation, idiomatic and aural comprehension skills. It develops fluent and appropriate use of vocabulary and functional expressions in life skills areas as well as the campus environment. It improves pronunciation and the development of basic English patterns of stress and intonation as well as improving listening competency.
ESL 072 ESL-Conversation II
This course will provide non-native speakers of English who can make themselves understood but are not yet proficient in self-expression, with the tools to enhance their conversational skills utilizing the English language. The course is designed to improve listening, speaking, and pronunciation skills to understand more of the English that they hear in various social, business or academic situations. Emphasis is placed on oral communication skills necessary for academic study. This course is used to improve the necessary skills tested on the TOEFL exam.
ESL 080 ESL-Reading I
This course will provide students who have some reading knowledge of English with the basic building blocks to enhance their reading skills. Students will develop the skills needed to read and understand a variety of texts. They will also learn techniques and strategies to better understand new vocabulary. This course is used to improve the necessary skills tested on the TOEFL exam.
ESL 082 ESL-Reading II
This course emphasizes the acquisition of higher level reading skills needed for college level courses. Comprehending longer blocks of text, determining meaning of vocabulary from context and analyzing texts to distinguish between fact and opinion, main idea and supporting detail, as well as making inferences are emphasized in this course.
ESL 089 ESL-Composition I
This course will provide students who have some writing skills in English with the basic building blocks of sentence development and paragraph structure. The course is designed to improve writing skills and learn correct English grammar to create clear, comprehensible writing. This course is used to improve the necessary skills tested on the TOEFL exam.
ESL 090 ESL-Grammar I
This course will provide a rigorous training on basic writing and grammatical principles with a focus on sentence structure, grammar rules, mechanics and spelling. The course will incorporate drills and practice in the fundamentals of language construction. Students will be required to prove their proficiency of these basic English concepts by final departmental exam.
ESL 092 ESL-Grammar II
The foundation of the English language, English grammar allows students in an almost unlimited way to combine words to create new sentences, many of which are constructed for the first time. In fact, any multi-word sentence is likely being used for the first time in the English language. Being able to use the grammar competently helps students improve listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. This English Grammar course will give Students intermediate to advanced practice with sentence completion and error correction items, both of which represent common structures found in conversational, professional, and academic English settings. This course is also used to improve the necessary skills tested on the TOEFL exam.
ESL 110 ESL-Composition II
The purpose of this course is to prepare the student for successful completion of the first English requirement in the University. This course will review basic grammar and mechanics but will focus on writing principles through the development of reading and writing skills. Weekly written themes based on the comprehension of short reading assignments will be evaluated for accurate sentence structure and basic writing principles. The focus of this course will be on the construction of well-developed sentences and paragraphs leading to the understanding of the structure and the construction of well-organized essays.