Course Listings
The following courses are offered by the Developmental Skills Department.
Critical Thinking
English as a Second Language
These two Intensive English courses are designed in their combined form to improve the reading/writing and aural/oral skills of the beginning and low-intermediate student. These two courses must be taken concurrently and are obligatory for one semester for all incoming ESL students whose placement examinations show a need for instruction at this level.
Co-Requisite: ESL054
These two Intensive English courses are designed in their combined form to improve the reading/writing and aural/oral skills of the beginning and low-intermediate student. These two courses must be taken concurrently and are obligatory for one semester for all incoming ESL students whose placement examinations show a need for instruction at this level.
Co-Requisite: ESL049
This is a high-intermediate level course that combines listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Narrative and descriptive writing are emphasized and expository writing is introduced.
This advanced level course emphasizes writing and reading skills; however, oral skills are not neglected. In writing, students focus on introducing, developing, supporting, and organizing their ideas in expository essays as well as in narrative and descriptive writing.
This intensive writing course for ESL students focuses on basic components of effective writing, including paragraph development and structure, sentence structure, word choice, and content. Students read and respond to a variety of texts and use argumentation, narrative, and description as modes of developing ideas in writing.
Linguistics
This course will introduce the student to the study of Language and Culture. The course will introduce related topics, such as bilingual/bidialectal families and bilingual education, language and gender, literacy in a changing, technological society, child language acquisition, and different dialects and registers of English. The readings will draw on works in linguistics, literature and related fields. Students will work on critical reading and produce writing based on the readings in connections with their own experiences and backgrounds.
Critical Reading
This introductory college level reading course emphasizes improved reading comprehension through the practice of literal, inferential and critical reading skills, vocabulary development, writing, flexible reading rates, and study skills. A variety of materials is used to enrich students¿ basic understanding of reading.
This advanced reading course is designed to help students master a full range of college-level reading and related skills, including critical comprehension, vocabulary, writing, flexible rates of reading, and study strategies. A variety of college-level materials is used.
