QUESTIONS? CONTACT:
Nicole Schwindenhammer
nmf119@psu.edu
(814) 867-4284
Courses for Credit
ESL116G - Composition for Academic Disciplines
This course is designed for international students at the graduate level who are preparing to engage in scholarly activity in their academic disciplines. Through reading and writing selected rhetorical models of academic discourse, students will become able to analyze and use the organizational structure of various models of academic texts. They will engage in contextualized language activities, learning to match appropriate English linguistic forms to specific rhetorical purposes.
Students will be expected to gather appropriate sources, organize information, and compose various models of academic essays and research papers. By the end of the course, students will be able to translate their research activities into written reports that conform to the expectations of the English-speaking academic community.
This course can be required for graduate students who are provisionally admitted due to low TOEFL scores. Some departments use this class to prepare students for written comprehensive exams or in lieu of a writing test.
ESL114G - American English for Academic Purposes
This course is designed for graduate students who are speakers of English as a second language and who need to develop and improve their oral communication skills for effective interaction in social and academic settings in English-speaking environments. Activities include: (a) a pre- and post-testing of oral proficiency for diagnostic and achievement purposes; (b) a series of in-class oral presentations ; (c) participation in group discussions, role plays, and impromptu speeches; and, (d) various oral language assignments, including listening and pronunciation activities, transcriptions of recorded speech, and the creation of an audio-taped oral dialogue journal.
This course can be required for graduate students who are provisionally admitted due to low TOEFL scores.
International Teaching Assistant (ITA) Preparation Program
The Department of Applied Linguistics offers three 3-credit courses specifically for International Teaching Assistants (ITAs). Placement in these courses is on the basis of students’ performance on the American English Oral Communicative Proficiency Test (AEOCPT) administered by the department.
Note: Students are not permitted to register for these courses unless they have completed the AEOCPT.
ESL 115G - American Oral English for ITAs I
(Prerequisite: score below 150 on the AEOCPT
This course is designed for low-intermediate speakers of English as a second language who need to improve their overall speaking and listening skills in English in preparation for positions as teaching assistants (TAs) in their departments. Through various speaking and listening language activities, students will increase the intelligibility of their speech by improving their pronunciation of American English. They will also develop academic speaking skills in order to engage critically and constructively in the exchange of ideas during discussions of academic content. They will improve their overall listening comprehension, as well as their discrimination of particular sounds in English. By the end of this course, students will have improved their overall speaking and listening skills, in particular their fluency, to participate successfully in academic settings.
ESL 117G - American Oral English for ITAs II
(Prerequisite: score of 150-199 on the AEOCPT)
This course is designed for intermediate-level speakers of English as a second language who need to improve their communicative effectiveness in order to become teaching assistants (TAs). Through various language-related activities students will increase their vocabulary and develop their fluency; improve listening comprehension; develop an awareness of their communication priorities and an ability to self-monitor and correct; develop oral skills necessary for leading and participating in discussions, and develop basic presentation skills.
ESL 118G - American Oral English for ITAs III
(Prerequisite: score of 200-249 on the AEOCPT)
This course is designed to provide English language instructional support for advanced speakers of English as a second language who need to improve their communicative effectiveness in order to become teaching assistants (TAs). Through various language-related activities, students will increase the intelligibility of their speech by improving their pronunciation of American English. To do this, they will develop an acute awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses as a communicator in real and simulated instructional contexts. They will also develop effective oral communication strategies necessary for interaction with individual students, small groups, and large classes. Students will learn about American cultural traits and underlying assumptions as they pertain to communication in the university-level classroom. By the end of this course, students will have improved their overall communication effectiveness to carry out their future teaching assistant responsibilities successfully.