Grammar is taught in a communicative context through practice in writing and speaking, and students learn to recognize and correct sentence-level errors. Writing for academic purposes, especially expository writing, is stressed.
Students learn library research techniques and are introduced to word processing.
Reading Using a variety of readings from college texts, magazines, and contemporary literature, students improve key skills, which include identifying main ideas, recognizing organizational and rhetorical strategies, inferencing, using context clues, and building vocabulary. In addition to the areas covered in the beginning and intermediate levels, this class provides more extensive practice in essay composition and academic forms of writing. Students prepare a library research paper. Videos and audiotapes facilitate practice in the various academic skills. In addition to their core classes, students can select from a variety of elective classes, including Library Research Paper Writing, Creative Writing, Vocabulary Development, Improving Pronunciation, Academic Speaking Skills, Basic Conversation and Culture, Understanding American Movies, and Speaking Through Idioms.